Exodus 31:1–5: Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.'”

December 5th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

In Exodus 17:10 we read that Hur was one of the men who held up Moses’ arms while Joshua was fighting the Amalikites. And when Moses went up the mountain to meet with God, he left Aaron and Hur as leaders to handle any matters that might come up among the people (Ex. 24:14). But he is not mentioned in Exodus 32, when the people demanded an idol. A non-biblical tradition says the people killed Hur for refusing their demand for the golden calf. Scripture is silent on this matter, but we do know that in chapter 31 God anointed Hur’s grandson with His Spirit, giving him the skill needed to conduct this special artistic construction work.

When it says, “to design artistic works,” the Hebrew suggests, “to think thoughts.” It seems God was inspiring the thoughts and ideas of this artist; so this man, and the others with him, were divinely inspired craftsmen. We typically think of prophets as being filled with the Spirit of God, but here we find Bezalel a Spirit-directed craftsman, or one might even say, a Spirit-filled contractor. How important that we understand that pastors and missionaries are not the only ones functioning under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. God is still using men and women of God, who desire to be used, in all kinds of trades.

We miss the mark when we consider our jobs unimportant to God. Bezalel understood that he was working for God, and each of us today should think of our daily labors in the same way. We do not work for men but for God Almighty. As the Apostle Paul wrote:

Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. (Ephesians 6:5)

“LORD, we chose to work for You today. Direct our hands and minds as we serve You.”