Session 2 Called Out by Name Exodus 35:30 36:5 Memory Verse They took from Moses s presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. Exodus 36:3, CSB 1
Session 2 Called Out by Name THEOLOGICAL THEME: God calls and divinely equips His people for specific roles in accomplishing His will. When the idea of calling surfaces in church conversations, many people conjure images of a newly-blinded Saul on the way to Damascus or a childless Abram leading his wife, Sarai, to a place God would identify once they arrived. Since those experiences are extremely rare in the collective Christian experience, many believers only view pastors, church staff, or missionaries to be called to ministry. Such an understanding can be problematic for the church in a variety of ways, not the least of which is the diminished role of what God has called every believer to do. In an interview, Dr. Jeff Iorg, president of Gateway Seminary, noted that, according to the incoming survey given to all entering students, up to 50 percent of the students entering Gateway Seminary were unsure what they were going to do after seminary. Answering follow-up questions, Dr. Iorg remarked, They come to seminary to work out their call, not as a response...i think every Christian has received a call to service and growth and they don t realize how valuable that calling is. Some students just need to go live that out. 1 Dr. Iorg described the call of all believers as a universal call to Christian service and growth. He explained that the call includes not only serving others, but also personal growth resulting in changed behavior...god has called you to live differently from people around you and differently from how you lived prior to conversion...this call was part of your conversion experience...your conversion included your call to Christian service and growth. 2 If all believers are called by God, what does that mean for the manner in which the believer joins God in His redemptive work in the world? 2 Date of My Bible Study:
In this week s session, God called two men, Bezalel and Oholiab, to lead the building effort of the tabernacle. Scripture described the men as being gifted by God for the building task, that it would be accomplished according to God s desire. God still calls His people by name and equips them to be a part of His work in the world. Bezalel and Oholiab were models of how God calls and equips His people to cooperate with Him. What is your current understanding of what it means to be called by God? What passages of Scripture would you base your answer on? Where are you currently employing your gifts and time to serve others? How does doing so impact your spiritual growth? Who would you readily identify as someone that knows how God created them to serve? What about that person led you to them? 1. Called to Cooperate with God (Exodus 35:30-33) The Israelites were in a season of restoration. In Exodus 31, Moses was still on Mount Sinai receiving instruction from God about the building of the tabernacle. God informed Moses of His appointment of Bezalel and Oholiab and the master craftsmen to oversee every phase of its construction. By the opening of the next chapter, however, the people of Israel were demanding the golden calf be made. Upon returning to the camp and seeing this with his own eyes, after God s warning, Moses smashed the tablets the Ten Commandments were inscribed on and led in the purification of the people. Moses interceded for the Lord s mercy on the people, the people were judged with a plague, and the favor of the Lord returned. Session 2 3
Following Moses receiving of new tablets, the favor of the Lord was indicated by the continuing of His divine plan for the construction of the tabernacle. Once again, Bezalel and Oholiab returned to the attention of Moses. The specific call of Bezalel was revealed to the Israelites, describing it as Bezalel being appointed by name. The deeply personal nature of God s call on Bezalel s life was indicated by the use of his name. Name employment was a steady theme throughout Exodus, as God gave His own name to Moses, called Moses by name at his calling, and now continued to Bezalel. What does God s calling of Bezalel by name, even after the debacle with the golden calf, tell you about Him? How does it help your understanding of serving God to know that He equips His people for service? Moses described the calling of Bezalel by adding that God had filled him with God s Spirit for the purpose of accomplishing the task to which he was called. The difference in the way the Holy Spirit empowered spiritual gifting in the New Testament was exactly the same as in the Old Testament, with one critical exception. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would empower God s person/ people to accomplish a specific task, and then the Spirit would depart. In the New Testament following Pentecost in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit began to indwell God s people permanently so that the obedience to the call to join God in His work in the world was perpetually empowered. In both cases, the empowering of the Holy Spirit was present to help God s people accomplish God s tasks. The empowering was exclusively focused on bringing God s will to bear; there was nothing random or self-serving about being filled with the Spirit. 4 Personal Study Guide
