As the Lord enables me, I want
to talk to you tonight about two men, two men chosen and ordained
of God to serve him in a most extraordinary capacity. Two very,
very important men in scripture whose names are known by very
few people. I dare say that there are few
people who regularly read and study this book who even remember
the names of these two men. I believe you will remember them
after tonight. My subject is Bezalel and the
Holy Ab. Our text will be Exodus 35, verses
30 through 35. Now, as we've gone through the
book of Exodus, I've told you repeatedly that the tabernacle
and all its furnishings and services, all the garments of the priest
and so on, was typical of our Lord Jesus and of the salvation
that he accomplished. The tabernacle and its furnishings
and its services, the men connected with the tabernacle, were typical
of both the person and the work of the Son of God, our Redeemer.
Typical of our Lord Jesus in his person as the God-man, our
mediator, and typical of our Savior in his accomplishments
as our mediator. Therefore when the Lord God gave
commandment for the tabernacle to be erected every detail Every
detail was arranged by divine purpose and decree All of it
was revealed to one man a mediator Moses it was provided everything
Involved in the construction of the tabernacle Every piece
of material was provided Supernaturally by God Almighty and the whole
work was executed precisely According to God's will God's decree and
God's revealed word given to Moses everything Nothing was
left to chance No vote was taken No mortal was consulted No man
was allowed to add anything to the work. No man could diminish
from the work. Every ordinance, every ceremony
was given precisely according to God's revelation to Moses
in the mount. Nothing added, nothing taken
away. No denominational committee was
set to decide what we will agree to believe and agree not to believe,
agree to make a part of our confession, and agree that we will, well,
this is irrelevant, not important, so it really doesn't matter.
Isn't it amazing how people can find something in God's word
and say this is a matter of indifference? This really is not something
about which we should take a stand. This really is not something
that really ought to cause us to be really terribly concerned
if it's somehow perverted or misused or somehow misrepresented. Oh, no. Everything was exactly
as God himself said it must be. Everything was done precisely
as God commanded that it be done. And everything was performed
precisely after the order shown to Moses. No exceptions. No exceptions. Moses himself
was skilled in all the wisdom of Egypt. That's some statement. That's some statement. This man
raised as Pharaoh's son was skilled in all the wisdom and learning
of the Egyptians. But Moses wasn't allowed to contribute
even an opinion. Not even an opinion. He wasn't
consulted. Moses was not allowed to draw
up the plans for God's dwelling place. Instead he was required
to make all things after the pattern showed him by God in
the mount He wasn't allowed to add anything to contribute anything
to take anything away The pattern had been fully revealed It had
been clearly revealed and it was not to be altered the Lord
God even specified that I'll look at this, Lord willing, a
little more next week when we start looking at the men and women
God used in erecting the tabernacle. But God even specified who would
carry the nails they drove in the ground. He identified a specific
group of people to carry the ark, a specific group of people
to carry this table or that part, and a specific group even to
carry the nails they drove into the ground. I say all that because
I want you to understand. Everything relating to the salvation
of our souls is God's work alone. Salvation is of the Lord. Man
contributes nothing. Not a will, not a decision, not
a work. Nothing. Man contributes nothing.
Salvation is a work purposed and predestined by God Almighty
in eternity. And it is a work performed exactly
according to God's purpose of grace established in eternity
and revealed to us in the book of God. Exactly according to
the will of God. Exactly according to divine predestination. Exactly as God has ordained it. Brother Don, that seems like
you're saying that nobody's going to be saved except God's elect
and all God's elect will be saved. That's exactly what I'm saying.
