Isaiah 15:1-18:7, Galatians 1:1-24, Psalms 58:1-11, Proverbs 23:12
Today is the 14th day of September. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we do what we do every day, take the next step forward in the journey that were on to take a complete revolution through the Bible, as we take a complete revolution around the sun, all in one year. And hopefully it creates a revolution in our lives. So, we’ll take the next step forward, which is to pick up where we left off yesterday, which will be in the book of Isaiah. When we get to the New Testament we’ll be moving into some new territory, a new letter from the apostle Paul. But first, from the New International Version this week, Isaiah chapter 15 verse 1 through 18 verse 7.
Introduction to the book of Galatians:
Okay. So, as I mentioned at the beginning, we’re beginning a new letter from the apostle Paul today, the letter to the Galatians. So, let’s talk about that a little bit. Galatia at the time of Paul was a province of the Roman Empire, but that area is in modern-day Turkey now. Previously, the Galatians were known as Gauls or Celts before becoming part of the Roman Empire. And, so, we know about five different churches in Galatia that were established during Paul’s first missionary journey because he mentions them. The churches in Placentia, Antioch, Encomium, Lysistrata, and Derby. And since Paul addressed this particular letter that we’re about to read to the churches in Galatia we can safely assume these were the churches that he was writing to, at least those churches. So, we’ll see why this letter is revered as we go through it, why it’s such an important document in New Testament theology. But we’re gonna also notice that the issues Paul was dealing with in second Corinthians, the letter we just finished, these were also issues in Galatia. People had visited these churches behind Paul after he had come and establish them and they taught what Paul considered to be a different gospel. Specifically, the Galatians were being told that they needed to obey Jewish customs and practices in order to follow Jesus. And this included everything, including male circumcision, and the adherence to the Mosaic law, which is something Paul opposed. He was staunchly against this because in Paul’s view Jesus had fulfilled the law and a new covenant had been initiated. So, Paul uses letter to the Galatians as a way to passionately dispel what he considered to be inaccuracies. Ironically, this problem was one of the earliest theological issues that the church had to navigate, period. So, the book of acts records the outcome of the Jerusalem Council. And of course, we’ve already traveled through that territory, but the Jerusalem Council was a meeting that was initiated to arrive at a consensus over exactly this. What was required for a Gentile to become a believer in Jesus? And if you want to revisit that territory, that’s Acts chapter 15. So. We’re not clear whether Paul wrote Galatians before this Jerusalem Council or after the Jerusalem Council. He doesn’t refer to the Jerusalem Council explicitly in the letter. So, some scholars hold the view that Paul wrote this letter before the Council, or maybe even on his way to the Council. If this is the case, visitors to the Galatian churches were undermining Paul’s message and an attempt to align the teachings of Paul with those of the Jerusalem church before they had the chance to wrestle with the issue. And Paul, Paul wasn’t happy about it. And we find that a lot of times, through references in his letters, he’s not happy about these people who come in behind him and try to change what he’s taught. And if all of this is the case, Galatians would be one of the very earliest Christian writings. And it may be Paul’s first letter to any church. But if Paul wrote Galatians after this Council then Paul was using this letter to completely and forcefully reiterate what the Council had decided, right? This would mean that people had come in after the Council behind Paul and were trying to change things around. But alas, that’s the problem about dating some of these documents. We don’t know for sure. We just know in general. But the argument Paul’s gonna layout and Galatians for us and all of those issues that we just talked about, that prompted him to write, these were very weighty issues at the time. Judaism was an exclusive religion for Jews. So, allowing faith in Jesus without the cover of Judaism opened up salvation through Jesus Christ to everyone in the world. This is a very different mindset for a Hebrew person who has been told they were chosen and set apart and were a part of something very exclusive. So, when the church got together to talk about Gentiles, and they were only talking about Gentiles because the Holy Spirit was falling upon Gentiles and people were following Jesus, first, everyone assumed this was a Jewish only thing. But the Holy Spirit revealed clearly otherwise. So, once they got together and made this decision, it clearly separated what we would call Christianity today from Judaism, which ultimately brought persecution from the Jews and the Romans alike. And…I mean…as we continue through the New Testament we’re gonna find the backdrop of persecution because of what we’re talking about right now to be a theme. So, this is the backdrop for the writing of Galatians, but the content of Galatians is foundational in New Testament theology, right? Things like the gospel of freedom and grace, justification through faith. These are all outlined in this little letter. So, off we go into the wild frontier and into some new territory. Galatians chapter 1.
