Daniel 6:1-28, 2 Peter 3:1-18, Psalms 119:129-152, Proverbs 28:21-22
Today is the 29th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it’s always a pleasure, it’s always an honor to be here with you today. And we’ll take the next step forward, which is what we do every day as we move through the Scriptures in a year. So, we’ve been working our way through the book of Daniel. And, of course, we’ll continue to work our way through Daniel as long as there’s still territory to work through. And in this case, there still is territory. So, we’ll go back out to the book of Daniel. We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week. Daniel chapter 6 verses 1 through 28 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we finished second Peter today. And in concluding 2 Peter we brushed up against the apocalyptic worldview of the first century of the time. And we’ve talked about this before but if we reduce…if we reduce the concept to its essentials, then this is the view that would claim that the world as it was known was something that was changing, a new era was dawning and that this change would eventually bring about tremendous unrest and hardship and challenge, but in the midst of it rescue would come and something new would be born. So, if that sounds familiar it’s because we also share this apocalyptic worldview. I mean, this belief was interwoven within the culture that Jesus lived in and it was the kind of language that He used when He was teaching the immediacy of God’s kingdom. So, like, you now, zoom forward until today and as modern Christians we know like a couple of thousand years have passed since the time of Jesus. And, so, we accept because there’s like no choice that the time of the apocalypse is unknown, although plenty of people have spent their entire lives trying to make these kinds of predictions But even though the time isn’t known the conviction that we are moving forward to an ultimate destiny, that remains and it leads each generation to consider, you know, like the direction that the world is headed in, in light of apocalyptic teachings. So, what does this have to do the conclusion of second Peter? It matters because we get some really good insight into what was going on in the early church. So, even though we generally share an apocalyptic worldview in terms of ultimate destiny, the people that Peter was writing to in the first century, they weren’t looking to the distant future. They thought that the return of Jesus was something that was imminent. So, in the decades that followed Jesus life it was taught that Christ would soon return. Like, we still teach that. We still believe that, but for them this was an immediate thing. Christ would soon return and He would reveal himself and the kingdom of God would be ushered in and ultimately would reveal a new heaven and a new earth. And like I just said, since this is a pervasive theme throughout the New Testament we also find ourselves awaiting the same thing. It’s our apocalyptic worldview. Unfortunately, by the time Peter wrote this letter years had passed and what was thought to be imminent didn’t happen, not the way that they thought. Jesus didn’t return imminently. And, so, this left a problem that needed needed clarification. And Peter acknowledged the issue. That’s why we’re talking about this as we close the letter of second Peter. Peter acknowledged the issue at and he spoke to the issue as he brought the letter to a close. So now that we have some context and some background let’s, like, let’s listen to Peter. Here’s what he has to say about what we’re talking about. “You must first realize that in the last days some people won’t think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you and say didn’t your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn’t changed a bit. Dear friends, don’t forget that for the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years and a thousand years is the same as one day. The Lord isn’t slow about keeping His promises as some people think He is. In fact, God is patient because He wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.” Right? So, the situation was that people were…had put their faith in Jesus thinking that they were…I mean…I don’t want to be too crass…but like signing up for, you know, for a safe passage to the end of the world. Like, this Jesus had been raised from the dead and they believed that, and they believe that he was eminently going to show up and establish His kingdom upon the earth. As I mentioned, like, we are expecting the same thing but since they were expecting it eminently…like any second. And I know this gets a little convoluted because we are expecting this to happen at any second and are always supposed to be prepared. We just simply have the knowledge that it’s been 2000 years. And, so, we have begun the rest on the fact that God will bring this to pass. That is where our faith lies but he will bring it to pass at the moment of His choosing. The brothers and sisters in the first century didn’t have the benefit of a couple of thousand years of church history to prepare for this. So, they’re expecting this to happen any second and years go by and then persecution begins and marginalization begins and everybody’s starting to wonder, what’s going on. So, Peter explains that the Father doesn’t want to lose anyone and He’s entrusted us to reveal the good news. So, when we live by faith and endure the resistance we’re collaborating with God and His redemptive work in the world. And, so, we endure for the sake of the world, on behalf of the world. We wait patiently shining the light into the darkness. So, here’s what Peter says to encourage the brothers and sisters. “God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth where justice will rule and we’re looking forward to that. But while you’re waiting, you should make certain that the Lord find you pure, spotless and living at peace. Don’t forget that the Lord is patient because He wants people to be to be saved. So, as we leave…as we leave Peter’s voice behind for this year in the Scriptures, as we conclude this final writing of his life we can carry this along with us. The next time we find ourselves, you know, like stewing with impatience, let’s remember God’s patience because had the people in the first century, our early brothers and sisters, had they got what they wanted, had Jesus returned imminently and set up His kingdom on the on the earth, we would not be here probably, right? We would have never known God. The story would’ve been a completely different one. Maybe that doesn’t include us. His patients allowed us to know Him. And this should humble us, right, and give us a reason to endure because our endurance reveals God’s patience and God’s patience gives opportunity for those who have not heard the good news to enter into eternal life.