And they're gonna be saved exactly as God said they would, as God
ordained they would be. Salvation's carried out exactly
according to God's purpose. Nothing's left to chance. Nothing
contributed by man. Nothing taken away by man. So
detailed is God's purpose that God Almighty arranged from eternity
and brings to pass in time Even the man by whom he carries his
word to the chosen center at the appointed time of love and
all the circumstances and all the emotions and all the feelings,
all things relating to that man at that hour, God brings to pass
exactly as he purposed in eternity. Exactly as he purposed it. Here
in Exodus 35, the Lord God names these two specific men who were
the primary artisans by whom all things were to be made and
accomplished. Bezalel from the tribe of Judah
and Aholiab from the tribe of Dan. God chose them. God equipped them. God identified
them. Let's see what God tells us about
them. We'll begin reading at verse 30, Exodus 30, verse 35. And Moses said to the children
of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezalel, the son
of Uriah, the son of her of the tribe of Judah. And he had filled
him with the spirit of God and wisdom in understanding and in
knowledge and in all manner of workmanship. and to devise curious
works, to work in gold and in silver and in brass, and in the
cutting of stones to set them, and in carving of wood to make
any manner of cutting work. And he hath put in his heart
that he may teach, both he and Aholiab, the son of Ahismak of
the tribe of Dan. 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. The tabernacle is now to be built. The Lord told Moses who must
do the work. But long before he told moses
to do the work long before the command came now now build the
tabernacle appoint Bezalel and a hola ab to do this work Back
in chapter 31 while moses is still in the mount You can look
at it later. The first five verses of chapter 31 are almost identical
to what we just read almost identical because god purposed before Bezalel
and Aholahab were called and appointed to the work, God purposed
that they be called and appointed to the work. God set them aside
in his purpose and decree. And so it is with all things
concerning our salvation. Now, the first thing then I want
you to see is this. Bezalel and Aholahab were set
before us here as very instructive pictures, typical of our Lord
Jesus. None but Christ. None but the
Son of God. None but the Son of God in our
nature. None but the Son of God doing
exactly what he did while he was upon this earth and doing
exactly what he does in his glory now. None but Christ could accomplish
our salvation. Every detail given about these
two men. And every detail given about
the house of God establishes the fact that these men were
set apart by God distinctly for this purpose, and they come here
as clear types of the Lord Jesus, our Savior. The very first thing
God says about this is, see. See? That's like, behold. I don't recall which books I
have in my library, but I still have a few very old books. And
they used to, as we have in our Bibles, you have those little,
look like P's with a couple of letters in them, identifying
paragraph marks. In old volumes, they used to
have artwork, and they would begin a sentence or a paragraph
or begin a chapter with a very eloquently done letter or maybe
even the whole word. And then they would call attention
to things with a finger pointing This is in our on our computers.
We have uh, uh, what do you call bullets? Finger pointing just
a drone finger pointing Calling your attention. This is important
Here god says see This is important ponder this Look this over Behold
this thing consider it. Well this man of Bezalel and
this man, Aholam. They're typical of the Lord Jesus,
our Redeemer and our Savior. First, let's look at Bezalel.
As is so often the case in scripture, the names given to these men
and those from whom they were descended are meaningful. I recall reading Robert Hawker
when One time I was in a commentary on his dictionary and his devotional. He said, many women in ancient
times named their children for a reason. It wasn't just a name
that sounded pretty or names that were popular. They named
them for a reason. And the names meant something
to them because God had done something for them. I didn't
know much about those things when our daughter was born. Some
of you know this, some of you don't. When I first got married,
doctors told us we couldn't have any children. And unless I had
surgery, then maybe not. And I was taking New Testament
Greek at the time we found out she was pregnant with faith and
determined I would name her Catherine Faith. Two Greek words mean pure
faith. And she's named as such. Hawker
said people used to name their children like that because that
way, every time they called their child's name, They would be reminded
of some good work of God on their behalf. These names mean something. They were given by God's purpose. Let me show you the meaning of
the names. His name Bezalel means in the shadow of God or the protection
of God. Not in the sense that he shadows
God or protects God. but in the sense that he is that
one who is God's shadow and that one who is God's protector of
his people. Bezalel was the son of Uri and
Uri means light. He was the grandson of Hur. Hur
means free. He was from the tribe of Judah
and Judah means praise. I don't need to tell you much
to show you that Christ is our Bezalel, do I? He is that one
represented by Bezalel. Blessed are those people who
take refuge under Christ, the shadow of God, the protection
of God. Listen to the scriptures. Keep
me as the apple of thine eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. David when he was in the cave,
hiding from Saul, prayed like this. Be merciful unto me, O
God. Be merciful unto me, for my soul
trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. Later
he wrote, because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow
of thy wings will I trust. Bezalel, his name speaks of the
one who is God's shadow, the shadow of God over us, the shadow
of God protecting us, the shadow of God in whom and under whom
we hide. The name of the Lord is a high
tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. He is our refuge. He is the son
or was the son of Uri whose name means light. And the Lord Jesus
is the light of the Lord. You remember the Urim and Thummim
that were set in Aaron's breastplate. The word Urim means lights. It is this very same word Uri
only in the plural. Christ is the light of the Lord. He is that one who is the son
of God in who is light and in whom is no darkness at all. He
is the light of the world. He is the light in whom we walk,
the light by whom we walk, the light of the knowledge of God.
