Work is one of the big three pre-Fall practices that have carried over into our current post-Fall situation (Gen. 2:15), the other two being Sabbath keeping (Gen. 2:2, 3) and marriage (Gen. 2:21-24). So work, or being meaningfully occupied with tasks, comes directly from a sinless paradise. All three practices, if done under the Lord’s guidance, are small tastes of a past Eden or future Eden, whichever direction one’s mediation takes him or her. Like everything else in this world, though, work can have its sinful downsides, which we can all identify with. The good news is that God is in the restoration business and is fully prepared to turn our current occupations into platforms for Christian growth and witnessing.
We will be spending most of our adult life working. So, unless we are able to integrate our commitment to Christ somehow with our vocation, we’ll spend an inordinate amount of our life not taking advantage of a God-centered existence. We can be thankful that the admonition to “walk in the Spirit” can be turned to a promise that says, whether we walk through an office, a construction site, or farm, Christ can be in our hearts and by our sides the whole time (see Gal. 5:25).
It is a further encouragement to know that any work we perform, not just overtly religious work, can be Spirit- inspired. God told Moses that He filled Bezaleel “with the spirit of God” so he could craft metal, wood, stone, and fabric to make a tabernacle (Exod. 35:31-35). If God can bless Bezaleel’s work with the Spirit, He can bless ours.
Part II: Commentary
Scripture
It is easy to get ideas in our heads that seem very biblical but aren’t. The past and future paradise serves as an example. If we were left to craft Eden or the new earth, our first attempt might be to make it a place of blissful, idle pleasure. For some, a place of constant worship to God would be the only paradise. Many would not naturally have included “work” in the first or final home for God’s children. But there it is:
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15, ESV). Isaiah portrays the new heavens and new earth as a place where our gardening skills once again will be needed, “and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them” (Isa. 65:21). “Work” in today’s world often serves as a distraction at best and a hindrance at worst to our cherished relationships, including our relationship with God. How then can “work” be part of the ideal?
To put it simply, wouldn’t “working” the garden be a distraction from worshiping or being with God? That question is similar to asking, “If God is all Adam needed, why did He make Eve? Isn’t God enough?” It turns out that the Creator God knows exactly what is ideal for His own creation. God gave our first parents quite a few things that would engage their attention and time—the animals, the exquisite natural beauty, the responsibility of “replenish[ing] the earth” (Gen. 1:28), having “dominion” over the creation (Gen. 1:28), and finally “work[ing]” and “keep[ing]” the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:15, ESV). These innocent and holy endeavors are God’s intentions, and He obviously wouldn’t give them to us if they endangered our closeness with Him or one another. We can have a sense of “togetherness” with God even though we are doing other activities, in much the same way that we enjoy time with loved ones by doing activities together.
Today’s “work” place is obviously not as holy an environment as the sinless paradise that God originally created. But that doesn’t mean that a sense of “togetherness” is not still a realistic goal for us to experience. Perhaps the simple testimony, as attested to by the Scriptures, of “walk[ing] with God” (see Gen. 5:22, Gen. 6:9, Gen. 48:15) illustrates the continual companionship that we can have with our Lord, even while working.
Scripture
Let’s think about this key verse: “And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it” (Exod. 36:2). Notice the extra verbs packed into the last clause of this verse: to stir, to come/approach, to do. Let’s first look at this Hebrew phrase of a stirred heart (nasa’ + lev) and let it inform us as to the nature of the work they did. The word for “stir” is a common word occurring over 650 times in the Old Testament and basically means to lift or carry. But when placed with the “heart” it becomes an idiomatic expression reflecting either a good thing or a bad thing. The “good thing” verses are as follows (the “bad thing” comes at the end of the discussion):
“And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Exod. 35:21).
“And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair” (Exod. 35:25, 26).
Add to this the Bezaleel text, and those are all the positive “heart stirring” texts in the Old Testament. Other versions join “stir” with concepts of “volunteering, willingness, being moved” (NET, ESV). Notice what these verses have in common: they all have to do with the sanctuary, they all involve wisdom or skill, and they all involve willingness without coercion. These factors instruct us in the art of maximizing our joy in whatever work we perform. First, being skilled and improving in whatever profession we are in turns work into a personal blessing for us as our skills and “wisdom” grow. Second, doing our work to please the Lord, like the women spinning their goat hair for God’s tabernacle, reorients our thinking away from getting caught up in the strife of our jobs and instead reminds us that the work we do (and how we do it) is our offering to the Lord. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Col. 3:23). Third, in light of the first two factors, our jobs shouldn’t feel like a trap we are trying to escape, but something we can passionately do from the heart—the stirred heart. So, when we work, (1) we should work for the Lord’s glory and honor, (2) we should exercise and reinforce the skills He has given us, and (3) we should do all our work with a willing spirit and passionate heart.
