Leviticus 11:1-12:8, Mark 5:21-43, Psalms 38:1-22, Proverbs 10:8-9
Today is the 21st day of February. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is great to be here with you. It’s great to be here with you today. Feeling a little little little tiny tiny bit stronger and that’s kinda how it comes on. That’s how the jet lag works. We did have a adrenaline filled day yesterday just because we’re seeing all of this stuff for the first time and experiencing the wilderness and we’ll talk about that in a little while but first we need to take the next step forward as we continue reading through the Scriptures. And today we’ll be able to read the Scriptures here from the southernmost part of Israel city Eilat on the shores of the Red Sea. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Today Leviticus 11 and 12.
Commentary:
Alright. So, in the book of Leviticus today and again, you know, the law and the customs and the rituals are being given and so we can consider this to be a portion of Scripture that’s kind of like dry reading not particularly riveting reading. It’s because of the kind of literature it is, right? So, we read the book of Genesis and we’re reading like a narrative, we’re reading in story form what happens next. And, so, this is how we understand things, right. So, even when we get together and catch up on each other’s lives we’re gonna say this is what happened between the time that we last met and catch each other up and tell it in order. Whereas the law, these are statutes and regulations and rules. We can read this kind of literature and in our modern era by getting online or going to the library and getting a law book, but you never really see those on the bestseller list because they aren’t the most riveting reading. So, we can go through reading like today in the book of Leviticus and just kinda, you know, zone out or glaze over because we’re talking about clean and unclean animals and, you know, the rights of purification after childbirth. And we can see the logic in kind of outlining what can and can’t be eaten, you know, like what’s edible and what has no nutritional value to a human. But that’s when, you know, we might wonder why it’s in the Bible. But if we go a little closer and we remember when we started this particular portion of the Bible there are practical reasons for why things were to be done the way that they were, practical in just community perspective, but everything had a spiritual underpinning. What’s being installed into this culture is that they couldn’t do almost anything at all without it leading back to a reminder of who they were, who God is, and where they’re going. So, if we look a little closer we might each have differing opinions about what kind of animals should or shouldn’t be eaten depending on where we are on the planet, might be able to order a Big Mac in the United States but you probably won’t be able to order that in India and we could definitely get lost in the weeds on trying to determine why somethings clean or unclean in terms of the food supply. But that would be missing the point. Clean and unclean things still do exist in this world and the principal that God’s weaving into the culture of the children of Israel, the principle of clean and unclean, is no less applicable today because it was always intended to be an outward representation of what was happening inside of someone. So, there are for sure, for sure things that we know are not clean and there are things that we know are and whether it’s a behavior or a compulsion or an activity or something that you’re thinking about, the fact that our reading in Leviticus represents an ancient custom has no bearing on the reality that there is still clean and unclean and we should not participate in what is unclean. So maybe we don’t have to be ritually pure anymore but that does not mean we’re not supposed to be pure. And, as we’re out here in the wilderness and we’ve experienced one day in the wilderness and we’ll be experiencing most of today in the wilderness as well it doesn’t take hardly any time to look around and realize, there is no way to survive out here without God. I mean, it would be so…it would be…even now in modern times with modern logistics, if we took a million people, even a half a million people out into this wilderness and tried to sustain them as they moved around without roads, like, I mean it would…it would be virtually impossible now…absolutely impossible then. So, we see that God leading His people into the wilderness where they have no way out and are having to learn and be reframed and reformed into a new people how important this was and how important this is to our own lives. There is clean. There is unclean. If we’re going to consume what is unclean, whether in spirit or body we are going to become defiled. Maybe we’re not going to become ritually impure, but the effects on our body and spirit are going to be the same. We’re separating ourselves from our intended state, holiness and purity. And there is clean. And inside of us we know when we are wandering into unclean territory and we know when we are walking pure and holy and are living clean lives. And as we can see from the book of Leviticus, it matters.
