Upvote:1
The pronoun "them" at the beginning of vs. 35 refers to Bezaleel and Aholiab. We have to stay with the scriptures immediately preceding:
Ex. 35:30-35,
"And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
31 And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
32 And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
33 And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.
34 And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35 Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work." (KJV)
Bezaleel and Aholiab were given the knowledge to be able to teach others how to do all of the workmanship in order to build the tabernacle according to all of God's instructions. You might think of it as a kind of delegation.
I am not sure what you mean by "walked like Christians today". But, in the context of the question of the work of the Spirit....
The Spirit goes where He wills to do what He wills.
John 3:8,
"the Spirit where he willeth doth blow, and his voice thou dost hear, but thou hast not known whence he cometh, and whither he goeth; thus is every one who hath been born of the Spirit.'" (YLT)
The Christian is born of the water and the Spirit (John 3:5), and this is a result of baptism (immersion). The tribes of Israel were "baptized" in the cloud and the sea -
1 Cor. 10:1-4,
"And I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
2 and all to Moses were baptized in the cloud, and in the sea;
3 and all the same spiritual food did eat,
4 and all the same spiritual drink did drink, for they were drinking of a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was the Christ;" (YLT)
However, 1 Cor. 10:5-6 makes it clear that God was not pleased with many of the children of Israel as they were evil at heart, and unbelievers who turned to idolatry. So, the Spirit only works with those believers who follow after God.
The tribes of Israel were given a set of instructions - the law of Moses - and the obedient believers followed it as best they could. The animal sacrifices were a type that looked forward in time to the One sacrifice that would redeem all believers from their sins.
Those of the OT days that walked after God, the obedient who believed in God were redeemed by Christ at His crucifixion and are now part of His kingdom (Gal. 4:5).
The obedient believers today who follow after Christ according to the gospel of Christ are put into that same kingdom when we are baptized into Christ. We are the royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9) that God had purposed originally of the tribes of Israel in Ex. 19:6.
God had wanted them all to be priests, not just a few. The purpose was for Israel to be an example to all nations of the earth so that all people could know God. The work of the Spirit has always been to accomplish the will of the Father in bringing all people to the knowledge of the Father.
There were many strong men and women of faith in the OT who were lights to many of other nations. Ruth, a Moabitess, raised in paganism, is in the line of Christ because of her belief. Rahab, once a harlot, is in the line of Christ because of her belief.
So, it has always been the line of the faithful that have walked according to the Spirit (Rom. 1:17; 3:27; 4:16). And, the Spirit breathed that life to others who heard the word, and also believed.
Under the gospel of Christ, under the new covenant, all who are baptized into Christ, put on Christ and are born of the water and the Spirit (John 3:5). Our sacrifices are the fruit of our lips, continually praising His name (Heb. 13:15-16). We are to always stand ready to speak as the oracles of God (1 Pet. 4:11) to give an answer of the hope that is within us (1 Pet. 3:15), and the Spirit then uses that spoken word - breathed word - to work on the heart of those who will hear it.
He has always done so. And, so I would say that those believers in ages past had much the same walk that we do today. The walk of the faithful.
You might like to read some of the commentary on the wind and breath of the Spirit at BibleHub on John 3:8 here. I especially like Ellicott's.