Daniel 7:1-28, 1 John 1:1-10, Psalms 119:153-176, Proverbs 28:23-24
Today is the 30th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is a great to be here with you today on this very special day because it’s the last day of the 11th month of the year, which makes this the 334th day that we’ve been taking steps forward each and every day to get this point in the year and in the Scriptures. So, well done. So, as we end this 11th month of the year we will also be beginning a new letter in the New Testament when we get there. And this one is called first John. And we’ll talk about that in a little bit, but first we have some territory to cover in the Old Testament and that will take us back into the book of Daniel. Today, chapter 7 verse 1 verses 1 through 28. And we’re reading from the contemporary English version this week.
Commentary:
Alright. As I mentioned at the beginning as we enter into our New Testament reading we’re beginning a new letter and it’s known as first John. So, this reunites us with the familiar voice, an old friend, as we prepare to read the first of three letters that are attributed to the apostle John. Ironically, this letter, it does not specifically specify that it’s from John or from anyone for that matter and it doesn’t specify who it’s addressed to. So, we could conclude that the letter is anonymous, like the book of Hebrews but church fathers it in the mid-second century, so just 50 years after this letter was written, attributed the letter to John the evangelist. And, for that matter, neither the letter nor its authorship were disputed when the New Testament was canonized. Only in more recent times have biblical scholars began to ask questions of style, like between the gospel of John and the epistles of John. So, part of the reason from maybe not addressing the letter to a specific group of people may have been that it was supposed to be circulated throughout many churches. And it’s possible that the initial readers were familiar enough with John that he didn’t need introduce himself for letter, like, they already knew who he was. And it’s also possible that whoever the original recipients of the letter were that they weren’t identified in order protect them. Like, if this letter got…was being circulated and it fell into the wrong hands and could cause potential persecution. So, this letter first John, was probably written from Ephesus, probably written very late in the apostle John’s life. Most scholars date the letter somewhere between like the mid-90s AD and the early 100s. And John was largely writing for one purpose in this letter. There is like pretty much one reason and it’s false teaching. Some of the earliest forms of Gnostic thought, and you’ve probably heard of Gnosticism at some point in your life, but some the earliest forms of Gnostic thought had begun to make their way into the conversation, especially the early docetic view. And that was the view that Jesus wasn’t actually a human being. He just…He appeared to be one but He wasn’t. And, so, this is one of the false teachings that John is combating. Also, there was a view of a man named Cerinthus and he taught that the divine Christ united with the physical Jesus at his baptism. In other words, He was like a normal, you know, just a standard human being up until His baptism, but then, at His baptism, the divine Spirit of God entered and made Jesus a divine being. But then that divine Spirit left Jesus on the cross. Like, you know, my God, why have you forsaken me. This is an indication that this divine spirit is leaving Jesus and then his body dies. That was what Cerinthus was teaching. So, John obviously wanted to combat what he knew to be false, but he had a unique, like, position in all of this. He had an authority that, like, nobody else had. He had been there. He was a part of Jesus inner circle and he’d been with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry. So, he could talk into, you know, speak into these issues and dispel falsehoods because he was an eyewitness account. And that’s exactly what he did in first John. But beyond just, you know, coming against false teaching, the letter offers plenty of contrasts that are intended to test the postures of our hearts even as they encourage us forward in the assurance of our salvation. And, so, with all of that being said, we begin. First John chapter 1.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for Your faithfulness and Your kindness and Your mercy over our lives throughout this entire month that we bring to a close today. In fact father, as we look back, we can look back 11 months to the beginning of this year and see how You have slowly and truly and methodically shifted our perspective on so many things through Your word. And, so we are eternally grateful. And Father, as we release this the 11th, month and prepare our hearts to move into the 12th and final month of the year we say, Holy Spirit, come, lead us into all truth we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
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Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning fellow DABbers, I’m a Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory of Our God and King. Today’s November 26th. Praise God for another year coming to a close. I’m listening to the reading today I didn’t even finish the New Testament reading but I just had a call and share my thoughts. I’ve listened to tis several times. I think I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible for over…it’s like 10 years or so…and it was the first time that it really hit me when Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego said, you know, our God will save us, but even if he doesn’t, we’re not going to worship your God. And that really hit me - the whole, even if he doesn’t part. As a child of God, that is so difficult and hard to say but, to me, that was some Job faith to exercise this. And I started to ask myself, how hard would it have been to make that decision, to even say that? You know, a lot of times I’m reading that and thinking, oh, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego were the first to ever be thrown into a furnace, but I doubt it. Sounds like probably something that has happened before, and it makes me it even more difficult to say that because you know that other people have thrown into that furnace and they’ve died. And, so, I’m sitting here looking at my life and looking at the challenges that we face, whether it’s our health or a deceased loved one or a child struggling with addiction or a marriage or work or finances or just our sanity, peace. And looking around the world and knowing that there are people who have not been visibly saved from these things. But able to say to God, God I trust you. And even if you don’t bring me through God I know you’ve got my best interest at heart. It is powerful. I love you guys. I’m out of time. I hope this blesses you as well.
