Being in the Shadow of God’s Grace and under His Light, with a Noble and Pure Heart

God gave Moses the pattern of the tabernacle with all its details, and He chose someone called Bezalel to be a “master builder” and lead the building up and setting up of the tabernacle. Paul also referred to himself as a “wise master builder” in 1 Cor. 3:10.

This week in our Crystallization-Study of Exodus we are enjoying the matter of, The workers of the tabernacle and the Sabbath in relation to the building work.

As believers in Christ, we are on this earth for God’s building. God’s building is a corporate God-man in whom God is built into man and man is built into God. First, God became a man to be an individual expression of God’s building; Jesus Christ was God tabernacling among us (John 1:14) and He was the temple of God (John 2:19-22).

He went through death and resurrection and produced the corporate temple of God, the mystical Body of Christ, the Corporate God-man (1 Cor. 3:16). Ultimately, the building of God is the New Jerusalem, the great corporate God-man in this universe.

Today we are becoming the New Jerusalem and we are building the New Jerusalem by having God built into us and by being built into God to become the mutual abode of God and man.

God’s heart’s desire is His building; Christ said, I will build My church (Matt. 16:18), and this is what He is doing today. When Christ finishes building His church, His bride will be ready, and He will return for His prepared bride. We are here to be built up as the bride for Christ to return and bring in His millennial kingdom where we can enjoy Him and reign with Him for a thousand years!

There’s so much going on today on the earth, and we need to see how should we live and work as workers in the tabernacle; we need to see the principles of building up the church as the house of God by first resting in the Lord, enjoying Him, and being satisfied with Him.

God first works and then He rests, but we first rest and are satisfied with the Lord, and then we work for Him, with Him, and by Him as our everything.

The need for a Master Builder, a Leader in God’s Building who has the Design from God

After God gave Moses the blueprint of the tabernacle, He told him that He already called Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, a man filled with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with understanding and with knowledge and with all kinds of workmanship, to take the lead in the building of the tabernacle.

Bezalel was a master builder, a leader in God’s building; similarly in the New Testament we see that the Apostle Paul was a “wise master builder” who received from God the vision of God’s economy and has laid the foundation, and now we can build on this foundation (1 Cor. 3:10).

Because of Paul’s ministry, many churches were raised and many received the benefits of his ministry with his insights and spiritual understanding and wisdom. An architect is one who is has the design of the building and then gives it to the workers; he doesn’t control the workers but checks with them according to the plan, encourages them, and supervises the building.

Not all apostles were master builders. Paul was such a master builder, being bold toward the Corinthians in dealing with their problems in 1 Corinthians; he was also humble in his speaking, not being proud or considering himself higher than the other apostles.

He was a planter, while Apollos and the others were waterers. Paul was humble, yet he spoke the truth in love. Paul was not just a guide or teacher but a father in Christ to his children, and therefore had the ground to both deal with some of the problems and to unveil the wonderful all-inclusive Christ to the believers.

The Lord has raised up brother Lee in a similar way to be a master builder, one who has received the design and pattern from God, and then he shared it with us: the vision of God’s economy.

Such a master builder doesn’t control the builders in what they do, but he has a view of the design, he renders positive and constructive advice to those who labor, he adjusts and warns according to the need, and he oversees the construction work in detail.

After Paul told us that he was a wise master builder who has received from the Lord, he warned us saying, Let each man take heed how he builds. We all need to open to the Lord, be in the word of God and under the ministry of the age, and be infused with a vision of God’s economy so that we may build according to the pattern God showed His wise master builder.

No one can give another pattern or design, which is Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit as the embodiment of the processed and consummated Triune God for the building up of the church.

We need to have the vision of God’s economy and allow this vision to restrict us, control us, and guide us in how to build and how not to build. We need to be one with God’s New Testament economy and allow this vision to preserve us in the central line of God’s work for the building up of the church.

Thank You Lord for showing us the vision of God’s New Testament economy, the blueprint and plan for the building up of the church as the temple of God and house of God. Thank You for the ministry of the age which unveils us to see the practical way to carry out the building work. Lord, may a clear vision of God’s economy direct our heart, control our being, and guide our work so that we may build up the church according to the pattern You have shown us in your word!

Being in the Shadow of God’s Grace and under His Light, with a Noble and Pure Heart

When we read that God chose Bezalel to lead the building of the tabernacle, we may go on to read the next verses and see what exactly he did; however, today we need to take a closer look at what it means to be a Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and how this applies to our Christian life.

