February 2020 – Page 6 – A Walk Through The Word

February 5, 2020

02/05/2020 DAB Transcript

Exodus 21:22-23:13, Matthew 24:1-28, Psalms 29:1-11, Proverbs 7:6-23

Today is the 5^th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian and it’s great to be here with you today as the journey continues forward and we collectively come in around this Global Campfire and allow God’s word to begin to wash into our lives and speak to us for today. So, we’re reading from the Voice this week and in the Old Testament we’re in the book of Exodus and we find ourselves with the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, where God has descended and terrified the people indeed. But Moses is hearing instructions from God on the top of the mountain while the people wait below. So, today Exodus chapter 21 verse 22 through 23 verse 13.

Commentary:

Okay in the book of Matthew today, we…we wrub up against why Jesus was also known as an apocalyptic prophet, somebody to prophesy about the end of all things, the end of the world. And, so, this is first time we’re rubbing up against this, but we need to talk about the apocalyptic world view, because we have one of those, as did the people in the first century at the time of Jesus ministry. So, basically to like boil this down to some kind of core it's…it’s this awareness that we have that things don’t seem to be as they should be. And, so, we are moving, and we can’t move backwards, we’re moving forwards and we’re moving toward something, right? And that’s something is probably at some point going to bring about the end of things as we know it and a rebirth of something new will transpire. This is like essentially in an apocalyptic worldview and we could say that Jesus had an apocalyptic worldview. And He shared that today and this…this all starts because the…the disciples and Jesus, they’re walking away from the temple and everybody is looking at the temple complex and how amazing it is. And this would’ve been the second Temple. So, a temple built by Herod. It would’ve been relatively new and immaculate and beautiful. And, so, the disciples are just like, “look at…look at all this.” And they’re asking Jesus what He thinks about it all. And He tells them, “it’s basically…it’s all gonna get smashed to the ground. There’s not gonna be one stone left.” This is somewhat inconceivable to the people that heard it and it would come up again later at Jesus trial. But the words turned out to be prophetic. So, just a few decades after Jesus life Jerusalem itself was completely destroyed, including the temple buildings and no stone was left standing on another. And the evidence of that destruction, which came at the hands of the Romans can still be seen in the archaeological record in…in Jerusalem today. It’s kind of interesting what happened, because Jesus came into the world bringing light and life and good news and awakened many, many hearts. The reverberations of His ministry on earth are still being felt today in our own lives. And yet in the end it seems as if the people, especially the religious leaders, they weren’t looking for somebody to come and ignite and awaken the hearts of the people to God, they were looking for a messianic figure who could be a military leader to defeat Rome. And, so, they get rid of Jesus and within a couple of decades there is a rebellion. So, like they try to take matters into their own hands and rebel against Roman and make this happen. And in A.D. 70 Rome crushed them and destroyed Jerusalem in the process. So, throughout this journey that were on…just day by day step-by-step working away to the Bible we’ll have plenty of time to speak about these kinds of issues. And yeah, I mean, you start thinking about the world as you know it disintegrating and everything that holds societies together and all of that, things beginning to come unglued and come apart, bringing about unbelievable hardship on the human race upon the earth, and that it’s all headed towards an end, that can be a terrifying thing to think about. So, let’s just take note about how like Jesus posture toward it is. Basically, what He said in today’s reading is that the end is something that will unfold but it is not something to panic about. We shouldn’t panic. It’s something that is necessary. The world, the one that we’ve made with all of our knowledge of good and evil, this is not the intended way for us to be in this world. It's…it’s going to come to an end. It’s going to be broken apart. And as shaky as that time might be and as hard as it might be to endure it, the understanding is that these are the birth pangs. Like the time has come now for the new to be given birth. All things made new. And the greatest thing that Jesus warns about in terms of this process is being deceived. And, so this gives us some context of how Jesus views this and, at least for me, that’s what I’m hanging onto as opposed to the kind of activity I’ve observed most of my life. I was very, very fascinated with eschatology, the study of the end times trying to name and date and place everything that’s going to happen next. I can definitely remember…I don’t know one or two times as a child somehow it kind of make got traction, some of these predictions got…made traction. Like this this date Jesus Christ will return to earth and then…then He didn't…causes lots of confusion and lots of people’s lives where Jesus is saying this is unfolding. You will be able to…I’m telling you kind of what you’re going to see. This is…this is giving birth to what’s coming next. So, Jesus equipped us with a posture toward where the world is headed, and it seems like for all generations every generation thinks that all this will take place in their lifetime. Nobody’s been right about that. So, in terms of this and in terms of everything else we might be better off espousing the posture of Jesus.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You. We thank You for giving us advance words about things that are yet to come and we thank You for giving Your hearers advanced words about things that would be experienced in their time with regards to the temple and we invite Your Holy Spirit into helping us interpret and understand the times that we are living in. We can look for all the evil in the world. It’s easy to see. It’s being broadcast 24 hours a day seven days a week. It’s not hard to try to piece things together. But we’ve focused so often on the things that are not Your kingdom that we’ve gotten really good at finding that when we would do very well to have eyes to see and ears to hear Your kingdom because this is the kingdom that we belong to. And as all things are made new this is the kingdom, we will be in. So Come Holy Spirit and rather than us obsessing about the trajectory of our lives or the world, give us eyes to see and ears to hear Your kingdom and we ask this in the name of Jesus, in a year that we’re looking for this, in a year of vision to see the goodness of God upon this planet. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

I’ve been mentioning for a couple days, we’ll be heading to the land of the Bible here in a couple weeks. And, so, just asking the community to raise a canopy of prayer over all of that. There are so many moving parts to a…to a pilgrimage like this one that it would be hard to identify the mall. There’s a lot going on. A lot has to happen with technology in order for the Daily Audio Bible to continue every single day no matter where we are. A lot has to happen with travel and logistics and just moving and whether and all kinds of stuff, all kinds of variables. And, so, yeah, every time we do this it’s…it’s a call to the community to bathe it in prayer from start to finish. And one thing that I admire so profoundly about this community is our willingness to shoulder burdens and pray for one another and love one another. So, asking you to begin praying now over all the…all…all that happens to go to the land of the Bible with a couple of buses full of brothers and sisters from all over the world who are taking this journey through the Bible together. So, thank you for your prayers.

I mentioned yesterday, the Promise Land…the Promise Land film series, that is a fantastic resource for going through the Bible, especially the way that we are, but it is really a beautiful resource as we are physically going to be in the land of the Bible and posting all these pictures on social media and videos and stuff. It’s just really a beautiful thing to be able to have that film series and look at the different places and get some context for that. So, it really does make the Bible come alive. So, that’s a resource that’s available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. You can check it out. It’s a two DVD series plus digital download, like digital version of the…of the films as well. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com too. There’s a link on the homepage and I thank you with all my heart for your partnership. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if that is your preference, is PO Box 1996, Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

February 5, 2020

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday February 5, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 21:22-23:13

²²If two men are fighting with each other and happen to hit a pregnant woman during the quarrel causing her to give birth prematurely (but no other harm is done), then the one who hit her must pay whatever fine the judges determine based upon the amount demanded by the woman’s husband.

²³But if any further harm comes, then the standard for the punishment is reciprocal justice: a life for a life, ²⁴an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,^[a] a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, ²⁵a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.

²⁶If anyone hits one of his slaves (male or female) in the eye and blinds him in that eye, then the master is to free the slave to compensate for the loss of the eye. ²⁷If anyone hits one of his slaves (male or female) and knocks out a tooth, then the master is to free the slave to compensate for the loss of the tooth.

²⁸If a bull gores a man or woman and the injury leads to the victim’s death, then the bull must be put to death by stoning. No one is allowed to eat the bull meat, and the owner of the bull has no further liability. ²⁹But if a bull has gored people before and its owner is aware of the problem but has not confined it, and if that bull kills a man or woman, then the bull must be stoned and the owner must also be put to death.

³⁰There is an exception. If the relatives of the dead demand money instead of his life, then the owner of the bull may redeem his life in exchange for whatever is required of him. ³¹The same rule applies whether the bull gores someone’s son or daughter. ³²If the bull gores a slave (male or female), then the owner of the bull is to give the dead slave’s master 12 ounces of silver, and the bull must be stoned.

³³If someone uncovers an old pit or digs a new pit and leaves it uncovered, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴then the person who owns the pit will be held responsible and must compensate the owner for the full cost of the animal; but the dead animal at the bottom of the pit belongs to the man who owns it.

³⁵If a person’s bull injures another’s bull and it dies, then together they must sell the living bull and split the money equally; they must also divide the dead bull equally. ³⁶Now if the bull already has a reputation for goring and the owner has not confined it, then the owner of the living bull must pay a healthy bull for the dead one, but he may keep the dead bull for himself.

22 Eternal One: If someone steals an ox or a sheep and either kills or sells it for profit, then he must pay five oxen for the one ox he stole or four sheep for the one sheep he stole. ⁴But if the stolen animal—the ox or donkey or sheep—is still alive and in his possession when he is caught, then the thief must pay the owner double. ^3bA thief must make restitution for what he has taken. If he has no means of doing so, he must be sold to pay for his theft.

²If a person attacks a thief in the act of breaking into his house and the thief is killed during the attack, then the homeowner is innocent of blood guilt. ^3aIt is different if the sun has already risen; so any homeowner who kills a thief during the day must be considered guilty of bloodshed.^[b]

The difference between these two situations is the difference between daylight and dark. If a homeowner is protecting his property at night and injures a thief, it is to be treated as a case of self-defense. But if the crime takes place during the light of day, it is not necessary to incapacitate or capture the thief; it is necessary only to recognize the thief and bear truthful witness against him in court. The right to personal property does not eclipse the right to life.

Eternal One: ⁵If someone allows his animals to graze a field or vineyard until it is bare and then lets his animals wander over onto a neighbor’s field, then he must compensate his neighbor from the very best of his field and vineyard.

⁶If someone starts a fire and the fire spreads and sets the thorn bushes ablaze, and eventually that fire burns up stacks of harvested grain and everything growing in the fields, then the person who started the fire is responsible and must pay reparations for what was lost.

⁷If someone gives his neighbor money or items to keep for him and it is stolen from his neighbor’s house, then if the thief is captured, he must pay double for what he stole. ⁸If the thief is not found, then the person who owned the house that was burglarized must go stand before God’s presence so that He can decide whether he is the one who stole the property.

⁹Whenever there is a breach of trust—regarding an ox, a donkey, a lamb, a piece of clothing, or any lost item—and the contested item is discovered in the possession of a neighbor and claimed by two different parties, then both sides must appear before God. If God finds the neighbor guilty, he must pay double for what he stole.

¹⁰If someone leaves a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other kind of livestock in his friend’s keeping, and the animal dies or is injured or disappears while no one is watching, ¹¹then the two are to make an oath in the presence of the Eternal. The neighbor must swear he had nothing to do with the loss of the animal, and the owner of the animal must accept his statement and not demand any compensation for the loss.

¹²But if the animal was stolen while in his neighbor’s care, then the neighbor must compensate the owner. ¹³If it was torn to pieces by another animal, then the neighbor may use the remains as evidence, and not have to pay any compensation for the torn animal.

¹⁴If someone borrows an animal from a neighbor and it is harmed or dies while not in the possession of the owner, then the borrower must compensate the owner in full. ¹⁵But if the owner was there when the animal dies or is harmed, then no compensation is required. If the animal has been rented and not borrowed, then the rental fee paid shall cover the loss of the animal.

The owner who rents the animal must calculate the risk of losing the animal when he assesses the rental fee.

¹⁶If a man entices a virgin who is not promised to another man to have sex with him, then he must pay her father the bride-price and marry her. ¹⁷If the young woman’s father refuses the marriage offer because he disapproves of the man, then the man still must pay the amount of money that is customary for the bride-price for virgins.

¹⁸You are not to allow a sorceress to live.

¹⁹Anyone who has sex with an animal must be put to death.

²⁰Anyone who dares to sacrifice to any god other than the Eternal must be declared under the ban and destroyed.

²¹Do not wrong or oppress any outsiders living among you, for there was a time when you lived as outsiders in the land of Egypt.

²²You must not take advantage of any widow or orphan. ²³If you do oppress them and they cry out to Me, I will certainly hear them, ²⁴and My wrath will be kindled. I will make sure you are slaughtered by your enemy’s sword, and your own wives and children will become widows and orphans.

