11/04/2020 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 10:1-11:25, Hebrews 6:1-20, Psalms 105:16-36, Proverbs 27:1-2

Today is the 4th day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a joy, it is an honor, it is a privilege, it is a gift, sometimes I even think it’s a miracle that we can be together like this today, right now, around the Global Campfire just coming in out of the chaos of it all finding a place to sit, it’s warm, friends are here. We look across the fire, we see each other, and we know that we are united in spirit, we’re after the same thing - to let God’s word speak truth. It is one of the joys of life to be around this campfire with you and take the next step forward. And, so, let’s do that. We are reading from the EHV, the Evangelical Heritage Version this week and continuing our journey through the book of Ezekiel. Today chapters 10 and 11.

Commentary:

Okay. Let’s go back to the Proverbs again. The Proverbs are giving us these, you know, one or two sentences yesterday and today again that are just so penetrating and so now and so immediate and so much of a mirror into our own souls, and so much of a light shining into the world around us, So, today we had two verses, two sentences, and they say a ton. “Do not boast about tomorrow because you do not know what a day may produce.” Right there…I mean right there should bring just a generous dose of humility. No matter what eventualities we have prepared for we have no idea what is coming in our direction. And the humbling thing is that our Father does. We are under the shadow of His wings for us but for us to be out there running our mouths about what we’re gonna do tomorrow, like what’s coming is ultimately not certain. No matter what kind of certainty we say it with there is no way that we can know that outside of walking with God. And in a lot of ways this entire year has been that kind of a metaphor, all kinds of unexpected transitional things in our lives and in our world that we’ve had to adapt to and kinda fight against and accept and all kinds of disruption letting us know how fragile the whole thing is. And we’ve spent so much of our energy just trying to figure out how to get back to how it was when God is only going forward. We’re being invited forward not backward. But then on the heels of the confidence and the boasting about what we’re gonna to do tomorrow, like about how confident we are in our strength and whatever may come we have this second sentence right on the heels of it –“let someone else praise you, not your own mouth, a stranger not your own lips.” You know people who are just…just…like…like their selves are the only thing they think about, apparently, because that’s the only thing they talk about? You know what I’m talking about, where somebody…you can be sharing your day, you can be sharing something deep in your life, but one way or another all they seem to think about is themselves? And, so, they’ll flip the whole thing back around, they’ll acknowledge you, but what they really want to do is just talk about themselves. And you know how challenging it can be to be in a relationship with that kind of a person because it’s only about them. And, so, ultimately this kind of self-promotion, this bragging constantly, the boasting, the praising of self continually out of their mouths, they are awesome and their spouse is awesome and their children are awesome and their everything is awesome…ahh…that just gets repellent after a while. That kind of person ends up alone eventually because…well…for a couple reasons. First of all, it’s a front, it’s that layer of falseness that we were talking about yesterday. So, eventually it all comes down like a house of cards. Nobody is as interested as one might have thought and people begin to back away because really this person doesn’t want to be in a relationship with anybody else. They just need to be seen by other people. Like, they’re on the stage and everybody else in the world is in the audience. So, the world is there stage and everybody else is a bit player in their story. And eventually there’s like no life there. And, so, people retreat and back away when all of this fronting. all of this boasting, all of this drawing attention to oneself really is exposing something very needy underneath, that this person needs to trust, this person needs to find a true friendship, one were the fake…like the Halloween costume comes off and what’s real is really exposed to somebody trusted. And ultimately this leads us to the fact that…yah…it can be dangerous to be in relationships, but you have to start with a foundation of trust in God. God already knows you’re faking. You can’t fool God. He already knows everything that’s going. He can’t be duped. And He still loves you as you are right now with the deep desire and hope that you will enter into relationship with Him where these broken things can be healed and you can be utterly transformed, transformed so much that you begin to resemble Him. You become Christ like. That’s what’s going on here. That’s the goal. And the more layers of falseness that we apply to this, the more difficult the challenge until life one day confronts us and strips it all away. And then we find that to be such a difficult process but then we reflect back upon it, we realize that was the moment we became free because all that we had feared finally happened and it wasn’t as bad as we thought it was and now we’re free to be who we are and to delight in who everybody else is because we don’t need to be better, we don’t need to compare, we’re not in a competition. There is no game going on. There is no cosmic God game where He’s looking to see which one of us human beings is going to achieve the most to be the number one human being. We’re His children. We’re His kids. That’s not what you do to your kids. So, why are we doing it to each other? Because it only leads us into falseness. So once again, “do not boast about tomorrow because you do not know what a day may produce. Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth, a stranger, not your own lips.”

Prayer:

Father, we enter into that acknowledging, even though we don’t live like this most of the time, the thing that we need is You. It…it's…it’s Your words of praise, it’s Your words of encouragement, it’s Your drawing year that we need. It’s being seen by You that we long for and we exchange it and we try to compete with each other and we try to live in a very, very backward way that is never gonna work, which is essentially what You were saying Jesus in the Beatitudes – this is a backward world, this is not gonna work, it’s the opposite of what You think it is. And, so, help us Holy Spirit to get our minds right, to get our minds in alignment with Yours, the mind of Christ on things, to get our Spirits right, to know that we are inseparably intertwined with You, to get on the same page that we might actually be free. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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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:

Our Father who art in heaven ancient of days
omnipotent and omniscient worthy of all praise
Jehovah raphe Jehovah jireh our healer our provider
we come to you open with our hearts and minds hoping
that you are still willing to bless as we humbly confess
that you’re worthy of all honor though we’ve given you much less
wondering in confusion because we buy into illusion
greedily gulping down a great big slice of the devils pie
exchanging your wonderful truth for a lie
and we need you to heal us both outside and in
strengthen us father revive us again
Jehovah nisi our banner our fortress our friend
please help us heavenly father we love you Amen

blindtony1016@gmail.com like to give a shout out to David Michael, Dice and Darlene Dice. Matthew Fouts it was good hearing your voice again. Know you are all loved and on my prayer list daily. And once again Brian and the Hardin family thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flowin’ y’all. All right. Bye-bye.

Hey this is Jared calling from Duluth Minnesota it’s day 555 in my journey since April 26, 2019 in the Daily Audio Bible renewal time where God wakes me up every morning early in the morning to spend time with Him. What a great time it was today in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 saying for the word of God is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword. And then going on that God has been tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin and we lay naked before Him. He knows us better than what we know ourselves and yet we can come boldly to the throne of grace to find help in a time of need. And there’s a time of great need and all of our lives right now. The world is turned upside down, full of turmoil. I know personally I appreciate your prayers for my son Steve as we’ve been estranged from him for now year as he got mad at us and disowned us and hasn’t spoke to us now for almost…almost a year. On the fourth is his birthday. He’s coming up from the cities, Twin Cities, tomorrow and I’ve reached out to him to see if we can get together and…and…and talk and chat and for him to…to be reconciled with him. I appreciate your prayers that that might happen. But in any case, we know that God is in control through all the trial and turmoil of what’s going on right now. May God give us grace, mercy, help in time of need. God bless.

Good morning DABbers this is Running Desperately to Jesus also known as Staying Connected Desperately to Jesus which right now that is definitely my filling, running desperately and staying desperately connected. I am…have always struggled with depression and was on medication and therapy for some time. My therapist retired in 2016 after she was able to get me stable from being sexually assaulted. Today I’m feeling quite depressed. I don’t know if it’s this Covid or what’s going on but I am in definitely a dark place now and what is crossing my mind a lot lately for the past couple days is suicide and I know that is definitely Satan’s work and I’m having a difficult time hearing of God’s word and His voice. So, I’m asking all my DABbers to lift me up to pray me through. I don’t want to go back into therapy because since my…as I said earlier…my therapist that I was formerly with who is very good retired, and I don’t want to start over again. I know that this can be fought with word…with God’s word but right now because I am in a dark place, I cannot even call upon His word. So, DABbers I’m just asking again that you stand in the gap for me to lift me up and to help pull me through this dark space, these dark thoughts, especially the source idle thoughts. I don’t have any friends that really call to check on me. So, I’m actually in this by myself. Running Desperately to Jesus.

