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Exodus 36:1   So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded.”

Even with my background as an erstwhile Civil Engineer during the 1960s, I still find these chapters at the end of Exodus a bit of a challenge to get excited about!  I am so thankful that most of my work in engineering was based on plans and diagrams, and not on verbal descriptions (‘a picture is worth a thousand words’).  I’m sure the LORD had a good purpose in getting Moses to write the full description of the building of the Tabernacle, but two other things were necessary to ensure that the final product was exactly as he wanted it: Moses was given a vision of the finished product on the mountain; and the LORD gave the necessary skill to do the work to particular, chosen people.

As I apply this principle to our own situation I see two things that work together equipping me to be faithful in the service of my Sovereign God.

Firstly, I have access to his authoritative, inspired, infallible written Word, which I can read, meditate on, and trust unconditionally as my guide.  With the Psalmist I can testify: “Your Word is a lamp for my feet, and a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).

And secondly, my Saviour Jesus has promised to equip me with his Holy Spirit: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

Therefore, I must humbly confess and admit, whenever I fail to walk in true accordance with God’s instructions, it is always the fault of my disobedient heart and not of the lack of clarity of the Bible or of the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  As a Presbyterian, I’m glad of the Westminster Confession of Faith’s insistence that the Bible remains my ultimate final authority in all matters of faith and doctrine, so that I am prevented from just claiming the ‘Spirit’s leading’ in things that I might wish to be God’s will.  I am reminded, as I read through these seemingly ‘boring’ chapters of Exodus at the present time, that Bezalel and Oholiab and their ‘skilful’ team were not present with Moses on the Mountain when the vision was given, so they needed the written description to keep them on the right track “to do the work just as the LORD has commanded”!  They could too easily have been tempted to use their special God-given skills to justify their own interpretation of how things ought to be done!  The early believers in Berea have set us a fine example: “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness [as the Holy Spirit stirred in their hearts and minds] and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).  The reason we were required to persevere with Greek and Hebrew in training for ministry was so to equip us to do this more accurately.

– Bruce Christian