²⁵If you loan money to any of the poor among My people, do not treat them as borrowers and act as their creditors by charging interest. ²⁶If your neighbor gives his coat to you as collateral, then be sure to give it back before night falls—even if he has not repaid you in full. ²⁷You see that coat covers his body and may be his only protection against the cold. What do you think he would sleep in? When he calls out for Me, I will hear his cry. I am kind and compassionate as you should be when a fellow Israelite is in need.

²⁸Do not curse the one True God or any rulers of your people.^[c]

God demands respect from His people and expects His people to honor those He puts in charge.

²⁹You must not hold back or delay your offering from the bounty of your harvest or the juice of your vineyard.^[d] Dedicate every one of your firstborn sons to Me. ³⁰But dedicate your livestock—your ox and sheep—to Me in sacrifice. The firstborn of your livestock may stay with its mother for the first seven days. When the eighth day arrives, give the firstborn to Me. ³¹You must be holy before Me. Do not eat any animal that has been torn to pieces by wild beasts in the field. Toss its remains to the dogs.

23 Eternal One: Do not pass along a false report. Do not plot with evil people to give a false witness.

²Even if the majority of people are doing evil, do not follow them. Also when you are called to give testimony in a dispute, do not let the crowd pressure you into perverting justice. ³In the same way, do not side with the poor in a complaint just because he is poor.

⁴If you are walking along and come across your enemy’s ox or donkey that has wandered away, then you must return it to its owner. ⁵If you see the donkey of someone you know who hates you and it has fallen beneath its load, you must not leave it there. You must stop and help the donkey recover the load.

⁶Do not deny justice to the poor among you in their disputes. ⁷Stay far away from false accusations, and do not condemn the innocent or righteous to death. Understand this: I will not acquit those who commit such miscarriages of justice.

⁸Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe can blind those who see and twist the words of those who are in the right. ⁹Do not oppress an outsider. You know well what it is like to be an outsider living in a foreign land, for you were strangers once in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰You have six years to plant your fields and harvest your crops. ¹¹When the seventh year arrives, let your land rest and lie fallow. Let the poor and hungry among you come and harvest the volunteer crops that spring up in your fields. Whatever is left over, the beasts may eat. Do the same thing with your vineyards and your olive groves. ¹²You have six days to work. When the seventh day arrives, stop all work so that your ox and donkey can rest. When you observe the Sabbath Day, your female slave’s son and any outsider serving you have a chance to catch their breath and relax.

¹³Be careful to do all that I have instructed you. Do not even acknowledge the names of other gods or let their names spill from your lips.

Footnotes:

21:24 Matthew 5:38
22:2–4 Verses 2–4 have been rearranged to assist in the comprehension of the passage.
22:28 Acts 23:5
22:29 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

The Voice (VOICE)

Matthew 24:1-28

24 Jesus left the temple. As He was walking away, His disciples came up to Him and asked what He thought about the temple buildings.

Jesus: ²Look around you. All of it will become rubble. I tell you this: not one stone will be left standing.

³Later, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately.

Disciples: We don’t understand Your predictions. Tell us, when will these things happen: When will the temple be destroyed? What will be the sign that You are returning? How will we know that the end of the age is upon us?

In this, the last of the five major sermons, Jesus focuses on prophetic and apocalyptic themes of judgment and the end times. The disciples have been listening to the prophetic judgment Jesus has issued on the religious leaders. They have images of collapsing temple buildings, of prophets pursued from town to town, of floggings, and of blood-soaked garments. They can imagine themselves blood-soaked. When will this all happen, and what does it mean?

Jesus: ⁴Take care that you are not deceived. ⁵For many will come in My name claiming they are the Anointed One, and many poor souls will be taken in. ⁶You will hear of wars, and you will hear rumors of wars, but you should not panic. It is inevitable, this violent breaking apart of the sinful world, but remember, the wars are not the end. The end is still unfolding. ⁷Nations will do battle with nations, and kingdoms will fight neighboring kingdoms, and there will be famines and earthquakes. ⁸But these are not the end. These are the birth pangs, the beginning. The end is still unfolding.

⁹They will hand you over to your enemies, who will torture you and then kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me. ¹⁰And many who have followed Me and claimed to love Me and sought God’s kingdom will turn away—they will abandon the faith and betray and hate one another. ^11-12The love that they had for one another will grow cold because few will obey the law. False prophets will appear, many will be taken in by them, and the only thing that will grow is wickedness. There will be no end to the increase of wickedness. ¹³But those who do not waver from our path and do not follow those false prophets—those among you will be saved. ¹⁴And this good news of God’s kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, a testimony to all people and all nations. Then, beloved, the end, the consummation of all things, will come.

¹⁵You will remember that the prophet Daniel predicted this—predicted the abomination that causes desolation^[a]—when you see the prophesied desolation of the holy place. (Reader, take notice; it is important that you understand this.) ¹⁶When you see this, let those in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷If you are relaxing on your rooftop one evening and the signs of the temple’s destructions come, don’t return to your house to rescue a book or a pet or a scrap of clothing. ¹⁸If you are in the field when the great destruction begins, don’t return home for a cloak. ¹⁹Pregnant women and nursing mothers will have the worst of it. ²⁰And as for you, pray that your flight to the hills will not come on the Sabbath or in the cold of winter. ²¹For the tribulation will be unparalleled—hardships of a magnitude that has not been seen since creation and that will not be seen again. ²²Indeed the Lord God your merciful judge will cut this time of trial short, and this will be done for the benefit of the elect that some might indeed be saved—for no one could survive the depravity for very long.

²³I cannot say this clearly enough: during this time, someone will say to you, “Look, here is the Anointed One!” or “Aren’t you relieved? Haven’t you seen the Savior down there, around the bend, over the hill and dale?” Do not believe them. ²⁴False liberators and false prophets will appear, and they will know a few tricks—they will perform great miracles, and they will make great promises. If it were possible, they would even deceive God’s elect. ²⁵But I am warning you ahead of time: remember—do not fall for their lies or lines or promises. ²⁶If someone says, “He’s out there in the desert”—do not go. And if someone says, “He’s here at our house, at our table”—do not believe him. ²⁷When the Son of Man comes, He will be as visible as lightning in the East is visible even in the West. ²⁸And where the carcass is, there will always be vultures.

Footnotes:

24:15 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 29

A song of David.

¹Give all credit to the Eternal, O heavenly creatures;
give praise to Him for His glory and power.
²Give to the Eternal the glory due His name;
worship Him with lavish displays of sacred splendor.

³The voice of the Eternal echoes over the great waters;
God’s magnificence roars like thunder.
The Eternal’s presence hovers over all the waters.
⁴His voice explodes in great power over the earth.
His voice is both regal and grand.

⁵The Eternal’s voice shatters the cedars;
His power splinters the great cedars of Lebanon.
⁶He speaks, and Lebanon leaps like a young calf;
Sirion jumps like a wild, youthful ox.

⁷The voice of the Eternal cuts through with flames of fire.
⁸The voice of the Eternal rumbles through the wilderness
with great quakes;
He causes Kadesh to tremble.

⁹The Eternal’s voice brings life from the doe’s womb;
His voice strips the forest bare,
and all the people in the temple declare, “Glory!”

¹⁰The Eternal is enthroned over the great flood;
His reign is unending.
¹¹We ask You, Eternal One, to give strength to Your people;
Eternal One, bless them with the gift of peace.

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 7:6-23

People are forgetful, so we must be reminded constantly of Wisdom and her ways. We don’t always need to hear something new; often we just need to be reminded of what is true. In these proverbs wisdom is found when one not only knows what is right, but acts on that knowledge. Foolishness, on the other hand, means a lack of understanding and wrongdoing.

⁶One day I was at the window of my house,
looking out through my lattice shutters,
⁷And there among the usual crowd of the gullible people
I spotted a naive young man.
⁸He was going down the street near the corner where she lived—that mysterious and evil woman—
taking the road that led directly to her house.
⁹At the end of the day, as night approached
and darkness crept in,

¹⁰I saw her! A woman came out to meet him.
She was dressed for temptation and devious with her affections.
¹¹Here’s what I know about her: she is loud and obnoxious, a rebel against what is proper and decent.
She’s always on the move—anxious to get out of the house and
¹²Down the street; at times in the open,
at others lurking around every corner.
¹³As I am watching them, she grabs him and kisses him,
then shamelessly tells him:

¹⁴The Immoral Woman: It was my turn to offer a peace offering,
and today I paid my vows,
¹⁵So now I come to see you.
I really want to be with you, and what luck! I have found you!
¹⁶You’ll be impressed. I have decorated my couch,
laid colorful Egyptian linens over where we will be together,
¹⁷And perfumed the bed with exotic oils and herbs:
myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
¹⁸Come in, and we will feast on love until sunrise;
we will delight ourselves in our affections.
¹⁹You don’t need to worry; my husband is long gone by now,
away from home on a distant journey.
²⁰He took a bag of money with him,
so I don’t expect him home until next month.

²¹It worked! She enticed him with seductive words,
seduced him with her smooth talk.
²²Right away he followed her home.
He followed her like a bull being led to the slaughter,
Like a fool^[a] caught in a trap
²³(that is, until an arrow punctures his liver),
Like a bird flying straight into a net.
He had no clue his life was at stake; everything was about to change.

Footnotes:

7:22 Some manuscripts read “deer.”

The Voice (VOICE)

February 4, 2020

02/04/2020 DAB Transcript

Exodus 19:16-21:21, Matthew 23:13-39, Psalms 28:1-9, Proverbs 7:1-5

Today is the 4^th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian it is great to be here with you as we move fully into this brand-new month that we’re. What…what and what an honor it is to share history together, right, to be here, like to be on planet Earth here at the same time. It…it could’ve been different. We could’ve been 100 years ago, and this couldn’t have existed, but we get to share this time, this patch of history together in the world and be connected around this Global Campfire as we let God’s word speak to us. So, let’s get to that. For today we’ll go back into the book of Exodus. And the children of Israel are purified. They’ve been purifying themselves and getting ready for an encounter with God. Exodus chapter 19 verse 16 through 21 verse 21. And we’re reading from the Voice this week.

Commentary:

Okay. Couple things to talk about today. In the book of Exodus God has come down and has met with the people and they are completely freaked out about it. And what we see today is God giving the 10 Commandments. What we’ll see over time is basically the systematic construction of a society. And we need to remember, the people that are around this mountain hearing from God right now, they don’t really have an identity other than as a slave. That’s all they ever were. So, God begins with what we call the 10 Commandments because they apply to everyone. But God will continue to organize His people as we go forward through time and through the Scriptures. And some of these things we can look at and go, “well, I don’t know how to apply that. That doesn’t…that…that custom is not in the culture I live in. I’m not even sure that customs still in the world today.” Or we could read our 21st-century life into a culture that existed thousands of years ago and wonder why God would want them to do that or why they would even do this or that or the other. Don’t get all caught up on that. What God is doing is coming to this people and establishing an identity, His chosen people, a nation of priests. He’s bestowing an identity upon them, and then telling them, “this is what a holy people looks like”. And, so, He’s telling them, “Holy people don’t kill other people. Like, Holy people don’t commit adultery. Holy people don’t steal from each other.” What God is doing is pulling these people dramatically forward in their understanding not only of who they are as God’s people, but also of who He is as God. And a culture unlike any other culture in the world at this time is being established in the middle of the wilderness where they have no way in or out. Like, they’re utterly and completely at God’s mercy and He’s trying to show them that that is the safest place in the world. And we would do well to learn that lesson. So, God speaks of the people, the people are terrified, and they go to Moses and they’re like, “we…we…we cannot have God speak to us, that’s too terrifying. We can’t even pay attention we think we’re gonna die. You speak to us instead. We’ll listen to you. God can talk to you and then you tell us, and we’ll listen to you. This is where we begin to see the prophetic voice appear in the Bible and we’ll talk about that more in the coming days.

