A bunch of Bezalels - heroes worth remembering...

Bezalel of Judah and the Worship of the Almighty

(1 Chronicles 2:18-20, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, April 30, 2017)

[18] Caleb the son of Hezron fathered children by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. [19] When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. [20] Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel.

Bezalel of Judah

Why would the Chronicler begin his two volume set with a record of names from days that were long gone by? Toward the end of the Old Testament era, the exiles who were returning from Babylon and the lands of the east after seventy years of discipline were coming back into the Promised Land. They understood that it was important to be able to prove that they had the right heritage as those who were truly Jews, descending from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In addition, they knew that God had given a promise regarding an eternal King of Life who would come from one of the sons of Jacob, Judah. It had also been revealed that this great resurrection ruler would be descended from the line of David. The Chronicler did not know who would be the next man on the list eventually leading to the Messiah. He recorded those names in 1 Chronicles 3:17-24 so that future generations would have the records that would allow them to see that the line of David had continued beyond the years in Babylon.

In addition to preparing the new Israel for the coming of a future king, the faithful at the end of the Old Testament era wanted to see the worship of Jehovah restored again. Therefore the Chronicler went back in time 500 years from the days of David in order to enter the genealogy of a man from the tribe of Judah who had been prepared by God to do a special work in the days of Moses. God had instructed Bezalel of Judah through Moses to make a variety of metal objects (Exodus 31:1-11) that were used centuries later. He made the bronze altar that the priests of Israel and Judah had long used in order to burn sacrificial animals to the Lord. This Old Testament system of worship had reinforced the realism of their sin and the hope that one day through the blood sacrifice of one mediator, sin would finally be truly dealt with. The way that such a success would be confirmed would be through the resurrection of the one sacrificial substitute. Through His death, eternal life would be secured, and the whole system of burning offerings on the Old Testament altar would finally be completed.

2 Chronicles 1:5-6 reads as follows: “[5] Moreover, the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the LORD. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out. [6] And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.”

The tabernacle, the first temple, and the second temple and the reestablishment of proper worship in the Promised Land

Israel once had a movable tabernacle, and Bezalel made the very large bronze structure for burning animals that was moved through the wilderness and into the Promised Land from the days of Moses all the way up to the days of Solomon. Solomon burned thousands of animals on that altar in a desire to show the Lord that He understood who was the greatest: the Great I-AM, Jehovah God. Solomon built the first permanent stationery structure to be a house of God, which building was destroyed by the Babylonians during the period when they brought the people of Judah into the east to serve them. The Chronicler and all the faithful who were with him wanted to see something like that building rebuilt. They would need modern-day Bezalels to build up the house of God again in Jerusalem. Why else mention Bezalel in 1 Chronicles 2?

The people of God had just spent 70 years or so in a land with a very different understanding of greatness enshrined in something called the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was a mythical king in a world of very many gods. He was called “the man to whom all things were known.” Like Solomon he built a temple, but not for the one I-AM—“for the god of the firmament Anu, and for Ishtar the goddess of love.” What kind of man was he? He was a winner whose “arrogance has no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children; …. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble; yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute.” The people complained to the gods about him, and their answer was to make a friend and rival for him, Enkidu, who would be his match in strength in order to bring quiet to the city. Enkidu instead became his ally in the destruction of the evil Humbaba, which Gilgamesh would seek to slay with Enkidu in order to “leave behind an enduring name.”

With the death of his beloved fellow warrior, Gilgamesh goes in search of eternal life. His conclusion at the end of the epic: He would never have it. Gilgamesh found an odd assurance, the certainty that there was no such thing as eternal life for man. “There is no permanence.”

At his death, this poem of relentless human mortality in a see of strange gods concludes:

“The king has laid himself down and will not rise again,

The Lord of Kullab will not rise again;

He overcame evil, he will not come again;

Though he was strong of arm he will not rise again;

He had wisdom and a comely face, he will not come again;

He is gone into the mountain, he will not come again;

On the bed of fate he lies, he will not rise again,

Front the couch of many colors he will not come again.”

The New Testament church of Jesus Christ

We have a very different view of all people with dignity as image-bearers of the Almighty. Normal? Not so. (Witness Gilgamesh and Greek tragedies, where heroism is only possible for a few lofty ones.) In the kingdom of God, billions of modern-day Bezalels are called to build a temple of people, the church. We start every week marking the fact that the Lord is risen and that he will come again. We then move forward into a world increasingly full of little I-AM Gilgameshes who are half sure they know everything but also crying in despair. From the strength of Sunday of worship, we spend Monday through Saturday seeking to obey the will of God, which the Scripture tells us is our “sanctification.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3) Worship and service as living sacrifices in world of disappointment and hope—that's us! How glorious that the only God who is our Master Builder (Hebrews 11:10) is far above the gods of paganism!

Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. Jehovah is assembling a kingdom of worshipers on earth who are united to His Son. Any skills that we have been given come from Him and are to be used not only for the care of this fading world but also for the work of our Lord's eternal community of faith, hope, and love—the church. Still glum? This may help. Jesus calls us His “unworthy servants” since “we have only done what was our duty.” (Luke 17:10) Rejoice!

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 12 – The godly one is gone

Gospel Reading—Matthew 7:6 – Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.