Bezalel – this name means “in the shadow of God”, indicating that, as a wise master builder, Bezalel was a man under the shadow of God’s grace. As believers in Christ and workers for and with the Lord for the building up of the church, we need to be under the shadow of God’s grace so that we may be kept from Satan’s attacks and accusations, and we may remain in a peaceful situation and condition to do the building work.

If we are not under the shadow of God’s grace, many things may come to disturb us; Satan brings in many things to bother use, and we need to hide under the shadow of God in Christ as the Spirit and just enjoy Him.

When we enjoy the Lord, the Lord will keep us away from anything that the enemy tries to disturb us with, and we will remain in a peaceful condition. We need to take the Lord as our Sabbath rest, enjoy His salvation in life, and remain quiet before Him and in Him, trusting in Him and taking Him as our trust (Psa. 91:1; Isa. 30:15; Jer. 17:7).

Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, and whose trust Jehovah is! We need to not look at what Satan brings in to disturb us but trust in the Lord, hide in Him, remain under the shadow of His grace, and just enjoy Him; He will then keep us in peaceful situation for the building up of the church.

Lord Jesus, we trust in You, we take You as our trust, and we hide ourselves in You. We take You Lord as our refuge, and we want to remain under the shadow of Your grace to enjoy You and be under Your protection. Lord, save us from the failure of not living You and from the defeat of not magnifying You. In the midst of all our circumstances, may You be our quietness, our trust, and our strength. Lord, You are our Sabbath rest, our salvation, our protection, and our full enjoyment!

Uri, the name of Bezalel’s father, means “light of Jehovah”; as those who cooperate with the Lord for the building of His house we need to be persons full of light, not having any dark part.

We were once darkness but now we are light in the Lord by receiving the Lord as the light of the world in us; therefore, we should now walk in the light, having the fruit of the light (Eph. 5:8-9). This means that we need to have a heart that is pure toward the Lord and allow Him to shine in us and remove any dark part in our being.

We are the light of the world, and Christ in us is light; therefore, we need to not hide Him or cover Him but let Him shine in our being so that our whole being would be full of light and others would see Christ expressed and shining in us (Luke 11:33-36; Matt. 5:14).

When we live out Christ as light, the shining of the light will be God the Father as goodness, God the Son as righteousness, and God the Spirit as the truth – our expression will be the shining out of God!

Lord, make us persons who are co-workers and co-builders with You for the church. Make us persons full of light. We don’t want to have any dark part in our being. May our heart be pure and single toward You; may You be our unique aim, goal, and desire. Shine in us, Lord, and shine through us to others, making us the light of the world. May our whole being be filled with light!

Hur, the name of Bezalel’s grandfather, means “free, noble, white”, signifying clean and pure. All the builders of God’s dwelling place should be free, noble, clean, and pure (see Gal. 2:4; Matt. 5:8; 1 John 1:9; 1 Tim. 5:22; 1 John 5:18).

We are not low people; we are noble people doing a noble work, even the most noble work in the universe: we build God’s dwelling place. We have freedom in Christ Jesus: we are released from the bondage of the law, liberated from the obligation of the law with its ordinances, practices, and regulations!

We have full satisfaction in Christ with the rich supply of life, and we enjoy true rest without being under the heavy burden to keep the law, and we have the full enjoyment of Christ (see Gal. 2:4 and footnote). Hallelujah!

Lord, thank You for calling us to do such a noble work, the building up of Your dwelling place. Thank You for releasing us from the bondage of the law with its ordinances and regulations, and for bringing us into the full enjoyment of the living Christ. Lord, we want to stand in this freedom and do the noble work of building the church with a clean and pure heart for You to gain all the glory!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Ed M. for this week, and Life-study of Exodus, msg. 170 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (part 4, 2016 Summer Training), msg. 11 (week 47 in the HWMR), The Workers of the Tabernacle and the Sabbath in Relation to the Building Work.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Oh, may a clear, controlling vision of / The Lord’s economy direct my heart, / And burn in me until my spirit’s wholly set afire! / With spirit strong and active we’ll press on / To consummate God’s goal— / New Jerusalem, Hallelujah! (Song on having a vision)
  # Other refuge have I none, / Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; / Leave, oh, leave me not alone, / Still support and comfort me. / All my trust on Thee is stayed, / All my help from Thee I bring; / Cover my defenseless head / With the shadow of Thy wing. (Hymns #1057)
  # Here I behold Thy radiant face, / Its light upon my heart doth shine / With healing rays consuming all / The weaknesses and faults of mine. / ’Tis here Thy light illuminates / My true condition unto me; / ’Tis here Thy blood’s effectiveness / To cleanse from sin I gladly see. (Hymns #813)