We got to the book of Matthew today and Jesus basically just lets loose. He just pretty much confronts straight up the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. These are the people who are entrusted to lead the people in the ways of God. And just hearing Jesus talk in Matthew 23, it's…it’s heartbreaking because we know Jesus has come to Jerusalem and He’s gonna get killed, He’s gonna die going to be awful. And the people, the people, they were…their eyes were being opened but it was the religious leaders that were blocking the path. So, what is Jesus so upset about? What were they doing? What was He calling out? He had plenty to say, but if we distill it down what was he saying? He was saying, “you spiritual leaders will stand before a crowd and lock the door of the kingdom of heaven, right in front of everyone. What you say is not what you do. You’ll travel all over the world to get a convert, but once you got one you enslave them as you are.” In other words, you’ve converted them to your system but not to God. And He’s like, “you have it…you just…you have it backward. You’re focused on the wrong thing, the exact…exact opposite. You’re putting value on what can be brought to God instead of understanding that it has a value because of God. You tithe from your luxuries, but you’ve ignored the essentials of the law - justice, mercy, faithfulness. You remove fine layers of film and dust from the outside of a cup or bowl, but you leave the inside full of greed and covetousness and self-indulgence. Can’t you see that if you clean the inside of the cup the outside to be clean too? You appear at first blush to be righteous and selfless and pure but inside you are polluted.” And there’s more. I mean, you can go back and read it for yourself. It’s just…this is what’s got Jesus so upset because this behavior masked and cloaked in religion was keeping people from entering the kingdom of heaven. And it’s so sad because after He says these things, after He lets loose, such an opportunity for repentance here, but instead they redouble their efforts to kill Jesus. But Jesus is brokenhearted. “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets whom God gives you, you stone those who God sends you. I’ve longed to gather your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you refuse to be gathered. This will be the first time that we move into this territory this year, the story of Jesus arrest and trial and execution. And it's…it’s super easy to just kind of go theological, “well, He was born to die and that was that and that was all part of the plan. And, so, I don’t really…I don’t really need to know a whole lot more than that”, but when we enter into the stories, when we walk with Jesus, when we listen coming out of the Gospels what He is saying to us, when we watch Him move around we see clearly something’s different and it’s what we want. We want to live like that. And Jesus is revealing the kingdom saying, “you can, you can. You just have to wake up, you have to open your eyes, you have to open your ears. It’s all here, you’re just not perceiving it. But that’s too dangerous. That can upset the power share that’s going on between these religious leaders and the Roman government. And although Jesus is drawing a crowd and is showing up on the radar, it doesn’t look like He’s trying to build a militia to attack the Romans. So, later on in the Bible we’ll see a depiction of the high priest at this time saying, “it’s better for one person to die then for all of us to die.” And Jesus’s is putting himself in this position. Like He’s willingly putting Himself in this kind of danger in order to bring light into the darkness to ultimately bring light into the darkest of dark. But it appears that the people who missed it the most and did away with Jesus were the people entrusted to bring people to God. Jesus is basically saying, “I…I’ve come for you and you’re refusing me.” Does that not just a little bit break your heart for God?” I know you’re saying, “that sounds weird. You know, He doesn’t have feelings. He’s God. He’s the most-high God. He can just make more people. He can do whatever He wants, He’s God. He can be wherever He wants. For some reason though, He loves us and…yeah…whatever…whatever reason that is, He does. For whatever…for some reason He’s still putting up with us, still believing that our eyes can be opened and…and we can stop this backward life that we’re and live forward, live from within, spilling out into the world, instead of the world flooding in and contaminating everything about us. Yes, indeed God loves you. god loves us and we will be seeing just how much in the coming days.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We love You. It’s hard to try to enter into these stories and walk with You. It’s easy to just read them as stories, cute little Bible stories we’ve heard our whole life but it’s different to try to walk those stories with our hearts and open ourselves to You and see what You are facing and to see that You’ve never lost hope in us, that You’ve never given up on us. And we’ve accused You of it plenty, but it’s just never happened, that’s never been the truth. And, so, Jesus we just want to say how…how much we do love You…we love You Lord and we’re grateful and the words will fail very quickly because what can we say? We don’t have anybody else in our lives like You. Your goodness can silence us because there is no vocabulary to describe it. And yet, You have come for us, to gather us, to know us. You want to know us? And all we have to do is open our eyes that we’re living backwards and reveal our hearts to You completely. And we were talking about that yesterday and we talk about it again. Come Holy Spirit, we open ourselves completely. We want no deceit whatsoever between us in any way. We’ve seen what an honest life looks like in the Scriptures and You have invited us into that life although the path is narrow. Come Holy Spirit and show us the way. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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February 4, 2020

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday February 4, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 19:16-21:21

¹⁶When the morning of the third day arrived, thunder cracked and lightning lit up the sky. A thick cloud veiled the mountain, and there was a long, loud blast of a ram’s horn. Every person in the camp trembled. ¹⁷Moses led the anxious people away from camp to encounter God. Everyone waited at the base of the mountain. ¹⁸Now Mount Sinai was covered in thick smoke because the Eternal descended on the mountain in fire; and the smoke of that fire rose up to the sky as if it were billowing out of a furnace, and the entire mountain shuddered and quaked intensely. ¹⁹The blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered with a voice that rumbled like thunder.

²⁰The Eternal descended to the summit of Mount Sinai. He called for Moses to come and meet Him, so Moses began the long, hard climb up the mountain.

Eternal One (to Moses): ²¹Go down, and warn the people not to cross the boundaries in order to try to see Me, or else many of them will die. ²²Any of the priests who draw near to Me must first rid themselves of any impurity so that I do not break loose and kill them.

Moses (to the Eternal): ²³No one can approach Mount Sinai because You warned them when You said, “Set up boundaries around the mountain and keep the area holy and separate.”

Eternal One: ²⁴Go back down and bring Aaron with you next time. But do not let any of the people (including priests) cross those boundaries to come up and meet Me, unless they want Me to break loose and kill them.

²⁵Moses went back down the mountain and told the people all the Eternal had said.

20 Then God began to speak directly to all the people.

Until now God has dealt only with Moses on behalf of His people; at Mount Sinai, He turns to address them directly in order to express the core of His covenant obligations. He begins by reminding them of all He has done for them. His miraculous deeds in liberating the Hebrew slaves and providing for them in the desert become the basis of this new relationship. He then proceeds to lay out the Ten Directives that will define and shape their lives together. The first four Directives concern their duties to know and worship the one True God. The last six pertain to how Israel is to live with one another in a covenant-based society. Properly understood, all the other teachings, prescriptions, and directives that come in later chapters derive from these Ten Directives.

Eternal One: ²I am the Eternal your God. I led you out of Egypt and liberated you from lives of slavery and oppression.

³You are not to serve any other gods before Me.

⁴You are not to make any idol or image of other gods. In fact, you are not to make an image of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. ⁵You are not to bow down and serve any image, for I, the Eternal your God, am a jealous God. As for those who are not loyal to Me, their children will endure the consequences of their sins for three or four generations. ⁶But for those who love Me and keep My directives, their children will experience My loyal love for a thousand generations.

⁷You are not to use My name for your own idle purposes, for the Eternal will punish anyone who treats His name as anything less than sacred.

⁸You and your family are to remember the Sabbath Day; set it apart, and keep it holy. ⁹You have six days to do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is to be different; it is the Sabbath of the Eternal your God. Keep it holy by not doing any work—not you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, or any outsiders living among you. ¹¹For the Eternal made the heavens above, the earth below, the seas, and all the creatures in them in six days. Then, on the seventh day, He rested. That is why He blessed the Sabbath Day and made it sacred.

¹²You are to honor your father and mother. If you do, you and your children will live long and well in the land the Eternal your God has promised to give you.

¹³You are not to murder.

¹⁴You are not to commit adultery.

¹⁵You are not to take what is not yours.

¹⁶You are not to give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷You are not to covet what your neighbor has or set your heart on getting his house, his wife, his male or female servants, his ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

¹⁸As all the people witnessed the signs of God’s presence—the blast of the ram’s horn, the roaring thunder, the flashing lightning, and the smoke-covered mountain—they shook with fear and astonishment and wisely kept their distance.

Israelites (to Moses): ¹⁹We are afraid to have God speak directly to us; we are certain that we will die. You speak to us instead; we promise to listen.

Moses: ²⁰Don’t be afraid. These powerful manifestations are God’s way of instilling awe and fear in you so that you will not sin; He is testing you for your own good.

²¹But everyone remained far away from the mountain as Moses began moving toward the thick, dark cloud where God was.

Eternal One (to Moses): ²²This is what I want you to tell the people of Israel: “You yourselves witnessed that I have spoken to you from heaven. ²³It is essential that you not make any idols to rival Me. Do not make any idols out of silver or gold for yourselves! ²⁴Take earth and build an altar to Me and sacrifice all of your burnt offerings and peace offerings there. Offer Me the best of your sheep and oxen. Wherever I choose for My name to be remembered, I will come to you and shower blessings upon you. ²⁵But if you decide to build an altar out of stones for Me, use only natural stones, not hand-cut stones, because any attempt to shape them with your tools will desecrate the altar. ²⁶Also, do not approach My altar by walking up steps, for you might profane the altar by exposing your nakedness.”

After God gives Israel the Ten Directives, He gives them other instructions that derive from the first ten. They do not cover every situation but provide guidance for how God’s people should live.

21 Eternal One (to Moses): These are other rules and guiding principles that you must present to the Israelites:

²If you purchase a male Hebrew slave, he will be your servant for six years only. When the seventh year arrives, he will go free without having to pay a price for his freedom.

In Moses’ day, slavery exists everywhere in the world, and slaves are the first to be given protection under these guiding principles or judgments.

³If you acquire a slave who is not married, then he will depart as a single man. But if you acquire a man who is married, then his wife will also leave when he goes free.

⁴If his master provides a wife for him, and the wife gives him sons and daughters, then both the wife and the children belong to the master, and only the slave will leave the master’s service when the seventh year arrives.

⁵But if the seventh year arrives and the slave freely renounces his right to freedom, saying, “My heart is full of love for my master, my wife, and my children. I will not leave my master’s service as a free man,” ⁶then his master will present him to the True God.^[a] Next his master will escort him to the doorway and pierce his ear against the doorpost with an awl. Then everyone will know this slave will serve his master for life.

⁷Women are to be treated differently. If a man decides to sell his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed as male slaves are when the seventh year arrives. ⁸If for any reason she does not please her master who handpicked her for a wife, then he is to allow her to be bought by another. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people because he has broken the agreement with her.

⁹If the master chooses her as a wife for his son, then the master must treat her just as he would his own daughter.

¹⁰If the master decides he wants to marry an additional wife, then he must not reduce his slave-wife’s food or clothing or any other marital rights. ¹¹If he does not provide these three things for her, then she is free to leave without owing him any money for her freedom.

¹²If a man attacks another and the victim dies from the attack, then the attacker must be put to death. ¹³But if God allows a person to die at the hands of another who never intended to kill him in the first place, then I will appoint a place where he can run and take refuge from those who would exact revenge. ¹⁴But if a man plans an attack and cunningly kills his victim, then he will find no refuge at my altar. Take him from there and put him to death.

¹⁵Also, anyone who strikes one of his parents must be put to death.

¹⁶Anyone who kidnaps another—whether he has already sold his victim or still has him when he is caught—must be put to death.

¹⁷And anyone who curses either of his parents must be put to death.^[b]

¹⁸If people are engaged in an argument and one hits the other with a rock or his fist, and the victim does not die but is bedridden for a time and unable to work, ¹⁹then the one who struck him will not be punished as long as the injured party recovers enough to be able to get out of bed and walk around with the help of his staff; however, he must pay his victim for lost time and wages, and make sure he has the care he needs until he recovers. ²⁰If a person hits his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies because of the blow, then that person must be punished. ²¹But if the slave survives a couple of days, then there will be no penalty because the slave belongs to the master.

Footnotes:

21:6 Greek manuscripts read, “to the lawcourt of God.”
21:17 Mark 7:10

The Voice (VOICE)

Matthew 23:13-39

¹³Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. There is such a gulf between what you say and what you do. You will stand before a crowd and lock the door of the kingdom of heaven right in front of everyone; you won’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from doing so.

[¹⁴Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. What you say is not what you do. You steal the homes from under the widows while you pretend to pray for them. You will suffer great condemnation for this.]^[a]

¹⁵Woe to you Pharisees, woe to you who teach the law, hypocrites! You traverse hills and mountains and seas to make one convert, and then when he does convert, you make him much more a son of hell than you are.