2. Ministry Is a Team Endeavor (Exodus 35:34 36:1) In verse 34, Moses brought Oholiab into the explanation of the call narrative. At the mention of Oholiab, however, Moses also introduced another facet of the task to which God had called the two craftsmen. They were to teach others how to do what God had given them the competency to do. This aspect was key to the finishing of the construction of the tabernacle. Teaching apprentice craftsmen was the Godordained process through which sufficient workmen would be raised to accomplish the holy project. The fact that God included the dynamic of master/apprentice in the call of Bezalel and Oholiab underscored that even spiritual gifting can be sharpened through use and mentoring. The other side of that coin was that it dispelled the notion that Bezalel being called and filled with the Spirit instantly transformed him from an unskilled laborer to a master craftsman in every possible trade. The commonly used phrase in modern contexts, God doesn t call the equipped, He equips the called, could be short-sighted then. More accurately, God frequently called those in whom He had already placed elementary equipping to hone and use that equipping under His empowerment and guidance to serve Him in greater ways according to the nature of His calling. (This is more difficult to fit on a bumper sticker, though.) Which of your skills or abilities has benefitted the most from someone coaching or mentoring you? Who do you know that could benefit from your experiences, expertise, or insight? How can you leverage those for the glory of God in your workplace, school, church, etc.? There was an inherent aspect of the calling of Bezalel and Oholiab that must be emphasized. If the two men were called to teach others, then those two men were not the only ones impacted by their calling. In other words, the entirety of the Session 2 5
people of Israel had a role to play in the construction of the tabernacle. For instance, if Bezalel and Oholiab were to teach others to work in the various materials and metals from which the tabernacle would be constructed, then those materials had to be given. If they were to teach others to be expert-level craftsmen, others would have to respond to God s prompting in their own lives to step into the collaborative effort of building the tabernacle. Still, there were boundaries within which the exercising of giftedness and obedience were to occur. Scholar Douglas Stuart observed, The tabernacle building project thus parallels what the work of God at its best has always entailed: an opportunity for everyone to contribute in some way, even if mainly by donation, and also an expectation that everything would be to the fullest and best extent and quality possible, by the people best qualified to do it, called for and guided by God. 3 Everything had to be done by those whom God had called and equipped for the task in such a way that was in accordance with His specific instruction. 3. Everyone Has a Role in Embracing Vision (Exodus 36:2-5) Finally, the work began. The workers that had been called by God to lead the effort were assembled by Moses and positioned for the task. As these verses unfolded, the manner in which the different facets of the Israelite community were involved in became clearer. One segment of the population was composed of artisans and craftsmen who labored in a literal hands-on way to accomplish the building of walls, instruments, garments, tapestries and so on. One segment of the population functioned in a leadership capacity, overseeing the workers and collecting the daily freewill offerings. The largest part of the population, however, actually supplied the raw materials and resources for building the tabernacle. The vitally important understanding of the interdependent way in which the various facets of the population contributed was that no part was more important than the other two parts. Such a notion might have conflicted with the popular perception of each role due to the acclaim the more specialized roles would have garnered. However, if one of the three groups failed to obediently pursue its role, the entire effort would have collapsed. Everyone had an indispensable role. 6 Personal Study Guide