Hello, it’s John from Bristol in the UK again. I called a couple months back about my father. He has mental health issues and it’s causing a separation between him and my mother. So, he still has the same delusions. He’s adamant he doesn’t want to go home, and they had such a happy marriage before he had this psychotic episode. But…and he’s still in hospital but he’s…he’s much more stable than he was which is an improvement but mom and dad have a meeting on Wednesday this week. So, if you guys would just cover that in prayer for reconciliation of their marriage that would be wonderful. Thank you so much. God bless.

Hi, DAB it’s Emmy from Illinois just calling in with continued prayer requests for my marriage. I’m struggling right now. Things are a lot better than they were but I’m feeling extremely lonely. Just…I miss…miss having relationships with people, especially right now when the one person in my life doesn’t really want a relationship with me. I know God’s at work. I know that He’s still called me to stand for my marriage but I’m really struggling right now to just want something to be done either finally ended or create a breakthrough. And I don’t know what’s happening and I’m just getting lonely. And as we get closer to the holidays and my 40th birthday it just makes it even worse because I know I won’t be seeing friends or family. So, if you could just continue to pray for me, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday November 4, 2020 (NIV)

Ezekiel 10-11

The Glory Is Seen Again

10 Then I looked, and there, above the vaulted ceiling[a] that was over the heads of the cherubim, there was something that looked like a sapphire, shaped like a throne. It could be seen above the cherubim. The Lord[b] said to the man dressed in linen, “Reach into the structure for the wheels that is beneath the cherubim, fill your cupped hands with fiery coals from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” So he went in while I watched.

Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple while he, the man, approached, and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. Then the Glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was full of the radiance of the Glory of the Lord. The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far away as the outer courtyard, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

When he commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim,” the man went and stood beside the wheel. Then a cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim and reached into the fire that was between the cherubim. He lifted up some coals, and he put them into the cupped hands of the man dressed in linen, and the man took them and went out.

The cherubim had something that seemed like the form of a human hand under their wings.

Then I looked, and right there beside the cherubim were four wheels, one wheel beside each cherub, and the wheels looked like topaz. 10 The four of them all looked alike—there was a wheel inside each wheel.[c] 11 The cherubim could move in any of the four directions toward which one of them faced, without turning as they moved. They went straight ahead in the direction they faced, never turning from side to side.[d]

12 Their entire body, their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around. (I mean the wheels that belonged to the four of them.) 13 As for the wheels, they were called “wheelwork”[e] in my hearing.

14 Each one of the cherubim had four faces. One face was the face of a cherub.[f] The second face was the face of a man. The third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.

15 Then the cherubim rose. These were the living creatures that I had seen by the Kebar Canal. 16 Whenever the cherubim moved, the wheels moved alongside them, and whenever the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not turn away from their side. 17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still, and when the cherubim rose, the wheels would rise with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

18 Then the Glory of the Lord moved out from the threshold of the temple and took a position above the cherubim. 19 As I watched, the cherubim lifted up their wings and rose from the ground. As they went out, the wheels remained beside them. They[g] stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the House of the Lord, and the Glory of the God of Israel was above the cherubim. 20 These were the living creatures that I had seen beneath the God of Israel at the Kebar Canal, and I now knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces, and each had four wings, with something like the hands of a man underneath their wings. 22 The faces looked like the faces that I had seen by the Kebar Canal—exactly the same. Each one went straight ahead.

Warning of Judgment

11 Then the Spirit[h] lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the temple of the Lord, which faces east. There, at the entrance to the gateway, were twenty-five men, and among them I saw Ja’azaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city, who are saying, ‘We will not have to build houses anytime soon.[i] The city is the pot, and we are the meat.’ Therefore, prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man.”

Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he told me to say this.

This is what the Lord says. This is what you are saying, house of Israel. I know what you have in mind. You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the slain. Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Your slain, which you have placed within the city, are the meat, and the city is the pot. But I will drive you out of it. The sword is what you have feared, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. I[j] will drive you out from it, hand you over to foreigners, and execute judgments on you. 10 By the sword you will fall, and at the border of Israel I will judge you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11 This city will not be a pot for you, and you will not be the meat inside it. At the border of Israel I will judge you. 12 Then you will know that I am the Lord, in whose statutes you have not walked and whose ordinances you have not obeyed, but instead you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.

13 While I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice. I said, “Oh no, Lord God, you are making a complete destruction of the remaining survivors of Israel!”

Promise of One Heart and a New Spirit

14 Then the word of the Lord came to me.

15 Son of man, your brothers, your brothers who have the right to redeem your property,[k] and the whole house of Israel—all of it—to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem are saying, “Stay far away from the Lord! This land has been given to us as a possession.” 16 Tell them that this is what the Lord God says.

Although I have removed them far away among the nations, and I have indeed scattered them among the lands, I will be a sanctuary for them for a little while in the lands to which they have gone.

17 Therefore say, “This is what the Lord God says.” I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the lands where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 18 When they arrive back there, they will remove from it all its loathsome things and all its abominations. 19 I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from their body and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they will walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and carry them out. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose heart goes after their disgusting things and their abominations, I will bring down their conduct on their own heads, declares the Lord God.

The Glory Departs

22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings. The wheels were beside them, and the Glory of the God of Israel was positioned above them. 23 The Glory of the Lord went up from the middle of the city and stood on the mountain east of the city. 24 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Chaldea, in the vision from the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen departed from me, and I told the exiles all the things from the Lord that he had shown to me.

Footnotes:

  1. Ezekiel 10:1 Or platform
  2. Ezekiel 10:2 The Hebrew reads he. The subject is provided for clarity.
  3. Ezekiel 10:10 The inner wheel was apparently at right angles to the outer wheel, allowing the platform to move in any direction without the wheels turning from side to side.
  4. Ezekiel 10:11 The expression is difficult. It apparently means that each one of the cherubim faced in one of the four directions of the compass. When the platform moved in any direction, the cherub facing that direction served as the driver. The other cherubim did not turn but remained facing their assigned direction.
  5. Ezekiel 10:13 Or the whirling wheels or the spinning wheels
  6. Ezekiel 10:14 In chapter 1 the corresponding face was called the face of an ox.
  7. Ezekiel 10:19 The translation they is the reading of the Greek text. The Hebrew text reads the singular.
  8. Ezekiel 11:1 Or wind
  9. Ezekiel 11:3 The Hebrew sentence reads to build houses is not near. The context requires a confident assertion, but it is not clear what type of action this comment refers to. Some suggest that the rulers feel no need to build houses because they have expropriated the property of the people in exile and of other defenseless residents of the city. Others suggest that they were mocking Jeremiah’s letter and talking about building houses in Babylon.
  10. Ezekiel 11:9 A variant supported by some Hebrew manuscripts is he.
  11. Ezekiel 11:15 See Leviticus 25:24-52 for a description of this practice. A variant is your fellow exiles.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hebrews 6

Moving On Toward Maturity

Therefore, leaving the beginning discussion of Christ, let us press on toward matters that require greater maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith in God, of the teaching about baptisms,[a] of the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And we will do this, if God permits.

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the coming age, and who then fell away, to be restored to repentance because[b] they are crucifying the Son of God again, to their own harm, and exposing him to public ridicule.

For the land that drinks the rain that often falls on it and produces plants useful to those farming it, this land receives a blessing from God. But the land that grows thorns and thistles is worthless and will soon be cursed—its end is to be burned.

But even if we speak this way, we are confident of better things for you, dear friends, things belonging to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love that you showed for his name’s sake, when you served the saints, and while you continue to serve them. 11 And we want each of you to continue to show the same eagerness, so that you may have the full assurance of your hope until the end. 12 Our goal is that you would not become lazy but imitators of those who inherited the promise through faith and patient endurance.

God’s Promise Is Sure

13 For God made a promise to Abraham, and since God had no one greater to swear by, “He swore by himself.”[c] 14 He said, “I will most certainly bless you and make you increase in number.”[d] 15 And so in this way, after Abraham had waited patiently, he received the promise.

16 To be sure, people swear by someone who is greater, and the oath serves as a confirmation for them that ends all disputes. 17 Because God wanted to show the heirs of the promise with even greater certainty that his plan was unchangeable, he guaranteed his promise with an oath. 18 He did this so that, through two unchangeable things (in which it is impossible that God would lie), we, who have fled for refuge by taking hold of this hope that is held out to us, might have strong encouragement.