¹⁶Woe to you who are blind but deign to lead others. You say, “Swearing by the temple means nothing, but he who swears by the gold in the temple is bound by his oath.” ¹⁷Are you fools? You must be blind! For which is greater: the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸You also say, “Swearing by the altar means nothing, but he who swears by the sacrifice on the altar is bound by his oath.” ¹⁹You must be blind! Which is greater: the sacrifice or the altar that makes it sacred? ²⁰So anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by the sacrifices and gifts laid upon it. ²¹And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the God who sanctifies it. ²²And when you swear by heaven, you are swearing by God’s throne and by Him who sits upon it.

²³So woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You hypocrites! You tithe from your luxuries and your spices, giving away a tenth of your mint, your dill, and your cumin. But you have ignored the essentials of the law: justice, mercy, faithfulness. It is practice of the latter that makes sense of the former. ²⁴You hypocritical, blind leaders. You spoon a fly from your soup and swallow a camel.

²⁵Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You remove fine layers of film and dust from the outside of a cup or bowl, but you leave the inside full of greed and covetousness and self-indulgence. ²⁶You blind Pharisee—can’t you see that if you clean the inside of the cup, the outside will be clean too?

²⁷Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like a grave that has been whitewashed. You look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside you are full of moldering bones and decaying rot. ²⁸You appear, at first blush, to be righteous, selfless, and pure; but on the inside you are polluted, sunk in hypocrisy and confusion and lawlessness.

²⁹Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build monuments to your dead, you mouth pieties over the bodies of prophets, you decorate the graves of your righteous ancestors. ³⁰And you say, “If we had lived when our forefathers lived, we would have known better—we would not have joined them when they rose up against the prophets.” ³¹Even when you are preening, you make plain that you descended from those who murdered our prophets. ³²So why don’t you finish what your forefathers started? ³³You are children of vipers, you belly-dragging snakes. You won’t escape the judgment of hell.

³⁴That is why I am sending you prophets and wise men, teachers of breadth and depth and substance. You will kill some of them and crucify others. You will flog others in your synagogues. You will pursue them from town to town. ³⁵And on your heads, stained through your hands and drenching your clothes, my friends, will be all the righteous blood ever shed on this earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah whom you murdered in the house of the Lord between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶I tell you: this generation will bear the blood of all that has gone before.

³⁷O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. You kill the prophets whom God gives you; you stone those God sends you. I have longed to gather your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you refuse to be gathered. ³⁸Surely you can see that God has already removed His blessing from the house of Israel. ³⁹I tell you this: you will not see Me again until you say, with the psalmist, “Anyone who comes in the name of the Eternal One will be blessed.”^[b]

Footnotes:

23:14 The earliest manuscripts omit verse 14.
23:39 Psalm 118:26

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 28

A song of David.

¹Eternal One, I am calling out to You;
You are the foundation of my life. Please, don’t turn Your ear from me.
If You respond to my pleas with silence,
I will lose all hope like those silenced by death’s grave.
²Listen to my voice.
You will hear me begging for Your help
With my hands lifted up in prayer,
my body turned toward Your holy home.

This Davidic psalm pleads with God to spare him and repay his enemies. It would be difficult to locate this psalm in any one event. During his life David faced many threats from different enemies; not only were these threats from outside his realm, but some of his most difficult challenges came from inside his own family.

³I beg You; don’t punish me with the most heinous men.
They spend their days doing evil.
Even when they engage their neighbors in pleasantness,
they are scheming against them.
⁴Pay them back for their deeds;
hold them accountable for their malice.
Give them what they deserve.
⁵Because these are people who have no respect for You, O Eternal,
they ignore everything You have done.
So He will tear them down with His powerful hands;
never will they be built again.

⁶The Eternal should be honored and revered;
He has heard my cries for help.
⁷The Eternal is the source of my strength and the shield that guards me.
When I learn to rest and truly trust Him,
He sends His help. This is why my heart is singing!
I open my mouth to praise Him, and thankfulness rises as song.

⁸The Eternal gives life and power to all His chosen ones;
to His anointed He is a sturdy fortress.
⁹Rescue Your people, and bring prosperity to Your legacy;
may they know You as a shepherd, carrying them at all times.

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 7:1-5

7 My son, live according to what I am telling you;
guard my instructions as you would a treasure deep within you.
²Stay true to my directives, and they will serve you well;
make my teachings the lens through which you see life.
³Bind cords around your fingers to remind you of them;
meditate on them, and you’ll engrave them upon your heart.
⁴Say to Lady Wisdom, “My sister”;
recognize that understanding is your best friend,
⁵And they will keep you from the arms of another woman—
protect you from the enchantress who entices men into her bed.

The Voice (VOICE)

February 3, 2020

02/03/2020 DAB Transcript

Ex 17:8-19:15, Matt 22:34-23:12, Ps 27:7-14, Pr 6:27-35

Today is the 3^rd day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you today as we launch into this first workweek of this brand-new month that we find ourselves in, the month of February. So, let’s pick up where we left off yesterday. The children of Israel have exited slavery in Egypt. It’s been a profoundly dramatic story and now they’re out in the wilderness, and they need to figure out, like how to be a people. They have a promise over them, and it’s a long one. It’s centuries old that God would make them His own chosen people, but all of these people have only ever known how to be slaves. So, they’re not just walking out of Egypt and then walking across the Sinai Peninsula than up into Canaan. God has taken them out into the wilderness where there is absolutely no hope of survival without God and we’re watching God sustain them and we’re watching them grumble about it pretty much the whole time. And…ouch…does that not explain our lives so much. So, today Exodus chapter 17 verse 8 through 19 verse 15 and we’re reading from the Voice Translation this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, Moses’s and the children of Israel over a million strong are out in the Sinai Peninsula, barren, barren, barren desert still today, barren as ever. And they go to what is called in the Scriptures, the mountain of God. Sometimes this is called Mount Sinai. This is where God is going to meet with them and, incidentally, as a little aside, we should note the heights. We should note that the Bible points out mountain peaks. It was very much thought at this time in human history that mountains, these were the places where the gods dwell, the heights. And this continues on through the Bible. Later on we’ll find regular mention of high places that were set up for worship. So, this gives us is little context for the world the people are living in at this time. And, so, they’re led to this mountain of God, and God is on this mountain and Moses goes up to meet with God and God tells Moses what to tell the people. Now, let’s remember, this has been pretty chaotic so far, right? Moses goes into Egypt and all of these plagues descend and that takes time but it’s a chaotic, disruptive time to be sure and the they’re castaway, sent out of Egypt. But then there’s all the showdowns that still happen, like at the Red Sea. So finally, this is kind of the first time where they’ve been journeying and grumbling and trying to find water and trying to find food and God sets about the business of sustaining them, but he is led them to this place where He’s now going to reaffirm and tell them who they are and why he got them out of Egypt. And, so, we find that today. God said to Moses on the mountain to tell the people below, “if you will hear my voice, obey what I say, and keep my covenant, then you out of all the nations of the world will be my treasured people. After all, the earth belongs to me. You will be my kingdom of priests, a nation holy and set apart.” So, there is a story that is being told beneath all the stories that we have encountered so far. We have seen what happened to mankind in Genesis 3. We’ve gone through the flood. We’ve seen the formation of this people that God entered into a covenant with through Abram, through Abraham. The world was falling apart, swimming in all of its knowledge of good and evil trying to make itself its own God and God, you know, the God of all things, the most high God, creator of everything seen and unseen, He could’ve just been like, well, that little blue marble out there in the universe that nobody can even hardly see, let ‘em…let ‘em have their way. They’ll just make themselves extinct eventually…just…I’m gonna move on. But He…that’s the thing, that’s the story of the Bible. He’s not willing to let us go. It’s never been that way. He never was ever willing to be out of the human story. And, so, what’s being said here, what Moses has been instructed to go down and tell these slaves, these former, newly former slaves who don’t know how to be anything else, he’s told to go down and tell them who they are, God’s kingdom of priests, the priestly role is to instruct and lead a person to God. God is forming a people set apart to Himself to remind the world who the most-high God is. And I don’t want to be too much of a spoiler here, but this is important enough. As we continue our journey through the New Testament and we begin to…to immerse ourselves in the writings of the apostle Paul, what we’re gonna find out is that we are a part of that kingdom of priests, a nation holy and set apart. Jesus will use more…more poetic words, He will say, “you are the light of the world.” So, now we can see a very ancient story that has been coming together start crashing into the world we now live in.

Then we turn over into the New Testament and begin to read the book of Matthew today, we’re seeing Jesus being asked all kinds of questions and these Pharisees and Sadducees, right, the leaders, the Sanhedrin, the leaders of the people, the priests of the nation have lost the plot to the point that they don’t recognize God at work among them, nor do they recognize the God in the flesh among them. So, we see that the plot got lost somewhere along the way and we will certainly follow that story for the rest of the year. But the Pharisees and the Sadducees, these are the ancestors of the people at the mountain of God with Moses. So, God tells Moses, “go down and tell the people you will be a nation of priests set apart and holy to me.” God in the form of Jesus then has some commentary about these same people and their function. Jesus said, “the Pharisees and scribes occupy the seat of Moses so you should do the things they tell you to do but you shouldn’t do the things they do.” And then he goes on to tell what they do, which is that their religion is essentially for show. Everything is about how they’re going to be perceived as spiritual, how they’re gonna say the right things with the right tone of voice. How they’re gonna have the proper, maybe even edgy religious attire to make them look even more spiritual. How they want to be addressed with respect and that and that they are addressed with names giving respect. And Jesus conclusion is, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” And once again, we’re hearing Jesus talk about inside out, rather than outside in, right? You can look and curate your life to the point that it looks so admirable that everyone envies you and it can be total crap. Not a bit of truth in it. Just enough to hold it together but it’s not really what’s going on. The invention of social media has made us like experts at this, but we could say that God’s kingdom is not for show because Jesus has no use for it and His ministry is revealing the kingdom. Jesus was never interested in who you could pretend to be. He was never interested in who I can pretend to be. He was only ever interested in who we actually are and until we can accept and understand who we actually are, like accept that instead of trying to keep pretending to be somebody else then we don’t even know who we are. And yet, the reason we do all the pretending is that that seems to be how the world works, right? That’s how we interact with each other. We put on our best face. We put our best foot forward and interact with each other. But since it’s not the whole truth then how can we ever be fully known. And then we hear the echo of Jesus. “I never knew you.” And how could He? We never revealed ourselves. We were naked and ashamed and hid the whole time when actually Jesus was very, very interested in that naked and ashamed and hiding person. That’s why He wanted. He wanted truth. And that’s what He wants now, and we have full blown permission to be…we have nothing to hide from God. And Jesus is showing us that falseness, and he’s pointing it out in the religious leaders, that that falseness is a dead-end

Prayer:

Jesus, we invite You into that. It’s super hard to be in a world of works that way. It’s super hard to be in it and not of it, dangerous even. And yet You didn’t keep that a secret You made that very clear. And, so, we desire to be true. We desire to stop lying to ourselves…this is where it starts, with ourselves. This isn’t about us walking out the front door and just being an open book and saying whatever we think and whatever we feel at any moment and just saying to the world, here I am. This is about deepening our relationship and union with You, which requires us to get very honest. And, so, Father as if we could ever hide anything from You, we have still tried. And today marks a day. This is an important day in our lives because for many of us, for thousands of us we’re drawing a line and saying, “that’s not happening anymore. I can’t get anywhere like that. If I’m going to be honest with anybody. I’m going to be absolutely, absolutely honest with God. If there’s going to be one true relationship, one true thing I have, it’s going to be this one. And from here. Everything can flow outward.” So, come Holy Spirit into we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, we got some things now that we’re into this new month that…that are coming up on the horizon. Every year for the last, almost a decade now, we have had an annual pilgrimage to the land of the Bible with…with a couple of buses full of brothers and sisters who are a part of the Daily Audio Bible community here. And that is actually coming up. We’ll be departing in, I guess, about a week and a half. So I’ll keep you posted on that. But we’ll be broadcasting from the land of the Bible as we move around it. And that is always, certainly a beautiful time for those of us who are on this pilgrimage, but it is also a beautiful community experience because we’ll be right there in some of the places that these things happened. So, we’re posting pictures of where we are on social media several times a day and posting videos. And one evening we have a live broadcast just kind of…about halfway through the trip…just…not quite halfway…and we’re just kinda talking about some of the things that we’ve been doing, what we’re experiencing, and sharing those and it’s just fun. Thousands of people from this community get to get in on that. That's…that's…that’s coming up this month.