Let’s look again at that last clause of our key text, “even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it.” The other word worth mentioning is the word “to come/approach.” This word qarav means to draw near and is used in the sense of coming close to the altar to offer up one’s sacrifice (Lev. 9:8). It also shares the same root with the word offering, e.g., a lamb offering (Lev.3:7). But what are Bezaleel and the women offering? They are offering their labor, their time, their skills. Basically, they themselves are the offering. Does this not shout Romans 12:1? “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). A picture emerges that connects our work, ourselves, and our worship together in a profound unity.
Incidentally, in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) the Hebrew word qarav (to approach) is translated prosporeuomai. Interestingly, this word occurs a single time in the New Testament, and it involves two men approaching Jesus (Mark 10:35). Unfortunately, they are not approaching to worship or to serve but to self-serve. They are James and John, and they approach Jesus to ask for the most honored positions possible (Mark 10:37). And thus, with this verse we conclude our reflections with a look at the “bad” use of a “stirred up heart.” Remember, it literally means “to lift the heart,” and as one can guess, a heart lifted up can be an arrogant self-serving heart (2 Kings 14:10). James and John approach God not for worship but to be worshiped, not to serve but to be served. In this particular instance, James and John are the antithesis of the goat-hair-spinning women.
Part III: Life Application
Reflect and Discuss:
What if we swapped out the word work from our vocabulary and instead inserted the words service for God every time we talked about our jobs? How would our attitudes change?
Achieving excellence (wisdom/skill), willingly serving, and keeping God before us as we perform our daily work are collectively a noble cause. What can we do to turn some of these ideals into tangible reality in which work becomes an improved experience?
Have you ever enjoyed a particular task that to everyone else looked like work but for you was an effortless pleasure? How is that possible?
How can Adventist education encourage a more biblical view of vocation that contrasts with the secular notions of a career that is driven exclusively by financial incentives?
Do you look forward to the new heaven and new earth as much, knowing that “work” will be a part of our eternal existence? Why, or why not?
How does knowing that “work” will be part of our future for a very long time add significance to the fact that the Sabbath will also be a permanent fixture in our eternal lives (Isa. 66:23)?
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Work is one of the big three pre-Fall practices that have carried over into our current post-Fall situation (Gen. 2:15), the other two being Sabbath keeping (Gen. 2:2, 3) and marriage (Gen. 2:21-24). So work, or being meaningfully occupied with tasks, comes directly from a sinless paradise. All three practices, if done under the Lord’s guidance, are small tastes of a past Eden or future Eden, whichever direction one’s mediation takes him or her. Like everything else in this world, though, work can have its sinful downsides, which we can all identify with. The good news is that God is in the restoration business and is fully prepared to turn our current occupations into platforms for Christian growth and witnessing.
We will be spending most of our adult life working. So, unless we are able to integrate our commitment to Christ somehow with our vocation, we’ll spend an inordinate amount of our life not taking advantage of a God-centered existence. We can be thankful that the admonition to “walk in the Spirit” can be turned to a promise that says, whether we walk through an office, a construction site, or farm, Christ can be in our hearts and by our sides the whole time (see Gal. 5:25).
It is a further encouragement to know that any work we perform, not just overtly religious work, can be Spirit- inspired. God told Moses that He filled Bezaleel “with the spirit of God” so he could craft metal, wood, stone, and fabric to make a tabernacle (Exod. 35:31-35). If God can bless Bezaleel’s work with the Spirit, He can bless ours.
Part II: Commentary
Scripture
It is easy to get ideas in our heads that seem very biblical but aren’t. The past and future paradise serves as an example. If we were left to craft Eden or the new earth, our first attempt might be to make it a place of blissful, idle pleasure. For some, a place of constant worship to God would be the only paradise. Many would not naturally have included “work” in the first or final home for God’s children. But there it is:
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15, ESV). Isaiah portrays the new heavens and new earth as a place where our gardening skills once again will be needed, “and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them” (Isa. 65:21). “Work” in today’s world often serves as a distraction at best and a hindrance at worst to our cherished relationships, including our relationship with God. How then can “work” be part of the ideal?
