Numbers 36:1 - Deuteronomy 1:46, Luke 5:29-6:11, Psalms 66:1-20, Proverbs 11:24-26
Today is the 23rd day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is awesome to be here with you today as we kinda dive into our work week. Today we’re going to conclude the book of Numbers in the Old Testament and move our way into the next book, which is the final book of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy. So, let’s dive in and cover that ground. We’ll talk about Deuteronomy when we get there, but let’s conclude the book of Numbers. Numbers chapter 36.
Introduction to the book of Deuteronomy:
Okay. So, that concludes the book of Numbers which brings us to the final book of the Torah or the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy. As we get into this book over the coming days, we may get a sense, “like didn’t we read this? Haven’t we already covered this territory?” And the answer would be, “yes, we actually have.” But there’s a reason that we’re revisiting this territory and we understand the reason that has gravity and actually allows us to pay more deeper attention. The book of Deuteronomy is basically three final discourses, three final announcements to the children of Israel from Moses and these are his final words. And, so, we’ve been with Moses for a long time now. These are the final words of Moses. This is the last thing that he wants to be set before he becomes a part of history. So, Moses is older now and as we…we know he won’t be crossing over the Jordan into the Promise Land with the children of Israel. Joshua has been appointed to take that mantle and lead them forward. So, these are Moses’s last words. And, so, he’s gathered the people together to say these final…like to leave nothing unsaid that he needed to say because this isn’t just a long goodbye. And we’ll see what he’s saying is intended to remind these people of who they are and how they got here, like where they came from and to remind them where they’re going and to warn them about the pitfalls that they’ll face when they get there. So, if we take that approach to the book of Deuteronomy we’ll be in the proper context. If we know that we’ve traveled…like if…we’ve been a part of this story. We’ve been with the children of Israel in the wilderness and all of the trials that they faced. Now they’re poised and ready. A new generation has emerged and this prophet Moses, the one who came and delivered them out of Egypt with the mighty hand of God behind them, he’s about to leave them. This is what he has to say.
Commentary:
So, in the gospel of Luke today we see a series of interactions that Jesus had along the path of His ministry and now He…He has the religious leaders following Him around and kind of asking Him about everything, but not in a good way, like they’re critiquing everything that He does because He’s in so many ways flying in the face of tradition. And, so, in each of these interactions today He’s explaining things about the kingdom of God for those who have eyes to see. So, our first interaction is Jesus is at the home of a tax collector. He’s a guest and His disciples are talking to the religious leaders who are asking, “why do you eat and drink with such scum?” Jesus answers, “healthy people don’t need a doctor. Sick people need a doctor. I didn’t come to those who think they’re righteous. I came to those who know they’re not. They know they’re sinners and need to repent”, right? The juxtaposition is apparent there. The people in charge of caring for the souls of God’s people, feel superior and look down on anyone that’s not with them. And Jesus is like, “I’m not even interested in that. I’m interested in the people who know deeply, desperately their need for God.” The funny thing is that the religious leaders, they think they’re doing all that they’re doing on behalf of God. So, we see…we see the contrast here so clearly and it can still be seen in the world today. And then some people come and ask about John the Baptist and the Pharisees, like the disciples that follow them around and they…they…they live this very austere life, they’re fasting all the time crying out to God for change. And, so, they’re asking Jesus, “why don't…why don’t you…like why don’t you guys do this?” And Jesus is like, “yeah, when you go to a wedding feast you don’t fast, you celebrate. And what’s happening here is celebration, the kingdom of God is at hand. They’ll have time to fast because of what’s going to come.” The next thing we see is Jesus giving an illustration of…of the times. “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old one because then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old one. Nobody puts new wine into old wineskins. The new wine would burst the wineskins spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins.” So, what is He saying here? “I’m not here to patch up the old way. A new thing is being done. The rituals will not save you, the Spirit underneath them will.” And He concludes that example by saying, “no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. The old is just fine they say.” So, the message underneath it all, from Jesus to the Pharisees seems to be, “God couldn’t do a new thing among you even if you wanted to. You won’t let Him.” And in other interactions He says that explicitly. He tells them, “you’ve locked the kingdom…you locked the door to the kingdom of heaven and you won’t go in and you won’t let anybody else in either.” And then we have a couple of Sabbath day interactions. They’re walking through a field. They grab some heads of grain. They rub them together and they eat them. And the pharisees are complaining, “why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” In this case Jesus simply goes back to the Scriptures that they know and shows them other occurrences in the Bible where this happened. And His point is that they’re missing the point. Like, this letter of the law, this ritualistic tradition without the Spirit underneath it that created these laws, without God below it is nothing, empty ritual. And He declares Himself Lord over the Sabbath. Then there’s another Sabbath day and a man has a deformed hand and everybody’s watching to see if Jesus is going to make a move on the Sabbath. Like, that’s literally what they’re waiting to see, is this guy gonna heal somebody on the Sabbath? Not like, “is this guy gonna heal somebody? Like, is the power of God going to descend upon us and grace us here?” No, they’re watching to see whether He’s gonna break the rules. And, so, again, He exposes the whole thing. “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it? Honestly, we can read these things and go like, “dahhh! Like He’s just…He’s just speaking it clearly. How are they not seeing it?” But they’re