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Daily Devotions

Exodus

Exodus 
Day 
Day 348

"Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom, And in all your getting, get understanding." Proverbs 4:7

Text: Exodus 36 : 8

WHERE WOULD YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO BEGIN?

When God gave instructions to Moses concerning the building of the Tabernacle, He began by speaking of the Ark of the Testimony, the Table for the Showbread and the Golden Lampstand (Cf. Exodus 25). If you were Bezalel, where would you have begun the work of constructing the Tabernacle?

CHOOSING TO BEGIN ON THE CURTAINS

Bezalel decided that the first thing he would do would be to work on the curtains.

“Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked
on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen,
and of blue, purple and scarlet thread; with artistic designs
of cherubim they made them.”
EXODUS 36:8

1. The freedom to choose

We are not told just why the artisans chose to work on the curtains first, but we do know that they had the freedom to choose which work would begin first!

2. No freedom to change designs

Though Bezalel had the right to choose which project he wanted to handle first, he did not have the freedom to choose the motif for the curtains, nor the material of the curtains.

a) Fine woven linen
This was the type of material that God specified. And Bezalel complied! And why should he not choose to use the best of material to work with? Any skilled artisan would always prefer to use the finest of material as his medium.
b) The motif of cherubim
We are not told what features the cherubim would possess. Bezalel may choose to accentuate a detail or two, but the theme of the motif would have to be “cherubim”. It would be challenging for him to figure with his artisans how they would represent the cherubim on the curtains!

3. No freedom to change the essential features of the curtains

There were other essential features that could not be change either:-

a) The length of the curtains
b) The number of curtains

4. Enough room for artistic flair

The artisans had instructions to obey, but they were also given enough room to express artistic flairs.