02/11/2020 DAB Transcript

Exodus 32:1-33:23, Matthew 26:69-27:14, Psalms 33:1-11, Proverbs 8:33-36

Today is the 11th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is a joy and a honor really an honor to be here with you and to let God’s word speak into our lives as we just come around the roaring Global Campfire, come in out of the cold, see the firelight on each other’s faces and let God’s word speak to us. So, we have spent the last several days in the book of Exodus at Mount Sinai listening to God give instructions for things that he would like to be built and ways that he would like things done in the emerging culture of these former Egyptian slaves who are now being transformed into God’s chosen people. So, God has finished up with that and so Moses is gonna come see the people but he’s not gonna be happy. Exodus chapter 32 and 33 today. And we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.

Commentary:

Okay. 40 days in the wilderness around the mountain of God. That’s what it took for the people to turn their backs on God. So, God had told Moses to get the people ready to meet with Him. It was His intention to be with them personally. They came sanctified around the mountain. God descended in a cloud and lightning and scared all the people. And, so, they asked Moses to be the spokesperson. And, so, He went to the top of the mountain to get the instructions, but it was taking too long. It was taking too long. 40 days in the wilderness is too long. And, so, they decided, “we don’t know what happened. He’s gone. We don’t know…we don’t know what happened to Moses.” And the next thing you know they are worshiping false gods, claiming that this calf actually brought them out of Egypt and this calf would lead them forward into the promise land. That’s pretty ridiculous. It’s a pretty ridiculous scene where there like, “we don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses. Make us gods that will lead us forward.” And Aaron, once he’s confronted with what he did, he’s like, “I really didn’t do anything. I just asked them for some gold and through the gold in the fire and out came the calf.” The whole thing is ridiculous and it’s far from the last time we’re gonna see ridiculous things being done by people in the Bible. And when we read the story, we’re like “what are you guys…what are you thinking? What are you doing? Didn’t…were you not there when the plagues came down upon Egypt to set you free? Did you not cross through the Red Sea on dry ground and watch your enemies be destroyed before your eyes without having to lift a finger? What is wrong with you people” until we realize that the Bible has held up a mirror before us and we’re looking at ourselves. How many days into any wilderness experience of your life do you go before you start complaining? A half of one? One? Two? And these folks, they were grumbling and worshiping false gods before they even got the instructions from God. That’s kind of another ouch. The Bible does a good job of allowing us to see a situation from the outside and go like, “scratch our head” and “what’s going on here? How are they so confused” until we realize we’re talking about ourselves too. And this brings front and center because we’re far enough in the Bible now to know this, we see the stories of the choices that people made, but we’re also able to see the path that was laid before them and the things that they chose and the pathway that those choices lead them on and then we begin understand that we’re walking the same path, wearing different clothes.

Prayer:

Father as we continue this wilderness journey in the Scriptures we invite Your Holy Spirit to bring to mind the wilderness experiences of our lives. And as we watch the children of Israel in the way that they respond to the different things that they face, help us understand that we’re also looking into the motives of our own heart and we’re sorry and we repent because we confess that we’ve been in the wilderness and looked for anything that promised to get us out of it, even if it was false. And what we desire is the narrow path that leads to life, even if it goes through the wilderness. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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In the meantime, that’s a year away and we’re very, very, very focused on…on our pilgrimage for this year. And, so, thank you for your prayers. I’m asking…I’m asking for them. And I’m asking for them to not stop…well…I’m asking for them to not stop ever but in particular I’m asking them…for them to not stop while…while we do this international travel with so many brothers and sisters from so many places in the world. So, thank you. I see it as a canopy. I describe it like that. Raise a canopy of prayer over this whole thing and…and when I say we won’t be going there alone, that’s how it feels. It feels like there are thousands and thousands of us there in Spirit because that’s how it is. And, so, thank you for…for your prayers over all of the travel that’s coming up. It has its challenges. It can be brutal to go to the other side of the world and dive in but thank you for your prayers over the journey that we’re about to be on.

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And I guess that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.