Prayer:
Father we thank you for your word. We thank you for new territory that were moving into as we move into this letter of Galatians and we invite your Holy Spirit to speak the truths of our faith to us, reigniting us, and reconnecting us with our reality in You. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, of course, and its home base for the global campfire community, its where you find out what’s going on around here.
And the fires are always burning at the prayer wall, conversations are continually happening using social media, so stay connected.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage. 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 PO 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 is tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hey DAB family this is Josh from Indiana. I just want to take a moment and thank God for this community. One thing I hate in churches is when our denominations separate. And one thing I love about the DAB family is I never hear anything about one way versus the other and I just love that about this community. God just put on my heart to call in and say something about that. Love you all.
Beautiful family, this is Pastor Gene from Bradenton Florida. I love you so much. Please join me in prayer. Father, we thank You so much for Your work in our life and we thank You for this community. We thank You for Brian. We thank You for Jill. Father, we lift up our brother __ from Ohio. We pray for Your mighty hand of deliverance over his life. Father, in the name of Jesus we also pray for our sister Prophetic Intercessor. We pray that You will encourage her, that You will help her, that You will lift her up. We pray for our sister Joanne Ray who is feeling very scared and she was about to have issues with her dad. Father, in the name of Jesus we pray for open doors for care for her dad and we pray Father that Your mighty hand will be upon her sister and that all that anxiety will be replaced by peace that surpasses all understanding. Father, we pray for our brother Darrell from __ and his encouragement to thank those that have led us to the Lord. I did that after listening to my brother’s call and I know it was a blessing for the ladies at church, invited my mom to church 41 years ago. So, thank You brother Darrell. Thank You for that powerful testimony. Thank You oh God for our brother Will from Bozeman Montana. Continue oh God working in his marriage. Continue Father the work that You have started. You are more than faithful to complete it. And thank You, thank You so much Father for delivering our brother Terry, the truck driver from death. And we pray for special comfort in his life over the death of his pet. God…our sister B’s mom is experiencing health issues. We pray for Your healing touch upon her life. And I pray for all my brothers and sisters and bless them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. Pastor Gene from Bradenton Florida.
Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Emily of Houston of Jim and Emily. And first of all, I want to thank you Brian and Jill are the amazing gathering and everyone involved. I’m just still favoring it and the sweetness of the communion and meeting everybody. So wonderful. Thank you. And a praise report, I did finish my book along the way. Now I need prayer just to get the rest of it done, the next steps. But the main reason I’m calling for prayer is that this weekend on Friday I’m going to Orange County California for a memorial service for a family friend. You know those family friends you called uncle, and aunt, and go to their house for holidays, at least my family did while immigrant. Well, he passed away and I don’t know if they were believers or not, they weren’t when I was kids. But…so…and my sister’s going to be there with my 12-year-old nephew and they are total atheists. So, I just ask you guys to pray that the Lord would use me not only to bring comfort but to shine the love Jesus and that the Lord would give divine appointments and openings for me to pray for people and to shower them with the love of the one true God. I love you guys and I appreciate your prayers, I covet your prayers. Continue to pray for Emily and Jim as we continue to pray for you. Thank you and bless you. Bye.
Dear amazing friends this is Candace from Oregon thanking you for your prayers for my son Micah. He is not drinking, not at least this week. And he is having really long talks with me, mostly about his dad who, many of you know, we lost on March 11, 2017. Would you pray with him for me right now? Dear Lord, as Micha’s court date approaches he will very likely lose his driver’s license on…at this court date September 24. Come what may, I pray that You continue to work in his heart. At this point he continues to say that he is not sure that you are real. So, Lord, would you reveal yourself to him unmistakably and help him by Your Holy Spirit to come to trust you with his entire life, with everything that he is? Thank you that he dreams of being a dad. He’s 35 years old and would really like to meet that…that right person to have a family with and make a lifetime commitment. This is a good dream and Lord I pray that you bless him in Jesus name.