Craftsmen Today

by R. Darke, Victoria, B.C., Canada | Category: General | Mar 1987

The old gentleman had a love for wood. As men handle the Koh-i-noor diamond with reverence and affection, so he handled a plank from an acacia tree. To him there was wood and wood; as there are trees and trees; but what seemed to make his hands twitch on this occasion were the mahogany columns which upheld the floors of the large emporium. He ran his hands over those columns with love and tenderness, and a far away look in his eyes indicated that he had been transported mentally to the very place where the original trees had grown. Masks of pure delight, ecstasy, satisfaction, moved slowly in their turn across the gentle, friendly face of this visionary as he stood rooted, unconscious of the hordes of people who walked around him. Then the spell was broken and he emerged into reality, into the real world, just as the butterfly does from its chrysalis. The old craftsman had ended another dream of his next project.

Craftsmen seem to have a personal relationship with, even an attachment to, the materials the~ handle. This was possibly true with a unique man in Israel who was skilful in handling gold, silver, copper, and wood. His name was Bezalel who came from the kingly tribe of Judah. He was God's choice for the making of the furniture for the tabernacle in the wilderness. He was called and instructed of God. His name means "in the shadow of God", and there is no teaching place to excel that. "See I have chosen ... Bezalel ... I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts 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 craftsmanship" (Ex. 31:1-5 NIV). And he was given a skilful companion, similarly endowed by God, named Oholiab. Here were divinely instructed craftsmen who would handle precious materials with skill and reverence, knowing that one day their work would adorn the divine dwelling place. Only the best must meet the eyes of the holy One whose presence in the tabernacle was recognized by the pillar of cloud and of fire.

Fifteen hundred years later the Lord chose two men, Peter and Paul, to be the leading spiritual craftsmen for the building of God's house, consisting of Jew and Gentile, in this day of grace. The pattern had been set on the day of Pentecost when seven specific things happened after Peter had preached his memorable message.

(1)They then that received his word,

(2) were baptized,

(3) added together,

(4) continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching,

(5) and fellowship,

(6) in the breaking of bread, and

(7) the prayers (Acts 2:41,42).

More than 3,000 people took these steps on that day, and this was the inception of the church of God in Jerusalem. This identical plan was followed wherever the apostles preached. The order was not changed, nor were items omitted. So local churches came into existence based on this pattern in Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, and many other places, and they were all joined or framed together to grow into a spiritual dwelling place for God. It is called the house of God, with Christ Jesus being the chief Corner Stone (Eph. 2:20-22), as distinct from the Church the Body of Christ where Christ is the Rock and in which none is viewed as Jew or Gentile. Peter speaks of the spiritual house as being built of living stones to be a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God (1 Pet. 2:5). Those in it are viewed as an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession (v.9).

As Bezalel and Oholiab were divinely taught to build the tabernacle according to the pattern given by God to Moses, so Paul calls himself a wise master builder as he does the important work of building God's spiritual house in his day (1 Cor. 3:10). The word wise indicates skill, discretion, spiritual and practical wisdom. Master building comes from the Greek, architekton, a chief or responsible architect - craftsman. This was the man who wrote to Timothy, his young co-worker: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim.2:15 AV).

Today the need is just as great for willing workmen who are diligent with the word in making disciples of those who are born again, baptizing and teaching them the will of the Lord, or as Paul described it to the Ephesian overseers, "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Jude speaks of a common salvation which is enjoyed by all who put faith in Christ as Saviour; he also mentions those "contending earnestly for the Faith". There is a difference between "faith", describing our trust, our confidence in Christ and His shed blood for our eternal salvation, and "the Faith" which describes the doctrine of the Lord, something we contend for as baptized disciples in the house of God. It was among those defenders of the faith that Saul of Tarsus wrought havoc - the visible Church of God in Jerusalem. It was not against the Church which is Christ's Body because the gates of hell cannot prevail against that; it is out of the enemy's reach (Mat. 16:18).

The Christian life is not a narrow concept or a limited sphere. It is the experience of living out the whole counsel of God. This involves the responsibility of being a Bezalel, a Paul, a Peter, who were wise master

builders. Our work is to shape with the word of God divine material which can be built into His house today where together we can "hold fast our boldness and the glorying of our hope firm unto the end" (Heb. 3:6). This is something entirely different from the Church which is His Body, where Christ is the Builder and the sole Preserver. Time is short; there is much to do; hearts need stirring, tools need sharpening, the work is great and large (Neh. 4:19).

R. Darke, Victoria, B.C., Canada | Mar 1987
General