19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul. It is sure and firm, and it goes behind the inner curtain, 20 where Jesus entered ahead of us on our behalf, because he became a high priest forever like Melchizedek.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psalm 105:16-36

The Lord Is Faithful in Egypt:
His Protection of Joseph

16 Then he summoned a famine on the land.
He destroyed their entire food supply.
17 He sent ahead of them a man sold as a slave, Joseph.
18 They hurt his feet with chains.
His throat was clamped in an iron collar,
19 until the time when his predictions came true.
The promise of the Lord tested him.
20 The king sent for him and released him.
The ruler of peoples set him free.
21 He made him master of his house
and ruler over all his possessions,
22 to bind his officials by his will,
to teach his elders wisdom.

The Lord Is Faithful in Egypt:
His Protection of the People

23 Then Israel came to Egypt.
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.[a]
24 Then the Lord made his people very fruitful.
He made them too numerous for their foes.
25 He turned the Egyptians’ hearts so they hated his people.
They dealt deceitfully with his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them,
his warning signs in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and it became extremely dark,
because Israel[b] did not rebel against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood,
and he caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the rooms of their kings.
31 He spoke, and a swarm of flies came.
There were lice[c] throughout their borders.
32 He gave them hail instead of rain,
with blazing lightning throughout their land.
33 Then he struck down their vines and fig trees,
and he broke down the trees within their borders.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
and grasshoppers without number.
35 They ate every green plant in their land.
They ate the produce of their soil.
36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the first fruit of all their virility.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 105:23 The Egyptians were descendants of Noah’s son Ham (Genesis 10:6).
  2. Psalm 105:28 The subject of the verb is supplied for clarity.
  3. Psalm 105:31 The identity of the insects is uncertain. Lice was the traditional translation. Gnats, fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes are more recent suggestions. The requirement is that it be an insect that is on people and that is more than an annoyance.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 27:1-2

27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
because you do not know what a day may produce.
Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—
a stranger, not your own lips.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

11/03/DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 7:1-9:11, Hebrews 5:1-14, Psalms 105:1-15, Proverbs 26:28

Today is the 3rd day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is a joy and an honor and everything good to be here with you today as we move into the Scriptures and take the next step forward together. And it’s so good that we can be together today in God’s word. So, let’s set let’s dive in. We’re reading from the Evangelical Heritage Version this week. Ezekiel chapters 7, 8, and 9 today.

Commentary:

Okay. The book of Proverbs today tells us that two things are not good things - a lying tongue and a smooth mouth. And, so, I suppose this is as good of a day as any to talk about what the Proverbs are talking about. And yeah, we…we can certainly look out…outward and see all this stuff but as is always the case once we identify it in the world what’s going on then, we need to turn it back inward to discover whether we’re part of the noise, whether we’re part of the problem, or if we’re part of the solution. So, a lying tongue hates the one it crushes. So, what is a lying tongue? I mean, we could probably say that’s sort of self-evident. It's…it’s the tongue that doesn’t speak what is true. But there are so many nuances to the way that we lie to each other aren’t there? Like we sort of think that we’re telling the truth as long as we have some sort of morsel of truth in the thing that we are fabricating but we have a…we are like being deceptive. So, if we’re willing to embellish and puff up or the opposite, to diminish or crush down the truth, the actual truth, in order to manipulate somebody or in order to hide behind something and try to protect ourself from exposure then we’re not only gonna be crushing people, we’re gonna be doing it with hatred. That is a massive, massive thing to realize. If we’re gonna flatter, if we’re gonna manipulate, if we’re gonna nuance the things that we’re gonna say and they aren’t really what we mean in order to kinda like get close to somebody or get into somebody’s life because they have something that we want or they have something that we need, that we think that we need, we need to get close to them, then it’s going to cause a ruin everywhere ultimately because it’s foundation is false. It’s a lie. It’s gonna crush. And there’s something in me that’s saying stop. Like don’t keep trying to reexplain this with…with other metaphors or analogies. Like this is enough. Its stark. A lying tongue hates those it crushes and a smooth mouth causes ruin. So, if that’s you, then this is where the road is going. If that’s not you, then this is what to avoid because it brings destruction.

Prayer:

Father, we come before You on this and it rings true and it’s convicting, and it does penetrate. It makes us reflect. It makes us consider but the deeper that we consider the more we realize that our entire culture is based on this kind of sidestepping. We are a world of people so afraid of being exposed the truth of who we are that we do everything possible to nuance and to hide when we are all guilty. Like, were any of us, anybody to be fully exposed then we would be fearful of the judgment that would come against us, but we are all in the same boat. It would happen to anybody. And You have invited us into the light. You have essentially said, “that’s the world. That’s how it works. It’s a system built in falseness and held captive by the author of deception and lies.” You have invited us to be free, to walk into the light, to be in the truth. And no matter what that may bring, to know that we don’t have a divided heart or a divided mind. We don’t always have to figure out which personality we have to put on depending on what circumstances we’re in. We just get to be who You made. This is freedom indeed, but it flies in the face of the structures of the world that we live in. And, so, living like this…well…it would indeed be living like You lived Jesus. It would look like You. And we can see the raging of the world against You. And, so, we scratch our heads because it doesn’t make sense because freedom is available, but the system is so rigged against freedom that we find ourselves just trying to find ways to cope and manage when You are offering freedom, that we can live in the light, that we can live in the truth. So, come Holy Spirit and help us over these coming days as we meditate upon this, as we catch ourselves being false or as we become more and more aware of the falseness around us, as we begin to see it. We need Your help to navigate it. There’s no way we’ll be able to figure this out. So, come Holy Spirit we open ourselves to You, well up within. Lead and guide our steps, the thoughts and intents of our hearts. We pray in the mighty name, the victorious name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. And there’s always something or another going on around here.

Kind of have to be under a rock to not know that today is election day in the United States. Probably no matter where you are in the world. And, yeah, we’ve been on the radar kind of all year, with all kinds of stuff and Covid hasn’t helped and there’s just a lot of swirl going on. And I make it a very, very specific, very intentional point to do what we do here, to take the rhythm of the Scriptures and let it be a part of our lives every day. And I feel like the Scriptures In our lives can comment on what’s going on in our world better than me being some…just another noisemaker. So, I would like to give as simple, as trivial, as obvious of advice as I can give you. Maybe you’re one of the people who have already voted. Great. Awesome. If you’re going to the polls today, pray, listen, obey and then walk away in peace. There’s nothing else to do here. I mean I’ve lived long enough that I’ve been through several elections and even from my youth I cannot think of an election where the rhetoric hasn’t amped up to the point where we are led to believe that what we are about to do is the most pivotal thing we have ever done in the nation’s history, maybe in the history of all humanity. That's…that’s not true. The most important thing we have ever done is to become a part of the family of God. We are a part of a kingdom that is upon this earth that spans and crosses every single border. This is our allegiance - the kingdom of God. And God will not be toppled my brothers and sisters over this or anything else. And, you know how this goes. This ends at some point and somebody is…is the winner and that’s gonna leave about half the people bumbed and about half the people rejoicing. And we can all do what people do these days - get on the Internet and just start making noise, start sending out memes. Take all of the divisiveness that has been amped up this entire year and really live into it, like really live into it and make this country an “us versus them” understanding that we are making the body of Christ, then divided in “us versus them” because so many of us are believers who are completely and totally opposite in their political convictions. So, the last thing that I have to say isn’t my opinion, isn’t anything to do with me other than it’s my voice reminding you. We have a Savior. His name is Jesus. He loved us when we were still His enemy. He loved us as a people despite our animosity and he laid his life down that we might live. And just mere hours before He did that, He was sitting with his friends having his last meal. And at that last meal He said something that must reverberate through everything about our lives, including all of what happens today. He said a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. So, friends it gets pretty simple then. When you pray and listen and obey and walk away in peace and love one another as we have been loved as we come out of this, the most divisive of all seasons that we experience as a nation every four years. If there…if there ever were a time to be a city on a hill, to be the salt of the earth, to be light in the darkness, to be the hands and feet of Jesus to love one another as we have been loved, well it that would be coming out of this wouldn’t it. And, so, let’s walk through this day at peace loving one another as we have been loved.

