Deuteronomy 28:1-68, Luke 11:14-36, Psalms 77:1-20, Proverbs 12:18
Today is April 5th. I don’t know what I was gonna say. What do I usually say? Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible? I like I turned the mic on before my head was…my mind was engaged. Let’s do this again. Today is April 5th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you and it’s a joy as we reach the end of another work week to continue forward into this changing of the seasons and just allow this rhythm that is the word of God in our lives every day to continue to pull us forward into our year. So, we’ve been reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. We’ll continue to do that through the end of the week today and go back out into the book of Deuteronomy. And, once again, Deuteronomy is the final book of the Torah, of the Pentateuch, and it is the last things, the last three discussions or discourses that Moses has with the children of Israel, his final words before he will leave them and disappear from our history and we will continue forward under a new leader as we prepare to move across the Jordan River and into the book of Joshua. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves, that’s just a reminder of what it is we are reading in Deuteronomy. So, today, Deuteronomy chapter 28.
Commentary:
Alright. So, in the book of Deuteronomy today we spent some time in some pretty ominous territory, some pretty dark things that could happen to the children of Israel. And, so, let’s back up for a second. The children of Israel are being told by Moses that when they get into the promised land there supposed to go to the top of Mount Gerizim with half of their tribes and pronounce the blessings of the covenant and the other tribes are supposed to go up on the top of Mount Ebal and pronounce the curses of breaking the covenant. And these are actual geographical locations, Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. And back when we were in Israel just…I guess…I guess a little more than a month ago…we went to the top of Mount Gerizim. It is one of the places where the last remaining Samaritan people live, and it was the Mount of blessing. And, so, we went up there and had it been a clear day, we would’ve been able to look down upon a biblical Shechem and over to Mount Ebal, the mount of curses, but it was socked in and raining sideways and cold. And, so, we didn’t get to see all that but we did get to get out in it, those of us who wanted to and it’s the second time I’ve done that, stood on top of the mount a blessing and let the wind blow because I’ve just learned of my life that blessing doesn’t always look like…we don’t get to exactly choose what that’s gonna look like. Like, when we open ourselves to God’s direction then it may be disruptive before it’s complete. But I’m kind of sidetracking here. We heard of the blessings and it was kind of a short, concise declaration that essentially said, if you follow…if you follow these commands, if you live like this, if you press in and be my people, then there’s nothing that will harm you and you will be blessed in everything that you do. Then we get to the curses and it’s much more ominous about what’s going to happen. This is a good time for us to understand what we’re reading here because we can read of ominous things that are so horrible like eating your own children because you’re starving in a besieged city. There we’re like, “what the heck? You know, what’s happening here? And why is God so angry? This usually comes from prophetic utterances that depict this type of destruction. Let’s get on the same page here. This is a prophetic utterance about something that could happen not about something that would happen. It would happen if the people abandon God. Their path will lead them to complete destruction and the kind of destruction that we’re talking about is being outlined so that they will know this is what will happen, but it does not need to happen. Unfortunately, even though they are being given advance prophetic warning and a clear picture of where abandoning God will lead them, they will still abandon God and they will unfortunately witness and experience these things. But as we continue forward, especially as we get into more prophetic works in the Old Testament we’ll see these kinds of prophecies that can give us such a sense of foreboding when they are prophecies of things that have not happened and do not need to happen if the people will turn back, will come back, will return to the covenantal relationship that they have entered into. And the same is true in our own lives. It’s just that a lot of times we’ll step out of the covenant, we’ll betray God, and then then things will go sideways in our lives and we’ll be mad at God for it when it’s not His fault and He did not do it and he did send his prophets through the Scriptures to say, “don’t go that way. That’s only going to destroy you. Please don’t go down that path. Here’s what will happen if you do you don’t have to do this. Stay with me.”
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into that. We’ve confessed many times that we’ve blamed You for things that You didn’t do and it’s a continual thing for us this, this kind of reestablishing relationship with You and understanding that this is a two-way street. And yes, You are the solemn God but also yes You have condescended Yourself down to a place where we can actually have a relationship with You that is personal. And, so, we’re sorry for the myriad of ways that we estrange ourselves from You and blame You for things You don’t have anything to do with. And, so, even as we’re moving through toward the end of the Torah, the book of Deuteronomy here, we see You giving warnings and we understand that if we look back over our lives the warnings were there before we made the wrong decision, we just pay attention, we just didn’t slow down and look, or we just simply didn’t care. But we are learning so much and we are seeing cause and effect in the Scriptures and we are seeing it in our own lives and its starting to lock in and make sense and we realize that You are a redeemer and You will rush to our defense at any point that we will surrender to You and return to You. And, so, we do right now. We come back, we repent, we apologize for the ways that we’ve betrayed You and the ways that we’ve blamed You. Come Holy Spirit, lead us into all truth. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected.
