Exodus 35:31, commentary and pictures

God by name chose craftsmen for the wilderness sanctuary and filled them with His Spirit in wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and all kinds of craftsmanship. That endowment was more than natural ability, given for engraving, metalwork, embroidery, weaving, and fashioning gold vessels, with God Himself planning the work, instructing the workers how to carry it out, and giving them ability to teach others. He did so because His service demands exactness, skill, tact, and perfection, and all practical ability comes from Him to be used humbly for His glory. The same help is still given today to all who cooperate with Him and depend wholly upon Him, for erecting buildings to His honor, for practical school and health industries, and for quickly learning strange tongues to carry truth.

Spirit-Filled Tabernacle Builders

God called Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah by name and filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship for building the wilderness tabernacle, with Aholiab of the tribe of Dan also given wisdom and skill for that sacred craftsmanship. These abilities were gifts for sacred craftsmanship, not merely natural talents. Heavenly beings cooperated with the workmen God Himself chose for this work.

The workmanship included engraving, devising cunning work, embroidery, weaving, and other skillful furnishings that adorned the sanctuary. It required great ingenuity, with women embroidering with silver and gold, and skilled workers making the ark, the tabernacle, and vessels of solid gold. God put it in their hearts, with Aholiab, to teach others the craft.

God Himself planned the work, instructed Moses in making it, designed it and educated the workers how to carry it out. Their skilled labor, done with heart, soul, and strength, expressed love for Him and honored Him. The wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill were a special endowment from God for that work, more than natural ability and not left to human wisdom alone. God called men who had qualifications of character and filled them with aptitude and skill in all manner of workmanship for the tabernacle.

The skill conferred on those forefathers was inherited to a large degree by their descendants in Judah and Dan. This included Huram, descendant of Aholiab, who later served as master workman in Solomon's temple without the same spirit of consecration. The descendants later became covetous and used their God-given abilities to serve heathen kings and make works that dishonored their Maker.

God's Standard for Service

Exodus 35:31 means that God filled the builders of the earthly tabernacle with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship because He required exactitude, skill, tact, wisdom, and perfection in that building. The same exactness, skill, and perfection required in the tabernacle He requires to be brought into every work done in His service. Workers are to desire mental strength from Him so they may do everything according to the pattern shown to Moses in the mount, for He requires perfection in every line of work connected with His service.

Skill, wisdom, understanding, and knowledge for skilled work come from God as source and are to be used for His glory. The skill and care involved in building the tabernacle were His gifts, showing that practical labor can serve and honor Him. That wholehearted, strenuous labor, done with heart and soul and strength for His honor, expressed love to Him. Ability for the most skillful work is the Lord's gift, so artisans have no cause to become exalted because of skill and aptitude.

God gives wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill for the work He assigns, and those willing to learn from Him and cooperate with Him can use the abilities He gives, receive further wisdom, and learn to overcome difficulties. The same tact and skill and wisdom given to Israel for building the tabernacle He will give today to all who have a part in His cause to do His work. Those who receive it must depend wholly upon Him and be willing to be controlled and guided by Him, walking and working as men and women accountable to God, so His servants may improve and strive toward perfection.

In building the tabernacle God gave men talents enabling them to carry forward special lines of work, assigning different lines of work to different ones while all labored under His supervision. He endows men with different degrees of capability and then places them where they can do the work for which they are fitted, with varied trusts proportioned to varied capabilities. Each one is to be allowed to do the special work for which he is fitted, and varied gifts must be brought in because they are needed, so that part fits perfectly to part. It is His plan that there shall be unity in diversity, with no one man a criterion for all other men and no expectation that all will work in exactly the same way. Workers are to give others a chance, help one another, hold up one another's hands, and give fellow workers the respect they wish to have shown to themselves.

The tabernacle's construction was a lesson in divinely directed education in method, organization, discipline, and tact, with each person having an assigned part to teach order, unity, and practical service to God. The ability of the called craftsmen came from God, not merely from their own human wisdom, for He called men who had qualifications of character and filled them with aptitude and skill in all manner of workmanship. He gave the skill to accomplish a work that was to be a special representation of the exalted character of His service and to represent the sacredness of the human body as God's temple.

Gift Continued Today

The same tact and skill and wisdom given to the Israelites for building the tabernacle will be given today to all who have a part in His cause to do His work. God is the source of the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill for the work He assigns, and He can likewise give His people wisdom to do His will today. Those who receive it must be willing to learn from Him and cooperate with Him, depend wholly upon Him, and be willing to be controlled and guided by Him, walking and working as men and women accountable to God. In that dependence they can use the abilities He gives, receive further wisdom, learn to overcome difficulties, and improve and strive toward perfection, and this enabling extends to His servants including medical workers.

When the providence of God makes it necessary to erect a meeting-house in some locality, or buildings such as sanitariums for Him, He is pleased to have among His own people those He has filled with wisdom and skill to perform the work. The filling with the Spirit of God in wisdom and workmanship means practical ability for necessary building. Buildings erected for Him are to honor His name, with faithfulness, stability, and fitness evident in every part.

The same divine help that gave the tabernacle workers understanding and ability for their work gives workers guided by the Holy Spirit tact and intelligence in practical school industry in preparing health foods and building up the body. As God gave skill and understanding for skilled work in building the tabernacle, so He now gives skill and understanding in the combining of natural food products into healthful diets. He is teaching many minds in many places to make healthful foods from fruits, grains, and roots, showing how to secure a wholesome, healthful diet. This includes products that bless those who cannot afford more expensive health foods, and this work of combining foods is the Lord's work.

The same gift includes opening the minds of men sent to carry truth to people of a strange tongue so they quickly learn the language. This often comes through help from the very ones they came to help spiritually. In this way the natives are prepared to hear the gospel message in their own tongue.