The building of the Mishkan was supervised mainly by a man named Betzalel. Now Betzalel was a brilliant person with a knowledge for building that could only come from YHVH. He was endowed with a Godly spirit, wisdom, and insight. He came from the tribe of Judah. There was one element missing though here. YHVH wanted him to have a partner in doing this task. It was not as if he couldn’t do it by himself without the help of another person. Now enters a man by the name of Oholiav. He descended from a totally different tribe (Dan) than Betzalel and whose background paled in the light of Betzalel’s. Yet the two of them were able to work perfectly together in supervising the building of the Mishkan.

What does this tell us? The mark of a good leader can work with people who are on different levels. Sometimes people do not want to share their leadership with anyone else. They want all the praises for themselves. Now there are some leaders who are extremely dedicated and work very hard, but they have one stipulation: they have to be in charge of every detail. As they say, it’s either their way or the highway. They neither ask nor desire anyone’s help. This is especially true if the person they need to deal with is someone whom they see as being in a lower position in life. We have some Pastors who wouldn’t let another person minister from their pulpit to save their life. They’re afraid what they call “their” congregation (which is really YHVH’S) might like that person more than them. It’s called “me” or nothing.

What a shame. What if Betzalel had taken that attitude? He could have said, “now listen up you Israelites, you’re to listen to me and me only.” But instead he showed the mark of a “true leader” and used his talent “in combination” with Oholiav’s. A good leader will draw out the talents of the people he or she works with. They will find no place in their lives for the “I” disease or jealousy. Some leadership needs to “come down” off their individual thrones in order to “come up” in the eyes of YHVH.