2 Kings 20:1-22:3, Acts 21:18-36, Psalms 150:1-6, Proverbs 18:9-10
Today is the 2nd
day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be
here with you today as we buckle in and take the next step forward in our
adventure through the Scriptures this year. And we’re just getting moved in to
this shiny sparkly second half of the year as we move into the month of July. So,
let’s take the next step. We’re reading from the Voice translation this week. 2
Kings 20:1 - 22:2 today.
Commentary:
Alright. As we continue through the book of 2 Kings, we finish the story of Hezekiah’s reign and then things kind of went south from there in a very bad way for the next half century. And this is what we see, an increasing decline, until eventually nothing will be left. But Hezekiah, who was a good and honorable and loyal king to God. And some of his innovations and some of the things that he built, they still exist. There’s a water system that’s in Jerusalem. There’s the early one from David’s time, very small tunnel, and then there’s a more advanced one built in Hezekiah’s time. Some of the ancient walls of Jerusalem from Hezekiah’s time still exist. Not a lot, but a little bit of the wall from Hezekiah’s time exists in Jerusalem.
And we get into the book of Acts and we’ve traveled around with Paul quite a bit. We’ve been on the road a lot with him in a lot of different cities. But he’s made his way back to Jerusalem. And we remember, as we read through the book of Acts, as he’s making his way back to Jerusalem everyone is telling him not to go. At every stop he’s warned, but he kept insisting that the Holy Spirit is telling him that he’s gotta do this. And so he’s obedient. And he does end up in Jerusalem and he meets with the Jerusalem church. And some controversies are addressed about Paul because Paul had become a very controversial figure. And we’ll get to see why when we get into his letters. We’ll understand very very clearly why there is controversy around Paul. But it’s alluded to in the book of Acts that Paul, being a Jew and being a Pharisee, has abandoned essentially his Jewish faith and the practice, the customs of that faith. But he’s in the epicenter. He’s in Jerusalem and so the Jerusalem church is largely made up of Jewish believers who are continuing to practice their Jewish customs and continuing to practice their religion that way. But they have come to believe that Jesus is their Messiah. So, there’s a rift and we’ve mentioned it before and we’ll really truly understand what’s going on as we move forward in the New Testament. But the leaders of the Jerusalem church encourage Paul to practice a vow. To actually do the rites of purification and actually be Jewish like he is. Paul agrees to that and they’re in the process of doing this purification vow when Paul is recognized. And we just read the story. A massive mob has tried to beat him to death, he’s rescued by Roman soldiers and taken into custody. That’s a big distinction because for just about all of the rest of Paul’s life, he will be incarcerated in some way. But as we’ll see from the book of Acts, it’s not going to slow Paul down. In fact, in very counter- intuitive ways, it’s going to protect Paul and increase his influence. And we’ll begin to see that in the coming days.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the constancy of it in our lives, the way that it transforms us. The way that we can come together in community like this. It’s a beautiful thing that You’ve allowed us to be in the world at this time when we can participate together as a community no matter where we are, and we’re grateful. Thank You Jesus for Your kindness, Your love and Your sacrifice to redeem us. We love You and we worship You, Lord. And we pray these things in Your name. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here.
I mentioned the new update to the app yesterday. Just reminding you to update, especially if you have vision challenges. This particular update was aimed at accessibility. And so if that’s you, it’s available. Update now. But if that’s not you, still update. There’s a lot of bug fixes in it as well, and every time we do an update, things get more and more efficient and stable and a brand new sparkly platform that’s being built. So, be sure to stay up-to-date in your app.