Hi, this is Sharon. I call myself the victorious. I’m not victorious anymore from Northern California. My daughter committed suicide on Friday. Her son’s birthday’s today he was turning six. I’m so lost. I’m so empty. I need prayer…please. I need prayer for my whole family and for my daughter…my daughter Michelle. My angel __. I don’t know how I’m gonna deal with this, honestly. I haven’t been able to listen to the Bible for 2 days, since Friday. I am so overwhelmed, so broken hearted. Please pray for this family and my daughter that she goes to heaven. Thank you.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family, Michael from Mesa. Today is Tuesday. Calling in just for, I guess, a quick check in. Lot’s going on in my life. For those of you that are praying for me for clients, continue to do so. I think I may have the first one on the horizon, but I’ll need more than one to keep me going. So, continue prayer for that. Update on the house. We’ve got people coming in to help us understand what kind of smell we’ve got going on in the house. We’re pretty sure that we’ve bought into a house where they were smokers and painted over the walls and stuff. They did it during sales time and we didn’t check for that. So, we’re not really sure what we’re gonna do from here but prayer for wisdom and understanding and God’s blessing on whatever…whatever we pursue next. __ ‘s coming. So, just prayers for everyone out there in terms of keeping the focus on Christ, where it belongs and not the busyness that keeps us going. I pray also that we’re all able to continue to endure what the Lord puts in front of us for challenges. And just need prayer for that certainly for myself. I’ve got even my kids making posters of the word endurance, sticking it up around the house, just to keep us focusing on that. Anyway, love you all very much. Michael from Mesa.
Hey everybody, this is Pelham from Alabama. I’m calling today because of Keira from Denver. You called in about your son whose middle name is Yeshua, which is an awesome middle name. And boy, you got my attention with that. But then your call led on into some brutal honesty from you and you reached out to the community. And today when I woke up my Father told me today is an armor day. Where learning about armoring up guys. This is something I’ve been doing for years now and I had a friend say, hey, would you go into battle naked? I didn’t have to think long about that question. And that’s when I learned about applying the spiritual armor of God on a daily basis in the morning because we’re under attack. You have rights to pray for your family. You have spiritual dominion over your children and over your spouse. You can pray for your husband, you can pray for your child, your son, your daughter. So, we’ll do it right now together. In the name of the Father, the Son the, and the Holy Spirit, we put on the full armor of God because we will stand strong in the power of the Lord and His might. The battles we wage are not against flesh and blood they’re against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places. Because of this we put on the full armor of God so that we can stand in this evil day and having done all stand, we put on the helmet of salvation on our heads, the breastplate of righteousness on our chest. We guard up our loins with the belt of the truth. We apply the shoes of the gospel of peace, the readiness of the truth, the word of God. What’s really going on is what we know, so we move in peace in this world. We took on the shield of faith with which we can extinguish all the flaming darts of the enemy. And we also take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. It’s been with us from the beginning. It will be with us forever. It’s the most powerful thing in existence and it’s ours to fight. By the blood of the Lamb of the word of our testimonies, the enemy is defeated. I love you guys. Armor up.