Exo 36:7 They gave to excess.  The love of God had reached through to their hearts, and made them super generous.  Another lesson for us.

Two things stand out to me in this chapter about the Israelites.  First, they possessed a great amount of material.  Second, they had some skill enabling them to produce the Tabernacle.

However, like all spiritual endeavors, Yahweh's increase is necessary for success (Psa 127:1, 1Cor 3:7, Heb 3:4).

The building of the Tabernacle was a communal (ecclesial) enterprise.  This is a reminder to us of the importance to pitch in and help in ecclesial activities.

V.12,13,17,18 - As regards the tabernacle, or God's manifested dwelling place among His people, we have 5 mentions of 50 in this chapter. The number 50 reminds us of the Year of Jubilee where there is perhaps mercy to a multitude and people in bondage are freed, released and redeemed Lev 25:11,39,40,41,54. When Christ returns and the kingdom of God is established on earth we will have the ultimate Jubilee when people are freed from sin and death.

36:5     The willing heartedness of the people is seen in that more than enough material is brought for the tabernacle.  Have you ever experienced a time in ecclesial life when there have been too many people present for a task such as hall cleaning or billing? Has there ever been a time, in your experience, when there has been more money collected than we know what to do with? Surely there is an exhortation for us here.

36:2  Even though Bezaleel was given wisdom his virtue was that he was willing to be used in the work of making the tabernacle.

36:3 It would appear that one of the bars was the same length as the length of the tabernacle which was 30 cubits – that is around 45 feet. So this bar must have been made by splicing or some other way joining the wood. This would not be an easy task with type of wood that it is thought that the ‘Shittim’ wood was. Thus the making of the bars designed to hold the tabernacle together was not an easy task. Thus we see that effort is required to maintain the holding together of groups of believers

36:5 remember the people who gave ‘much more than enough’ were actually freed slaves. Whilst he Egyptians had thrust gifts upon them the natural man would have wanted to maintain that wealth for himself. Thus we see very clearly that those who gave were really motivated by a right spirit.

Psalm 94 The Psalmist makes a familiar cry. He is troubled because the wicked seem to prosper. However his realisation that the creator of the ear can also hear causes him to realise that indeed God is still in control even thought it might not appear so.

Psalm 95 This Psalm is one of many Psalms which teaches a lesson by reminding the reader about events in the wilderness journey.
Verse 8 04808 Meribah Deuteronomy 32:51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh 04808, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
Verse 8 04531 Masah Exodus 17:7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
Verse 10 Forty years Numbers 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
Verse 11 Sware in my wrath Numbers 14:23 Surely they shall not see the land
Hebrews 3 & 4, by extensively quoting this Psalm and Numbers 13 & 14 show that Israel's rebelliousness in the wilderness can be matched in our own lives.

Psalm 95 - Against the background of Israel's refusal to believe that God would give them the land when they arrived at the borders of the land and the 12 spies, including Joshua and Caleb, God is presented as 'a great God, and a great king above all gods' v3. The Psalmist is emphasising that the gods of the nations are nothing and that the people should not fear them lest they suffer the same sort of fate as those who fell in the wilderness.

94:6 The mention of the widow, fatherless and stranger is interesting. Of the 17 times that the list occurs 11 of them are to be found in Deuteronomy - A nation whose 'men of war' were wasting away (Deuteronomy 2:14) would have many fatherless and widows. The strangers had come out of Egypt with the children of Israel and may well have been viewed as second class citizens in the wilderness. This lesson from the wilderness had to be remembered in the land of Israel. The principles of the truth are applicable at all times in our lives.

95 - This Psalm is a commentary on Numbers 13, Numbers 14, Numbers 15. It's use in Hebrews 3 shows us that the wilderness journey is relevant to us today. So do we believe that God will give us the kingdom? Have we been saved from Egypt? Can we answer 'yes' to both of those questions? Should we answer 'yes' to the first question?

94:11 The assurance that God is aware of the vanity of man is set against the background of man thinking that God cannot see (:7) and so the context of the Psalm fits perfectly it’s use in 1Cor 3:20 where Paul quotes v11.

95:8 In saying that Israel ‘proved’ God we realise that they learnt that God meant what he said – Num 14:23 that they would not enter into the land – as if we need proof that God will keep His word! Clearly those at the border of the land for the first time did not believe what he had said.

To suggest that Yahweh does not see what is going on (94:7) is foolish.  It is one step closer to suggesting that Yahweh does not exist at all (Psa 14:1, 53:1).

Man has the wont to shut out the things that are not convenient - the out of sight, out of mind idea.  But the scriptures tell us that the reality is Yahweh is ever-present, ever-knowing (Job 34:21).

Our hearts can be either hard, or maleable. In Psalm 95v8 the reader is urged not to harden his heart, as exemplified by the children of Israel. Why is this state of the heart so important? Why is it so vital that it yield, rather than remain unmoved?

