Exodus 38

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The work on the tabernacle continues, and another master craftsman surfaces. Meet Aholiab… though the things he does are different, he is just as gifted as Bezaleel. Together, these guys accomplish an INCREDIBLE amount of work…

Just look at the amount of gold and silver these guys used while constructing the Tabernacle! We are not exactly sure what a shekel measures to, but the most modest guesses put it at 82 ¼ lbs. That means that they used AT THE VERY LEAST over 2400 lbs of gold, and 8200 lbs of silver! The silver in the temple was half the weight of an ELEPHANT!

How do we know how much went into the Tabernacle? The numbers guy, Ithimar! His job was to count up everything that was used!

I love the way all of this works… What would be an impossible task if tried alone becomes a glorious example of the family of God accomplishing great things by the power of God. As the family of God, with all of our various talents, strengths, and weaknesses, we have the blessed opportunity of being able to work together as ONE BODY filled with the strength of the Lord! All of the parts of the body are needed, and each person needs to be committed to playing their part. God has gifted us all uniquely, and when we can come together by the power of God, in the unity we have in Christ, we become an unparalleled force for the kingdom of God. The world knows nothing like this… If we are all playing our roles, we truly get to experience what it is to be the BODY of Christ. His hands, His feet, His mouth, etc…

Imagine if Aholiab had said, “I’m tired of working with fabrics, I want a REAL job like Moses”. In frustration over his job, and envy for Moses position, he tries to take over. Moses on the other hand says, “I don’t need any of you, I’m gonna do this all by myself!” And then you have Bezaleel who has made it his responsibility to recount everything Ithimar has already counted… If this were the case, the Tabernacle would have probably never been built, and even if it was built, it would have looked nothing like the plans God had given to Moses on the mountain.

Now transfer that idea over to us, the church, the BODY OF CHRIST. How often are we so busy envying someone’s position, or trying to play somebody’s part, that we totally miss what God has called us to do? Listen to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians:

For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For also by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, even all were made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If all the body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If all hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body as it has pleased Him. And if they were all one member, where would be the body? But now indeed many are the members, yet only one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. But much rather the members of the body seeming to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we put more abundant honor around them. And our unpresentable members have more abundant propriety. For our presentable members have no need, but God tempered the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member having need; that there not be division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it. And you are the body of Christ, and members in part.
(1Co 12:12-27)

THE BODY… If we could just do what God has called us to do as individuals empowered by His Spirit, the things we could accomplish together would be incredible! Like Israel and the Tabernacle, all it takes is a few believer’s committed to being who God has called them to be… nothing more, nothing less. LET’S BE THE BODY!!!