Deuteronomy 34:1-Joshua 2:24 ~ Luke 13:22-14:6 ~ Psalm 79:1-13 ~ Proverbs 12:26
Today is the 10th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today. Exhausting day, just post More Gathering for Women, so first chance to just kind of catch some breath and maybe an extra hour of sleep, but a full heart. So, well done, ladies! Well done. We’re thankful that you made it or are making it home safely and now the journey begins. But we’ll turn our attention to the journey that is already underway through the scriptures this year and today is kind of a big day. We’re finishing the book of Deuteronomy. We’re finishing what is known as the Pentateuch or the Torah today as we complete this book and move into the book of Joshua, which we’ll talk about when we get there. But first, Deuteronomy chapter 34, verses 1 through the end of the book.
Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)
We’re about to move into the next book, and at the turn of the page we’re moving into a completely new chapter in this story. The book of Joshua is an exhilarating book because almost from the very beginning of the Bible we’ve been hearing about the promised land, this almost mythic land that was promised in advance to Abraham and then Isaac and Jacob and Joseph. It remains a whisper of hope all through the children of Israel’s captivity and the exodus into their freedom and the establishment of a new culture. Everything that we’ve gone through so far has been toward the promised land and here we are, about to cross over the Jordan River into it.
This is the second time that the children of Israel have been right at the precipice. The first time they were thwarted and had 40 more years wandering in the desert, an entire generation lost because of their disobedience and their lack of trust in God. Now, as we just read, Moses has died, having seen the promised land but not entering it. Joshua has stepped up as leader of Israel, tall shoes to fill to fill the place of Moses.
Joshua translated into English means savior. If you go back to the original Hebrew, Joshua is Yeshuah, Joshua, which is also Jesus.
We’ll see that God has prepared this land for his people, has promised it for generations, but they are not just going to just march in and take it. They have to contend for it. They are on a great mission with God and to accomplish it they will have to partner with God against all odds to take the land. In this conquest we’ll notice God asking them to do very unconventional things. God continually confounds conventional wisdom with almost bizarre instructions that sometimes would make illogical sense to the human mind. This is true of our lives today. This is why we must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. This is why we must be people of prayer; otherwise, we sort of bulldoze our way through life, hoping for the best decisions, when we actually have our Creator to guide us and his very kingdom to advance. In a very real way, for all of these years, the children of Israel have been learning to obey the Lord and now they must go into the land with full faith that God will show up and full faith in the promise that he gave their ancestors, that this land was the promised land.
We’re going to see one of the most glorious moments in the Bible, one of the most glorious times in the lives of the children of Israel. Even though we see stumbles along the way, they are fully engaged as a people and it gives us a glimpse of a what a unified church could look like. Of course, that is not the end of their story and we’ll get to that soon enough because they do fall away and return and fall away and return for the next several hundred years. But right now we’re at this glorious time, a new generation, a new leader, the taking of the promised land.
The first five chapters of the book of Joshua documents their preparation for battle and their first battles. And then the next seven chapters recounts the main battles and the actual taking of their inheritance, the promised land. Then the remainder of the book is the division and settling of this land of promise. Everything in the story of the patriarchs comes to these great moments. This is the promised land, the giving, the taking, the settling of the promised land. Everything that has been promised is about to be fulfilled. And so we begin, Joshua chapter 1.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word and even as the seasons are changing in the world, we see that the seasons are changing in the Bible. So as we leave the Pentateuch, the Torah behind and move into the book of Joshua and what comes next for your children of Israel. We see these similarities in our own lives and so we welcome this. Come, Holy Spirit, because you are always inviting us forward. So as we take the next step forward in the Bible, we take the next step forward in our lives. And like the children of Israel, we would be so foolish to take the next step without you. So there is not another step that we will ever take that we want to take without you and we need your Holy Spirit’s guidance, correction, comfort, even rebuke if necessary. We align ourselves with you, your will, your ways in this world and your purpose for our lives. Come Jesus, we ask in your precious name. Amen.
