Exodus 21:22-23:13, Matthew 24:1-28, Psalms 29:1-11, Proverbs 7:6-23
Today is February 5th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we get ourselves going into the brand-new work week. And I’m honored we can take a few minutes out of all of the busyness that we face, kind of non-stop, and center ourselves in God’s word. So, we’re reading from the Good News translation this week. Today, Exodus chapter 21 verse 22 through 23 verse 13.
Commentary:
Okay, I don’t remember exactly what day it was, but a couple weeks ago we talked about apocalyptic worldviews. And we went into some of the history and just kind of defined it. And so, just by way of reminder, if you live your life believing that the world is coming to an end and then we’ll be reborn again in some way, that God is bringing everything to a close and will bring justice and an end to deception and evil and then something new will come forth, then that’s an apocalyptic worldview. And the thing that’s important about that is if we believe that, and I believe that because it’s in the Bible. Jesus is talking about it today. But it’s this thing that’s out in front of us that influences how we live now. And that’s not a bad thing, either. I mean, Jesus invites us to be vigilant. Jesus invites us to live as if it’s today. So, having an apocalyptic worldview isn’t a bad thing, but being able to name it and then understanding what a pivotal component of the faith journey that it is, is helpful, because it gets pretty murky. Right? You’re looking out there into the future at a time and then you’re trying to figure out if this is the time. And people have been doing this for a long time, thousands of years. And they were most definitely doing it in Jesus’ time. So, Jesus is in Jerusalem. The temple has been made extravagant by Herod’s developments. It’s a beautiful place and the disciples are commenting on it and Jesus is telling them…he basically…get a good look, it’s all coming down. And that proved to be true. I mean, within fifty years of Jesus saying that, Jerusalem was destroyed, including the temple. So, Jesus’ disciples ask Him when this is going to happen. And Jesus begins to talk about the apocalypse. And He’ll be continuing that conversation even in tomorrow’s reading. So, we don’t need to go over everything that Jesus said, we just read it. We can re-read it, it’s pretty clear. I’m just pointing it out again, because Jesus is talking directly about it. He actually talks about it a lot, every time He talks about enduring to the end and this kind of perseverance. This is attached to the apocalyptic worldview. And it’s a big part of our faith. However, it’s a part of our faith that feels like simmering dread a lot of times. Like a light layer of fear over everything because we believe that God will bring justice and eradicate evil and bring the end of what is now and give birth to something new. But what we have in the Scripture is a lot of symbolism and imagery. So, Jesus even refers in his talk today to the prophet Daniel. Well, the book of Daniel is apocalyptic in nature, especially the second half of it when he starts having, when Daniel starts having visions. And then we get to books like the book of Revelation and it’s full of symbolism and evokes a lot of dread. And perhaps a lot of unnecessary dread, because it’s so shrouded in mystery. So, why don’t we just pay attention to this as we’re moving through the Scriptures this year? Why don’t we just name it and understand that this is what’s going on? And, rather than looking for the fear and the anxiety and the dread, why don’t we look for the hope in all of this? Because this is a year of hope. So, let’s just recognize the apocalyptic worldview in the Scriptures, in our own lives, and spend the year, in part, at least, when we encounter this, acknowledging, ok, this is, this is that. And one of the places we can get hope, even in today’s reading, is when Jesus says, this stuff is going to happen, it’s going to be difficult, kind of like having a baby is. All these things are like the first pains of childbirth, Jesus said. So, I have never given birth to a child, but I have five kids so going through the process isn’t a new thing to me. And, you know, there is incredible happiness and joy and longing, a bit of dread about the process. There is pain and pushing involved. It’s very difficult work that brings new life.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for its counsel. We thank You that it touches everything about us, including our view of what is yet to come. And we invite You into this, every step of the way, because You bring light and You bring life and You bring good news and You bring hope. And we need all of these things to survive. So, we invite your Holy Spirit into what we’ve read today and ask You to plant it in our lives. And we ask in Jesus name. Amen.