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 everyone, this is Lisa the Encourager. I’m calling tonight to pray for our elderly parents or just our parents in general. I’ve certainly called in for our children many times, but I definitely want to focus on our parents today. I know Howard called in about his mom being in rehab and how difficult that was and how she looked very weak. And I just want to pray for him and his mom. And I have a similar situation with my dad going through that. So, I can empathize with your situation Howard. And also, Charlie called in about his parents and them being diagnosed with Covid. So, I want to also pray for his parents and anyone else out there that is going through a difficult time with their parent’s health and how stressful that can be and making a lot of hard decisions. And I’m just gonna pray that God is gonna guide us through those things and that they will be as peaceful and as comfortable as possible. So, let’s go to the Lord in prayer about all of our parents. And also, I wanted also to just say, I respectfully admire Brian for what he went through with his mom and continued to be a ministry to all of us. So, I just thank you again Brian for that because I know that had to be a hard time when you lost your mom. Dear God, I thank you so much for Pastor Brian and what he means to all of us and also thank you God for these…all of our parents Lord that are getting older in life. And I just pray God that your hand will be upon them, that they can recover, and you can comfort them where they need your comfort…

Hey DAB family this is Danny from Southern Oregon I wonder if you could please pray for my 15-year-old grandson Christopher and his friends. The other day these four friends skipped school and they were heading to one of the boy’s houses. And Christopher’s not allowed there. And anyway, shortly after he left school the school called my son and his mom, and they immediately began looking for him and texting him and calling him. And it appears that Christopher got a little bit worried that he was and I get into trouble so when he was about two blocks from this boy’s house he ended up going home to his mom’s and that was about 11 o’clock in the morning. And at 1230 the police were dispatched to a fatality. One of the…my grandsons’ best friends accidentally shot and killed one of the other boys and the third boy was standing right next to him and I’m sure is suffering a lot of PTSD from what he witnessed. And I know…I’m so thankful my grandson was not there but he’s so upset that he’s lost his best friend and they ended up arresting the boy for murder because some things just didn’t add up. And so please…please pray for Tony. He was the one standing next to him and ended up just covered head to toe in brain matter. It was point-blank. And…and pray for Dustin who’s been arrested for murder, that the truth come out and maybe they would all come to know the Lord through this. Thank you.

This is Kathy from Kentucky. I have a different kind of prayer request. I’m gonna take a test in martial arts specifically, Shaolin in two weeks. If I pass, I’ll be a 2nd degree brown belt and well on my way to black belt. When I was a girl growing up, I was not allowed to play team sports __ passed after I got out of high school. And I would’ve been good at some kind of sport. I trained on the swim team the summer before I graduated from high school and then after that I was too old. So, it’s important to me to be able to do something at my age, 67. So, please pray for my martial arts test Shaolin on the second Saturday of November the 14th.

Hi this is Julie from California I just started listening to the Daily Audio Bible about a week and a half ago. It was recommended through another podcast that I listen to and it has been up total and complete godsend. The last three years or so have been just really horrible. My marriage was almost at its end. My father-in-law passed away. We sold everything and moved out of state to take care of my mother-in-law at a very remote place where I had no support and found out she had Alzheimer’s and ended up staying for 2 ½ years when our plan was to stay a year. And then my dad passed away while we were gone, and my mom was diagnosed with leukemia. She’s in remission and doing phenomenally well praise God, but also there were issues with my son and now he no longer talks to us and I lost my job and we filed bankruptcy. Like, just thing piled on after thing piled on after thing and really kind of wrecked my relationship with God for a long time because I really couldn’t read my Bible, I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t do journaling. I mean I was on…I was on a regular track of reading the Bible in the year every year for like three or four years and then I just stopped. And this is miraculous because I actually am feeling like I’m getting the word in me and feeling more joy and I just am really thankful for you guys and I would just appreciate prayers where…where you feel like praying for me and a…a word. I’m happy to hear a word if you have a word for me because I need God so much right now. Thank you. God bless.

Hi family this is Peggy in California. And I, like so many of you, just absolutely love this community and appreciate it so much. It’s a place to share our deepest hurts and our joys and it’s just wonderful and I thank you all for participating and making it what it is. I’m calling today like many others who have called for my adult children. In particular one of my sons, he’s a twin, actually. I got a call from his twin yesterday telling me that his brother’s not doing well, he’s very depressed and seems to be disinterested in…in life, in not moving forward. Recently had a breakup with a girlfriend that I think what’s…he’s exhibiting is actually something that started before that. So, of course, I’m heartbroken and I worry about him. And he was raised in the church, but he doesn’t seem to have a very strong connection if any. So, I just pray that would lift Mason up in your prayers. And I thank you for doing that for me. Have a good day.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday November 3, 2020 (NIV)

Ezekiel 7-9

The End Has Come

The word of the Lord came to me.

And to you, son of man, this is what the Lord God says about the soil of Israel. An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. Now that the end is upon you, I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your ways, and I will place on you the penalty for all your abominations.[a] My eye will not have pity on you, and I will have no compassion, for I will place on you the penalty for your ways, and the punishment for your abominations will be in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord!

This is what the Lord God says. Disaster! An unparalleled disaster![b] Watch, it is coming! An end has come! The end has come! It has begun against you. Look, it is coming! Doom[c] has come upon you, you inhabitants of the land. The time has come, the day is near. A day of panic, not joy, is on the mountains. Now very soon I will pour out my wrath upon you, and I will exhaust my anger against you. I will judge you according to your ways, and I will place on you the penalty for all your abominations. My eye will not show pity, and I will have no compassion. According to your ways I will place the penalty on you, and the punishment for your abominations will be in your midst. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am the one who strikes you!

10 Look, the day is coming. It is here. Doom has broken out. The rod has budded. Insolence has blossomed. 11 Violence has grown into a rod against wickedness. None of them will remain—none of their noisy crowd,[d] none of their wealth, not a thing of value among them. 12 The time has come; the day has arrived.

The buyer should not rejoice. The seller should not grieve, because wrath is coming upon the whole noisy crowd. 13 So sellers will not return to what they have sold, even if they survive. Yes, the vision concerning the whole noisy crowd will not be reversed, and each man, because of the guilt in his life, will have no strength. 14 They will blow a blast on the ram’s horn and make everything ready, but no one will go to battle, because my wrath is upon the whole noisy crowd. 15 The sword is outside, and plague and famine are inside. Anyone in the countryside will die by the sword, and anyone in the city—plague and famine will devour him. 16 Any who escape will flee to the mountains, mourning like doves from the valley, each of them in his guilt. 17 All hands will hang limp, and water will run down every knee.[e] 18 They will put on sackcloth, and horror will cover them. Every face will be ashamed, and all their heads will be shaved bald.

19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be polluted by blood.[f] Their silver and their gold will not be able to rescue them on the day of the Lord’s fury. The silver and gold will not satisfy their appetites[g] or fill their stomachs, because it was the cause of their guilt and their downfall. 20 From the silver and gold of the Lord’s beautiful ornaments, which were their pride, they made their abominations and their disgusting images.

Therefore, for them I will make it a place polluted by blood. 21 I will hand it over to foreigners as loot. I will give it to the most wicked people on earth as plunder, and they will desecrate it. 22 I will turn my face away from my people so that the enemy may desecrate my treasured place, and so that robbers may enter it and desecrate it. 23 Prepare the chain, because the earth is full of judicial murder,[h] and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring the most wicked of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their so-called sanctuaries[i] will be desecrated.

25 Terror is coming. They will seek peace, but there will be none. 26 Disaster after disaster will come, and one report will follow another. They will seek a vision from the prophet, but sound instruction will vanish from the priest and the ability to give advice from the elders. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. On the basis of their own conduct I will deal with them, and by the standard they used to judge others I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Abominations in the Temple

In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month,[j] I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting in front of me. The hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. I looked, and there I saw a figure that looked like a man.[k] From what appeared to be his waist down, he looked like fire, and from his waist up, he had the appearance of a dazzling light, something like glowing metal.[l] He reached out with what looked like a hand and seized me by a lock of hair. Then the Spirit[m] lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me to Jerusalem, while I was experiencing visions from God. He brought me to the entrance of the north gate into the inner courtyard of the Temple, where the idolatrous image of jealousy, which provokes jealousy, was located. Then I looked, and there was the Glory of the God of Israel, as it was in the vision that I had seen in the middle of the river valley.

