Bezalel and Oholiab

In the book of Exodus (chapter 31) we encounter a couple of lesser-known guys named Bezalel (bez’-uh-lel) and Oholiab (oh-hoh-lee-ab). They are both artists.

Leading up to this passage, over the course of five chapters, we read in detail the building and artistic design of the Tabernacle, a portable tent-like sanctuary carried by the Israelites on their journey to the promised land. The scripture outlines all the elaborate features of this tabernacle and its furnishings: basins, alters, lamp stands, tables, robes for the priests – all of them beautiful as well as functional. Nothing is overlooked; nothing is haphazard. All of it is to be finely crafted. 

On top of that, we see that God invites imagination and creativity. God instructs them to carve Cherubim – even when no one really knows what a Cherubim look like. And then God speaks to Moses and tells him – we have to have skilled artists to do this. We have to have master craftsmen. And I have just the guy in mind – this guy with the funky name – to take the lead: Bezalel. And then God says, “I have filled him with my Spirit.”  

It’s interesting: The very first person in the Bible who is said to be “filled with the Spirit,” is an artist! Amazing!  

All of this just reminds me of the importance of art in human life and in faith…

Of course, people of faith have known this for a long time. I can’t help but think about the elaborate Cathedrals in Europe: monuments that reflect transcendence and the enormity of the divine Spirit. Think about beautiful stained glass and tapestry. I also think about the poetry of George Herbert and John Dunn. I think about soaring choirs, and anthems that stir the soul.

The capacity of art to draw us out beyond ourselves and to touch the soul is powerful.

Today I give thanks for the arts and artists out there; for music that stirs our spirits; poetry and the visual arts that move us and even challenge us; and for the creative artistic spirit that resides in each of us. These, no doubt, are gifts from God.

Let us pray: You are the Master Artist, O God. You must truly love us to dazzle us with your handiwork on a daily basis: lofty snow-covered mountains, florescent pink sunsets, flowing cascades In all of this, and in the myriad of plants and animals across the face of the globe, we glimpse something of your creative spirit, a spirit that you have placed in each of us. We give you thanks and praise. Amen.