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into that. Yes, we are in the starkness of the wilderness. And yes, this certainly does put us right in the story that we’re reading. And even from the book of Mark when we’re reading Jesus of You casting demons into the swine, we think ahead because we’re gonna go there too. And, so, we can see that You have a lot to say to us as we journey whether here physically in the land of the Bible or whether as a community experience as we day by day just journey through the Scriptures. There’s a lot for You to speak to us as we’re here and we invite You fully. Nothing is off limits to You. Show us the areas that are unclean, the areas that we need to walk away from, the areas that are doing us no good whatsoever. Come, Holy Spirit we pray, in Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
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And obviously, we’re in the land of the Bible right now, just kinda getting going on our pilgrimage where we will experience so, so much. We have already been as far west as you can go in the land. That was yesterday in Ashdod on the Mediterranean Sea. It won’t be the last time we’re on the Mediterranean coast, but that’s as far west as you can go. And we’re leaving out from Eilat today. We traveled south all day yesterday through the wilderness and truly got to experience what we’re talking about when we’re talking about the wilderness, right? When we talk about the desert and the story of the children of Israel and their formation, we are here, and it is stark and it is barren and it is desolate and there’s so much that gets brought up in our hearts because of that. And, so, we’re kind of just sitting with it. We were able to visit Beersheba yesterday. Beersheba is the southernmost city within the borders of ancient Israel, right? So, the borders of ancient Israel were known from Dan to Beersheba. So, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the South. Of course we traveled a lot further south of Beersheba, but visiting there, starting there, looking at how people had to live and how they had to get water in an arid transition zone, understanding that your standing in the book of Genesis, pretty big deal, pretty good place to start. And then we just kind of began to move into the deep desert and we were able to find an outlook and overlook the wilderness of Zin. We haven’t got to this story yet in the Old Testament, but these children of Israel who are getting their laws and customs and being formed right now, they will eventually be preparing to go into the Promise Land and before they do that they will send spies into the land and that will happen from the wilderness of Zin. And, so, we took some time to explore that story and its implications to our own lives before grabbing some lunch. And we had some lunch with the Bedouin folk who live in the desert and travel around in the desert. And even though their culture is modernized to a degree, the desert dwelling people dates back thousands and thousands of years. So, even though desert dwellers may have new newer technologies than they had thousands of years ago they still live very simply and very nomadically, and we were able to have a taste of that, literally and figuratively, as we had lunch together out in the desert. And then we continued our journey south toward the Red Sea, which was our destination. We got some ice cream, got a favorite spot down in the desert where there’s dairy farmers and fresh ice cream. Got to enjoy that before making our way to Eilat and the shores of the Red Sea. And boy, when you’re standing on the shores of the Red Sea after traveling through the wilderness all day long and you’re able to kinda stand there and see into the country of Egypt and see into the country of Saudi Arabia and see into the country of Jordan while standing in the country of Israel, realizing that as you’re looking into the land of Egypt you’re looking into the continent of Africa. Like all of a sudden you realize I am a long way from Kansas, like I am a long way from Spring Hill Tennessee or all of the different places that we’ve come from and it kinda hits us. It hits me every year almost always at the same spot, like…we are…this is really happening…we are really here and yes, I am a long way from home. So, that’s kinda what our day looked like. Today we will be spending most of the day in the desert, but a lot to do. And we’ll be coming out of the desert and we’ll talk about all of that tomorrow. So, thank you for…thank you for your prayers…your continued prayers over safety, stamina, health, logistics just the whole thing, it’s quite a dance to do what we’re doing and keep everything moving in the same direction and on the same page. Thank you for your prayers.
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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:
Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is Kay from West South Georgia. This is my second time calling since I found out about this ministry last year. I am with a heavy heart calling in to ask for prayer for my dear friend Elaine. She is in her 70s, one of the most vivacious, healthiest, godliest women I’ve ever known and out of nowhere she got sick with a virus that went to her heart and she is in ICU right now and it’s just…it’s scary for all of us. We know where she’s going if the Lord decides to take her but I’m real selfish right now and so is her family and I just pray that you would pray God’s will that He will heal her from this myocarditis. And before this happened, she went to her family practitioner and she’s never taken medications in her life and they put her on steroids and antibiotics shot and antibiotics orally and inhalers and it just completely flipped a switch in her brain and then she…she tried to hurt herself…tried to end her life then this happened. And now she’s in ICU with her heart at another hospital. So, again, if you would just lift Elaine in prayer that God’s will will be done and give the family and friends peace, that He will hear her this side of heaven. Thank you so much. Bye-bye.