Announcements
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what is going on around here. So check it out. I’ve been mentioning for the last, I guess, week about the next time that we’ll take this pilgrimage to the land of the Bible that will take place in 2018, February 19th through March 4th. (I think I got that right. I don’t have it in front of me today, but I think I’m right). We’ll be going back. Like I’ve been saying, some of these places that we’re reading about we will see and all the regions that we’re reading about we will most definitely see.
So God takes Moses up to the top of Mount Nebo where he will die, but he gets to see into the promised land and so he gets to see up into the north country to the city of Dan. We’ll go there. Its ruins exist. It is a real place.
Or Jericho, we’ll go there.
Or the Jordan River, we’ll go down to the banks where they crossed over. And incidentally, the whole area where they crossed over, that is where John the Baptist was baptizing. That is where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, so those who desire can be baptized there in the Jordan River near where the children of Israel crossed over and Jesus was baptized.
These are for real places, not like imaginary mythic things. They are real places and so much more. So if that brings something up in you and you’re like, ‘I do want to go. I’m going to do this,’ then you can find out more information at www.DailyAudioBible.com. Just look for Israel 2018 in the initiatives section. Or you can visit www.DailyAudioBibleIsrael.com. It will take you to the same place and we’ll look forward to it.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you humbly. Honestly, thank you for your partnership. If you have found the Daily Audio Bible to be a life-giving source to you, then thank you for being a life-giving source back into the community. So there is a link on the home page at www.DailyAudioBible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner or the mailing address, if that is your preference, is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.
And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.
And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you and I will be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Good morning everybody. This is Alicia from Kansas. Today is the 7th of April and I’ve been kind of in a place where, you know, I listen to the Daily Audio Bible every morning and pray along and call in when I need prayer. I know sometimes people have called in and said they didn’t hear their name or anybody praying for them. I just believe that is just a lie of the enemy just to deceive us into not listening and to get into self-pity and I was kind of getting in that place. And then David from Kansas, my sweet, sweet brother, called. I heard his call today and I have been praying for you, David. I have missed you and I just want you to know not to lose heart, that everything that you’ve been doing, you calling in has given me hope and has just been a blessing to me. If you read the psalms, even King David had his setbacks and I want you to know, brother, that while you were gone and away I kept thinking how much I missed you and your calls and your prayers and kept praying for you. Thank you so much for calling because it encouraged me to call and not to listen to this craziness in my head, you know, this world cage. So blessings to you, brother. I continue to pray for you and for all of those, when your names aren’t mentioned, know that people are stilling praying for you. God bless you all. I love you all. Bye-bye.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Shondra calling from Maryland. I want to read this and I am prayerfully going to try to because it is the lyrics for Great is Thy Faithfulness. However, every time I try to read it, I just want to cry. Great is they faithfulness, O God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not. Thou compassions, they fail not. As thou has been, thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed, thou hast provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest. Sun, moon and stars in their course above, join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed thine hands have provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. I want to thank you guys whether or not you have called in with a praise report or for a prayer or for a song or poetry. I thank everyone who has summed up the courage to just call and, you know, just present everything to us. It is so much appreciation for that. Brian, …
Hi family. This is Francine from Tennessee and I’m calling to ask prayer again for my mom who is 81. We’re caring for her and she is getting weaker. Her name is Gloria. But I was going to tell you that as I care for her, we listen daily to the Bible being read and then the prayer requests. She is praying for you all, sitting in a chair unable to get up and stand hardly at all and caring for each of you herself. We had some terrible storms. This is the 7th and it’s on Friday. So on Monday and Wednesday of this week we had some terrible storms in Dallas, GA where we are and it seemed so hard to hear the announcement to take cover and to look at someone who can’t get up. There were times that I cried out, “Lord Jesus, please say ‘peace be still,’” but the very last storm that we had on Wednesday there was hail in it and it was tapping on the windows of our little farmhouse and really beginning to be violent and I just cried out again, “Lord Jesus, please say ‘peace be still.’” And in a moment the hail stopped and it just kept raining, but momma said the most profound thing. She said, “You know, it seems like the worst storm was the last one we had to go through.” And I said, “Yeah, that’s the way it is spiritually too, isn’t it?” And then today I hear about the Darkhorse 3rd battalion Marines and I’m praying for their families that have lost these loved ones in this battle in Afghanistan and also Candace in Oregon and the song that the lady sang for you and Annette in Oklahoma, your son, praying for you, but most of all, I was thinking about the prayer warriors that we’ve had and Blind Tony with the poems and Pastor Gene and David in Kansas called. I feel your battle, brother. I’ve been praying for you and I get it, too. Since I’ve retired, I’ve been unable to exercise and seemed like maybe I have gained some of the weight back too, but the last battle must be the hardest.