All of that is in Christ and comes from Christ. He is the
son of righteousness who arises upon our poor souls with healing
in his wings. Christ is the light to say that
his father is light or to say that he is the son of light is
to declare that Christ is God He is the brightness of the father's
glory and the express image of his person Mesalea was the grandson
of her which means free or at liberty at liberty I Don't know how common it is
elsewhere, but when I was a young man, services dismissed in a
congregation in the South, it was commonly stated, you're at
liberty. That means you can do whatever
you want to. You're at liberty. You don't
have to stay quiet anymore. You can leave and talk and visit
around. You're at liberty. You don't have to sit there quietly
any longer. You're at liberty. You don't
have to refrain from this, that, or the other. You're at liberty
now. The service has ended. And you're no longer constrained
to behave in a certain way by the rules required of being simply
polite and reverent with regard to the things of God. You're
at liberty. You're at liberty. Oh, what a name for our Redeemer. Liberty. No, at liberty. In Christ, child of God, you're
at liberty, at liberty from sin, at liberty to serve God, at liberty
from the law, at liberty from all fear, at liberty from the
curse of the law, at liberty from death, at liberty from the
fear of death, at liberty as the sons of God, at liberty in
Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Redeemer. And next, We're told
that Bezalel was of the tribe of Judah. Several years ago, Brother Bob
Ponce walked back here in the office, and I had preached a
message from Genesis 43 verse 9 about Christ, our surety. And Bob had read sometime back,
I think it was on Sunday evening, that afternoon, Genesis chapter
42 and chapter 43. And he said, Brother Dodd, did
you notice that Reuben offered to do the same thing Judah did.
Reuben volunteered to be surety for Benjamin, and his father
wouldn't permit Reuben to go. Wonder why? Because Judah came and made this
very same proposal to his father, and his father said, OK, go.
Now come, because our Lord is not the lion of the tribe of
Reuben. He's the lion of the tribe of
Judah. Judah means praise. And our Lord
Jesus shall have all the praise of His work. Judah is the royal
line through whom is descended the kings of Israel, through
whom comes the Lord Jesus Christ, our great King, our Savior. Judah
was the tribe that When Israel moved, now remember I told you
everything about the whole business of the tabernacle was ordered
of God as a picture of our salvation. Do you remember who the Lord
commanded every time Israel broke up camp and started moving? To
go in the front. Judah. Every time. Judah led the way. Judah led
the way in the battle. Judah led the way through the
wilderness. Judah led the way when they came to an oasis in
the desert. Judah led the way when they walked
in the bleak, dark land. Judah led the way, always. Christ,
our great Judah, always goes before us, always leads the way. And there is nothing that you
experience. He hasn't first experienced nothing
you taste. He hasn't first tasted. Nothing
touches you that didn't first touch him. He leads the way and
he leads the way into everlasting glory. He is our forerunner. Seated in heaven for us who's
taken possession of heaven's glory in our room instead And
the forerunner means somebody else is coming He leads the way. All right. Here's another thing
These men were miraculously supernaturally Divinely equipped for the work
God chose Bezalel and Aholam to be the chief artisans who
led all the other craftsmen in the work of the tabernacle. These
were the chief men, and God distinctly equipped them for the work. Look
at verses 31 through 35 again. He hath filled him, Bezalel,
with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge,
in all manner of workmanship. Verse 32. and to devise curious
works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in
the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood,
to make any manner of cunning work. And he hath put in his
heart that he may teach, both he and Aholiab, the son of Ahissumat,
of the tribe of Dayen. 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
and scarlet and in fine linen and of the weaver, even of them
that do any work and of those that devise cunning work. As
Bezalel and Aholahab were divinely equipped for the work, so our
Lord Jesus was supernaturally miraculously, unexplainably,
divinely equipped for the work of redemption and salvation.
Turn to Isaiah chapter 11. Let me show you a parallel passage
to this. Isaiah chapter 11. passage that so clearly speaks
of our Lord Jesus that you can't help but to see the comparison
between him and Bezalel and a holy head. Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1, And
there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and
a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon him. and the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, and the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And he shall make him a 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, 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 the breath of his
lips shall he slay the wicked, and righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." Bezalel,
we're told, was equipped to work in gold. Do you remember what
gold has been used to represent throughout the Book of Exodus?