Hello Daily Audio Bible listeners, this is Candace from Oregon and I want to stop and encourage all the musicians among us and pray for all of us including myself. Being a musician for the Lord is a huge, glorious experience and it’s just…it’s usually such a joy, it’s so good. It’s also really, really terrible at times. And all of you, if you’ve spent enough years as one of God’s musicians, you know what I’m talking about, you could give examples of what I’m talking about. But I think if you look across the years…the blessings…if you look across at the details of your experience as God’s musician, the blessings have far outweighed the struggle. So, I would encourage you to do that. Lord, I lift up before you now, along with all the listeners and prayer warriors who are hearing these words now, we lift up the musicians among us Lord and we ask You to bind the enemy from them, to free them into Your service in every way that You desire Lord. Fill their hearts with peace and joy. Encourage them and help them to be disciplined in their efforts and to listen to You Lord and keep their eyes on You. We pray in particular for Lynn __ husband and thank you that she has been there to intercede on his behalf and that her love for him is an undying love that only You can provide. Thank you, Jesus.
Holy Spirit flowing free
please fall down afresh on me
inside outside all through me
take my life Lord let it be
change is all I’m begging please
keep me free from all disease
free my heart from the sin it sees
flesh condemned but spirit frees
when I’m week Lord make me strong
stay with me and carry long
Lord I feel your presence strong
lead me Lord where I belong
blindtony1016@gmail.com. Like to give a shout out to Terry the truck driver. Hope you’re still healing up and everything’s going good and Lee from New Jersey like to give you a shout out too. Anyway, thank you once again Brian and the Hardin family for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flowin’ y’all. All right. Bye-bye.
Hi everyone, it’s Christy from Kentucky. I wanted to call tonight and reach out to some of our sisters in Christ. First of all, Hurting, in North Carolina, you called about your brother and I’m glad that your brother is getting the help that he needs but I can still hear your concern and I’m just praying for you. You just love your little brother so much that’s so evident and you both have been on such a hard journey and I’m just praying that the Lord will touch and heal both of your hearts and to restore joy back into your lives and to let you walk out the rest of this journey together being healed and happy and knowing that you both have a hope and a future. Also wanted to pray for my sister Kathy in Kentucky and let you know that I’m praying for your brother and your family member that is dealing with addiction. And also Janet, sister Janet, we are praying for your son Jared and we are asking the Lord just to minister to his heart and to give you peace about the decision that you have made to place him in this program. And I’m just asking for the Lord to give you guidance and direction and what you should do regarding Jared’s request to come out of the program. You know, pray about it and when you find peace in your heart you will know the answer. We love you Janet and we’re praying for both you and Jared. I also wanted to speak to our sister Alyssa. You called in and you were just in such hysterics, it just broke my heart to hear your tears and I want you to know dear sister that we are here for you. Everyone, there is a DAB Friends page and if you ever need immediate prayer, if you go on that Facebook page, the DAB Friends you will have immediate responses from people all over the world who will pray for you right away. And Alyssa you are never alone. God promises He’s always with us.
Hi, it’s Gerda from Germany. I want to say thank you to Brian for __ I listened to the Daily Audio Bible today to Jill’s words and it’s really truly an amazing task what Brian has to do every day, no holidays, nothing without thinking about how to get it set on the Internet. I want to say thank you Brian, thank your family, thank you for supporting Brian, and thank you for having a part of it every day. Thank you for…and God bless you, God keep you safe, God give you and all your team a wonderful, amazed, blessed time. Thank you for everybody who does it in different languages. Thank you for all the tasks you have to do, and God bless you and God keep you safe and God support you in everything and God give you everything to be safe. Thank you for doing it. You’re an awesome community. I listen daily since many years. Thank you for being a part of it. God bless you all and keep you safe. I love you. Bye. Gerda.