Prayer:
Father, we thank you for your patience. And, you know, it can hit us like a ton of bricks, that had you not been patient we would not be here. And, so, your continued patience lets us look forward in into future generations and have hope for them as we continue to move forward, advancing the gospel, and reflecting your glory upon this earth. So, come Holy Spirit, into the places that we’ve been incredibly impatience in the short term or in the long term. Help us to rest in you. You have invited us to be a part of this story and our endurance and our patients certainly works strengthening and character building in our lives but it’s not purposeless. We are being patient because you are being patient and you are being patient because you don’t want to lose anyone. And, so, Father, give us that that heart. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
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And there’s a few things going on around here. Yesterday Jill came on and announced More Gathering 2019. And we are incredibly excited about this year’s More Gathering. This will take place in April in the mountains of North Georgia about an hour outside of Atlanta. And we have been we’ve been doing the More Gathering in that location since it was the More Gathering. And, so, on one hand we’re tremendously excited and on another hand, it’s kind of a little bit of a bittersweet thing that we’re looking forward to because this this be the last More Gathering in the mountains of North Georgia. And honestly, we don’t know exactly what’s next. Just know that the Lord has instructed us to do this, to bring this era, this season to a close. A new season is coming. So, even as I say that, just in my own heart, it’s a little bit of bittersweet thing because we built something there and thousands of women have come over the years and I can see the transformation, like as I just think of it in my mind, I can see what happens at the More Gathering every single time. And, you know, when you compound that over the course of many years, then it becomes quite a great cloud of witnesses. And, so, this More Gathering is a celebration of all of that that has represented. And if you’ve never been able to come to a More Gathering then this is this is your chance. Registration is open now and we open registration at this time of the year because it really does, it really does make a very unique and very impactful gift to give to a sister or a spouse, a girlfriend, a mother. It’s the gift of freedom. It’s the gift of more. It’s the gift of a new way of being in the world and looking at why you’re here and what you’re doing. And, so, so, yeah, that’s coming up and registration is open now at dailyaudiobible.com or you can go to moregathering.com which will get you to the same place and we’ll look forward to seeing you in April.
Of course, the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2018 is also available now, chock full of goodies. The Promise Land Essential Pilgrims edition, double DVD set is in the Box. Four hours…actually over four hours of content just allowing you to see so many of the places where the Bible actually happened, where all of the things that we’ve read and all of the people that we’ve met, where they lived and where these events took place. Then there’s a couple of my books, Reframe and Sneezing Jesus, as well as Going Solo, a book written by my friend Roberts about the solo parenting life that so many so many within this community and so many within your sphere of influence are living right now. And, so, if you’ve ever wanted to understand what someone going through single parenting is going through than this is a good read. If you are a solo parent, then this is a best friend. And, so, that’s included in the Box as well as the Daily Audio Bible Christmas bulb for 2018 with the word “Hope” imprinted on it. And it’s hanging on my tree and I hope it can be hanging on yours. I have all the years that we’ve done the Christmas bulb hanging on my tree and I look at it every day and it reminds me of all of the revolutions around the sun that we’ve taken reading the Bible every day in community. But those bulbs, they represent this community. And, so, I think…I just look at those and think, this represents…this represents the global campfire. This is us and this is us over the years. So, that’s in the Christmas Box. Your choice of our Windfarm coffee or tea. Roasting the coffee every day now to keep up. And it’ll be arriving fresh and ready for the holiday season for you to drink and enjoy. Or if you are a tea drinker, believe it or not, I’m a coffee snob, but I’m a tea drinker too. And, so, we have our Honey Bush and rooibos tea, if that’s your selection for this year. And also, the Christmas Cards, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards that have “Hope”, which is our word for the year, imprinted on the front. They’re beautiful. You can see all of that at dailyaudiobible.com in the Shop and get your Christmas Box while we have them. And we’re also inserting a mystery…a mystery item while supplies last. We have a few resources that we didn’t have enough to give…to put all into…to put in every Box. And, so, we kind of split it up and said, yeah, let’s get these resources in the hands of everyone. So, something else besides what I just said will also be in the Box and we love it. So, we love doing this. We love getting these resources into your hands. We love hearing the stories of what you kept for yourself and what you gave away and what happened because of that. Man and we’ve for so many stories over the years. And, so, we love making these resources available in the Christmas Box. So, check that out, it’s Christmas time.
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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.