Since we’ll be traveling the land of the Bible one thing that I could point out as a resource that’s in the Daily Audio Bible Shop would be the Promise Land film series. It’s a double DVD set that we will send to you physically, but it’s also a digital download so you can download it and then kinda put it on your Apple TV, or whatever it is that, you know, put it on your laptop, whatever. That makes a good resource anyway and I’ve mentioned before, and it's…it was created because we’re going…we’re going through the journey of the Bible. So, it’s nice to be able to tap in and see some of these places and just immerse ourselves a little bit deeper into these stories, but since we’ll actually be there, Promise Land, if you…if you’re not on that trip Promise Land will be as close as you can get because you’ll be able to kind of look into some of the places that we’re traveling around and journeying to. Many of these places we’ve already visited on our journey through the Bible. So…so get ready for that and we’ll talk about it as we…as we continue to get nearer.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what’s happening here brings life to you then thank you for your partnership. We wouldn't…we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t do this together and that’s just always been the story and so thankfully, we are in this together. So, there is a link on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is a number to call or you can press the Hotline button, the red button that lives at the top of the app and just start sharing from there.

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

February 3, 2020

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday February 3, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 17:8-19:15

⁸While the Israelites were camped at Rephidim, soldiers of Amalek came and attacked them. ⁹Moses called for a young leader named Joshua.

Moses (to Joshua): Select some of our best men, and go fight against the soldiers of Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand at the crest of that hill overlooking the battlefield with God’s staff in my hand.

¹⁰Joshua did exactly as Moses had instructed him to do. He gathered the strongest men he could find and fought against the soldiers of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of the hill.

¹¹It happened that whenever Moses raised his hand, the battle went well for Israel; but whenever he lowered his hand to rest, Amalek began to win. ¹²When Moses became too tired to hold his hands up any longer, Aaron and Hur took a stone and sat him down on it. Then both men stood beside Moses, one on each side, holding his hands up and keeping them steady until sunset. ¹³In the end, Joshua and the men of Israel defeated Amalek and his soldiers with the sword.

Eternal One (to Moses): ¹⁴Write down what I say on a scroll as a memorial record of these events, and read it aloud so Joshua can hear: “I will erase all traces of the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

¹⁵Then Moses constructed an altar and called it, “The Eternal Is My Battle Flag.”

Moses: ¹⁶Because Amalek raised a defiant hand against the throne of the Eternal, He has promised to wage war against Amalek through future generations.

18 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, the priest of Midian, heard about all that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the Eternal had rescued Israel out of Egypt. ^2-3Now Moses had sent his wife, Zipporah, and her two sons back to Jethro from Egypt, and Jethro had cared for them in his long absence. Moses had named one son Gershom, because as he said, “I have lived as an outsider in an unfamiliar land.”^[a] ⁴Moses had named the other son Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my helper, and He rescued me from Pharaoh’s sword.” ⁵Jethro (Moses’ father-in-law) brought Zipporah and her two sons into the desert to meet Moses when he and the people of Israel were camped near God’s mountain.

This place is special for Moses, for it was here that he first met God in the burning bush.

⁶Jethro sent a servant with a message for Moses.

Jethro (to Moses): I, Jethro, your father-in-law, am coming out to see you and I’m bringing your wife and two sons with me.

⁷So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. When he saw him, he bowed down before Jethro and kissed him. They each asked how the other was doing, and then they went into Moses’ tent.

⁸Moses told Jethro the whole story. He told him everything that the Eternal had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians on behalf of Israel. He told him about all the misery and tribulations they had run into during their long journey. And then he told how the Eternal had rescued them. ⁹Jethro was thrilled to hear of all the kindness the Eternal had shown Israel, especially how He rescued them from the powerful hand of the Egyptians.

Jethro: ¹⁰Praise to the Eternal, for He rescued you from the powerful hand of the Egyptians, from the cruel grip of Pharaoh. He has liberated His people from beneath the harsh hand of their Egyptian masters. ¹¹Now I know with all my heart that the Eternal is greater than all gods because of the way He delivered His people when Egyptians in their arrogance abused them.^[b]

¹²Jethro then took a burnt offering and sacrifices and presented them to God. Aaron and the rest of the Israelite elders gathered to dedicate a meal to God with Moses’ father-in-law.

¹³On the next day, Moses sat and served as judge, settling disputes among the people. Those with grievances surrounded him from sunrise to sundown waiting to present their case. ¹⁴Jethro noticed all Moses was doing for the people.

Jethro: What do you think you are doing? Why are you the only one who is able to judge the disputes of all these people who surround you from sunrise to sundown?

Moses: ¹⁵These people come to me seeking direction from God. ¹⁶When two people are arguing and can’t resolve their differences, they come to me; and I settle the matter between them. This is one way I help God’s people understand His requirements and instructions.

Jethro: ¹⁷What you are doing is not good for you. ¹⁸The responsibility is just too much. You are going to wear yourself out. Not only that, you’re going to wear out the people too. You can’t do it all by yourself. ¹⁹I am going to give you a piece of advice, so listen up and God will be with you. You should represent the people before God, and carry their concerns to Him. ²⁰Teach them God’s requirements and pass on His laws. Show them the right way to live and the kind of work they should be doing. ²¹As for all these other duties you have taken on, choose competent leaders who fear God, love truth, despise dishonesty, and won’t take bribes. After you divide and subdivide all the people into various groups of a thousand, hundred, fifty, and ten, put the men of integrity you selected in charge over the various groups. ²²Let these righteous leaders be ready to judge the people whenever it is necessary. If there is some major problem, they can bring that to you. Otherwise, these select leaders ought to be able to handle the minor problems. This will be much easier for you, and they will help you carry this burden. ²³If you do what I advise and God directs you, then you will be able to handle the pressure. Not only that, but all these people standing around needing help, they will be able to return to their tents at peace.

²⁴Moses accepted Jethro’s advice and did all that he said. ²⁵He chose competent leaders and put them in charge of the community of Israel. He divided and subdivided the nation into groups of a thousand, hundred, fifty, and ten, and he appointed a leader over each group. ²⁶The righteous leaders judged the people whenever disputes or problems arose. Any major quarrel, they brought to Moses for his judgment; but every minor argument, they judged themselves.

²⁷When it was time for Jethro to return to his own land, Moses sent his father-in-law on his way.

19 The Israelites entered the desert of Sinai on the day the third new moon appeared after the Israelites left Egypt. ²After departing from Rephidim, they entered into the desert of Sinai and set up camp out in the desert. The entire community of Israel camped right in front of the mountain of God.

³Moses climbed the mountain to meet with God, and the Eternal spoke to him from the mountain.

Jethro is more than Moses’ father-in-law; he is also an insightful leader and a skilled counselor. He sees that what Moses is trying to do is counterproductive. Moses is wearing himself down in continual service to the people, and the people are frustrated with the many hours they must wait to have their cases heard by a single arbitrator. Jethro’s counsel advances the best possible solution for all concerned. Moses remains the sole spiritual leader of the emerging nation, the people’s representative to God, and the conduit of God’s wisdom to the people. But now he is to delegate his governing authority to a set of judges.

The legal and administrative system Jethro proposes is much like a military command with the masses of people divided and then subdivided. Those who are honest and capable hear the normal disputes that arise on a daily basis, much as they have observed Moses handling them in the past. The more difficult and unique issues are still dealt with by Moses. In this system, there is no difference between civil disputes and religious inquiries. This is an administration designed to handle all problems, secular or spiritual. Life, after all, doesn’t fall into nice, neat categories.

Eternal One: This is what I want you to say to the house of Jacob—to all the people of Israel: ⁴“You are eyewitnesses of all that I did to the Egyptians. You saw how I snatched you from the bonds of slavery and carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. ⁵Now if you will hear My voice, obey what I say, and keep My covenant, then you—out of all the nations of the world—will be My treasured people. After all, the earth belongs to Me. ⁶You will be My kingdom of priests, a nation holy and set apart.” Tell the Israelites exactly what I have told to you.

As a kingdom of priests, Israel exists to serve as agents of God’s blessing. The people are to bear witness to God’s character and carry to Him the world’s concerns.

⁷Moses descended from the mountain and assembled the elders of Israel and told them everything the Eternal commanded him to say.

Israelites: ⁸We will do everything the Eternal has told us to do!

Moses took what the people said back to the Eternal.

Eternal One (to Moses): ⁹I will come to you in a thick cloud so that the people will be able to hear My voice when I speak to you. That way they will trust you forever.

Then Moses told the Eternal all that the people had said.

Eternal One (to Moses): ^10-11Go down to the people and get them ready to meet Me today and tomorrow by purifying themselves and washing their garments. By the third day, they need to be ready, for on that day I will descend from Mount Sinai so that everyone can see. ¹²You are to set up boundaries all around the mountain and tell the people, “Be careful that you do not cross the boundaries and go up on the mountain or even touch the edge of it. If anyone so much as touches the mountain, he should be put to death. ¹³No one is to touch the person or animal who crosses the boundary; stone them or shoot them with arrows but do not touch them. It doesn’t matter whether it is a human or an animal, it must be put to death.” But when they hear the long blast of the ram’s horn, then they are permitted to make their way up on the mountain.

¹⁴Moses went down the mountain and purified all the people. They washed their clothes. ¹⁵He gave instructions to everyone.

Moses: Be ready for the third day. Do not have sexual relations with your spouse between now and then.

Footnotes:

18:2–3 Exodus 2:22
18:11 Meaning of the Hebrew is unclear.

The Voice (VOICE)

Matthew 22:34-23:12

³⁴Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, a group of Pharisees met to consider new questions that might trip up Jesus. ³⁵A legal expert thought of one that would certainly stump Him.

Pharisees: ³⁶Teacher, of all the laws, which commandment is the greatest?

Jesus (quoting Scripture): ³⁷“Love the Eternal One your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.”^[a] ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is nearly as important, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^[b] ⁴⁰The rest of the law, and all the teachings of the prophets, are but variations on these themes.

⁴¹Since the Pharisees were gathered together there, Jesus took the opportunity to pose a question of His own.

Jesus: ⁴²What do you think about the Anointed One? Whose Son is He?

Pharisees: But, of course, He is the Son of David.

Jesus: ⁴³Then how is it that David—whose words were surely shaped by the Spirit—calls Him “Lord”? For in his psalms David writes,

⁴⁴The Master said to my master
“Sit here at My right hand,
in the place of honor and power,
And I will gather Your enemies together,
lead them in on hands and knees,
and You will rest Your feet on their backs.”^[c]

⁴⁵How can David call his own Son “Lord”?

⁴⁶No one had an answer to Jesus’ question. And from that day forward, no one asked Him anything.

23 Jesus spoke to His disciples and to the crowds that had gathered around.

Jesus with the Pharisees listening uses them as an example of the pious but truly unrighteous. He calls the people to mind the Pharisees’ words, not their examples, because they talk about righteousness and faithfulness, but they are a faithless and unrighteous crew.

Jesus: ²The Pharisees and the scribes occupy the seat of Moses. ³So you should do the things they tell you to do—but don’t do the things they do. ⁴They heap heavy burdens upon their neighbors’ backs, and they prove unwilling to do anything to help shoulder the load. ⁵They are interested, above all, in presentation: they wrap their heads and arms in the accoutrements of prayer, they cloak themselves with flowing tasseled prayer garments, ⁶they covet the seats of honor at fine banquets and in the synagogue, ⁷and they love it when people recognize them in the marketplace, call them “Teacher,” and beam at them.

⁸But you: do not let anyone call you “Rabbi,” that is, “Teacher.” For you are all brothers, and you have only one teacher, the Anointed One. ⁹Indeed, do not call anyone on earth “Father,” for you have only one father, and He is in heaven. ¹⁰Neither let anyone call you “leader,” for you have one leader—the Anointed One. ¹¹If you are recognized at all, let it be for your service. Delight in the one who calls you servant. ¹²For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Footnotes:

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 27:7-14

⁷I cannot shout any louder. Eternal One—hear my cry
and respond with Your grace.
⁸The prodding of my heart leads me to chase after You.
I am seeking You, Eternal One—don’t retreat from me.
⁹You have always answered my call.
Don’t hide from me now.