Announcements:
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So, looking at the calendar, just two days from now, day after tomorrow, I’ll be in Bakersfield, California and I have the privilege of speaking at New Life Church. Looking forward to that very much. So, if you are in the area, be sure to come say hello. You can get the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the Events section. So, we’ll see you soon out on the west coast.
Also want to remind you of the More Gathering for women that is coming up this April in the mountains of northern Georgia, just about an hour outside of Atlanta. Looking forward to that very much and hope you can come if you’re a lady, it’s for women. Hope you can come and join the sisterhood. It is a beautiful thing to behold, indeed. You can get all the details for the More Gathering at moregathering.com. So, be sure to check that out as well.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi Daily Audio Bible. My name is Liz. I’m calling from Oregon. You are blessed and highly favored by our Lord our Father. I wanted to say this is my first year. January has been my first month. We’re almost through. I am so beyond grateful. I’m trying not to get emotional because…I don’t have too many…But I love you all. You guys are all a blessing to me. I want to first thank a few people. Slave of Jesus, North Carolina, Diane B. – shalom, shalom - Blind Tony ___ there’s so many more and I’d like to let you know how encouraging you are and how grateful I am to you and to Brian and his family. I’m calling in for prayer. 2017 was the best. 2018 is starting off to be wonderful and I’m so blessed by the DAB program. So, I’m going to go ahead and say I’m praying for my future husband. I don’t know who he is, but I want to know healing from past wounds and insecurity. I’m starting my own business because I know that God has made me to do more and be more. So, I’m believing Him for that. Please my fellow DABbers, pray against fear, loneliness, insecurities, and procrastination. Pray for focus to __ and full faith in God. Thank you so much for your prayers and continued support. And I love you all so much. Thank you.
Hi friends this is Lisa the Encourager. I wanted to pray tonight for Siaka from Sydney Australia. Siaka I know you are crying when you called in and you have a chronic illness and yoy’re also in the middle of an strange relationship. So, I’m praying for you that you will be healed soon from your chronic illness. And I’m very, very sorry that you are having to deal with two very stressful situations at the same time. You know, sometimes when we have one burden to carry, it’s enough to overwhelm us, but you’re going through to really difficult situations, you’re having a relationship issue and your also dealing with a real chronic illness. So, I just want you to know that I really hear you, are really sorry for what you’re going through, and I love you, and I’m praying for you. And also, I wanted to pray for Homeward Bound, called in about her 20-year-old neighbor that had a drinking problem. And, of course, we don’t know what her name is but I’m just going to call her Angel, because I think she needs a lot of Angels to pray for her on her behalf. And, you know, she was recently raved and is really struggling with all of that heavy anxiety, which is horrific. Again, she had two horrible things that have happened to her. So, I’m praying her for her, who I’m calling Angel. So, dear God I just come to You in prayer for Angel and I come to You in prayer for Siaka Lord, as they are both beautiful women that I know You created and love. And I know Lord God that You hear their struggle and their pain and their problems, and I pray Lord God that You would be with them…
Hi. This is Victoria S. I’m just calling tonight to pray for some of the DABbers. I wanted to pray for Madden who spoke about the spirit of judgement. Thank you for that Madden. It’s so good to know that sometimes when we have those challenges, but when we recognize them, that means God is doing something in our lives. And I just want to pray that God continue to use you, and continue to show you in His will and His way and His light. I wanted to pray for Jason who’s soon to be more committed and pray that the Lord will continue to bless you to be even more committed. And I want to say to Jalen, you’re a man from New York and a first-time caller, and Jalen, I just thank God for you and pray that you continue on in the Lord and let Him use you and bless you in a mighty and special way. And I wanted to pray for Jim in New Hampshire for his wife of who has cancer. And I’m praying with you and agreeing with you that she goes through it and she gets a victory in Christ Jesus through the healing. We just know that God could do anything but fail, gracious Father. And I also want to pray for my friend Sharon. She’s still trying to reach to get her mother. And she’s getting all kinds of blocks, but God is faithful. And I wanted to encourage you, Sharon, to hold on. Gracious Father we come before you tonight. Oh Lord in the name of Jesus, Lord You heard our prayers Lord, You heard our prayers for this woman who has cancer. Her and her husband are enjoying life and they want to be together. Oh Lord and it’s such a blessing to have someone who wants to be together in our days and time. But I want to thank You Lord for healing her. I want to thank You Lord for delivering her. I want to thank You Lord for setting her free from this cancer Lord. I want to thank You for blessing her husband to be there with her. Oh Lord in each day that he’s there here there, bring them closer and strengthen them Lord. Lord, we thank You for those who are first-time caller’s…