Our aim as Christians is to find God. It is He who has created us, and has the key to our continued existence. It is He who provides all things for our daily survival and welbeing, just as He did to Israel in the wilderness. Our aim is to enter into His presence, so that we can be with Him, and praise Him for His goodness in that provision to us (v2). In Hebrews 12v9-14 we are told that no-one will see God, unless they yield to chastening. Unless we allow ourselves to be moulded by the guidance and correction of God, we cannot be changed, we will never be holy, and therefore we will never be ready to enter His presence. Psalm 94v12-13 calls those whom God chastens "blessed". And why? "That Thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity". We will rest, and God will rest. God is still at work in His creation. He is creating new creations in you and I, and His creative work is in our adversity.

That rest from adversity is waiting for us, but first there is a little training and correction to be gone through. If we yield to it, and soften our hearts in humility, we will be trained by God, we will enter that rest, and we will see Him. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.....Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (Matt 5:5,8). If we harden our hearts to it, try to avoid it, or refuse to learn from it, we're in danger of the same fate as the children of Israel. (Psa 95:8,11, Heb 3:11-13, 4:11).

94:9-11 The evidence of God's providence is found in His creative power and omniscience, which assures us that He will will punish the wicked in regard to all their vain purposes, on the other hand V.12-13 He favors though He chastens, those that do His will.

94:2     As the ‘judge of the earth’ Yahweh is answerable to no one.  As such He raises up and brings low. An example of bringing low was when He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah – 18:24. he did 'right’ in His judgment there. It is not a matter of debate.

WATCH OVER YOUR THOUGHTS

We must keep a strict watch over our thoughts, because God tales particular notice of them. (v.11) Thoughts are words to God. As the saying goes, "garbage in = garbage out".

What do we think about?

In this busy life we lead, our thoughts can often be far away from GOD and the awareness of His hand at work all around us. Let us give time to mediate on His word - and our thoughts will take care of themselves.

As Job made a "covenant with his eyes", let us also make a covenant with our thoughts and not let the filth of this world enter into our minds, and this can only be done by keeping GOD's word in the forefront of our minds.

95:8 The KJV describes the provocation and the temptation that the Israelites displayed in the wilderness. In Hebrew, provocation is meribah, while temptation is massah. Thus, the place of Israel's rebellion was so named (Exo 17:7).

94:7 The attitude ‘the Lord shall not see’ maybe indicates the reasoning we subconsciously make when we choose to sin. If we could really appreciate the presence of God in our lives – make God a reality – we might have less problems resisting temptation. After all how would we probably all find it easier to behave appropriately when we are in good company?

94:12  We might not think that we should be happy when God chastens us but – Prov 3:12, Heb 12:6 - chastening comes from God upon those He loves.

6:1 In this litigious society the starkness of Paul's assessment - 'before the unjust' should help us to realise the importance of this issue. Dealing with wrongs is not that one can assert one's rights. We have none. And recompense belongs to God Lev 18:18 and besides this the reason for judging issues is that we might develop spiritual minds - by thinking about issues in the way Jesus did. So we should deal with matters of the church ourselves so that we can grow, spiritually.

V.15 Paul's condemnation of sexual immorality was made against the backdrop of the promiscuous Corinthian society.

Corinth was a city of great luxury and wealth.  A huge temple had been erected for the worship of the goddess of love Aphrodite (= Diana = Artemis = Venus = Astarte = Semiramis).  This temple employed one thousand cult-prostitutes.  Much drunkenness and revelry was the norm in this liberated city which had no rivals in terms of vice.

It shows that today's new morality is really yesterday's old immorality.  We, like the Corinthian ecclesia, have to be on guard against adopting so-called acceptable public mores.

6:7 In asking the Corinthians ‘Why do ye not suffer wrong?’ Paul is appealing to a principle which Jesus laid out in the sermon on the mount – that is turn the other cheek Matt 5:39 – that is we should be willing to suffer wrong Matt 5:40.

6:4 This verse is made into a question in the RV ‘do ye …?’ which seems to make more sense of the passage. The implication being that the ecclesia was not giving enough attention nor seeing the importance of the ecclesia making decisions rather than putting matters of judgment into the hands to a secular legal system.

6:2      ‘judge’ here carries the sense of deciding between. It is not in the sense of condemning.

6:3 Whilst we might struggle to understand how we shall ‘judge angels’ we should not be deflected from thinking about the tremendous work that the glorified believer will have in the kingdom is the reason why we should deal with ‘things that pertain to this life’. There are two points here. First our high calling provides the obligation to deal with things we come across in our daily lives and secondly if we are unable to learn how to do it now we will not be qualified to do it in the kingdom.

6:8-9 Paul does not discuss whether one’s case is right or not when speaking about going to law. Rather whether we have been wronged or not the act of going to law. In doing so the one taking the action is deemed ‘unrighteous’.