Don’t give up on me in anger at Your servant.
You have always been there for me.
Don’t throw me to the side and forget me,
my God and only salvation.
¹⁰My father and mother have deserted me,
yet the Eternal will take me in.

¹¹O Eternal, show me Your way,
shine Your light brightly on this path, and make it level for me,
for my enemies are lurking in the recesses and ravines along the way.
¹²They are watching—hoping to seize me.
Do not release me to their desires or surrender me to their will!
Liars are standing against me,
breathing out cruel lies hoping that I will die.

¹³I will move past my enemies with this one, sure hope:
that with my own eyes, I will see the goodness of the Eternal
in the land of the living.

¹⁴Please answer me: Don’t give up.
Wait for the Eternal in expectation, and be strong.
Again, wait for the Eternal.

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 6:27-35

²⁷Can you carry fire right next to your body
and keep your clothes from burning?
²⁸Can you walk over fiery coals
and keep your feet from blistering?
²⁹Take another man’s wife, and you will find out—
whoever touches her will be found guilty.
³⁰People don’t despise a thief
who only steals to fill his hunger;
³¹Still if they catch him, he must repay seven times over—
he could end up losing everything he owns!
³²By contrast only a fool would commit adultery
since by his action he loses not only his possessions but also his own life.
³³He will suffer injury and be disgraced;
dishonor will leave a permanent mark on his life.
³⁴For jealousy sparks a husband’s rage—
when he gets his revenge, he’ll show no mercy.
³⁵He will not be paid off or appeased;
no bribe or gift will set things right.

The Voice (VOICE)

February 2, 2020

02/02/2020 DAB Transcript

Exodus 15:19-17:7, Matthew 22:1-33, Psalms 27:1-6, Proverbs 6:20-26

Today is the 2^nd day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here as we twist the knob and throw open the gateway and step into this brand-new shiny week. And it’s a brand-new shiny month. So, new beginnings all around and we have a story to tell and it’s certainly telling the story of the Bible as we read through it each and every day but it’s also the story of our lives and we will write that story this week with our decisions and choices and attitudes and we will write the story of this month with the same things. And thank God, right friends? Thank God we have His word to counsel us. So, this week we’ll read from the Voice Translation and we’ll be picking up where we left off in the book of Exodus where the children of Israel have crossed the Red Sea on dry ground and the Egyptian army, they didn’t. They didn’t quite cross and it wasn’t dry and so they ended up at the bottom of the sea. And, so, today Exodus chapter 15 verse 19 to 17 verse 7.

Prayer:

Thank You, Father for bringing us into this new week and into this new month. And again…again, we thank You, we thank You for last month, we thank You for bringing us safely through January and for all that You did in our lives through Your word and that month. And, so, we have great anticipation as we continue the story forward and we invite You fully. New beginnings, new month, new week and we give it to You in advance. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that is home base and its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, like I say every day, be sure to stay connected in any way the cam or any way that you want to.

Reminding you that the Prayer Wall also lives there in the Community section and that is a fantastic place to go and receive prayer but also to offer prayer. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request a comment you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top or there are a number of phone numbers you can use. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to call. If you are in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078. If you are in Australia 61-3-8820-5459 is number to call.

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, I am Surely Goodness and Mercy from Sarasota Florida I’ve listened to Daily Audio Bible for several weeks now and I enjoy being a part of this group. I’m responding to that prayer request of Paula the child advocate from LA area. Paula’s ladies group friend Dolores committed suicide this week and they thought she was better after her son’s sudden death. Dolores had announced a Christmas for daughter’s engagement the wedding to be held later this year. Father God help Dolores and her Father to heal from this tragedy. Lord God I ask that You’ll please heal this daughters broken heart, give her wisdom and insight into the grieving process, and let her not go into blame but to forgive even though she’s been robbed of her mom and robbed of her mom being mother of the bride and being a grandma and seeing the birth of these grandchildren and I pray God that she’ll not lose the dad as well. Holy Father help this daughter not to blame herself or blame God or blame others. Help her not to linger with anger over these losses. Help this daughter to walk with You and to look to You Father God for answers for the future and comfort and peace. May she enter to God’s Sabbath rest. I pray that she’ll, as an orphan, she’ll not be overwhelming reality to her but to realize that she’s grafted into God’s family. I ask for family members to rally around and be a strong support to her and the ladies that have known Dolores for these 30 years will have a soften heart in a powerful way toward this daughter. If it’s God’s will, please raise up another mom substitute that can encourage and love and step into a significant role of this Young lady as she goes through her wedding plans and wedding celebrations. And then I have a prayer request. My husband’s niece Gail had emergency back surgery this week. They live in New York and have two small children. My prayer request is that the nerve function in her leg return, that everything will be knit properly, and pain will continue…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is J from Nashville. So, I woke up this morning with some amazing news. Those of you who have been listening for a while know my story and I have, through a friend of a friend, located the state in which my ex-wife and my child are located. So, what I’d like to do is I’d like to pray that God will give me guidance, discernment and clarity and a means by which to have a relationship with my child. Lord Jesus, I thank You Father for this glorious day and this wonderful overwhelming news. Father, every bone in my body wants to completely relocate in the next 30 seconds to that state so that I can be close. But Lord I don’t want to do these things in my own power, in my own wisdom, in my own strength, in my own desires. I want to do them according to Your will. So, Lord I pray that You will send Your Holy Spirit before me and soften my ex-wife’s heart, clear her mind, and open her eyes spiritually to allow her to see me the way that You see me. All the hurt and pain that I’ve caused as undoubtedly caused serious trauma. I pray Lord that You will begin to mend that trauma in a way that will allow a relationship with this child. I pray that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hello family this is Cindy the flute player. I’ve called in before and been a listener for a long time, but I wanted to call and apologize to my family. When I called in, I was discouraged and just wanted to give up and after 40 years of being a believer I haven’t given up and actually I feel like I’m in the season now where I have seen so many answers to prayer. The one that steepest to my heart, well there’s a couple, I haven’t seen but I am trusting Him. I’m trusting that He will and is moving and I just keep speaking my heart to Him. And I want you to know out there family that I’m listening to your heart and I’m praying for you instantly when you’re talking and you’re bringing your requests to us and I especially have Esther and Anonymous on my heart and want you to know that the Spirit, the Holy Spirit reminds me to pray for you and to not give up and that He sees you and that He loves you and so do I even though we’ve never met. And I want…I just…I’m so thankful for all of you out there and thankful for this format. It really is beautiful. And there’s lots going on on this reservation and by heart is deeply troubled for the children but I’m sure that’s why He’s planted me here. And, so, you know, God bless all of you. I hope, sometime I get to meet you. I’ll be able to come to Tennessee someday. All right. Love you. God bless you.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is for Danny in southern Oregon and I just started listening to the Community Prayer for the weekend and…whew…I’ve got five hours to go but you were in the beginning and I heard you talk about your mom being very sick and that you’re gonna read scriptures over her. I don’t know if that was my suggestion, but I know I had said it. And I just wanted to share with you that at the end of my father’s life he started to see dark figures and he looked at me and he said there are dark men behind me, and they’ve come to get me. And I looked at him and I swore up, but I won’t swear here and I said the bleep they ain’t. And I canceled all of my appointments that day and I started praying with everything I had out loud. He was in and out of consciousness and I was just praying, bringing down the Angels because I said I will not lose my father to whatever has come to get him. And the nurse came into the room and she looked at me and she said is everything all right in here and I said I think it’s…we’re at the end and he is seeing dark figures who have come to get him and she locked eyes with me and she said well we need Jesus. And I said yes we do. And she worked all day and then at the end of her shift she came in. She prayed with me and we…we brought…we opened the doors of heaven and I felt Angels around us and I just read and read and read. I didn’t sleep that night. I went home and I changed it to work out cloths, I broke out into a sweat. I mean I was up all night and the next morning was when he mouthed back the Psalm back to me. And, so, Danny I just tell you, you fight and Lord I just I build up my sister Danny to fight for her mother’s soul and that what she reads over her mother would yield fruit in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Hi this is Cheyenne butterfly from Bakersfield I haven’t called in for a long time. I used to call regarding my son JJ. Today’s situation is he got off the spice, still using straight drugs. He has a mental illness. He has schizophrenia and he has a pay service, got his pay service to give him $2000 for a car, brought the car home, the car was worth $200, couldn’t run. I couldn’t get…convince him to let me have the contact person who would sell him a car that wasn’t worth $200 and couldn’t get smogged, couldn’t get registered, car broke down. Some other drug dealers or drug addicts sold him another car for $500. He lived in it for about three weeks. Cops arrested him for Grand Theft Auto for stealing the car. Now he’s sitting in jail. He has a mental illness. He needs lots of prayer. I’m leaving a whole lot of the story out, but the bottom line is this child needs God, he needs prayer, he needs redemption, he needs somebody in his life. God pray that somebody in jail is a Christian and helps him because he won’t listen to me. I’m just calling and asking for prayer for this child his name is JJ. He’s almost 30, he has schizophrenia, he’s been homeless on and off now for the last 10 years. I’m just asking for major prayer for this child. I listen to you daily, been listening to daily for the last couple years and I know the power of prayer on this is strong. I’ve watched it happen. I thank you so much and I thank the Daily Audio Bible for providing us the service. I love you all and thank you so much.

Good morning DABber family this is Walta the Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory of our God and King. I’m calling for, I believe, Cara and her son Nitch from Denver. I just want you to know that I heard your request and I prayed for you and it meant something special to me because I struggled with what you’re going through. I guess it’s been, gosh since, my son was 17 years old. He’s 22 now he struggled for three straight years with addiction and had problems with the law. And praise God, for the last two years he’s been sober. He’s…he’s back in college and he’s counseling other people with addiction. He’s actually found the Lord. I’m staring this testimony with you so that you know that there is nothing impossible for God. While I was walking through my struggled God reminded me that my son Emmanuel is not just my son, he’s God son who God entrusted to me. God entrusted Nitch to you and now you give him back to God as Abraham gave his son back to God. He is God’s son and God will watch over him and He will protect him while he’s out there in his prodigal phase. But know that God loves niche more than you do and be at peace in your heart knowing that God is faithful to do exceedingly abundantly above our expectation. If God can heal and deliver my son from addiction, if God can save him, God can do the same for Nitch and I’m praying that through this testimony that you will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony I pray that you will be encouraged. I pray that you will be encouraged. Look for Insight, the Insight program online and see if you can find a community with which you can just find support because there are many families struggling with this addiction problem. I love you my sister. I can’t wait to hear your testimony and I will continue to pray for him until I hear…

Hi DAB family this is Tahara in Southern California and there are a few people that are on my heart today. I’ll try to do this quickly. Cara from Denver your call really resonated with me. I have two sisters who were out and using for years and it is so hard. I had a friend once say that loving an addict is like hugging a chainsaw. So, I just pray…first of all I want to thank God for your sobriety and I pray that He will give you supernatural peace and secondly I pray for your son, that God will protect him until he is ready to just fall to his knees in that broken openness that we need for healing. There was a woman who did not leave her name, she has a 22-year-old nephew with lupus and possibly dyskinesia and I pray for complete healing and that God would protect him from despair. I also pray that her nephew would recognize his unique placement to let Jesus love shine through him. Sienna, I heard so much fear in your prayer request. I just want to give you a hug girl. I pray that God will redeem the incredible difficult circumstances that you’re going through. I also pray that He will give you strength to hold healthy boundaries and also for healing over your body. I pray that He would bless you with peace and trust in Him. Diana Davis you are in my heart and on my mind. I pray for your healing as well as for your two wonderful sons. I pray that God will bless them and protect them and surround them with loving people. I pray also for Isaiah who was given mind altering drugs and abused and I just pray for the healing of his mind and soul. Becky from Orlando thank you for the praise report that you shared. I just…I really needed to hear that. I needed a reminder of God’s power. And finally, God’s Smile in England, thank you for your brief and joy filled testimony, it really touched my heart and made me smile.

February 2, 2020

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday February 2, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 15:19-17:7

¹⁹When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot-drivers drove into the sea, the Eternal caused the waters to collapse upon them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

²⁰The prophetess, Miriam (Aaron’s sister), picked up a tambourine, and all the rest of the women followed her with tambourines and joyful dancing.

