Daniel 11:36-12:13, 1 John 4:1-21, Psalms 123:1-4, Proverbs 29:2-4
Today is the 5th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is an honor and a pleasure to be here with you today. I’m kind of chuckling because these are the first words I’ve spoken out of my mouth today. Usually I have conversations before Daily Audio Bible but this is it, like, your the first person I’m talking to today out loud. So, it’s great to be here with you for the midweek as we take the next step forward in our adventure through the Scriptures this year. Yesterday, from the Old Testament reading, we concluded the book of Daniel, which means that we’ll be beginning a new book in the Old Testament today and that will be the book of Hosea, which will bring us, right now, into the final grouping of books that we will encounter in the Old Testament this year. And this grouping of books is called the minor prophets. And lest we tune out and think, well, these are less important books, that’s not why they’re called the minor prophets. They’re called the minor prophets because they’re shorter in length, compared with, like, longer books of prophecy like Isaiah or Ezekiel. So, in terms of the territory ahead in the Old Testament, this is where we’ll be camping out, in the minor prophets. And there are 12 books beginning with Hosea and ending with the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. So, obviously it’s December 5th and we have 25 days left in this year. So, we’ll be moving through these 12 books rapidly as we make this final push into the end of the year. But let’s talk about the territory that we’re immediately heading into. the book of Hosea.
Introduction to the book of Hosea:
Hosea as a prophet probably lived in the eighth century BC and was able to see firsthand the disintegration and the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel, which happened to be his homeland. But even though his homeland had been the northern kingdom, many biblical scholars believe that Hosea’s prophecies were collected together in the southern kingdom of Judah after the Assyrians had destroyed Israel, the northern kingdom, and carried the 10 tribes and exile. Now, one of the most poignant themes that are in the Bible we also encounter in the book of Hosea and that is the theme of marriage. And the theme of marriage in the Scripture is often used to represent God’s love for the people that He entered into covenant with. And this theme is vividly captured in Hosea and it’s a fitting metaphor because we’ve been through a number of books of prophecy and we’ve observed God’s people chasing other gods over and over and over committing spiritual adultery. So, obviously the theme of marriage is poignant and that when placed in the context of marriage, God’s reaction to the betrayal of his people is totally understandable. He behaves like a scorned lover who is heartbroken and shocked and longs for His lost love. And that is portrayed more clearly in the book of Hosea than pretty much anywhere else in the Bible because God instructed Hosea to use his actual living life to speak as living prophecy. God instructed Hosea to marry a prostitute and her name was Gomer. And this represented the idolatry and the adultery and harlotry of Israel. And, as the story goes, Gomer and Hosea had children together and at God’s instruction each of the children was given a prophetic name that spoke directly to Israel. And then Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea he divorced her, representing God’s casting away of Israel. And then at God’s instruction, in an about-face, Hosea was sent in pursuit of Gomer once again. And the irony is that Hosea had to buy back the woman that had been his wife and who had played the harlot and committed adultery. And he did, he bought her back, representing the lengths God was willing to go to in order to be reunited with those He loves. So, the portrayal of God’s love is potent in the book of Hosea because it’s a picture of His love for each of us individually and it forces us to look at the ways that we continue to betray the lover of our soul and it forces us to see the impact that this has because so often we’re moving through life as if whatever we do has no impact on God, but the book of Hosea shows us otherwise. And most of us, you know, you live long enough, and you experience a broken heart at some point or other in your life, usually. Abs, so, most of us have probably experienced what it’s like to have you heart broken or to have like a sense of betrayal. And the book of Hosea provides us with a good picture of what that looks like through God’s eyes. And, so, we begin. We’re reading from the God’s Word Translation this week. Hosea chapter 1 verse 1 through 3 verse 5.
Prayer:
Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the promise that the person who has the son is the person who has eternal life because eternal life is found in the son. And, so, Jesus, we thank you that this is something that we have already begun to participate in. Like, so often we are thinking that our eternal life is something that begins after we die. And yet we are alive and we will not die because you have come for us, which means that our eternal life has begun and we are living within it now. And this promise found in this little letter of first John is a game changer and should alter our perspective and give us such a wide view of what we are participating in as we move through life here on earth in collaboration with you. So, come Holy Spirit, lead us into all truth, this is Your promise. Show us the narrow path that leads to life and may we follow you all the days of our lives, which is forever. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
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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:
Hey family, this is Judy in Salt Lake. I’m calling for Sharon. Sharon, I heard your call. Steve and I have been praying for you nonstop. I can’t even begin to imagine the heartache and suffering that you’re going through, but I want to pray for you now. Father in heaven, first I ask You to forgive for my sins, that You hear my prayer. Father, I hold up Sharon to You. I hold up her entire family but mostly her right now. Lord, wrap Your arms around her. Don’t let her go. Let her know that You are there for her no matter what. Don’t let her second-guess herself. Father, we know that You only hold us accountable for what we know. We don’t know what her daughter knew or didn’t know but we do know that she was suffering, or she wouldn’t have done what she did. Father, don’t hold it against her. Don’t hold it to her charge. Whatever it is I ask forgiveness for her, that she can meet her mom someday in the kingdom. Father, please bless the family. It’s such a tragedy, a loss of a child. And a loss of any life is tragic but when it’s Your child Lord. You know, You watched Your own child die on the cross. Father, please, please comfort Sharon in her distress, in her anguish. Father, all of our hearts go out to her.
