We can read this chapter and imagine all the fine materials and ornate objects, which are awesome, and we also can look at the man responsible for it all – Bezalel. Remember in past chapters, God has made Bezalel the leader or this project, and He has gifted him with a wide range of skills. This chapter celebrates those skills and the man behind them. We know Bezalel has lots of helpers, but it’s necessary and perfectly OK to celebrate those calling the shots, especially when they are deserving of praise. In verse 5, we see that Bezalel is running an honest crew when they tell the people that their donations have exceeded the material needs for the Tabernacle. Had this band of brothers been a band of thieves, they could have divvied up the extra and kept it for themselves, the people being none the wiser. And even though we know multiple individuals make up this honest team, we know that Bezalel is their inspiration for overseeing operations with integrity, unity and honor. Bezalel has quite a job, and he reminded me of my friends’ dad, Don Hooper. I can only say his kids were my friends because of Don’s complete commitment to their happiness. I’ve mentioned the great Cherokee gymnasium fire in past posts, and I’ve eluded to the fact that it took our entire town to come back from that tragedy, but I’ve never mentioned who was at the helm of it all. That guy was Don Hooper. Don came from the Oklahoma City area with his two kids, Shay and Sweden, to oversee the rebuilding of the new gymnasium at Cherokee High School. He was a single dad first and a construction foreman second, but he was super good at both. Don obviously had some smarts. He was an engineer, a bit of an architect and one heck of a manager. That gym went together as planned (with the usually hiccups, of course), and as I said, Cherokee was blessed with one of the finest gymnasiums in the State of Oklahoma. Now, when the project was finished, Don could have packed up and bid on his next job. That’s what a lot of construction people do, but Don had invested more than two years of his time in Cherokee. His children had bonded with all of us, and frankly, everyone in town loved the Hoopers. So Don decided to stay. But he didn’t start a construction business. He didn’t bid on big jobs out of town. No, Don took a job as our school janitor. Well, he was the maintenance foreman, so he kept everything from the air conditioners to the auditorium lights running like clockwork in that building, but we certainly didn’t realize that as students. We mainly just saw him sweeping the floors. Still, I know many of the adults in town realized the sacrifices he made, and I think (I hope!) they gave him the credit he was due for heading up one of the town’s most historical projects. I hope the people of Israel did the same for Bezalel.
Writing prompt: trusted advisor
I’ve been fortunate to have a handful of trusted advisors. They knew how to get a job done; they trained me to do that job; and they were always eager and willing to give me honest opinions and advice (constructive criticism, if you will) any time I asked for it. Write about one of your trusted advisors, their skills in getting projects done and examples of their honesty and integrity. If you can, send them your kind words when you finish.
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