²¹Miriam: Sing to the Eternal One, for He has won a great victory;
He has thrown the horse and its chariot into the sea.

²²Then Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea, and they entered the desert of Shur. They traveled for three days in the desert before they found water.

²³When they came to the place where they did find water, they could not drink it because it was so bitter. So they called the place Marah, or bitter. ²⁴Because they were very thirsty, the people complained to Moses.

Israelites: What are we supposed to drink?

²⁵Moses then asked the Eternal for help, and the Eternal showed him a log. Moses threw the log into the bitter water, and the water became sweet. At Marah the Eternal established an important principle and set a standard for His people so that He could test them.

Eternal One: ²⁶If you will listen closely to My voice—the voice of your God—and do what is right in My eyes, pay attention to My instructions, and keep all of My laws; then I will not bring on you any of the plagues that I did on the Egyptians, for I am the Eternal, your Healer.

²⁷Then they traveled on to an oasis called Elim, where there were 12 freshwater springs and 70 palm trees with dates. They set up camp there next to the waters.

16 Then the entire community of Israel departed from Elim and entered the desert of Sin, which is located between Elim and Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from Egypt.

The covenant people leave the pleasant, coastal area around Elim to begin the long journey through the wilderness. It will take longer than anyone expects.

²As soon as they got to the desert of Sin, the entire community of Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron.

Israelites: ³It would have been better if we had died by the hand of the Eternal in Egypt. At least we had plenty to eat and drink, for our pots were stuffed with meat and we had as much bread as we wanted. But now you have brought the entire community out to the desert to starve us to death.

Eternal One (to Moses): ⁴Look! I will cause bread to rain down from heaven for you,^[a] and the people will go out and gather a helping of it each day. I will test them to see if they are willing to live by My instructions. ⁵On the sixth day, they will gather the usual amount; but when they go to prepare it, it will end up being twice what they usually gather.

Moses and Aaron (to the Israelites): ⁶When evening falls, you will know that the Eternal has led you out of the land of Egypt. ⁷In the morning your eyes will see His glory because He takes your complaints against us as complaints against Him. Who are we, that you direct your complaints to us?

Moses (continuing): ⁸This will take place when the Eternal One provides you with meat in the evening and plenty of bread in the morning because He hears all your grumbling and complaining against Him. Why do you complain to us? Your complaints are not against us, but against Him.

⁹(to Aaron) Tell the entire community of Israelites, “Draw near to the Eternal. He has heard your complaints.”

¹⁰While Aaron was speaking to the entire community of the Israelites, they all looked out toward the desert, and the radiant glory of the Eternal could be seen in the cloud. ¹¹The Eternal spoke to Moses.

Eternal One (to Moses): ¹²Rest assured, I have heard the constant complaining of the Israelites. Tell them, “In the evening, you will have meat to eat; and in the morning, you will have enough bread to satisfy your gnawing hunger. Then you will know that I am the Eternal your God.”

¹³That evening, quail flew in and covered the camp; and when morning arrived, what seemed to be ordinary dew was all around the camp.

¹⁴But when the dew evaporated, it left behind a thin, mysterious, flaky substance that looked like frost on top of the dry desert ground. ¹⁵The people of Israel went out to examine it. They had never seen anything quite like it.

Israelites (to one another): What is it?

The people didn’t have a clue what this strange substance was.

Moses: It is the bread which the Eternal has given you to eat. ¹⁶Here are His instructions: “Gather only as much of it as you should eat by yourself. Pick up two quarts^[b] of bread for each person who lives in your tent.”

¹⁷The Israelites did as they were told. Some people gathered a lot, others gathered less. ¹⁸When they used a two-quart jar to measure it, the one who had gathered a lot didn’t have more than he needed; and the one who gathered less had just what he needed.^[c] Miraculously, each person and each family—regardless of how much they gathered—had exactly what they needed.

Moses (continuing God’s instructions): ¹⁹Don’t try to keep any of it until the morning. Either eat it all, or throw it away.

²⁰But some people ignored Moses and tried to keep some of it until the next morning. Overnight it became wormy and started to have a dreadful smell. Moses became furious with them because they had disobeyed God’s instructions.

²¹Every morning the people went out and gathered it—each family took only what it needed. By the time the sun became hot, it had melted away. ²²On the sixth day the people went out and gathered, but they came back with twice as much as usual—four quarts per person. All the leaders of the community thought they needed to tell Moses what had happened.

Moses (to the leaders): ²³Listen to what the Eternal commanded: Tomorrow, the seventh day, is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath dedicated to Him. Bake or boil whatever you need for today’s meals. Whatever is left over, keep it to eat tomorrow. It won’t spoil.

God wants His people to keep the Sabbath as a special day and to depend on Him—not their own efforts—to supply all they need.

²⁴So the people stored some of it until the next morning, just as Moses had instructed. None of it spoiled, nor did it have any worms.

Moses: ²⁵Eat what is left over today, because today is a Sabbath to the Eternal, a day of rest. You will not find any of it in the field today. ²⁶You are to gather it for six days, but on the seventh day (the Sabbath), none of it will be on the ground.

²⁷When the seventh day arrived, some of the people ignored Moses and went out to gather it anyway; but there was none to gather.

Eternal One (to Moses): ²⁸How much longer are you going to disobey My commands and instructions? ²⁹Look! I have given you the Sabbath as a day of rest. That is why I give you an extra portion of food on the sixth day. Everyone should stay where they are and not go out to work on the seventh day.

³⁰So the people did as God directed and rested on the seventh day.

³¹The community of Israel decided to name this mysterious substance “manna” (which means, “What is it?”). It was white like a coriander seed, and it tasted sweet like honey wafers.

Moses: ³²This is the instruction of the Eternal: “Preserve two quarts of the manna so that future generations can see the bread I provided for you in the desert when I led you out of the land of Egypt.”

³³(to Aaron) Go, find a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Put it in a special place before the Eternal to preserve it for future generations to see.

“The Eternal Provides.” That could well be the theme for the entire exodus adventure. When there is no water, He provides. When there is no bread, He provides. When there is no meat, He provides. These provisions are clearly God’s gift to His people. They do not depend upon the cleverness, skill, or hard work of the Israelites. It must be difficult for these former slaves—whose lives have been all about work—to stop, to rest, and to truly believe their lives and futures depend upon God and not upon themselves.

³⁴Aaron did as the Eternal commanded. He stored the jar before the covenant to keep it safe.

This is an interesting statement. Aaron is directed to place the jar with the special breadlike substance that God provides “before the covenant,” which is either a reference to the directives God will provide (chapter 20) or to the special container—the covenant chest—God directs Aaron to build (chapter 25) to preserve some of Israel’s most precious treasures from the exodus and their time in the wilderness. Neither of these items exists at this point in time.

³⁵For 40 years, the Israelites were sustained by the manna God supplied. They ate it until they arrived at the borderlands of Canaan, the edge of the land they would one day inhabit. (³⁶And their omer was a two-quart measurement and in turn was one-tenth of an ephah.)^[d]

17 The entire community of Israel traveled in stages out of the desert of Sin, just as the Eternal instructed. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there to quench their thirst. ²Once again the people complained to Moses.

Israelites: Give us water to drink! We’re thirsty.

Moses: Why do you aim your complaints at me? Why are you testing the Eternal One?

³But the people were so thirsty for water, they complained to Moses and leveled accusations against him.

Israelites: Why did you lead us out of Egypt? Was it to kill all of us—our children and livestock included—with this thirst?

⁴Moses had had enough of their complaints, so he cried out to the Eternal One.

Moses: What am I supposed to do with these people and their relentless complaining? They are on the verge of stoning me.

Eternal One (to Moses): ⁵Here’s what I want you to do: go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Also, be sure to bring your shepherd’s staff—the one with which you struck the Nile. ⁶I will be there when you arrive standing at the rock of Horeb. I want you to strike the rock with your staff; and when you do, water will flow out of it so that everyone will have enough to drink.

The elders of Israel accompanied Moses and watched as he did what the Eternal directed.

⁷Moses named the place Massah^[e] and Meribah,^[f] because the Israelites complained and tested the Eternal, saying, “Is He standing with us or not?”

Footnotes:

16:4 John 6:31
16:16 Hebrew measurement is omer.
16:18 2 Corinthians 8:15
16:36 An ephah was about 21 quarts or seven-tenths of a bushel.
17:7 Literally, “testing”
17:7 Literally, “complaining”

The Voice (VOICE)

Matthew 22:1-33

22 Jesus went on speaking in parables.

Jesus: ²The kingdom of heaven is like a king whose son was getting married. The king organized a great feast, a huge wedding banquet. ³He invited everyone he knew. The day of the wedding arrived, and the king sent his servants into town to track down his guests—but when the servants approached them with the king’s message, they refused to come. ⁴So the king sent out another batch of servants.

King: Tell those people I’ve invited to come to the wedding banquet! Tell them I have prepared a great feast! Everything is ready! The oxen and fattened cattle have all been butchered, the wine is decanted, and the table is laid out just so.

⁵And off the servants went, and they carried the king’s message to the errant guests—who still paid not a whit of attention. One guest headed into his field to work; another sat at his desk to attend to his accounts. ⁶The rest of the guests actually turned on the servants, brutalizing them and killing them. ⁷When he learned of this, the king was furious. He sent his army to kill the murderers and burn their towns. ⁸But there was, of course, still a wedding to celebrate.

King (to his remaining servants): The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited didn’t rise to the occasion. ⁹So go into the streets and invite anyone you see; invite everyone you meet.

¹⁰And the servants did just that—they went into the streets and invited everyone they met, rich and poor, good and bad, high and low, sick and well. Everyone who was invited came, and the wedding hall practically burst with guests.

¹¹The king looked around the wedding party with glee, but he spotted one man who was not dressed appropriately. In fact, he was dressed rather plainly, in clothes not at all fitting for a fine nuptial feast.

King: ¹²Kind sir, how did you get in here without a proper suit of wedding clothes?

The man was speechless. He had been invited in off the street, after all! ¹³Getting no response, the king told his servants,

King: Tie him up, and throw him out into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and grinding of teeth.

¹⁴For many are invited, but few are chosen.

¹⁵At that, the Pharisees left. They determined to trap this Jesus with His own words—hang Him by His own rope, you might say. ¹⁶They sent a batch of students to Him, along with a group that was loyal to Herod.

Students: Teacher, we know You are a man of integrity and You tell the truth about the way of God. We know You don’t cotton to public opinion. ¹⁷And that is why we trust You and want You to settle something for us: should we, God’s chosen people, pay taxes to Caesar or not?

¹⁸Jesus knew these men were out to trap Him.

Jesus: You hypocrites! Why do you show up here with such a transparent trick? ¹⁹Bring Me a coin you would use to pay tax.

Someone handed Him a denarius.^[a] ²⁰Jesus fingered the coin.

Jesus: Of whom is this a portrait, and who owns this inscription?

Students: ²¹Caesar.

Jesus: Well then, render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

²²And those who had come hoping to trick Jesus were confounded and amazed. And they left Him and went away.

²³That same day, a band of Sadducees—a sect of Jewish aristocrats who, among other things, did not expect a resurrection or anticipate any sort of future life at all—put their own question to Jesus.

Sadducees: ²⁴Teacher, the law of Moses teaches that if a married man dies with no children, then his brother must marry the widow and father children in his brother’s name. ²⁵Now we knew a family of seven brothers. The eldest brother married and died, and since he had no children, the next brother married his widow. ²⁶And shortly thereafter, that second brother died and the next until there were seven marriages with the same woman. ²⁷Eventually the wife died. ²⁸So now, Teacher, whose wife will she be at the resurrection? Will she have seven husbands, since they were each married to her?

According to Deuteronomy 25:5–6, a family member is supposed to marry a relative’s widow to carry on the deceased’s family name. Each man in this story dies, having fathered no children; that poor widow keeps marrying these brothers, and they keep dying. So in heaven, who is the husband?

Jesus: ²⁹You know neither God’s Scriptures nor God’s power—and so your assumptions are all wrong. ³⁰At the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. They will be like the messengers of heaven.

In heaven all will be devoting themselves to praise. It will not be a simple continuation of life on earth.

³¹A key to this resurrected life can be found in the words of Moses, which you do claim to read: ³²“I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”^[b] Our God is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living.

³³And again the crowd was amazed. They were astonished at His teaching.