Check out the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible shop for this journey. Some of these places, like Mount Gerizim, the mount of blessing, this is all something that you can view in the promised land films. So many of the places that we visit in the Scripture are places that you can see for yourself in those films. So, that’s a resource to certainly have as we move our way through the Scriptures. That can be found in the Daily Audio Bible shop.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the mission that we share here to bring God’s spoken word read fresh every day and offered freely to anyone who will listen, anywhere on this planet, anytime of day or night and to use this rhythm to build community so that we know that we are never alone. No matter where we are in the world we are never alone. If that is life-giving to you, then thank you for your partnership. So, there’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. 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 you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Christine from Washington state and I heard Dustin, his call…or Dustin from Spokane…call and Spokane is my home town. And, so, Dustin and I heard your just voice…was just crushed and I can just feel your pain and I am praying for you __ my called. And then I heard a woman call from the Pacific Northwest today, which is Monday, April 1st and said she was having temptations, she’s married. And you just…you cannot…you cannot…you can’t get involved with this man. First of all, it’s just Satan tempting you. And, you know, Satan started in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve trying to break them up. So, do not. You need to pray for your husband. I have a husband that’s an unbeliever and I thought about doing the same thing you did, and God just stopped me. He stopped me. He protected me. And it is not His will for you to do that. So, just be strong, keep praying for your husband, pray for him every day. Some days I just pray God’s will over him because I know anything I pray specifically is something I want. So, just pray God’s will or your husband and just keep praying and praying. I am seeing stuff change in my husband and believe me it’s been a long road but it’s just better than…than sinning against God and doing something you’ll both feel bad about even if it’s this man of God that you know and have met. Don’t…just don’t do it. So, I’m praying for all of you. And I’m so sad. I’m gonna miss the More Conference. It is so phenomenal, and Jill and Brian just do a beautiful job….
Hi community this is Charis from Texas. I was really inspired to call when I was listening the other day and I can’t remember the woman’s name but she cleans houses for a living and she listens to the prayer requests over and over again while she’s cleaning house and she’s praying for people and as I was thinking about my own situation I was like, oh, I just want that lady to be praying over my son. I have a son, he’s an adult and he deals with undiagnosed bipolar disorder and he has the clear signs of mental illness but won’t really acknowledge that he could get help with medication or __ therapy or behavior modification. And when you’re living close to someone that you love that is bipolar or has certain types of mental illness and they’re not getting help it is like watching…you hear the train coming and you can go, I think there’s a train coming, and then it’s full-blown, yup, it’s coming, and then it goes in front of you and it’s just loud and chaotic and then finally the trains passing and noise dyes down and there’s a calm for a little while before the next train comes. And that’s what it’s like with mental illness, you start seeing signs in the cycle that concern you and you go, oh my goodness, you know, he just had an explosive moment or this or that and then the symptoms and the cycle just build up and build up and build up and, then they blow up and then things start to die down before the calm again. And I’m just asking the community to pray for those of us that are dealing with this. Praying for my son, Timothy and his wife and our family as…
Good morning or wherever you are this is That Girl in Korea. I’m just calling…I was listening this morning to a woman that called in about meeting this beautiful godly man while she’s married to a non-Christian and I was just feeling really convicted to say that, you know, whatever God has brought together let no man separate. I think it should be very encouraging that God showed you this beautifully godly man and that you should, you know, highlight those…the qualities that you find so attractive and just pray that over your current husband. He really needs the strength of the Lord and the convictions of the Holy Spirit. And I think you’re in a really good place to pray for your husband and to pray for protection over your own heart. In the Lord’s prayer it says forgive us our trespasses and lead us not into temptation Lord for yours is the glory and power and honor forever and ever. So, this morning just be encouraged that wherever you are, sorry that I forget your name, but do not fall into temptation over this sweet godly man that is single. Pray for him as a brother but pray for your husband that as a brother as well. He needs you as his wife, he needs you praying for him and for his __ for salvation and for him to find Jesus. And also, it’s great that you get to see this godly man just to remember the kind of godly standards that you can, in your mind, in your heart, hold your husband to in prayer and encouragement and in love. I know it must be difficult but praying for you sister wherever you are, for you to have a great day and for the Lord guide you…
Hi everyone, it’s Christi from Kentucky. I am so amazed at our most faithful and loving God. I know that Kathy Baker called in and told you that we are almost neighbors, seriously. When Kathy had posted about her brother Denver, that he was in hospice and he was about to make his journey home. When I saw that I knew she was from Kentucky, so I looked at her profile and I found out that she’s from Lexington. And friends, we literally live from 2 miles away from one another. And, so, we met at a local hospital chapel and we were able to pray together. It was just such a beautiful time and we have so much in common. God is so good. And listen to this. Today I’m having lunch with a friend of mine from church, her name is Debbie and she’s married to Tim. And during lunch Tim texted her and she just said, “oh no” and I said, “what’s wrong?” She said, “one of our friends…I just found out that he passed away” and I said, “I’m so sorry Debbie. What’s his name?” and she said, “Denver” and I said, “Debbie did his last name happen to be Baker? and she said, “yeah…like…how do you know?” Friends, that is Kathy Baker’s brother, Denver Baker and my friend Debbie and Tim went to the same church together. Matter of fact Tim taught the Sunday school class that Denver was in. Isn’t that amazing? God orders every one of our steps and He makes Himself known to us in the most beautiful ways. So, Kathy I want you to know that I want you to meet Tim and Debbie. And, you know, I know that the Lord is…