Hey Dabbers. This is Slave of Jesus in North Carolina. Alright, Holy Spirit, let’s roll! John from Bethel, welcome back, brother. We are definitely praying for your marriage. Lord, give John the wisdom (that’s what you need) and patience in his marriage and I ask that in Jesus’ name. Talk about coming back. Delta Alpha Foxtrot, great to hear from you. It’s been a while. Hey, check out this song. It’s called Burn from Ryan Weaver. I think you will like it a lot. Lord, I ask you to watch over Stan from Maryland. Great you talking about The Daily Prayer. So if you go to the Media tab, click on The Daily Prayer. So I’m going to kind of give my testimony about The Daily Prayer. I started saying that. I just wanted to get myself oriented. Jesus said you don’t have to do a lot to pray. You can do The Lord’s Prayer and that’s it, but he also said to die daily and I don’t know how to die daily to God. So I started saying The Daily Prayer along with Brian. I’d plug it in the car, I’d get it all queued up, and it takes about 10-11 minutes. It’s actually from Ransomed Heart as well. There is a version there. But I say it every single day. My first couple years there were about two days I didn’t do it. It’s not a perfect formula, but those two days I got in an argument with my wife. Like the only two days for two years and both days I didn’t say that prayer in the morning. So for me I gotta do it first thing in the morning. Everyone’s got their routines at night. I’ve been saying that daily prayer every morning and it has just completely changed my life. It orients me. It is my way of saying, “Okay, God, I’m going to look to you first. There is the world. There is the news. There is coffee. There is whatever else, but I’m going to get focused, sacrifice this time for whatever…” And I’m driving, so I’m kind of doing two things at once usually, but even if I’m not driving, on the weekends I go out and walk with the dog. It’s gotta be one of the first things I do. So check it out if you want to take your experience with God to the next level. Highly recommend it, saying The Daily Prayer. It’s great to hear Brian’s voice. We’re already used to it. Just go to the tab, download it so even if you’re offline, you can…
David from Kansas, my brother, this is Blessed by the Beach and my heart leapt when I heard your voice and then my heart ached after I heard your message. I literally stopped the podcast and picked up the phone to call to let you know that I will be dedicated and heartfelt in praying for you. We’re so glad to hear your voice. And we’re so grateful for all the prayers you lifted up for so many of us that we’re all going to be returning the favor tenfold, a hundredfold, so I’m going to ask everybody to join me in prayer right now for you. Father God, we lift up our brother David. We lift up his struggles right now. We lift up his physical pain and his frustration and his fear. We ask that you restore him 100%, you restore his body, you remove the pain, you restore his soul and his spirit so that he finds joy and hope. May you restore his encouragement to get back on the path to wholeness and health and you restore him emotionally so he can be a light on a hill like he was to us before. And, Lord, we’re just so thankful for David. We’re thankful for hearing from him and we’re thankful for him himself. He’s perfectly and wonderfully made and we just lift him up in love to you, Lord. Please heal him. Amen. David, keep calling. Keep us updated. Know that you’ll be in our prayers. Hang in there, brother.