Judges 2:10-3:31 ~ Luke 22:14-34 ~ Psalm 92:1-93:5 ~ Proverbs 14:1-2
Today is the 23rd day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. Here we are, friends, the threshold of a shiny new week and I love the reset of that. We get to step through and live into a new week. It is not yet written. We have not yet lived it. It is waiting for us and every choice that we make is going to make up the week we are about to live and I like it because we can choose now how we’re going to live. So one of the things that we’re going to do as we step through this threshold of a new week is really open up a new chapter, a new season in the Old Testament, a new season in the life of the children of Israel who are newly settled into the promised land. We ended the book of Joshua yesterday with the death of Joshua and we begin today with the book of Judges.
Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)
The book of Judges from a traditional perspective was authored by the prophet Samuel. Modern scholarship does not really feel that he could be the sole author of the book. They theorize that there are many sources where it came from, but the book of Judges is a whole lot somber than Joshua with all its drama and conquest. Judges is what comes next and we’re going to watch the children of Israel as they fall away and suffer some of the consequences of this back and forth that has been and continues to become their story.
It’s not a book of judgment per se. It’s not called Judges because of judgment but is warnings that God passes on to the children of Israel. It’s called Judges because it is the story of the 13 judges that led the children of Israel after Joshua. They didn’t have a king yet and so they were ruled by these judges. The culminating story in the book of Judges illustrates how one thing builds on another, each decision bearing weight on a great outcome, just like we were talking about as we crossed the threshold into this new week, how subtle decisions by seemingly unrelated and really relatively unimportant people ended up bringing on the terrible annihilation of an entire tribe of Israel.
The book itself was probably written about 1000 BC, so it was 3000 years ago. It is obviously a long time and the irony of that is that although we’re looking back across several thousand years, we’ll have no problem finding ourselves in this book. It resonates with all of our stories. We all have the ebb and flow, the back and forth in this faith journey and we’ve all been able to experience some of the repercussions of allowing that relationship with God to falter as we falter in it and at the same time God’s arm is never not outstretched. His words are never not “return to me, come back.” “Please, please come back, my beloved.” His love is no less profound and we’ll find that to be true in the book of Judges.
So we’ll read from The Voice translation this week as we begin Judges chapter 1, verse 1 through chapter 2, verse 9 today.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for this new week, these new mile markers, these new thresholds that we step through that offer us a reset. And as we move into this new book, this new era in the lives of the children of Israel and what comes next after Joshua, we invite your Holy Spirit, because so many of the behaviors, so many of the postures of heart, so many of the activities, they mimic ourselves. They mimic our own lives with different clothes on. So we invite your Holy Spirit to come, to guide and lead us through this week. We consecrate this week to you. We offer it to you now. We offer our lives as a living sacrifice in advance and ask that every word of our mouths, every meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, Lord, for you are our strength and our redeemer. So come Holy Spirit in every thought, word and deed this week. Show us what to do and what to not do. Show us what to undo. Show us how to live in your kingdom as your ambassadors this week. We ask in the mighty name of Jesus and by his authority, amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you right here tomorrow.
Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Hello, good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Jay calling from New Jersey. It’s been a long time since I’ve called in, but I’m calling today because I really, really, really want to talk to Mark S. from Australia. Mark S., man, listen, brother, congratulations, man, on being convicted. Most people would shudder at the thought of coming to their brothers and sisters in Christ and first of all, confessing, and then also making yourself accountable. So praise God. Congratulations over the power of the devil because you and I know that Satan will utilize these times that we fall weak and fall prey to sin and hold them over our heads and make us think that we can’t come to God for forgiveness or we can’t come to our brothers and sisters. But Mark, I understand and I want you to reach out to me. My email address is Jamainepitts@gmail.com. I’m willing to be your accountability partner, brother, so let me just pray for you now. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we praise you God. We honor you and we love you. Father, we just confess now of any sin that we have committed as well in our hearts, in our flesh that is contrary to your word and to your love. Father, we thank you for Mark S. We thank you for his confession. We thank you for his accountability and we thank you for your grace and your forgiveness. And then Father, we just lift up Mark S. and we lift up myself and we lift up our friends and we lift up our family members and we lift up anyone who is struggling with anything that they just fall prey to. God, we submit it to you and we just ask that you will strengthen each and every one of us. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Hey Daily Audio Bible family. This is Stanley from Maryland. This is a prayer of thanksgiving, a call of thanksgiving really. I’m just overwhelmed with the persistent fervent prayer of everyone calling in and now that this is my second year listening to the Daily Audio Bible, I really just want to say well done. Man, how God has shown his face and he is moving. I want to share a quick word with you. Revelation 3:20 says behold, I stand at the door and knock. It’s talking about him. He stands at the door and he knocks and he knocks on the door of our hearts and it says that he wants to come in and have a meal with us. I’ve been praying and seeking God a lot and he’s been showing me that he is faithful and that he is always ready to come in and to spend time with us, that he is a God of relationship, not a God of… I made the mistake and I had to repent. I was thinking that he was just a God for me to get what I wanted. Like this job teaching in Southeast Washington, D.C., it didn’t really work out. Unfortunately, I had to leave, but it has been such a blessing and now I’m looking for a new position, but I’m seeking God not for what he is going to give me, even though I believe that I am going to get a new job, but I’m seeking him just out of pure relationship because that is what he wants to have with me. He wants to come in my heart and he wants to have a meal and he wants to sit down and talk to me. That’s my word. Have a good rest of the day. Bye.