He said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked toward the north, and what did I see! There, north of the altar gate, was this idolatrous image of jealousy beside the entrance. He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—what great abominations the house of Israel is practicing here, to distance themselves[n] from my sanctuary! But you will see even greater abominations.”

Next, he brought me to the entrance to the courtyard, and I looked and saw that there was a hole in the wall. He said to me, “Son of man, dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and there I saw a doorway. He said to me, “Go in and observe the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10 When I entered, I looked around, and what did I see! Every form of creeping creature and every kind of detestable animal and all the filthy idols of the house of Israel were engraved on the wall, all around. 11 Seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel—with Ja’azaniah[o] son of Shaphan standing in the middle—were standing in front of the images, each with his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of incense was ascending. 12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each in his chamber for carved images? Listen! They are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the land.’”

13 Then he said to me, “You will see even greater abominations which they are practicing.”

14 Next, he brought me to the entrance of the gateway of the House of the Lord that is on the north side, and right there I saw women sitting and wailing for Tammuz.[p] 15 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these.”

16 Finally, he brought me to the inner courtyard of the House of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the vestibule and the altar, were twenty-five men, showing their backsides to the temple of the Lord with their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down to the sun in the east. 17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it too trivial for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are committing here? Do they also have to fill the land with violence, so that they provoke me more and more? They are even sticking the branch up my nose![q] 18 But I also will act in wrath. My eye will not show pity, and I will have no compassion. They will call out to my ears with a loud cry, but I will not hear them.”

Those Without the Mark Are Put to Death

Then he called out with a loud voice in my hearing, “Bring the supervisors of the city here, each one of them with his weapon of destruction in his hand.” Then I noticed six men coming from the direction of the upper gate that faces north, each with his weapon, a war club, in his hand. There was also one man in the middle, dressed in linen, with a scribe’s kit at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.

Now the Glory of the God of Israel ascended from above the cherub, over whom it had been standing, and moved to the threshold of the temple building. He called out to the man who was dressed in linen, who had the scribe’s kit at his waist. The Lord said to him, “Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a cross mark[r] on the foreheads of those who moan and lament over the abominations being committed in her.” To the others he said in my hearing, “Follow him through the city and strike the people down. Do not let your eye show pity, and do not have compassion. Old men and young men, virgins, little children, and women—you are to keep killing until you wipe them out completely. But do not go near anyone who has been marked with the cross. You are to begin at my sanctuary.”

So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple. Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went and struck them down throughout the city.

While they were striking them down, I was left alone and I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord God! Are you going to destroy everyone who is left in Israel, as you pour out your wrath upon Jerusalem?” He said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great. The land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice, because they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land’ and ‘The Lord does not see.’ 10 But I am determined that my eye will show no pity, and I will have no compassion. I will bring down their conduct on their own heads.” 11 Just then, I saw the man dressed in linen, who had the scribe’s kit at his waist. He was reporting, “I have done just as you commanded me.”

Footnotes:

  1. Ezekiel 7:3 Literally I will place on you all your abominations. In Hebrew it is common to omit mention of the penalty when stating that the Lord will make a person’s guilt cling to him. This idiom occurs throughout this chapter.
  2. Ezekiel 7:5 Variant disaster after disaster
  3. Ezekiel 7:7 Or a flood. The meaning of this word is uncertain, here and also in verse 10.
  4. Ezekiel 7:11 Or their whole horde
  5. Ezekiel 7:17 Terror will cause them to wet themselves.
  6. Ezekiel 7:19 The Hebrew word refers to menstrual uncleanness. Blood made a person ceremonially unclean.
  7. Ezekiel 7:19 Or souls
  8. Ezekiel 7:23 Like the case in which Jezebel framed Naboth and had him executed
  9. Ezekiel 7:24 The Hebrew uses a derogatory form of the word sanctuaries, with the connotation their so-called sanctuaries.
  10. Ezekiel 8:1 During the autumn of 592 bc
  11. Ezekiel 8:2 The translation like a man follows the Greek text. The Hebrew reads like fire. The two words look very similar in Hebrew.
  12. Ezekiel 8:2 Or electrum, a natural alloy of silver and gold, or amber
  13. Ezekiel 8:3 Or the wind. This may be an experience like Elijah’s experience with the whirlwind.
  14. Ezekiel 8:6 Or me. The Hebrew has no object pronoun.
  15. Ezekiel 8:11 The stop mark ′ shows that Ja-az should be pronounced as two syllables.
  16. Ezekiel 8:14 Tammuz was a Babylonian god, who was believed to die at the beginning of the dry season, who then had to be brought back to life by mourning rituals, in order to bring back the rains.
  17. Ezekiel 8:17 It is not clear what this offensive practice is. The translation follows the alternate Hebrew reading, known as a correction of the scribes. The standard Hebrew text reads putting the branch to their nose, a reference to smelling flowers to cover the stench of what they were doing. But the context requires that this be the ultimate insult to the Lord, so the more offensive reading is likely correct.
  18. Ezekiel 9:4 The cross mark placed on the people was the Hebrew letter tav, which is the source of the English letter t lowercase (†). The significance of the similarity between the tav and the cross was not apparent, however, at this point, five hundred years before Calvary.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hebrews 5

Our High Priest Is Like Melchizedek

To be sure, every high priest is chosen from the people and is appointed to represent the people in the things pertaining to God, so that he may offer gifts, as well as sacrifices, for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also weak in many ways. And for this reason he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, just as he does for the people.

No one takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, Christ did not take the glory of becoming a high priest on himself, but God said to him:

You are my Son.
Today I have begotten you.[a]

He also said the same thing in another place:

You are a priest forever, like Melchizedek.[b]

In the days of his flesh,[c] he offered prayers and pleas with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. After he was brought to his goal, he became the source of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys him, 10 because he was designated by God as a high priest, like Melchizedek.

Milk or Solid Food

11 We have much to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, because you have become too lazy to listen. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the beginning principles of God’s word all over again. You have become people who need milk, not solid food. 13 For everyone who lives on milk is not acquainted with the word of righteousness, because he is still an infant. 14 But solid food is for mature people, who have their senses trained by practice to distinguish between good and evil.

Footnotes:

  1. Hebrews 5:5 Psalm 2:7
  2. Hebrews 5:6 Psalm 110:4
  3. Hebrews 5:7 This refers to Christ’s state of humiliation.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psalm 105:1-15

Psalm 105

The Lord Remembers His Covenant

Opening Praise

Give thanks to the Lord.
Proclaim[a] his name.
Make his deeds known among the peoples.
Sing to him, make music to him.
Meditate on all his wonders.
Take pride in his holy name.
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Search for the Lord and his strength.
Seek his face always.
Remember the wonders which he has done,
his signs, and the judgments from his mouth,
you descendants of Abraham his servant,
you sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the Lord our God.
His judgments are in all the earth.

The Promise of the Covenant

He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded for a thousand generations,
the covenant which he made with Abraham,
and his oath to Isaac.
10 Yes, he confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant.
11 He said, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
the territory you will possess.”

The Lord Is Faithful in Canaan:
His Protection of the Patriarchs

12 While they were few in number,
just a little group and aliens in the land,
13 they moved around from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people.
14 He did not allow anyone to oppress them,
and he rebuked kings because of them:
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones,
and do not harm my prophets.”

