Job 20:1-22:30, 2 Cor 1:1-11, Psalms 40:11-17, Proverbs 22:2-4
Today’s the 26th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it’s wonderful to be here with you today as we move into our workweek, and as we make the final push toward the end of another month. We’ll finish this week by finishing this month, but we’re at the beginning of things right now and he story is untold in our lives and as we continue through the Bible. So, we’re in the book of Job and much conversation is happening between Job and his friends. Job wants an audience with God. He wants God actually to explain in person, why? Basically, the big question, why? Why did all of this happen to me? He doesn’t want his friend’s advice or, you know, what they think that they know. He wants God to come in person and explain the whole thing. And, of course, his friends think this is proud and arrogant and this wouldn’t have happened to him if he didn’t deserve it. And, so, this kind of dialogue is happening and that’s where we pick up the story. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Oh, and by the way, we finished first Corinthians yesterday in the New Testament so when we get to the New Testament today, we’ll be walking into some new territory and we’ll talk about that when we get there, but first Job chapter 20 through 22.
Introduction to second Corinthians:
Okay. So, as we talked about a minutes ago, we’re moving into another letter in the New Testament. We read first Corinthians. And, so, today we’re gonna begin the letter known as second Corinthians. And, so, the irony about this is that this is actually probably Paul’s third letter to the Corinthian church because the very first one was something that was referred to in first Corinthians, but we don’t have this letter. So, it’s not preserved, we don’t know what it says, it’s never been discovered. Among biblical scholars, there’s pretty much no division about the authenticity of this letter, but there is a little bit of division on whether second Corinthians is a complete letter or if possibly two different letters that kind of been stitched together because it…well…because the tone of the letter changes between the first half and the second half. So, this letter, second Corinthians, probably was written on Paul’s third missionary journey which would date it somewhere in the late 50s A.D. So, Titus, who has a book of his own in the Bible, was Paul’s son in the faith, and he had visited Corinth and then he met up with Paul later as Paul’s traveling that allowed Paul to hear feedback from Titus and how church in Corinth was doing, but also how is letter, the previous letter, the one we just read had been received, which is likely what prompted Paul to write the letter we’re about to begin. So, just as a reminder, Corinth is a large city in the Roman Empire, melting pot kind of place, lot of spiritual ideas, very sensual city, large, secularized city and it was rebellious in a lot of ways, or fiercely individualistic in a lot of ways. And, so, as part of the culture of the city this was part of culture of the church and there was…there’s plenty division happening, and it starts to sound familiar. So, a small group of members started basically…basically inventing church politics. Although, I don’t think they had to invent it, I think it was already around, but they started playing church politics in attempt to get control and even to the point of questioning Paul’s authority over the church in Corinth, like questioning his rules, questioning his apostleship, and in a lot of ways questioning the gospel that Paul taught. So, that’s the backdrop that’s kind of the context for the letter that were about to read. But the issues that Paul is dealing with in this letter, although a couple thousand years ago, at the very, very beginning of the church, man these issues are still here. It still sounds familiar in the modern church era. Like it’s a different period of time. There’s like totally different cultural understandings right now but these issues of the heart that Paul’s talking about, they’re still with us, they’re still the same. And, so, as we read through this letter let’s invite the Holy Spirit as we do every day to question our own motives and our own actions, but not just to flip the light on and expose some things and us, but actually to illuminate them so that they can be changed. And, so, with that flyover let’s begin. Second Corinthians chapter 1 verses 1 through 11 today.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us this far in Your word. And man we have really, really taken the journey and as we as we move through the last week of this month we invite Your Holy Spirit to help us finish it well. And as we prepare to come together at the family reunion, we invite Your Holy Spirit to guide us and give us safety as so many are traveling. Come into this whole week, everything that we do, everything that we think, everything that we say, may it be informed by Your word and may Your Holy Spirit plant it deep in our lives as we continue to move into new territory. Speak to us from this second letter to the Corinthians, Holy Spirit. Speak to us from the messages that are found in the book of Job. Allow the Psalms to wash over us, and commiserate with us and encourage us, and allow the voice of wisdom to speak deeply into our souls we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus 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.