I love to study Scripture, and one of my favorite moments is when I stumble across a person whose story is barely known, but who still played a vital role in God’s Big Book of Humanity. For example, we can look at the life of Bezalel, a man from the Book of Exodus whose name means "in the shadow or protection of God."

To understand Bezalel, let’s set the scene for where we are in history. The Israelites have left Egypt. Moses has received the Ten Commandments (and all the other more detailed laws) from God. And now God is giving them specific instructions about how to build the tabernacle—God’s transportable dwelling place that will house sacred items like the Ark of the Covenant.

After hundreds of years as slaves in Egypt, with the most recent generations mostly just making bricks from rudimentary materials like clay and sand, God is now asking His people to make something truly grand…something unlike anything they’ve made before. But God doesn’t just lay a really impossible task in front of them and say, “Good luck!” He tells them what materials to use to make the structure and the furniture. He tells them the dimensions of everything and even how to transport the pieces. He also worked it out the details ahead of time. By telling Moses to demand that the Egyptians give the Israelites their jewelry as they left town, He

made sure they would have the precious jewels and gold required for the project. God thought of everything!

Then in Exodus 31, we read that God tells Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel…and I have 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 crafts.” You would assume Bezalel would need this extra inspirational instruction because he may not have been used to working with gold, silver, bronze and precious stones.

Bezalel came from a legacy of faithful and godly men, so when he was given a task—to lead other artisans as they carried out God’s specific instructions—we see him do just that. It says, “Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood…” and then it goes on to describe just what he did, repeating the instructions from a few chapters earlier. I have to believe that Bezalel was a new man after he was given these new responsibilities. People change when expectations for them change. They either shirk from their obligations or they meet the challenge. I’m sure the fact that he was “filled with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills” made all the difference in how he carried out his duties.

It's important to remember that this wasn’t a one-off—the one and only time God inspired, authorized, and equipped someone for a special task. God does this all the time. He is in the business of making us unique and giving us unique gifts to be used for his glory. Paul talked about this very thing in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul said, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. …the body is not made up of one part but of many….God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” Just like Bezalel, we all have an important role to play in the kingdom!