Footnotes:

22:19 A Roman coin, equivalent to a day’s wage
22:32 Exodus 3:6

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 27:1-6

Psalm 27

A song of David.

¹The Eternal is my light amidst my darkness
and my rescue in times of trouble.
So whom shall I fear?
He surrounds me with a fortress of protection.
So nothing should cause me alarm.

The psalms provide us with a way to think about and pray through the various threats we face. Our enemies today may not be the same as in biblical times, but they are no less real. Consider the threats on the horizon. Some may be national. Others may be more personal. Still they come to surround us and destroy us if they could only get the chance. The reality is there are times when our enemies appear to have the upper hand and our cause is lost. But wait and listen to the psalm! All is not lost because, ultimately, God is our light and salvation. The darkness will lift, and our Savior will come. He will settle all scores, and we will live in the beauty of His presence.

²When my enemies advanced
to devour me alive,
They tripped and fell flat on their faces into the soil.

³When the armies of the enemy surround me,
I will not be afraid.
When death calls for me in the midst of war,
my soul is confident and unmoved.

⁴I am pleading with the Eternal for this one thing,
my soul’s desire:
To live with Him all of my days—
in the shadow of His temple,
To behold His beauty and ponder His ways
in the company of His people.

⁵His house is my shelter and secret retreat.
It is there I find peace in the midst of storm and turmoil.
Safety sits with me in the hiding place of God.
He will set me on a rock, high above the fray.

⁶God lifts me high above those with thoughts
of death and deceit that call for my life.
I will enter His presence, offering sacrifices and praise.
In His house, I am overcome with joy
As I sing, yes, and play music for the Eternal alone.

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 6:20-26

²⁰So, my son, follow your father’s direction,
and don’t forget what your mother taught you—
²¹Keep their teachings close to your heart;
engrave them on a pendant, and hang it around your neck.
²²Their instruction will guide you along your journey,
guard you when you sleep,
and address you when you wake in the morning.
²³For their direction is a lamp; their instruction will light your path,
and their discipline will correct your missteps,
sending you down the right path of life.
²⁴They will keep you far from the corrupted woman,
away from the smooth talk of a seductive woman.
²⁵Do not lose yourself in desire for her beauty
or let her win you over with her painted eyes,
²⁶For you can buy a harlot with a loaf of bread,
but sex with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

The Voice (VOICE)

February 1, 2020

02/01/2020 DAB Transcript

Exodus 13:17-15:18, Matthew 21:23-46, Psalms 26:1-12, Proverbs 6:16-19

Today is the 1^st day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian. So, as we close a week, we begin the second month of the year and what a joy it is to have made it this far on the journey with you settling into a rhythm now that will carry us all the way through this year together but all the way through the Bible as well. And probably after a month we, you know, if…if…it’s been a daily rhythm for a month we can see…we can see why the Bible matters, how interesting it is and how deeply it can touch our lives and bring truth into our souls. So, great to be here with you on this first day of the new month. It’s the same week, so we’ve been reading from Evangelical Heritage Version this week, which is what we’ll do today. And the children of Israel in the book of Exodus have exited Egypt and their enslavement and that is kind of the point at which they’re adventure begins. And, so, we are right at the beginning of the…of the next era with the children of Israel. Exodus chapter 13 verse 17 through 15 verse 18 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You, we thank You for bringing us across the threshold and into the second month of the year. We thank You for the life that You’ve given us. We thank You for the journey that we are on together as we continue to allow Your word to speak into our hearts. We thank You for the month of January and all that You have begun to do inside of us because of that month. And, so we set our sights before us into this month that we are about to live, and we realize that we are at this threshold. In this second month that story has not yet been told. And day by day step-by-step choice by choice we will write the story of that month and we invite Your Holy Spirit to permeate it. We pray that on every page that we would write that Your name would be in every sentence and paragraph, in every thought word and deed of our lives in this coming month. May we honor You. Come, Holy Spirit we pray we pray. We love You, we worship You, we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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February 1, 2020

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday February 1, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 13:17-15:18

Pillars of Cloud and Fire

¹⁷When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by the way that goes to the land of the Philistines, although it was more direct, for God said, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸So God led the people by the way that goes through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.^[a] The Israelites went up from the land of Egypt in battle formation.

¹⁹Moses also took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. Joseph had said, “God will surely come to your aid. Then you must bring up my bones with you from Egypt.” ²⁰They set out from Sukkoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on their way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light. In this way they could travel by day and by night. ²²The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.

Crossing the Red Sea

14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ²“Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to camp by the sea, facing Baal Zephon. ³Then Pharaoh will say about the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.’ ⁴I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them, and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and his entire army. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So that is what the Israelites did.

⁵When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials had a change of heart concerning the people. They said, “What have we done? We have let Israel go! They will not serve us anymore!” ⁶So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his troops with him. ⁷He also took six hundred of the best chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. ⁸The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites. The Israelites were going out defiantly.^[b] ⁹The Egyptians pursued them. All the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his charioteers,^[c] and his army caught up with them where they were camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, which faces Baal Zephon.

¹⁰As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord. ¹¹They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹²Wasn’t this what we said to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

¹³Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and see the salvation from the Lord, which he will perform for you today. For the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. ¹⁴The Lord will fight for you. You must wait quietly.”

¹⁵The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to set out. ¹⁶As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide the sea so that the Israelites can go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷I myself will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go into the sea after them, and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and his entire army, through his chariots and his charioteers. ¹⁸The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his charioteers.”

¹⁹Then the Angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. ²⁰It went between the Egyptian forces and the Israelite forces. The cloud was dark on one side, but it lit up the night on the other. Neither group approached the other all night long.

²¹Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all night long the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned the sea into dry land. The waters were divided. ²²The Israelites went into the middle of the sea on dry ground. The waters were like a wall for them on their right and on their left. ²³The Egyptians pursued them, and all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his charioteers went after them into the middle of the sea. ²⁴During the last watch of the night, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian forces from the pillar of fire and cloud. Then he confused the Egyptian forces. ²⁵He jammed^[d] their chariot wheels, and they had difficulty driving them. The Egyptians said, “We must flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”

²⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, and the waters will come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their charioteers.” ²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal place. While the Egyptians were fleeing from it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the middle of the sea. ²⁸The waters came back and covered the chariots and the charioteers, the entire army of Pharaoh that went into the sea after the Israelites. Not even one of them survived.

²⁹But the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters were like a wall for them on their right and on their left. ³⁰On that day the Lord saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹Israel saw the mighty hand which the Lord put into action against the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in Moses, his servant.

The Song of Moses and Miriam

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said:

I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.

²The Lord^[e] is my strength and song.
He has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will praise him;
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
³The Lord is a warrior.
The Lord is his name.
⁴He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea.
His elite officers are drowned in the Red Sea.
⁵The deep waters covered them.
They sank down to the depths like a stone.
⁶Lord, your right hand is glorious in power.
Lord, your right hand has shattered the enemy.
⁷In your great majesty you overthrew those who opposed you.
You sent out your burning anger.
It consumed them like stubble.
⁸At the blast from your nostrils the waters piled up.
The flowing waters stood up like a dam.
The deep waters became solid in the heart of the sea.
⁹The enemy said, “I will pursue.
I will overtake. I will divide the plunder.
I will do whatever I want with them.
I will draw my sword,
and my hand will destroy them.”
¹⁰But you blew with your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
¹¹Lord, who is like you among the gods?
Who is like you, glorious in holiness,
awesome in praise, working wonders?
¹²You stretched out your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them.
¹³In your mercy you will lead the people that you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them to your holy pastureland.^[f]
¹⁴The nations will hear and tremble.
Anguish will grip the inhabitants of Philistia.
¹⁵Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified.
Trembling will seize the leaders of Moab.
All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away in despair.
¹⁶Terror and dread will fall upon them.
By the great power of your arm they will be as still as stone
until your people pass by, O Lord,
until the people whom you have purchased pass by.
¹⁷You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain that belongs to you,
the place, O Lord, that you have made for your dwelling,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
¹⁸The Lord will reign forever and ever.

Footnotes:

Exodus 13:18 The Hebrew name for the sea, Yam Suf, seems to mean Sea of Reeds and includes the present Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez west of the Sinai Peninsula, and the Gulf of Aqaba east of the Sinai Peninsula.
Exodus 14:8 Literally with an upraised hand
Exodus 14:9 At this point of military history, the Hebrew word often translated horsemen very likely refers to chariot crews, not cavalry. It seems cavalry was not common before the Assyrian period.
Exodus 14:25 The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Greek and Syriac versions read bound up or jammed. The Hebrew reads removed.
Exodus 15:2 The divine name Yahweh here appears in the shortened form Yah.
Exodus 15:13 That is, the land of Israel

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

Matthew 21:23-46

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

²³When Jesus went into the temple courts, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him while he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things?” and “Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer it, I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

They discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the crowd, since they all regard John as a prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”

He said to them, “Then I will not tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Two Sons

²⁸“What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ ²⁹He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰He came to the second and said the same thing. The second son answered, ‘I will go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Amen I tell you: The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness, but you did not believe him. However, the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. Even when you saw this, you did not change your mind and believe him.

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

³³“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it out to some tenant farmers and went away on a journey. ³⁴When the time approached to harvest the fruit, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. ³⁵The tenant farmers seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶Then the landowner sent even more servants than the first time. The tenant farmers treated them the same way. ³⁷Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. ³⁸But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’ ³⁹They took him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰So when the landowner comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”

⁴¹They told him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end. Then he will lease out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his fruit when it is due.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?^[a]

⁴³“That is why I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruit. ⁴⁴Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was talking about them. ⁴⁶Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds because the people regarded him as a prophet.

Footnotes:

Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22-23

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

Psalm 26

Vindicate Me, O Lord

Heading
By David.

Affirmation of Innocence and Plea for Judgment

¹Judge me favorably, O Lord,
because I have walked in my integrity.
In the Lord I have trusted. I have not wavered.
²Test me, O Lord, and examine me.
Refine my thoughts and my emotions,
³for your mercy is in front of my eyes,
and I keep walking in your truth.

Separation From Evil

⁴I do not sit with deceivers.
I do not associate with hypocrites.
⁵I hate the company of evildoers.
I do not sit with the wicked.

Affirmation of Innocence and Love for God

⁶I wash my hands from sin,
so I can march around your altar, O Lord,
⁷to shout thanks to you
and to proclaim all your wonderful deeds.
⁸Lord, I love the house where you reside,
the place where your glory dwells.

Separation From Evil

⁹Do not snatch my soul away along with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
¹⁰who grasp wicked schemes in their hands,
whose right hands are full of bribes.

Affirmation of Innocence and Prayer for Redemption

¹¹But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be merciful to me.
¹²My feet stand on level ground.
In the assemblies I will bless the Lord.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

Proverbs 6:16-19

Things That Are Disgusting to the Lord

¹⁶These are six things the Lord hates,
seven things that really disgust him:
¹⁷arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that run quickly to do evil,
¹⁹a false witness who breathes lies,
and a person who spreads conflict between brothers.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

Exodus 21:22-23:13

Footnotes:

Matthew 24:1-28

Footnotes:

Psalm 29

Psalm 29

A song of David.

Proverbs 7:6-23

Footnotes:

Exodus 19:16-21:21

Footnotes:

Matthew 23:13-39

Footnotes:

Psalm 28

Psalm 28

A song of David.

Proverbs 7:1-5

Exodus 17:8-19:15

Footnotes:

Matthew 22:34-23:12

Footnotes:

Psalm 27:7-14

Proverbs 6:27-35

Exodus 15:19-17:7

Footnotes:

Matthew 22:1-33

Footnotes:

Psalm 27:1-6

Psalm 27

A song of David.

Proverbs 6:20-26

Exodus 13:17-15:18

Pillars of Cloud and Fire

Crossing the Red Sea

The Song of Moses and Miriam

Footnotes:

Matthew 21:23-46

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

Two Sons

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

Footnotes:

Psalm 26

Psalm 26

Vindicate Me, O Lord

HeadingBy David.

Affirmation of Innocence and Plea for Judgment

Separation From Evil

Affirmation of Innocence and Love for God

Separation From Evil

Affirmation of Innocence and Prayer for Redemption

Proverbs 6:16-19

Things That Are Disgusting to the Lord

Heading
By David.