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 105:1 Or call on
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 26:28

28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
and a smooth mouth causes ruin.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

11/02/2020 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 3:16-6:14, Hebrews 4:1-16, Psalms 104:24-35, Proverbs 26:27

Today is the 2nd day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s wonderful to be here with you today as it is every day. It’s my oasis just like it might be your oasis coming in around the Global Campfire and letting all the other stuff go. And when is there never not other stuff to focus or obsess on or be brought down by. But just to come in here and know that I’m not alone in here, that we are in here together and then God’s word is gonna speak and wash into our hearts and lives. That…yeah…that’s my oasis too. And, so I’m so grateful that we can be in this together as we take the next step forward. So, let’s do that. We’re reading from the Evangelical Heritage Version this week. We began the book of Ezekiel, another book of major prophecy. And again, the major prophets aren’t major because they’re more important. The major prophets are…well…they’re called the major prophets because of the volume of material in these books. And then when finish the major prophets we’ll move into the minor prophets, which it doesn’t mean they’re like the minor leagues of prophets just hoping one day the be called up to the big game. It’s just…they’re shorter, more direct, or focused. And, so, we will get there when we get there, but we are here at the beginning of a new month and the beginning of the week or at least the beginning of the workweek. And, so, let’s dive in. Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 16 through 6 verse 14.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Hebrews today we encountered a very, very, very famous passage of Scripture. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the point of dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow, being able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.” This is a scripture so famous that we may have committed to memory, but have you…have you ever thought about what kind of instrument we are talking about when we are talking about how deep the Scriptures can penetrate? I mean, so like many of you have medical backgrounds, many of you have psychology backgrounds. Like what scalpel, what tool, what can go that deep? And even if we said we could go that deep, maybe not with a scalpel because how would we even find where soul and spirit divide? But if we could approach that in some way, in some kind of psychological capacity, like how long would it take to get there, to the essence, to the core of the true self? This is the claim that the author of Hebrews is making about the word of God. And we just talked about like, where do soul and spirit meet? Where would that be? How do you even find that place? Well…if the soul, as many believe is the seed of consciousness, like the awareness that you are you. And if it encompasses our emotional nature and our moral convictions. And if the spirit is…is what makes us alive, if it is the source of life, it is God within animating life itself then we’re talking about…I think we’re talking about as deep as you can talk about. Like this is at the level of consciousness. This is at the level of our instincts. This is at the level of…of love and feeling and emotion and conviction. This is where we make choices. This is where we decide what our bodies are going to do and then our bodies go and do those things that we’ve decided that they’re going to do, whether they’re good things or bad things. According to Hebrews this is how deep the word of God can penetrate. So, it just…it cuts through all the crap that we invent to cope and it cuts through all of the façade of personality that we create to have some sort of place in this world and to cope and move around. And it goes below, beneath, under all of the wounding of our lives, all of the things that have pulled us into isolation. It gets under or behind all of that to a place that’s true and speaks there. It speaks truth there. That’s why we’re showing up here every day. I mean that’s why we come around this Global Campfire because the word of God speaks deep things into our deepest truest self and over time, that changes things. We might call this transformation. We might call this sanctification, if we want to be all theological. But what’s happening is that we’re being changed. Our identity is coming into alignment with the nature of our Father as we have been adopted into His family as His sons and daughters. And according to Hebrews, the Scriptures guide that process. What a joy.

Prayer:

Father what a…what a relief. Thank You for this gift. Thank You for giving this to us. Thank You for every day bringing Your word into our lives in a way that we need coming at us from every angle. And we’ve spent a year in Your word, and You have come at us from every angle, encouraging and rebuking us in ways that we simply can’t hide because You’re touching every aspect of our lives. And, so, we are grateful for that and we are deeply committed to finishing this year well as we move forward into all that You have yet to speak to us. We’re hearing loud and clear. It’s been a disruptive year and it’s been very, very difficult on many levels but such a reset on so many fundamental levels in so many primary ways. You have done the hard work of inviting us into starting over in a lot of ways, and we are thankful for that and we look forward to all that You have yet to speak, not only in the days and weeks ahead of this year, but for the rest of our lives. So, we are thankful for Your word and we are thankful that it is something that can get to the core beyond our own deception of even ourselves, it can get the core. And, so, we commit ourselves to continuing the relationship that we have with the Scriptures, allowing it to speak to us each day. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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Check out the Prayer Wall. That is a fantastic place to go and intercede for each other and request prayer.

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

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, it’s the little red button at the top, you can’t miss it or there are numbers that you can call. If you’re in the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to dial. If you are in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to dial. And if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the 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:

Hello DAB family this is Michael from Fort Worth Texas. I just wanted to call in today basically to encourage and be thankful. And I’m thankful for Brian Hardin and this whole DAB family community all the people behind the scenes that work hard to put this on and I am thankful for all those people and China for her…her effort on the Chronological side and all the people that do the different languages and all that stuff going on. This whole app is an awesome thing and I’m just thankful for that. And I would encourage anybody who doesn’t contribute to challenge themselves to give monthly to the DAB to keep the servers spinning, to keep the updates coming and keep this great ministry viable from now on, from today to the future for…for everybody and for anybody new that would come on board. Also just wanted to say thank you for all the faithful prayer warriors who call in diligently daily and all the new ones we got now are very awesome and appreciate all you guys your encouragement your words of wisdom that you share with us your songs love all that stuff and just thankful for all you guys. Stay safe. Love you all. Again, Michael from Texas. Stay safe. Love you.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. First of all, I want to say thank you very much. This is Jane Roos from Nebraska. I…I want to say that when Brian says, “don’t shoulder your problems alone”, believe him. This is a praise report. From the moment that you speak out your prayer request to the moment that you realize that God is holding you and this fellowship is praying for you, it is phenomenal what God is doing because I have experienced an amazing, amazing transformation in so many ways. And, so, let me just say thank you. I can’t even go into everything that has happened in detail and I won’t. First of all, let me say you are all loved. How does my daddy love me? With all his heart no matter what I do forever and always. I borrowed that from a pastor. I have been experiencing ADHD in a big way. My conscious mind always processes…only processes 40 bits per second but my subconscious processes 40 million bits per second. It’s scary. My mouth won’t say what my head wants…my head needs to say. I just want you all to know that you are loved.

Hi family I’m calling in today to pray for Brian from Austria, his first time calling today on October 29th he called in for prayers and support. Brian I’m so thankful that you called in and you shared your heart with us about your wife being unfaithful. And you are so right. You can’t do this alone. Many of us have been where you are in some form of betrayal in our marriage one way or another and I just want to encourage you. I want you to know I’m going to be praying for you and your wife for a long time. As many of us have experienced healing in our marriages, we know that it’s possible for you. So, Father, Holy Spirit we just lift up Brian and his wife to You. We thank You that we all come to the foot of the cross, needing forgiveness restoration healing, places in our lives that have been broken. And sometimes that causes us to not be faithful in areas of our lives or our marriage. So, Father I thank You for complete healing for Brian and his wife. I thank You for restoration, healing, intimacy. I thank You that You would encourage Brian to pursue his wife as they were first dating and coming together that You would pour out Your love and Your love is there. I know…I know it’s already there…

Hello DABbers. Just reaching out to say hello and follow up with another thanks. I’m just thankful for all of you, thankful that Kingdom Seeker Daniel has a great idea for the month of November and that’s for everyone just to call in thanks. I mean I could go on and on and it’s just crazy but, you know, we have so much to be thankful for every day no matter what’s going on, like just whose we are, God, all that He’s done. We could just go on and on about all He’s done. And then, all that He’s doing and then all that He will do. It’s just…to focus our mind on those things and just praise Him, I want to do that. I love living that way, but I want to do that with all of you. So, it’s just an encouragement and to let you know that I’m thankful for you every day. I don’t call in to say it but I am. So, thank You Jesus. Thank You, Lord for all that You are and all that You give. You just give so much. We are so blessed and may we just focus on that every day, but especially next month maybe inspire us Holy Spirit to just do that together. That would be really cool. Love You all. Bye.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday November 2, 2020 (NIV)

Ezekiel 3:16-6:14

16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me and said:

17 Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 18 When I announce to a wicked man, “You shall surely die,” if you do not warn him, and you do not speak up to warn the wicked man against his wicked way so that he can live, then that wicked man will die because of his guilt, and I will hold you responsible for his blood. 19 But you, if you warn the wicked man, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die because of his guilt, but you will have saved your own life. 20 Or when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and becomes unrighteous, and I place a stumbling block in front of him, he shall die. If you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he had done will not be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for his blood. 21 But you, if you do warn that righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall certainly live because he heeded the warning, and you will have saved your own life.

22 Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the center of the river valley, and there I will speak with you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the center of the valley, and suddenly there it was! The Glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the Glory that I had seen by the Kebar Canal, and I fell on my face. 24 But the Spirit entered into me and brought me to my feet.

Then he spoke to me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up inside your house. 25 And this is what will happen to you, son of man. They will certainly place ropes upon you and tie you up with them, so that you will not be able to go out among them. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so that you will be speechless, and you will not be able to rebuke[a] them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But whenever I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen. Whoever refuses to listen, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.”

Action Prophecies About the Siege and the Exile

Now you, son of man, take a brick for yourself, place it in front of you, and sketch on it a city, which is Jerusalem. Lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it, heap up a ramp against it, set up camps against it, and station battering rams against it, all the way around it.