The other thing that we’re talking about is what’s coming up this Saturday. The 7th of July. The Daily Audio Bible Long Walk. An opportunity to mark on your calendar some time that you’re going to go for a long walk, somewhere beautiful, and enjoy a day with God. Where you’re unhurried, where you’re uninterrupted, where you have the time to say the things that are going on, everything that you’ve needed to talk about and to give space for the Lord to respond and lead and guide and shape what the second half of the year is going to look like. That’s the Long Walk. What makes it a community experience is that we’re all doing it together on the same day. And we just take our phone or a camera or something. We shoot a little video, take a picture that commemorates the day, something that we’ll want to remember anyway. And that can be posted to the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page, facebook.com/dailyaudiobible. And then it becomes a community experience. So, make plans for this Saturday. I’m making plans. I’m looking forward to it myself. So, that’s this Saturday.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you. Thank you. Thank you profoundly for your partnership, especially in the summertime here. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the give button in the upper right-hand corner. Or if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 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’ll be waiting for here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi. Good afternoon from Sydney Australia. My first time ringing in. I’m a couple days behind on the Daily podcast but heard a gentleman that was the Uber driver. I’m not sure your circumstances but just…I just felt like you needed to take it a bit easier on yourself man. It’d sounded like you’re beating yourself up too much. I just felt like you just need to take it easy and get you’ll get through what you’re going through buddy. I’m praying for ya. Cheers. Thanks for all your work guys.
This is Jim from North Eastern West Tennessee near Kentucky Lake and Land Between the Lakes. I call today with a grieving heart. Today for me is June 29th and tomorrow will be one year since my precious 12-year-old son, Tanner, passed away from this world and onto the stable ___ of heaven. He had severe cerebral palsy and certainly with a battering of health problems and issues he had while here on earth. Even though his family and friends here miss him greatly, we know he has left his wheelchair behind. And he’s spending his teenage years skateboarding with Jesus. Tomorrow also marks the last day of the first month of me listening to the Daily Audio Bible. Please, DAB family, lift my family’s grieving hearts up to heaven in prayer. Jeremiah 31:13 says, for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
Hi. This call is for Pelham. Pelham, I want you to close your eyes for a moment brother. You’re my brother and you’re the brother and sister of all those that are listening now and you’re not alone. We are one. You’re served Pelham from Birmingham and you’re going through a struggle. And you have been appointed to go through this struggle from the Lord. This struggle that you’re going through, it’s not easy. But Sir, I say Sir as a knight, you are being hardened like a samurai sword. You have to go through the fire, be tested, take a beating in order that you can be strengthened for the battles to come. So, don’t look back. Don’t think that your addictions are you are because that’s who you were. Who you are now is who you will become for eternity. You have a mission. Your mission is to live up to God’s calling for your life. Proverbs 3:5-6. Don’t look back my brother. We’re with you and around you there’s a ring of fire. They’re chariots of fire. There are other warriors cheering you on. Never, never doubt when you’re in the smoke and in the fire that you don’t have an army all around you. Peace brother. We are with you.
Hello DAB family this is Chantey calling from Michigan, formerly of Detroit. I am calling in to say hi to everybody, to say I love you all. I’m still here. I’m still listening. I’m still praying for you all. I’ve still been going through but God has still been carrying me through. I’ve had some really down days. I’ve had some really great days. And I am just calling in just to let you know that I’m here and that I’m still praying for you. And I want to let Chandra in Baltimore know, I hear you, I’m praying for you. Salvation is Mine, I’m praying for you. __ my sister. I love you so much. The mom of five who’s taking care of her elderly mother and her husband is looking for work. As of July 5th they don’t know where they’re going to stay. And I want to let you know…and…plus your dogs…and, you know, your pets, you want them all to be able to stay together. So, I’m with you and I am praying for you as well as your situation. I’ve been there, not knowing where you’re going to stay but if God can take care of me and my family he can do the same for you and yours. I am praying for Byron’s wife in regards to her anxiety. I deal with it too and my advice is to live your life despite dealing with the symptoms of it. And I have those days where I’m literally at work and I have rush to the bathroom to cry through a panic attack. And just rest on Philippians 4:6-8. I know it’s not easy but, oh, I could go on and on. So, I’ll have to call back in again. Whatever. I just wanted to say to Pastor Gene, I love you so much. I am praying for you. I am dealing with some of the same things at work. And, so, I am lifting you up and also regards to the summer camp…