not. The people are seeing it clearly. The religious people, the religious leaders are not. These kinds of interactions happen so often in Jesus ministry that we realize that part of what Jesus is doing in His ministry is exposing the falseness of what had become of their faith. So, He asked the question, “is it a good thing or a bad thing to do good, to bring life on the Sabbath?” And then the Scriptures say He looked around at them one by one. So, He looked everybody in the eye after asking that question. And then He healed the man. And the last verse of our reading, which kinda concludes this series of interactions, “at this the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.” That is their reaction to what Jesus ministry is doing. The light came into the darkness and the darkness didn’t comprehend it. The fundamental issue going on in all of these interactions is Jesus is trying to announce that the kingdom of heaven is here and among and within, it’s happening, it’s going on. A new thing is being done in the world and the religious leaders in this case are doing everything possible to oppose it. We can see that in the Scriptures. We can believe that. We can enter into that story and go, “Jesus is a master at this. He always knows what’s going on. He always knows what to say.” And, so, we can read that and go, “I’m glad I’m following Jesus” until we personalize, until we bring these stories close to home and then they have questions for ourselves because we are often asking God to do a new thing. We are often collectively worshiping and asking God to pour out new wine, to restore us, to make us new again, to make all things new again. But what if He does. Do we take that new thing and try to pour it back into old wineskins that will burst because of it? Do we see God doing this new thing in our hearts and we see it and we get a pair of scissors and we cut off a square of it so that we can use that new thing as a patch for the old? Are we buried in our traditions? Are we cemented in our doctrine? Like, are we trapped so that God couldn’t do a new thing in us even if He desired to because we’re closed off even while asking Him to do a new thing? And those are some things to consider from what we’re seen come out of the gospel of Luke today.
Prayer:
Jesus, we invite You into that. There is no doubt that each and every one of us want You to do a new thing, not only on the earth but in our hearts but so often when You begin to move and it wasn’t as prescribed, it wasn’t how we intended it, it wasn’t how we wanted it, You’re moving us in a different way somehow inside, then we start to question whether or not it could be You. We go back and try to filter it back through everything that was old. Make us aware. We’re asking for the eyes to see. We’re asking for the ears to hear. We’re not asking that we might be deceived into something. We’re asking that we might see what You’re doing in the world and get on board with it whatever it is, wherever it is, whatever we see, wherever You lead, to know and have this confident relationship, this deep intimacy, this conversation that never ends with You, so that where You lead we follow no matter what gets said. But the only path we want to walk is the narrow path that leads to life. And we love You. We have given our hearts to You and we’re sorry. We are sorry for the ways that we take it back. We are sorry for the areas that we have not surrendered yet. This is a process and Your Holy Spirit is leading us. All we want is to walk into the truth into complete freedom. And, so come Holy Spirit You promised You would lead us into all truth. This is our desire. Lead us into all truth no matter what we think about…no matter what we judge it, how we judge it. Whatever You are doing that is where we want to be. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Sierra from Orlando Florida. I called on March 4th and I kind of just discovered your app and I was praying for my upcoming missions trip. Due to the coronavirus outbreak and panic and all that stuff my…my missionary school got postponed at least a month. And also, my grandpa who not only isn’t a believer but hates God and hates that part of me who I’ve been living with just kicked me out of his house because…because of all my coming and going to help people or help my church and serve at the soup kitchen and things outside of the house. He was paranoid that I was going to bring the virus into the house. And, so, right now I’m living with a church member for a few weeks until April 7th, but the earliest my mission’s thing will start will be May 4th. So, I have like a whole month where I have to try figure out where in the live. So, I’m trying to walk in the Lord and I’m incredibly grateful and He’s been providing for me in terms of finding this house for a few weeks but I feel kind of hurt like just in general because my grandpa and I really want to listen to and obey the Lord’s calling in my life. So, if you guys could just pray for me for guidance and peace in this time, but just in general to show me the way forward whether I should be doing the missions trip in a month or if there’s another opportunity God wants to show me. Thank you so much.
Father God thank You so much for the Daily Audio Bible. Thank You, Lord that it is an online community. Thank You, Lord that we can still meet together as we have always done online through the podcast, through our phone calls, through Facebook, and over social media and however else. Thank You, Lord that this hasn’t changed. Father God, as our routines have changed where now…we’re probably having to work from home or work differently than we did before or we’re actually having to care and school our children throughout the day, whatever it is. Just life has changed drastically. Help us to find You in all of this Lord. Help us to put You at the center. Help us to fix our eyes on You and find You in everything of our lives. Father God give us wisdom and give us courage and patience as we deal with these new measures that are in place to protect ourselves and to protect each other. Please Lord, be giving wisdom to our leaders. Please Lord be giving strength and energy and resources to our healthcare staff and our medical staff and all of those people in front-line jobs because we can’t just stop Lord and there’s jobs that still need to happen. And us Lord that You’d be at work and You be our provider throughout all this. And I thank You Lord that we can rest in You, we can trust in You and we can cast all our anxieties about the situation on You. Give us hope Lord. Thank You for the hope that You give us. In Jesus holy and precious name. Amen. All right guys is Michaela from Gloucester. I hope you have a blessed day wherever you are. Bye.