And you, take an iron griddle and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Direct your face toward[b] it, so that it will be under siege as you besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.

And you, lie down on your left side, and place the guilt of the house of Israel on it. For as many days as you lie on your side, you shall bear their guilt. I will assign to you the number of days you are to lie on your side on the basis of the number of years of their guilt: three hundred ninety days. So you shall bear the guilt of the house of Israel. When you have finished these days, you shall lie down a second time on your right side, and you shall bear the guilt of the house of Judah for forty days. I have assigned to you one day for each year. You shall direct your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against it. See, I have placed ropes upon you, so that you will not turn from your one side to your other side until you finish the days of your siege.

And you, take some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer wheat for yourself. You shall put them in a single dish and make bread for yourself with them. During the whole number of days that you are lying on your side—three hundred ninety days—you shall eat it. 10 You shall weigh out the food you eat—half a pound[c] a day. You are to eat it at set times each day. 11 You shall measure the water you drink—a pint and a half[d] a day. You are to drink it at set times each day. 12 You are to eat it as you would eat flat bread made of barley, and you are to bake it over balls of human excrement in their sight.

13 Then the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their food: They will be ceremonially unclean among the nations where I will banish them.”

14 Then I said, “Oh no, Lord God, I have never made myself unclean. I have never eaten a carcass or something torn by wild animals, from my youth until now. Neither has any meat which is ceremonially unclean ever entered my mouth.”

15 Then he answered me, “Very well, I will let you use droppings of cattle instead of balls of human excrement, and you shall bake your bread over them.”

16 He also said this to me: “Son of man, watch for this! I am about to take away the bread supply from[e] Jerusalem, and they will measure out their bread by weight and eat it with anxiety, and they will measure out their water and drink it with horror. 17 So they will lack food and water, and they will be horrified, each man and his brother, and they will waste away because of their guilt.”

The First Judgment Oracle

You, son of man, get a sharp sword for yourself. You shall use it on yourself like a barber’s razor. Use it on your head and on your beard. Then get scales for yourself so that you can weigh and divide the hair. One third of it you shall burn with fire inside the city when the days of siege are completed. Then you shall take another third and strike it with the sword all around the city. Another third you shall scatter to the wind, but I will unsheathe the sword to pursue them. But take a few hairs and wrap them in the folds of your robe. Then take some of those and throw them into the middle of the fire and burn them up in the fire. From there a fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.

This is what the Lord God says. This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the midst of the nations, and all around her there are other countries. But she rebelled against my ordinances,[f] becoming more wicked than the nations, and she rebelled against my statutes more than the countries around her did, because the Israelites rejected my ordinances, and they did not walk in my statutes.[g] Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Because you have outdone the nations around you, and you have not walked in my statutes, and you have not performed what I judged to be right, and you have not[h] even acted according to the standards of justice followed by the nations around you, therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Watch out! I am against you. I myself will perform judgments among you in the sight of the nations. I will do among you something that I have never done before and the likes of which I shall never do again, because of all your abominations. 10 That is why fathers among you[i] will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you, and I will scatter any of you who are left to every wind.

11 Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Lord God, because you have defiled my sanctuary by all your detestable practices and all your abominations, I, yes I myself, will withdraw. My eye will not show pity, and I myself will have no compassion. 12 A third of you will die in the plague or perish during the famine in your midst. All around you, a third will fall by the sword, and a third I will scatter to every wind. Then I will unsheathe the sword in pursuit of them. 13 Finally, my anger will be finished. I will let my wrath against them rest, and I will be satisfied. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy[j]—when I exhaust my wrath against them. 14 I will make you into a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 15 You, Jerusalem,[k] will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and something horrifying to the nations around you, when I execute judgments upon you in anger, in wrath, and in furious punishments. I, the Lord, have spoken. 16 I will also send deadly arrows of famine against them, arrows that shall become a destroyer, arrows that I will send to destroy you. I will also increase the famine upon you and cut off your supply of bread.[l] 17 I will send famine and dangerous wild animals against you, and they will take away your children from you. Plague and bloodshed will pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Judgment on the Mountains for Idolatry

The word of the Lord came to me.

Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. You shall say, “Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God.” This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and to the hills, to the streambeds and to the valleys. Without fail, I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars will be demolished, and your incense altars[m] will be smashed, and I will throw down your fallen bodies in front of your filthy idols.[n] I will lay out the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their filthy idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. In all the places where you live, the towns will be laid waste, and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and demolished, your filthy idols will be crushed and cease to exist, your incense altars will be broken in pieces, and the things you have made will be wiped out. The slain will fall in your midst, and then you will know that I am the Lord.

Nevertheless, when you are scattered in various countries, I will preserve for you some survivors who escape the sword among the nations. Then, those of you who escape will remember me in the nations where they have been carried as captives. They will remember how I was heartbroken by their lustful hearts, which turned away from me, and by their eyes, which lusted for their filthy idols. They will loathe themselves because of all the evils they have done, for all their abominations. 10 Then they will know that I, the Lord, did not speak about bringing this disaster on them without it having a result.[o]

11 This is what the Lord God says. Clap your hands,[p] stomp your feet, and say, “We are doomed,” on account of all the vile abominations of the house of Israel, for by the sword, famine, and plague they will fall. 12 Anyone who is far away will die of the plague, and anyone who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who remains under siege will die of famine. In this way I will exhaust my wrath upon them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their fallen bodies lie among their filthy idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every green tree and under every leafy oak, in every place where they offered fragrant sacrifice to appease all their filthy idols. 14 I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Riblah,[q] in all the places they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Footnotes:

  1. Ezekiel 3:26 Or admonish
  2. Ezekiel 4:3 Or fix your gaze on
  3. Ezekiel 4:10 Twenty shekels
  4. Ezekiel 4:11 One sixth of a hin
  5. Ezekiel 4:16 Literally break the staff of bread for
  6. Ezekiel 5:6 Or what I judged to be right
  7. Ezekiel 5:6 The ordinances probably refer to moral law and the statutes to religious laws and practices.
  8. Ezekiel 5:7 Some Hebrew manuscripts and the Syriac text do not have the word not.
  9. Ezekiel 5:10 The pronoun you is feminine, referring to Jerusalem.
  10. Ezekiel 5:13 In God, jealousy is a demand for exclusive loyalty. He can tolerate no other gods.
  11. Ezekiel 5:15 The Hebrew reads she, a reference to Jerusalem.
  12. Ezekiel 5:16 Literally break the staff of bread
  13. Ezekiel 6:4 Or shrines or images of the sun god
  14. Ezekiel 6:4 Gillulim, one of Ezekiel’s favorite names for Israel’s idols, is a harsh word. Gillulim means idols made from round things. The round things are dung balls, hence the term could be rendered dung-ball deities or horse-apple gods, or one of the more graphic words for excrement.
  15. Ezekiel 6:10 Or for no reason
  16. Ezekiel 6:11 Several kinds of clapping, with different meanings, are referred to in Ezekiel. Here the meaning seems to be fear or despair.
  17. Ezekiel 6:14 A few Hebrew manuscripts read Riblah. Most Hebrew manuscripts read Diblah, but all other passages support Riblah as the name of the city in question. In Hebrew script r and d look alike.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hebrews 4

Some Will Enter God’s Rest

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be fearful that any one of you may be judged to have failed to reach it. In fact, we have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united in faith with those who did listen. Indeed, we who believe are going to enter his rest.

It happened just as he vowed when he said:

So I swore an oath in my wrath,
“They will never enter my rest.”[a]

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way:

And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.[b]

And again in this statement:

They will never enter my rest.[c]

Therefore, since it is still the case that some do enter this rest, and yet those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not enter because of disobedience, God again set a certain day, namely, “today,” when he later said through David, as quoted before:

Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.[d]

For, if Joshua had given them rest, then God would not have spoken later about another day.

So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God rested from his work. 11 Therefore, let us make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the point of dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, even being able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from him, but everything is uncovered and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we will give an account.

Jesus Is Our High Priest

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, namely, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. 16 So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psalm 104:24-35

Days Five and Six—Animals and Man

24 How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the sea, great and very wide.
In it creatures swarm beyond number—
living things, the small with the large.
26 There the ships go back and forth,
and the leviathan[a] that you formed to play in it.
27 All of them wait hopefully for you to give them their food in its time.
28 You give it to them. They gather it up.
You open your hand. They are satisfied with good things.
29 You hide your face. They are terrified.
You take away their breath.
They breathe their last and return to their dust.
30 You send your Spirit—they are created.
You renew the face of the earth.