Throughout the book of Exodus, gold is used to represent God. Everything in the tabernacle
is overlaid with pure gold. Always speaking of divinity.
Only one who is filled with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and
understanding, with knowledge, is able to work in gold. Only
one who is himself God is fit to work in divine things. This
is what our Savior said. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. I have manifested thy name. I
have given unto them the words which thou gavest me. I have
kept them in thy name. And then he said, it's finished.
He who is our great Redeemer is fit to deal with God. and to deal with the things of
God, fit to handle God, fit to bring God to us and fit to bring
us to God. Bezalel was also divinely appointed
builder of the tabernacle, and as such, he was equipped to work
in silver. Silver speaks of atonement. Silver speaks of redemption.
You remember the board setting up right in the tabernacle are
sitting in sockets of silver, sockets of silver that were made
from the atonement money that was brought when the children
of Israel were numbered. When every man came to give ransom
for his soul with the atonement money, the Lord Jesus, our Redeemer,
he who is God, our savior, the God man, he and he alone. was fit to make atonement, and
he did make atonement. None of them can by any means
redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him, for
the redemption of their soul is precious. Precious indeed. Precious indeed. It cost the
very precious blood of Jesus Christ to redeem us. Look at
the next one. And then brass. Brass. God sent judgment to Israel.
And we sent this fiery serpents to sting the children of Israel
to death. As those fiery serpents bit the
children of Israel and they died. Then he commanded Moses to make
a serpent of brass. A serpent made of that material
that represents judgment. The judgment of God in the world.
Brass. Brass to hold up so that everyone
who looks at the serpent may live. Brass then speaks a divine
judgment. And no mere mortal could bear,
endure, and stand before the judgment of God. No mere mortal. This is unspeakably solemn. The
Lord hath laid help upon one that is mighty. He's exalted
one chosen out of the people to redeem and save our souls.
Let us ever think of it with reverence and joy, with seriousness,
sobriety, and delight and happiness. Turn back to Lamentations chapter
1, that passage we looked at at the opening of the message
Sunday morning. In verse 12, our Lord Jesus is
speaking. He speaks of His sorrow. Sorrow
that's incomparable. Sorrow like no man ever endured. Sorrow wherewith the Lord God,
His Father, and our Father afflicted Him in His fierce anger. Now
look at verse 13. From above hath he sent fire
into my bones, and it prevaileth against them. He hath spread
a net for my feet. He hath turned me back. He hath
made me desolate and faint all the day. Now watch this. The yoke of my transgressions
is bound by his hand. They are wreathed, that is, they
are interwoven together, bound together like so many pieces
of a wreath, and come upon my neck. And he hath made my strength
to fall. My iniquities, he said, are more
than the hairs of my head. He who made sin for us cries
here as he suffers the wrath of God in our stead and says,
my God, my Father, in the day of his fierce anger has interwoven
all the iniquity of my people, my iniquities. He's bound them
all together and he's put them on my neck. so that our Lord
Jesus, bearing his body on the tree, the sins of his people,
until justice was satisfied, working in brass." Read on. And in cutting of stones. In cutting of stones. The reference
is to the jewels that Aaron, the high priest of Israel, wore
in his breastplates. The jewels where appeared the
names of the 12 tribes of Israel engraved as Aaron the priest
did his work before the Lord. And thus those gems spoke of
the people of God. Presented before him in all the
merits. And all the efficacy of the obedience
and blood of Jesus Christ, our great high priest. And in carving
of timber. harping of timber. When the Lord God would make
a beam for his house, when he would make rafters for his house,
he falls the tree from which he makes it. And he engraves
the image of his darling son upon the rafter, upon the beam. And the Lord God would make boards
in his house, boards in his tabernacle to stand upright, always to stand
upright, fixed in a foundation of silver, fixed in a foundation
of atonement, fixed in sockets of silver, overlaid with gold.