Why do you think it s so important to recognize the value in each of the three roles? What would have been the consequences if one role was diminished in perceived importance? How might that same scenario manifest itself in the church today? How did the spiritual posture of the people contribute to their joyful giving? Why would they have been particularly mindful of the importance of obedience and service to God? How does that help us as well? The people gave so faithfully and sacrificially that Moses actually had to command them to stop giving to the tabernacle. This was likely the last time in church history that ever happened. The Israelites responded with an enthusiasm that was indicative of their acknowledgement of God s grace toward them. Stuart commented, When a community is asked to pay back something as major as the tabernacle project was and does so fully and rapidly, it speaks volumes about that community s unity of purpose, its solidarity in responding to the divine call. 4 The significance of the daily exuberance in the freewill offering was a great contrast from the episode in the Hebrews later history in which Ezra led the exiles to rebuild the temple in Ezra 3 5. Despite incredible evidence of God s favor, resulting in a foreign king sending them back to Jerusalem to build a temple, the work suffered an eighteen-year hiatus after the building began. For Moses, leading the effort of sacrificial giving required restraint, rather than prompting. Conclusion The call of Bezalel and Oholiab by name certainly highlighted the intimacy with which God leads His people. For the great amount of change that the church has endured throughout the millennia, the manner in which God calls His people remains constant. He calls His people intimately and personally to join Him in Session 2 7
accomplishing His work in the world. Here are some considerations to help apply the truths from this week s passage. First, God calls every single believer to service. It can be tempting to segregate the call to salvation and the call to serve as though they were different experiences. Biblically speaking, however, they are one and the same. Accepting Christ means following Him and becoming more like Him. Jesus modeled service to others constantly throughout His earthly ministry so that those who followed Him would do the same. There is no biblical sense in which serving others for God s glory is optional. It is the joy and privilege of the believer to identify with Christ in this way. Second, the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts for the sake of serving others. Just as Bezalel and Oholiab were filled with the Spirit for their specific tasks, believers are permanently indwelled by the Holy Spirit for the same reason. This reality is what Paul s teaching on spiritual gifts in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 were based on. Service to others using the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit to believers brings glory to God and strengthens the body of Christ. Third, every believer s call is a personal one. One of the incredible things about God s dealing with His people is the limitless creativity and equally boundless intimacy He displays in doing so. Though all are called to service, that call is unique to each believer according to how God has gifted them. Paul wrote emphatically about this in 1 Corinthians 12 during his metaphor of the church as the body of Christ. Fourth, it is critically important for the church that mentoring and serving be linked. Bezalel and Oholiab were tasked with teaching others how to work in their various areas of expertise. So also Paul passed along to Timothy to pass along the things Paul taught him so that they might train others (2 Tim. 2:2). The manner in which the church is to continuously raise the disciples to do the work of the gospel is through patiently teaching and training those who are younger in the faith. Serving alongside more experienced, skilled believers is an integral part of doing so. 8 Personal Study Guide
Who are the potential leaders around you right now? How can you help others take steps of obedience toward their own call to service? What areas in your life would you like to develop as you help others? What particular areas of service do you feel drawn to as you consider your talents and abilities? What spiritual gifts would those who know you well affirm in you? How does remembering that serving must glorify God narrow the focus of your potential service options? What danger resides in forgetting that God is the focal point of our service? CHRIST CONNECTION: When Christ sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers, they became both the place where God resides and those called and equipped to spread the gospel to the world. MISSIONAL APPLICATION: All believers are called and equipped to engage the world with the gospel, building the kingdom of God through His empowerment. Session 2 9
FOR NEXT WEEK Growing the Leaders We Need Main Passages --2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:1-2 Session Outline 1. Faithfully Guard the Investment Others Have Made (2 Timothy 1:13-14) 2. Follow the Right Examples (2 Timothy 2:1) 3. Generations of Learning Leaders (2 Timothy 2:2) Memorize They took from Moses s presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. Exodus 36:3, CSB Daily Readings --Monday - 2 Timothy 2:1-13 --Tuesday - Titus 2:1-10 --Wednesday - Jude 1:20-25 --Thursday - Hebrews 10:19-25 --Friday - 2 Peter 1:3-11 --Saturday - 1 Timothy 3:1-13 References 1. Watson, Mike. Go to the Land I Will Show You: Discerning the Gradual Call to Ministry at First Baptist Church Concord, Knoxville, TN. Dissertation. Birmingham: Samford University, 2015. 2. Iorg, Jeff. Is God Calling Me? Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2008. 3. Stuart, Douglas K. Exodus. NAC. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006. 4. Ibid. 10 Personal Study Guide