At the beginning of Exodus 31, we have a great
example of vocation, gifting, and talent. Sometimes Christians tend to limit
their discussion of “spiritual gifts” to those gifts that we read about in the New
Testament, especially 1 Corinthians and Romans. However, we need to take into
account what the Hebrew Scriptures say about gifting as well. Personally, I do
not believe the lists of spiritual gifts we have in the New Testament are
exhaustive. Furthermore, I think there is often an overlap between what we
might call spiritual gifts and natural talents.
In Exodus 31, we see God calling a man named
Bezalel to be the craftsman who will lead a team in making the “props” and
“costumes,” as it were, for the Tabernacle. How did the Lord call Bezalel? We
are not told exactly. I think often the Lord calls us through circumstances,
experiences, and through the encouragement of other human beings. Sometimes he
gives us night dreams and sometimes the Lord gives us daydreams of what he
wants us to do for his kingdom.
We are also told that the Lord filled Bezalel
with his spirit to accomplish this work. The Lord gave Bezalel the
ability, intelligence, and knowledge necessary to accomplish the task. Gifting
is one thing; skill is another. I believe we are given talents at birth, and given
spiritual gifts at re-birth. However, it still takes time to develop our skill
level at using the gifts and talents we have been given by God. Developing
skill takes training, education, and experience. I imagine Bezalel had all of
this.
As someone trained in the arts, I find this
passage very encouraging of artists. There have been times in the history of
the Church that artists have not been looked upon very kindly or even allowed
to develop their gifts in service of the Church. This passage, I believe,
argues against limiting the use of the arts in the service of the Church. In
fact, the Church needs to encourage the arts and give artists room to use their
gifts and talents in the Church and wherever God gives them opportunity. (I contributed to a book on "C. S. Lewis and the Arts" last year that you can learn more about here: C. S. Lewis & The Arts.)
In Exodus 32, Moses comes down from Mount Sinai
after receiving all of God’s instructions regarding the Law and the Tabernacle.
However, Moses’ reunion with his brother Aaron is not a happy one. Aaron,
during Moses’ absence, has acquiesced to the Israelites’ demands for idols and
has led them in fashioning a golden calf.
Moses, in his typical fashion, when he sees what
Aaron has allowed to happen, throws down the tablets upon which the finger of
God has written the Ten Commandments, and smashes them. No doubt, Moses could
have used some counseling to help him deal with his anger management issues. As
if that was not enough, Moses calls upon those Israelites who want to be loyal
to the Lord to kill their fellow Israelites who wish to persist in their
idolatry. Perhaps it was not the best way of handling the whole situation, but
I would imagine that Moses would have argued that desperate situations call for
desperate measures.
In Exodus 33, we have a story about the “tent of
meeting”. Is this the Tabernacle? No, this tent of meeting could not be the
Tabernacle because that is not set up until Exodus 40. Friedman concludes that
Moses used his own tent to meet with God until the Tabernacle was set up.[1]
In Exodus 34, Moses is given a chance to get a
second set of tablets from the Lord to replace the tablets with the Ten
Commandments that he smashed. Apparently, the Lord is more gracious and
forgiving than Moses was. In fact, this is precisely what the text tells us:
The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
but visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
and the children’s children,
to the third and the fourth generation.”
Thus, the Lord is both just and merciful. We will
see how God can be both of these as we move through our reading of the
Scriptures.
When Moses comes down the mountain the second
time, his face is glowing. The same thing happens when he meets with the Lord
in the tent of meeting. However, Moses puts a veil on his face after meeting
with the Lord. The text of Exodus does not tell us why Moses does this.
However, in 2 Corinthians 3 we read…
Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great
boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of
Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their
minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the
old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set
aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their
minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the
Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us,
with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a
mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to
another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
To me, this passage suggests, that as good as
Moses’ relationship with God was, ours is better, and more intimate through
Christ. And there is always more to discover of the Lord's glory as we move "further up and further in"....
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