Are there any women artisans in the Bible?
Questions:
Hello,
I am a woman and I have the ability to create artwork. I desire to help my husband financially. I've been selling various products with my artwork on it.
I am concerned that I did not see God call any women in the Bible for the tabernacle, nor are there any examples of women who seemed to be artisans.
It is wrong for me to do this? I also fear I'm enticing others to the lust of the eyes with my artwork.
Can you help me with this? Thank you.
Answers:
If it were wrong for women to create works of art, then it would also be wrong for men to do the same. If works of art by themselves were wrong because they create desire, then there would have been no need for artisans to work on the tabernacle and later the temple.
Lust is wrong when the desire is directed toward breaking a law of God. Art can be used to create a desire for sin, but not all art falls into this category. Thus, an idol is sinful no matter how skillfully and beautifully it is made.
In the Bible, we find women artists working on the tapestries of the tabernacle. "All the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen. All the women whose heart stirred with a skill spun the goats' hair" (Exodus 35:25-26). Likely they made the priests' garments as well. The virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 has skills in creating cloth and expensive clothing (Proverbs 31:19,22,24). The women of the court made jewelry (Song of Solomon 1:11) and they outfitted a sedan chair for Solomon's wedding (Song 3:10). There can be other examples as well because often the Scriptures mention "artisans" without specifying their gender.