To put it simply, wouldn’t “working” the garden be a distraction from worshiping or being with God? That question is similar to asking, “If God is all Adam needed, why did He make Eve? Isn’t God enough?” It turns out that the Creator God knows exactly what is ideal for His own creation. God gave our first parents quite a few things that would engage their attention and time—the animals, the exquisite natural beauty, the responsibility of “replenish[ing] the earth” (Gen. 1:28), having “dominion” over the creation (Gen. 1:28), and finally “work[ing]” and “keep[ing]” the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:15, ESV). These innocent and holy endeavors are God’s intentions, and He obviously wouldn’t give them to us if they endangered our closeness with Him or one another. We can have a sense of “togetherness” with God even though we are doing other activities, in much the same way that we enjoy time with loved ones by doing activities together.
Today’s “work” place is obviously not as holy an environment as the sinless paradise that God originally created. But that doesn’t mean that a sense of “togetherness” is not still a realistic goal for us to experience. Perhaps the simple testimony, as attested to by the Scriptures, of “walk[ing] with God” (see Gen. 5:22, Gen. 6:9, Gen. 48:15) illustrates the continual companionship that we can have with our Lord, even while working.
Scripture
Let’s think about this key verse: “And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it” (Exod. 36:2). Notice the extra verbs packed into the last clause of this verse: to stir, to come/approach, to do. Let’s first look at this Hebrew phrase of a stirred heart (nasa’ + lev) and let it inform us as to the nature of the work they did. The word for “stir” is a common word occurring over 650 times in the Old Testament and basically means to lift or carry. But when placed with the “heart” it becomes an idiomatic expression reflecting either a good thing or a bad thing. The “good thing” verses are as follows (the “bad thing” comes at the end of the discussion):
“And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Exod. 35:21).
“And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair” (Exod. 35:25, 26).
Add to this the Bezaleel text, and those are all the positive “heart stirring” texts in the Old Testament. Other versions join “stir” with concepts of “volunteering, willingness, being moved” (NET, ESV). Notice what these verses have in common: they all have to do with the sanctuary, they all involve wisdom or skill, and they all involve willingness without coercion. These factors instruct us in the art of maximizing our joy in whatever work we perform. First, being skilled and improving in whatever profession we are in turns work into a personal blessing for us as our skills and “wisdom” grow. Second, doing our work to please the Lord, like the women spinning their goat hair for God’s tabernacle, reorients our thinking away from getting caught up in the strife of our jobs and instead reminds us that the work we do (and how we do it) is our offering to the Lord. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Col. 3:23). Third, in light of the first two factors, our jobs shouldn’t feel like a trap we are trying to escape, but something we can passionately do from the heart—the stirred heart. So, when we work, (1) we should work for the Lord’s glory and honor, (2) we should exercise and reinforce the skills He has given us, and (3) we should do all our work with a willing spirit and passionate heart.
Let’s look again at that last clause of our key text, “even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it.” The other word worth mentioning is the word “to come/approach.” This word qarav means to draw near and is used in the sense of coming close to the altar to offer up one’s sacrifice (Lev. 9:8). It also shares the same root with the word offering, e.g., a lamb offering (Lev.3:7). But what are Bezaleel and the women offering? They are offering their labor, their time, their skills. Basically, they themselves are the offering. Does this not shout Romans 12:1? “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). A picture emerges that connects our work, ourselves, and our worship together in a profound unity.
Incidentally, in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) the Hebrew word qarav (to approach) is translated prosporeuomai. Interestingly, this word occurs a single time in the New Testament, and it involves two men approaching Jesus (Mark 10:35). Unfortunately, they are not approaching to worship or to serve but to self-serve. They are James and John, and they approach Jesus to ask for the most honored positions possible (Mark 10:37). And thus, with this verse we conclude our reflections with a look at the “bad” use of a “stirred up heart.” Remember, it literally means “to lift the heart,” and as one can guess, a heart lifted up can be an arrogant self-serving heart (2 Kings 14:10). James and John approach God not for worship but to be worshiped, not to serve but to be served. In this particular instance, James and John are the antithesis of the goat-hair-spinning women.
Part III: Life Application
Reflect and Discuss: