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EXODUS 31–33

Week 5, Day 7

The Hebrew Scriptures look upon skilled craftsmanship as true wisdom; thus Bezalel and Oholiab are called by God and “filled . . . with divine spirit” (31:1-6). But talent is only as good as the use to which we put it. Even the best gifts of God can be made cheap and destructive. So it is that Aaron used his sacred office to collect gold from the people from which to make a golden calf. When Moses confronted him, Aaron first blamed the people (“They said to me, ‘Make us gods’ ” [32:23]) without acknowledging his own abdication of leadership, then blamed circumstances (“I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf” [32:24]).

Moses, too, had a talent. It is too complex to be easily defined, but it is available at least in a measure to every child of God. Moses chose to stand between the people and God, pleading their cause to God, and pleading God’s cause to the people. His commitment was so intense that he challenged God to blot his own name from the divine record if the people were to be rejected (32:32).

Moses’ prayer is effective: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing that you have asked’ ” (33:17). Yet even so, Moses was not granted the favor of seeing God’s face. The ultimate reward of those who exercise Moses’ gift is that they will see God’s will accomplished in the world and will see a body of people (or a single individual) restored to communion with God.

PRAYER: Lord, help me know such concern for the welfare of others that I will plead their cause faithfully before you; in Christ. Amen.

What persons or what offices in modern Christendom might seem comparable to Bezalel and Oholiab?