He fills the tree of Shittem wood, overlays it with gold and
sets it upright in his house. and makes for himself a dwelling
place among his people. Now look at verse 34. This man
Aholab, the son of Ahissamak of the tribe of Dan. It takes
more than one man to foreshadow the God-man. When you read the
scriptures, there's so many types of him. From the beginning, Adam
and Abel, And David, and Solomon, and Moses, and Aaron, and Abraham,
and Joseph, all were types of Christ, and none of them could
fully portray Him. And so here we have these two
men, Bezalel and Aholihab, both set together at one time as pictures
of our Redeemer. Aholihab means tent of the Father. That sounds familiar, doesn't
it? The Word was made flesh, dwelt among us. That word dwelt
means tented, tabernacled. It will be literally translated
tabernacled. He dwelt in a tent among us. He dwelt tabernacled among us
and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. God was in Christ. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. He said, He that hath seen me,
hath seen the Father. He that hath seen me, hath seen
the Father. In him is all the fullness of
God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is the revelation of God. Holy Ab, was the son of Ahissamak. Ahissamak means brother of support. Turn to Hebrews chapter 4. I
got to look at this. Hebrews chapter 4. Brother of support. Our Lord
Jesus, we're told, behooved him and all things being made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God. Look at Hebrews 4, verse
14. Seeing then we have a great high
priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of God,
let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. I find it remarkable that that
statement immediately precedes verse 16, don't you? We have
a high priest sitting yonder on the mercy seat. Who is the
mercy seat? Sitting yonder on the throne
of God, a high priest who took on himself our nature and who
is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, a high priest
who was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore. Let us therefore
come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need. I know sooner got in
the office this morning that I got a call from a friend of
mine. whose heart's aching and what a thing I could do for
him except point him to our brother
of support and bid him cast his soul on
him and take his soul to the throne of grace and obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need. He gives us the needy times sweetly to force us now to come
boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need, time of need. Aholiab was of the tribe
of Dan. You remember I told you that
by God's order, whenever Israel moved in the wilderness, all
those 40 years, whether they went out to war or went to set
up the tabernacle, whether they went to the waters to drink or
went to the desert in barrenness, wherever they went, Judah led
the way. Do you know what position Dan
held? Dan was always in the rear. Always
in... Judah's up front, Dan's in the
back. How come? Because Aholiab was
of the tribe of Dan. He represents our Lord Jesus,
in whom God Almighty, our Redeemer, shows himself to be what Isaiah
calls the re-reward, the rearward. That is the one who brings up
the rear. The one who, from the rear, gathers
all together. The one who watches the backside. The one who takes care of that
which is behind and brings it all together. A holab, Judah,
I mean, there's a Leo, Judah, he's in the front. A holab, Dad,
he's in the rear. And between them is the whole
nation of Israel. In Christ Jesus our Lord, in
all he does, has done, and shall do, all God's Israel are represented,
and all is well. for he goes before and he brings
up the rear. The tabernacle of God is the
place of worship because there we see God Almighty set forth
in his glory for his praise in the sacrifice of the Lamb, the
Lamb of God, Christ, our Passover sacrifice for us. Now, very briefly,
back in Exodus chapter 35, Both Bezalel and Aholiab were filled
with the spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge,
and in all manner of workmanship. Them hath he filled with wisdom
of heart to work all manner of work of the engraver. and to
the cunning workmen and to the embroiderer in blue and in purple
and scarlet and fine linen and of the weaver even of them that
do any work and of those that devise cunning work. Fill them
with the spirit of God and wisdom in all manner of workmanship. Do you remember what Paul tells
us in Ephesians 2, Bill? Verse 10, he tells us we're saved
by God's grace alone, not according to works, and we are his workmanship. Know what the word is? Know what the word is? What do you reckon? What do you
reckon anybody on this earth would give if they could just
get one little tiny piece of the engravings of that tabernacle
furniture. Just what do you reckon they'd
give? And no, they had it. What do you reckon they'd give
just to get one of those plates on which set the showbread on
the table? I'll guarantee you it's worth
more than what anybody here's got if we put it all together. Guaranteed. This is masterpiece. These things were made by the
dictate of God, by men specifically gifted of God to make them just
the way they were. Reckon what that effort looked
like with that beautiful signet right in front of it, holiness
to the Lord. Man, what would you give to get hold of that
thing? Workmanship. We are his workmanship. Remember what the word means?
That's it. His masterpieces. Masterpieces. Look here. Look here. Are you
looking? This is God's masterpiece. God's
masterpiece. created in Christ Jesus for the
glory of God. Oh, thank God for Bezalel and
Aholam, Christ our Savior, in all his saving power, glory,
and efficacy. Amen.