Hello my DAB family. This is Mark S. from Sydney Australia. Today is Monday, 29th of January. And today Brian, Brian, Brian, I love you so much my brother and my preacher. You hit the money…really…for me today on your homily on deception as the root of all quarrels and problems. And wow. It’s so subtle what you said Brian, I subtly change the truth to fit the situation to make me feel like I fit in, to make me feel like I belong. And yet you’re so right Brian, it’s those little subtle changes in what the truth is instead of letting the truth be the truth. And Brian, how much can I thank you for someone helping to save my soul and how much I’ve changed to your teachings Brian? And we’re so blessed in what you’ve gone through and sharing your life experience with God Brian. And I can’t show enough gratitude Brian. I wish I could be there to hug you neck and thank you personally, but big virtual hug from me Brian, that you gave to me another lightbulb moment that I am…certainly meant a lot to me Brian. Love you and your whole family and thank you for following Christ and helping change a lot of us Brian. And also, family and community I love you all too. Talk to you soon. Bye.
Hey DAB family this is Byron out in Florida. I have so much in my heart that I wanted to say I’ll try to fit it in the two minutes. But a while back I asked you guys to pray for me and my family because we were moving Nehemiah into new situations and seeing how that’s gonna work because he’s getting bigger now. And it’s been about a month or so with that and it’s not working. It’s not working. It’s causing some stress. And it’s causing teachers stress and it’s not working. And I was having a conversation with my wife about it last night. And she asked me plainly, like why, why am I so insistent on pushing him forward? He doesn’t seem to be ready. And I have my reasons for it, but when she drove down to really try to find out why, I looked in my heart and I said, why? You know, what I found there surprised me. Because of the struggles with him, and the struggles with my wife’s sickness, and my own personal struggles with that stuff I was __ saying that I talked about last year and the year before. But life was very difficult and I even told my wife this. It wasn’t getting easier. After all this time it wasn’t getting easier. And God gave me such a wise wife that she said it’s not important for it to get easier. And, so, imagine the comfort that God gives me when eight hours later I listen to the DAB and that’s the exact same message that God puts on Byron’s heart, that it’s not going to get easier, but the path that we’re on is getting deception out of our lives. God is good and He is faithful and if we would trust him He would lead us through kicking and screaming if need be, those areas where we need to root out deception. And it’s not easy and it won’t get easier, but there is a promise that one day you will complete the task he started…
Hello Daily Audio Bible. This is Jay calling from New Jersey. Just wanted to give out a praise report. So, a while back I called in with some confessions about, you know, different things that I was dealing with in life, and sins that I could not stop committing. Well, it has officially been 117 days without any alcohol, without any drugs, without any other things that I’d dealt with. So, listen, I want you to think about where you are in life and what you’re willing to do to follow Christ. You know, I didn’t want to confess these things to you guys and I didn’t want to confess to my church and I definitely didn’t want to confess to my wife. And there are conflicts I currently am dealing with, not knowing where my wife is, and her not wanting to be in our child’s life, but even in the face of that __, which I caused through self-gratification and self-satisfaction, just selfishness, wanting to please myself. There is still peace, there is still hope, there is still good. I will not lie to you and tell you that is not painful, because it is. However, there is a peace that passes all understanding that can only come from God Himself. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this peace. We thank You for this 117 days. And Father, I pray now in the name of Jesus Christ that this will resonate with someone who also needs to reach out and seek help either professionally or in a group setting with the things that they’re dealing with. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.