To design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship. – Exodus 31:4-5
God gave Bezalel the technical skill, the capacity to think, and to have mastery ‘in all manner of workmanship”. The word ‘workmanship’ refers to one’s trade, occupation, or business. Bezalel’s wisdom was related to his craft.You can not have wisdom in every area of life. Generally, each one of us must have wisdom for our lives. This includes wisdom in choosing your friends, how to plan your life, how to run your home, how to raise your children, and how to run your finances. In addition to that, we need wisdom for the work we do – our professions and occupations. Bezalel’s wisdom was for his workmanship.
In that area, he had the wisdom to do two things:
A. To design – to draw out a plan. The wisdom, understanding, and knowledge that God gave Bezalel enabled him to work out a plan to do a task. The task was the construction of the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, and all the special instruments of service. God shared his intentions with Moses, who in turn made these intentions known to Bezalel. After receiving his marching orders from Moses, Bezalel had to develop a design and a plan for what he had heard.
No matter how complex a problem is, wisdom helps us to work out a plan to solve it. Wisdom enables us to design solutions. But wisdom goes beyond the design. It brings the design to life.
B. To work – to cause to be; to make. In the Hebrew world, wisdom was not just a theory – it was a practice. Wisdom doesn’t only talk – she also works and produces results. It is possible to offer solutions to problems on paper. The question is, does it work? When the nice ideas are implemented, will we see actual results?
Bezalel was both a designer and a builder of solutions. From observing Bezalel, we can conclude that:
a. Wisdom always has a plan. Wisdom will find a way out of a problem.
b. Wisdom design solutions. Wisdom offers solutions. She does not allow herself to be so overwhelmed by problems that she does not act.
c. Wisdom produces results. Wisdom’s works are seen. They are visible for all to see.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to design solutions to problems and help me to produce results with my ideas. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Scripture Reading: Exodus 31:1-11
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