Hi, this is Victoria Soldier, just calling and wanted to pray for one of the DABbers and some of the DABbers. I wanted to pray for this beautiful mother who lost her baby who committed suicide. I wanted to…she said her name was Sharon and was victorious and she didn’t feel like she was victorious any longer. Lord, You touch my sister. You touch her in a mightily in special way. Oh Lord in the name of Jesus You help her to be victorious Lord. Oh Lord You speak to her and let her know that her baby is fine, that her baby made her peace with You Lord. Oh Lord she need You Lord. She needs You. She lost this beautiful baby that You entrusted her with. And Lord, let her not feel the guilt of the depression or whatever that the Young woman goes going through Lord. It’s just sin that hangs around and tries to take over our lives, but Lord I pray the victory in that Young girl’s life, that she reaches heaven, that her mom would get to be with her again. Lord, touch that mom and that family Lord of that Young girl Lord. In the name of Jesus touch her Lord, touch that mom to hold on Lord. Touch that mom and that family to hold on in the name of Jesus. Lord, You have Your way. Lord we pray for this nation and we pray for our Young people who are going through things and are going through depression Lord. We ask that You be with them Lord. We ask that You be with them every step of the way and help us to be there with them in the name of Jesus. And Lord we ask You that You have Your way in that woman’s life. You strength her Lord and You give her some peace Father in the name of Jesus. And Lord I would be ever so careful to give Your name the glory and the honor and the praise. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Have a good day DABbers. I just wanted to say hi to Brian and Jill and…
Hi, my name is Eva Armstrong, I’m calling from Pennsylvania. I’m calling for Sharon victorious in Northern California. Your call just struck my heart about losing your daughter because Sharon, I lost my son. It’s been 20 years ago but he’s my firstborn son. So, I know where you’re coming from. I wanted to tell you that you can still be victorious. Don’t give up the name because that’s what God says you are. I know I felt like Satan had left me bleeding on my doorstep after my son died of his own doing. It was probably accidental, but it was one of those things teenagers do. Anyway, you are victorious. You are much loved, and I want you to know that I’m going to be praying for you and please, go easy on yourself. Don’t take on too many extra tasks. Don’t punish yourself for things you didn’t say or do. Take every little bit of encouragement that people give you, every scripture, every song. If you can, maybe write them down. God will bring something good out of it. Let’s just go to the Lord for a minute. Heavenly Father, I pray that You would put Your arms around Sharon, that You would comfort her, that You would guide her step-by-step. when she’s too weak to walk Lord pick her up and carry her because this is a very difficult time. And You know what it was like to be wounded Lord. We just put ourselves in Your arms and Your hands. We ask these things in Jesus’ name. Karen, if you can I am ema94rn@gmail.com. I’d be happy to share with you some more. Bye.
Hi everyone, it Sharon in St. Louis. Sharon the Victorious one and you are still victorious because your victory is in Jesus. Your call yesterday, oh gosh, I cried and sister I am grieving with you and I can’t even imagine, I can’t even imagine what you’re going through sister. And I pray for salvation is mine. It’s so good to hear from you. Father God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus who’s interceding for us right now, for You right now, I just pray that You would show up, that You would come quickly Lord in a miraculous way Father God to minister to Sharon’s heart, to minister to salvation is mine’s heart, to minister to those hearts of all those in the DAB family that are hurting. And I pray Lord that You would rule Your people to be around them and about them. Lord, that You would show up in such a supernatural way that they would just know, that You would encourage their hearts Lord, that You love them because You do love them in spite of these horrible things that happen, that You are a good good Father. So, I just pray that You would come quickly Lord Jesus. I pray for this pain to be lifted from salvation is mine. I pray that You would direct her to a good doctor. And I pray for this little __ Father, that You would make Sharon’s grand-daughter or grandson just resilient in this Lord. And we thank You Father God. We thank You Lord that You are Lord of all, that our hope is in You. In Jesus’ name.