Good morning friends this is Jen in SoCal a.k.a. Prayer Warrior Princess. Father with suffering you bring fellowship with Christ, You bring wisdom and maturity, You bring cleansing and holiness peace and quiet. With suffering You bring contentment and stillness. With suffering You bring freedom. You give us empathy for others when we suffer. You bring us comfort. You awaken us. You bring revival. After the suffering You bring joy and laughter in the morning. With suffering You bring us perspective, eyes to see and ears to hear. You bring us strength and stamina and perseverance and holiness. Father, have thine own way Lord. Have thine own way. Mold us and make us. Have thine own way in Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Speak for You from Columbus Ohio a 12-year listener and a first-time collar. I’d like to first thank Brian for being obedient to God’s calling in making a digital community all those years ago and a __ community that’s built on His word. As we deal with this coronavirus and many of us now are turning to the digital world to do church, Brian has led the way that God was preparing us as Brian was obedient. And, so, now I would ask that you would pray for pastors, pray for pastors as we try to lead our people in this digital world, in a world where we’re not permitted to come together as community in the physical buildings and in physical space. Pray for us as we figure out what to do with Easter. How do we celebrate in a way that’s different than we’ve ever celebrated before? And I would ask that you would give a…pray for wisdom as we lead our people to love our neighbors and as we care for our people boldly. I would also ask that you would join me as I begin to fast and pray on Good Friday and that maybe the Christian church, the whole church of Jesus would come together on that day to fast and pray and ask God for restoration, for forgiveness, mercy and for healing and that this virus could be eliminated because of the power of God and He could get the glory. And finally, I want to thank Blind Tony. Thank you for your poetry. Thank you for how it lifts us up and finally thank you DAB family.
Hey this is Jared calling from Duluth Minnesota. I’d like to ask prayer specifically about the coronavirus but more particularly to pray for those who are suffering with mental health issues as the stress and anxiety of this is pretty overwhelming. As I’ve shared before I am bipolar, and I have two kids that are bipolar and a week ago we got a call in the middle of the night at…my daughter said she had a gun and that she’s going to commit suicide and had written a note. We called 911 and the police got there before we did, and she was arrested for public intoxication and is holding us responsible for calling 911 or calling the police on her. And, so, the situation has kinda been strained. And my son is…we haven’t spoke to him in the last four months or so because he has believed a lie that we’ve rejected him some way and somehow house. And, so, the mental health issues are really, really difficult for those who struggle with anxiety and depression and bipolar disorder. Pray that they would have peace during this time of unusual stress. Thank you so much. God bless. Bye.
Hi everyone, its Lisa the Encourager I have been calling in lately and trying to pray for all of our children, all the Daily Audio Bible children and I want to continue to do that tonight; however, I want to focus on praying for Yolanda’s son Al today and I want to focus on him because the Lord really laid something on my heart. I’m a little bit behind in listening and the passage that Brian read tonight really stood out to me. And that was the part about Jesus being blindfolded and then struck by the soldiers. And they were mocking Him and saying, “now tell us who struck you. Tell us who struck you.”. And I…you know…so many things happened to Jesus when He was crucified…before He was crucified on the cross and I never really thought about this exact moment and how Jesus’ heart must’ve been just tearing up inside. So, and it was a form of bullying of course. And, so, I just wanted to encourage you Yolanda in knowing that Al is in such incredible company with Jesus and that he, when he’s a little bit dismayed about his friends and people perhaps not being friendly to him, if somehow you can encourage him know in what wonderful company he’s in with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And just maybe that would help warm his heart in knowing that Jesus was put in the same position. And I’m gonna pray for sweet Al. Dear Lord, thank You so much for giving me this on my heart…laying this on my heart to share with everyone, this horrific thing that You had to go through prior to being crucified and how that must’ve just broke Your heart Lord. It broke my heart. And I’m just praying for Al Lord, that he’s encouraged through this and no that he…and You love him so much God and that You are there for him through everything …
Hey Daily Audio Bible family this is Asia from Chicago. I’m
calling to ask for prayer. I’m in a pretty…I’m pretty down right now. This
whole coronavirus has been really impacting me for more than just the social
distancing and watching people suffering and afraid. But as you all know my is
Asia and I am Chinese. My dad is Caucasian, and my mom is an immigrant from
Taiwan. And I’m Chinese and my heart is just very heavy right now at the racism
that I’ve watched that I’ve encountered firsthand, violence, fear, hatred. I’m
sitting outside just in the darkness by myself looking at the trees and feeling
the wind and I feel the comfort of God, but I also feel the weight of darkness.
And I’m very proud to be Chinese. I know that God is going to use this, but
please pray for me. Pray for my other brothers and sisters that are Asian. We
are under one of BS right now honestly, a lot of crap simply because of how we look
and where were from. And I fear…I fear…and I’m trying not to fear. I’m trying
to have faith but please pray for me. Pray for us. This is Asia from Chicago. I
love you all. Thank you.