Be Like Bezalel
Introducing the Creo Quill
By John Michael Heard
Vessels for the Tabernacle, engraving by Christoffel van Sichem, 1645
Bezalel is the first character in the Old Testament who is described as being filled with the Spirit of God. He is commissioned with the construction of the tabernacle, which operated as the centerpiece of Israel’s worship between the time of the Exodus and the construction of Solomon’s temple (see Ex. 31-38). Bezalel undertook this project as an artist and as an artist he embodies many of the attributes towards which artists in the church should aspire. Bezalel’s work, furthermore, should shed light onto the purposes of our art and its significance in the life of the church today. If Christian artists want our work to be significant, we should make every effort to be like Bezalel.
Bezalel was entrusted with a holy responsibility. The tabernacle carried tremendous importance in Israelite worship. Rather than require the Israelites to ascend the holy mountain to be in God’s presence, the tabernacle made a way for God to dwell with his people. Furthermore, God gave Moses specific instructions for the design of the tabernacle to correspond with a greater, heavenly reality (see Ex. 25:9, Heb. 8:5). Its illustrations were intended to immerse worshippers in God’s story and give them a framework to know what it is like to be in his presence. Bezalel’s task was to create space worthy of God’s living presence.
Today we do not need a tabernacle or temple to enter God’s presence. At Jesus’ death, the veil was torn so that we might have direct access to him. Even so, we are seldom cognizant of him and rarely awakened to the reality of his beauty. That is why we need artists like Bezalel—artists who immerse God’s people in God’s story, who give them a picture of what it is like to be in his house, who write the songs that the saints and elders sing around his throne, who prepare the way for the Lord.
The consequences of sin, understood in artistic terms, does not consist merely in our alienation from God but also in the desecration of everything once created beautiful. The redeeming work of God’s grace, therefore, should necessarily involve the restoration of everything whose beauty was once corrupted by the fall. In other words, sin and death have marred the beauty of creation, but God, in his grace, has initiated the renewal of beauty in the earth through the sacrifice of his Son and the sending of his Spirit. Furthermore, God has entrusted artists, empowered by his Holy Spirit, to participate in God’s redeeming work through the arts. If beauty adorns the places where God dwells, the mission of artists is to partner with him in his efforts to make every place beautiful again so the world might come to recognize his presence in our midst. And if God is beautiful, every beautiful thing that we are able to craft can become a divine mirror through which we are able to contemplate the glory of God.
But we must be filled with the Spirit of God to build the house of God. It is impossible to truly partner with God in this work unless we, like Bezalel, are imbued with his Spirit—the Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation. Creativity is primarily a feature of God. Apart from his grace, our artistic efforts are futile. The Spirit equipped Bezalel and those who assisted him “with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 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 crafts” in order to accomplish this task. In the same way, the Holy Spirit equips us with everything necessary for the projects that he entrusts to us.
In the end, everything will be made beautiful again. The whole earth will become a temple to the Lord and our bodies will be resurrected in his likeness. As Revelation 21:1-3 says:
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
Until then, artists have the opportunity to participate in his work by using our crafts to make every space beautiful—a place worthy to be inhabited by the living God.
We at Creo Arts envision a church whose members are not merely great admirers of beauty—consumers, critics, and connoisseurs—but are themselves artists who seek first and foremost to lead beautiful lives. The Creo Quill is an effort for artists, art lovers, and church members alike who possess an inconsolable ache for beauty to participate in Christ’s mission to fill the earth with the beauty of God. Through articles, stories, interviews and more, we aim to pursue what is called the beatific vision—to see the face of God—and equip artists to fill the earth with the knowledge of his glory.
John Michael Heard is the Content Editor for Creo Arts. He is based in Wilmore, Kentucky, pursuing an M.A. from Asbury Theological Seminary. In addition to his work for Creo, he publishes regularly on Substack at Not Yet Home. He is passionate about storytelling, with a focus on screenwriting and middle grade fiction.
