Bezalel and Oholiab

 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,  to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. (Exodus 35:30-34)

Bezalel- in the shadow(protection) of God

Uri -my light/flame

Oholiab – Father’s Tent

Ahisamak – Brother of Support

          Bezalel recently came to mind. Of course he didn’t come to mind as “Bezalel.” He came to mind as “that guy to whom God assigned the crafting of the tabernacle. I knew he had a partner, too, but had to do some searching to find the passage above. I don’t think the meanings of the names should be considered highly significant. It’s just trivia.

          The reason Bezalel came to mind is because I seem to have two over-arching ideas at work in my life. I want to be, become, or continue to become a creative person. I also want to be, become, or continue to become a competent, productive, capable person. The reality is that as one becomes one, one is likely to become the other. Creative people develop skills that help them be productive. Productive people figure out ways to do things.

          The passage above is typical of those that mention Bezalel and Oholiab. We learn a little genealogy, that God had given them His Spirit and put them in charge of the production and construction of the tabernacle. And my (our?) response is that creativity and artistic ability is a mystical thing. One day Bezalel and Oholiab were walking along, kicking stones because they’d been declared too dumb to join the jocks or soldiers. The Spirit descends on them and suddenly, they make DaVinci, Michaelangelo and Van Gogh look like the ones who are too dumb to join the jocks or soldiers.

          From what Scripture (as translated into English) says, this “art as a supernatural gift from God” would seem to be the case. God is certainly able to do such a thing. Two things bother me about the idea. First, the Israelites (including Bezalel and Oholiab) had been slaves in Egypt, involved in construction. Secondly, they taught others. Other people were involved who very likely did more of the actual work than Bezalel and Oholiab. Scripture doesn’t teach that God’s Spirit filled the workers. Those suggest that it is possible that God’s Spirit being given to Bezalel and Oholiab did not result in the dummy to DaVinci effect. They probably had at least the basic skills necessary.

          That means that while we aren’t likely to be blessed with the dummy to DaVinci effect either, there is hope that God may find use for us and our abilities.

          The other thing I find interesting and amusing is that while we’re told that God gave Bezalel and Oholiab His Spirit, we never see them in action. They get no dialogue. They’re mentioned, but they were sufficiently involved in their work that they are basically invisible in Scripture. So-to-speak, they’re listed in the credits, but not seen. I like that. This is the sort of creativity I like.