Series: Exodus
Title: Christ in Bezaleel
Text: Ex 31: 1-5
Date: August 23, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
Exodus 31: 1: And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, 2: See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son
of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3: And I have filled him with the spirit of God,
in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of
workmanship, 4: To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in
brass, 5: And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber,
to work in all manner of workmanship.
In the previous 6 chapters, Moses has been
with God in the mount almost 40 days and 40 nights. God told Moses how to build the tabernacle,
its furnishings, and the service required.
He told Moses to build these things.
Then God provided a man to do all the work for Moses. God provided Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, as head and chief over the building of
the tabernacle
Subject:
Christ in Bezaleel
Proposition:
In Bezaleel we have a type of Christ sent by God to build his church.
Bezaleel was given the charge to build the
tabernacle—Christ is builder of his church which is the true tabernacle.
Hebrews 8: 1:
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high
priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the
heavens; 2: A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the
Lord pitched, and not man.
Zechariah 6: 12:
And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the
man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and
he shall build the temple of the LORD: 13: Even he shall build the temple of
the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne;
and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be
between them both.
We see Christ in the relationship between Moses
and Bezaleel. Moses pictures the law, Bezaleel
typifies Christ. God did not allow Moses
to build. But through Moses Bezaleel built
it.
Romans 8: 3:
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh: 4: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
God commands us to keep the whole law like Moses was commanded by
God to build the tabernacle and all these things. Then God provided another to do it all for
Moses. Likewise, God provided his Son to
do all for his people.
CALLED BY NAME
Exodus 31: 1: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2: See, I
have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of
Judah:
God
"calls by name" only those he appoints to some high office. For example, God called Moses by name
(Exo_3:4; Exo_33:12), God called Cyrus by name (Isa_45:3, Isa_45:4) and here God
calls Bezaleel by name. God the Father
called Christ preeminently by name. Christ
took not this honor to himself, but was called of God, as Bezaleel was.
Brethren, before the foundation of the world, when God
called Christ by name, God called all his people by name in Christ our Head. It was in eternity, when God called Christ God
called by name each and every elect child who Christ would build up as his
church.
2 Timothy
1:9: Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began,
Bezaleel means "in the shadow (protection) of
God." Bezaleel was under the
shadow and protection of the Lord. So
when Christ walked this earth as the servant of God his Father, he came under the
shadow and protection of the Almighty.
Psalm 91: 1: He
that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty.
Isaiah 49: 1:
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath
called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my
name. 2: And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his
hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid
me; 3: And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will
be glorified.
By God calling us in Christ each of his people are
under the shadow and protection of the Almighty. We are under the
shadow and protection of Christ Jesus our God and Savior.
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD
Exodus 31: 3: And I have filled him with the spirit of
God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of
workmanship, 4: To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in
brass, 5: And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to
work in all manner of workmanship.
God filled Bezaleel with the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God filled Christ our great Builder without measure.
Matthew 3: 16: And
Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a
dove, and lighting upon him: 17: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
God
declared what he declared through Isaiah,
Isaiah 42:1: Behold my
servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my
spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
It is the fulfillment of God’s word in Isaiah,
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:…
Christ is full of the spirit in wisdom—Christ
is the Power of God our Creator. The
Spirit filled him with understanding—the Spirit of God made him “of
quick understanding in the fear of the Lord”; Christ heard the word of his
Father and fulfilled the whole will of God doing only that which pleased the
Father as the representative of his sinful people. Bezalel was filled in knowledge—as a
Man, Christ “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man”
(Lu 2: 52). Bezaleel was filled with the
Spirit to work in all manner of workmanship—every true believer is the
new creation made of Christ’s workmanship.
Christ came to devise cunning works—to
purpose and finish works no other man could do.
God the Father gave to his Son to be the great Architect who not only
purposed and devised the whole layout of his church but came forth and worked
it all.
Proverbs
8:12: I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
Christ worked in gold, and in silver, and in
brass. The ark of the covenant with
the mercy seat covered in gold—Christ worked all the works which that golden
ark and mercy seat typify; Christ is golden Ark of Covenant in whom the law is
complete. He is our seat of
Propitiation, Mercy, where God will meet with a sinner through faith in Christ
Romans 3: 24:
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus: 25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood…
The gold candlestick typified Christ our Light. We are only darkness in ourselves. We could not produce light. Christ is our Light—in his light we see light. In Christ, our Light we see we are depraved
sinners; in Christ, our Light we see he alone is righteousness; in Christ, our
Light we see there is none other name under heaven whereby we must be saved.
The silver foundation that held up the entire
tabernacle—Christ and his finished work of redemption is our one foundation on
which his entire church is built. He paid
it all—the pure shekel of the sanctuary—his precious blood. Our redemption from the law is fulfilled—Christ
is the foundation on which all works of faith and love are performed—but we
never add to Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:9: For we are labourers
together with God:...ye are God’s building. 10: According to the grace of God
which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation,
and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth
thereupon. 11: For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is
Jesus Christ.
The brass altar—Christ is our Brazen Altar whose
sacrifice completed his people and on whom all our sacrifices are accepted. Christ is our Bezaleel who devised and
carried out the cunning work of accomplishing our redemption by the—gold,
silver and brass—of his precious blood.
Christ is a cunning workman—in cutting of
stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of
workmanship. Christ sends the Spirit
to each of his children and hews us out of this earth like a rough stone. The Life of Christ enters into us and makes
his child a “living stone.” By
his all-wise council and power he sets us right where he would have each one to
be in his building, his church, like we saw with Paul, Aquilla, Priscilla,
Timothy and Epenaetus .
When he finds us we are tall timber—a cedar of
Lebanon—he cuts us down he carves us into his image by his grace he performs
all manner of workmanship upon us— it means excellently and with success.
Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them.
Remember they overlaid some of those boards with pure
gold. Through faith he overlays us with
the gold of his righteousness and the gold of holiness. He makes us fit and places us in his building
ALL IS THE WORK OF GOD
Nothing was done in the power
and wisdom of man’s fallen nature. Remember, these men and their ancestors had been slaves in
Egypt for over 400 years. All their
lives they made bricks for Pharaoh. They
had no wisdom or skill in silver, brass, cutting stones, carving timber or all
manner of workmanship. The spirit was
given of God. God gave these gifts by
the Spirit of God in those God called by name.
All was made after “the pattern” God gave in the mount by God’s
command. All was done by the Spirit and
gifts God gave. so God gets all the
glory in the tabernacle and everything therein.
“Except
the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” God said,
Amos 9:11: In that day will I raise up the
tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I
will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12: That
they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called
by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.
Hebrews 3:3: For this man was counted worthy
of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more
honour than the house: 4: For every house is builded by some man; but he that
built all things is God. 5: And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as
a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; 6: But
Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
1 Peter 2:5: Ye also, as lively stones, are built
up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ.
Amen!