Yeah, hello. This is Steve from South Central Pennsylvania, Franklin County. It’s a first time call, but I’ve been listening to Daily Audio Bible with my wife for about eight years. I’m calling in regard to my daughter-in-law, Anna, her and my son, Josiah, had a beautiful baby girl on April Fool’s Day and tomorrow will be three weeks. She had to have an emergency C-section and it was a pretty traumatic birth and has had a hard time healing and getting on top of the pain resulting from the surgery and I would like the DAB community to join us in praying that she is able to get past the pain, that the pain will leave, and that she will be able to have joy and being able to hold her baby much more than she is now able to and that you give my son patience and love to give her as he ministers to her. Just pray that with me now. Lord Jesus, I ask that your healing power would cover Anna. Lord, that you would give her your peace. Lord, help her to rejoice in you and not fall prey to the despair that she ___. Lord, strengthen her each day. I pray that you strengthen Josiah, that you give him all the love that he needs from yourself to give to Anna during this time of restoration and healing and, Lord, that they would be able to love on their baby, Josanna. Pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Good morning everyone. This is Elaine from Victoria. I heard Mike call about his brother, Greg, and to Shanna, his wife with cancer. My brother had cancer and I wished they would have known the Lord at this time, but I want to give you a scripture to encourage and help you. And I ask the Lord of peace to be upon you, Michael, and Greg and Shanna. And this is the scripture, Isaiah 41:10. It says do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I’ve asked the Lord about fasting and I’m going to fast for you and for my own family, two are the alcoholics, and I’m going to fast according to the Lord, how he wants me to do it. So bless you guys, all of you at Daily Audio Bible. Bye now.
Hi Daily Audio Bible family. This is Sam calling from Vancouver, also I am in my workplace here in Portland. I’m calling because I heard Tony from Southern California. You called in about a month ago on the podcast in regard to your marriage. Tony, I just want to let you know, man, you are a warrior. I can tell that in your voice. You will be fighting for the honor of your wife and your kids. I just get that sense that you are the kind of man who is that and that is who you are. So I’ll be praying for you, thinking of you and for your wife, that you would just sense his presence, your wife would and your kids would and you would draw strength from that in that moment. And also the listener who called in who is with the native people and wanted to encourage them. Thank you for calling in and I second that. Just appreciate you calling that out. Thanks so much, DAB family, for being present and thanks for being in my life, just each one of you for being who you are. It’s just a beautiful tapestry and I know God is just loving this. So thanks to all. I love you guys. From Sam, Sidney, Grace, Serena and Judah. Much love to my wife who finally called in. So from Sam, Sidney, Grace, Serena and Judah, we love you guys. God bless you.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Candace from Oregon and it’s heavy on my heart because my husband and I have three really beautiful children and the second one has just been so loving and helpful and caring toward me as we have lost her dad, my husband, on March 11. So she wasn’t until yesterday able to really talk about her own loss, which is really difficult because of unfinished business, things that really required some confrontation. So would you please come with me now in prayer for her? Lord, I pray for this beautiful, beautiful woman who struggles so hard. I pray that you will break, Lord, every barrier that keeps her from you and that she will find ways to confront the arrows of her own childhood, times of neglect and mistreatment. I pray, Lord, that the life and death and resurrection of your son will be everything to create that reconciliation and the hope and the future and the wholeness that she needs and that can come only from you, Lord. I pray that you’ll show up for her in unmistakable ways. In Jesus’ name and for his sake and to his honor and glory.