Monday, March 12, 2018

Exodus 35:30-35 comments: the cunning workman


35:30 ¶  And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31  And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; 32  And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 33  And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work. 34  And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35  Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.
   
This is a confirmation, a reemphasis, of something discussed in chapter 31. I’ll repeat some comments from there, as well. The instructions were given in 31, then the apostasy of the worship of the calf took place, but now a grateful and relieved Hebrew populace will begin the work.

Notice here that the word spirit starts with a lowercase ‘s’. In a prophecy of Christ in Isaiah it is written;

Isaiah 11:1 ¶  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

The Holy Spirit, uppercase ‘S’, refers to the agency through which God works in creation and in the hearts and minds of His people.

Genesis 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Ephesians 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

The Spirit of God can be referred to as an it.

Romans 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God…26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

And can also be called the Spirit of Christ, as God is one being containing three parts as I have previously shown. See the following for the three parts of God mentioned in passages; Matthew 28:19; 2Corinthians 13:14; 1John 5:7.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

This is in contrast to the Holy Ghost, which is a reference to the third part of God, referred to, always, as he.

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

But, spirit with the lowercase ‘s’ is a reference to a trait, a quality, a skill, an emotion, the foundation of an ability, or the spirit of man, the part of man that God uses to know our thoughts and the function of our bodies.

Proverbs 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

These men have been given talents and skills to serve the Lord’s purpose and notice in verse 6 that God puts wisdom in those people whose hearts are able to receive it. We must remember, as said before, that wisdom and knowledge come from God. For instance, a scientist is prepared by training to receive knowledge and he or she discovers something useful as a result. The understanding came from God to a mind that was able to bear it. This is an important point to consider.

Ezra 7:10  For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

The way to receive knowledge and wisdom and understanding is first to prepare the heart and mind. Then, it is given. Someone who wants to be a mechanic just doesn’t pray to God for the knowledge. God would say to him, “study the trade and then I will give you understanding. Learn how to do it and I will give you wisdom.” It is a fact of life that if you want to do something of value you need to prepare yourself for it. I don’t remember reading about any brain surgeons or rocket scientists who said they woke up one day and just knew how to do their jobs to the best of their ability without education or training.

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