Closing Benediction and Prayer

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever.
May the Lord rejoice in his works.
32 He looks at the earth and it trembles.
He touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord throughout my life.
I will make music to my God as long as I last.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners come to an end on the earth,
and the wicked—may they be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord![b]

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 104:26 Leviathan refers to large creatures in the sea. Here, in the discussion of creation, it probably refers to whales.
  2. Psalm 104:35 Hebrew hallelu Yah
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 26:27

27 The person who digs a pit will fall into it.
The person who rolls away a stone—it will roll back over him.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday November 2, 2020 (NIV)

Ezekiel 3:16-6:14

16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me and said:

17 Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 18 When I announce to a wicked man, “You shall surely die,” if you do not warn him, and you do not speak up to warn the wicked man against his wicked way so that he can live, then that wicked man will die because of his guilt, and I will hold you responsible for his blood. 19 But you, if you warn the wicked man, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die because of his guilt, but you will have saved your own life. 20 Or when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and becomes unrighteous, and I place a stumbling block in front of him, he shall die. If you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he had done will not be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for his blood. 21 But you, if you do warn that righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall certainly live because he heeded the warning, and you will have saved your own life.

22 Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the center of the river valley, and there I will speak with you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the center of the valley, and suddenly there it was! The Glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the Glory that I had seen by the Kebar Canal, and I fell on my face. 24 But the Spirit entered into me and brought me to my feet.

Then he spoke to me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up inside your house. 25 And this is what will happen to you, son of man. They will certainly place ropes upon you and tie you up with them, so that you will not be able to go out among them. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so that you will be speechless, and you will not be able to rebuke[a] them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But whenever I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen. Whoever refuses to listen, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.”

Action Prophecies About the Siege and the Exile

Now you, son of man, take a brick for yourself, place it in front of you, and sketch on it a city, which is Jerusalem. Lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it, heap up a ramp against it, set up camps against it, and station battering rams against it, all the way around it.

And you, take an iron griddle and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Direct your face toward[b] it, so that it will be under siege as you besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.

And you, lie down on your left side, and place the guilt of the house of Israel on it. For as many days as you lie on your side, you shall bear their guilt. I will assign to you the number of days you are to lie on your side on the basis of the number of years of their guilt: three hundred ninety days. So you shall bear the guilt of the house of Israel. When you have finished these days, you shall lie down a second time on your right side, and you shall bear the guilt of the house of Judah for forty days. I have assigned to you one day for each year. You shall direct your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against it. See, I have placed ropes upon you, so that you will not turn from your one side to your other side until you finish the days of your siege.

And you, take some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer wheat for yourself. You shall put them in a single dish and make bread for yourself with them. During the whole number of days that you are lying on your side—three hundred ninety days—you shall eat it. 10 You shall weigh out the food you eat—half a pound[c] a day. You are to eat it at set times each day. 11 You shall measure the water you drink—a pint and a half[d] a day. You are to drink it at set times each day. 12 You are to eat it as you would eat flat bread made of barley, and you are to bake it over balls of human excrement in their sight.

13 Then the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their food: They will be ceremonially unclean among the nations where I will banish them.”

14 Then I said, “Oh no, Lord God, I have never made myself unclean. I have never eaten a carcass or something torn by wild animals, from my youth until now. Neither has any meat which is ceremonially unclean ever entered my mouth.”

15 Then he answered me, “Very well, I will let you use droppings of cattle instead of balls of human excrement, and you shall bake your bread over them.”

16 He also said this to me: “Son of man, watch for this! I am about to take away the bread supply from[e] Jerusalem, and they will measure out their bread by weight and eat it with anxiety, and they will measure out their water and drink it with horror. 17 So they will lack food and water, and they will be horrified, each man and his brother, and they will waste away because of their guilt.”

The First Judgment Oracle

You, son of man, get a sharp sword for yourself. You shall use it on yourself like a barber’s razor. Use it on your head and on your beard. Then get scales for yourself so that you can weigh and divide the hair. One third of it you shall burn with fire inside the city when the days of siege are completed. Then you shall take another third and strike it with the sword all around the city. Another third you shall scatter to the wind, but I will unsheathe the sword to pursue them. But take a few hairs and wrap them in the folds of your robe. Then take some of those and throw them into the middle of the fire and burn them up in the fire. From there a fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.

This is what the Lord God says. This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the midst of the nations, and all around her there are other countries. But she rebelled against my ordinances,[f] becoming more wicked than the nations, and she rebelled against my statutes more than the countries around her did, because the Israelites rejected my ordinances, and they did not walk in my statutes.[g] Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Because you have outdone the nations around you, and you have not walked in my statutes, and you have not performed what I judged to be right, and you have not[h] even acted according to the standards of justice followed by the nations around you, therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Watch out! I am against you. I myself will perform judgments among you in the sight of the nations. I will do among you something that I have never done before and the likes of which I shall never do again, because of all your abominations. 10 That is why fathers among you[i] will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you, and I will scatter any of you who are left to every wind.

11 Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Lord God, because you have defiled my sanctuary by all your detestable practices and all your abominations, I, yes I myself, will withdraw. My eye will not show pity, and I myself will have no compassion. 12 A third of you will die in the plague or perish during the famine in your midst. All around you, a third will fall by the sword, and a third I will scatter to every wind. Then I will unsheathe the sword in pursuit of them. 13 Finally, my anger will be finished. I will let my wrath against them rest, and I will be satisfied. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy[j]—when I exhaust my wrath against them. 14 I will make you into a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 15 You, Jerusalem,[k] will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and something horrifying to the nations around you, when I execute judgments upon you in anger, in wrath, and in furious punishments. I, the Lord, have spoken. 16 I will also send deadly arrows of famine against them, arrows that shall become a destroyer, arrows that I will send to destroy you. I will also increase the famine upon you and cut off your supply of bread.[l] 17 I will send famine and dangerous wild animals against you, and they will take away your children from you. Plague and bloodshed will pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Judgment on the Mountains for Idolatry

The word of the Lord came to me.

Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. You shall say, “Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God.” This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and to the hills, to the streambeds and to the valleys. Without fail, I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars will be demolished, and your incense altars[m] will be smashed, and I will throw down your fallen bodies in front of your filthy idols.[n] I will lay out the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their filthy idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. In all the places where you live, the towns will be laid waste, and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and demolished, your filthy idols will be crushed and cease to exist, your incense altars will be broken in pieces, and the things you have made will be wiped out. The slain will fall in your midst, and then you will know that I am the Lord.

Nevertheless, when you are scattered in various countries, I will preserve for you some survivors who escape the sword among the nations. Then, those of you who escape will remember me in the nations where they have been carried as captives. They will remember how I was heartbroken by their lustful hearts, which turned away from me, and by their eyes, which lusted for their filthy idols. They will loathe themselves because of all the evils they have done, for all their abominations. 10 Then they will know that I, the Lord, did not speak about bringing this disaster on them without it having a result.[o]

11 This is what the Lord God says. Clap your hands,[p] stomp your feet, and say, “We are doomed,” on account of all the vile abominations of the house of Israel, for by the sword, famine, and plague they will fall. 12 Anyone who is far away will die of the plague, and anyone who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who remains under siege will die of famine. In this way I will exhaust my wrath upon them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their fallen bodies lie among their filthy idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every green tree and under every leafy oak, in every place where they offered fragrant sacrifice to appease all their filthy idols. 14 I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Riblah,[q] in all the places they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Footnotes:

  1. Ezekiel 3:26 Or admonish
  2. Ezekiel 4:3 Or fix your gaze on
  3. Ezekiel 4:10 Twenty shekels
  4. Ezekiel 4:11 One sixth of a hin
  5. Ezekiel 4:16 Literally break the staff of bread for
  6. Ezekiel 5:6 Or what I judged to be right
  7. Ezekiel 5:6 The ordinances probably refer to moral law and the statutes to religious laws and practices.
  8. Ezekiel 5:7 Some Hebrew manuscripts and the Syriac text do not have the word not.
  9. Ezekiel 5:10 The pronoun you is feminine, referring to Jerusalem.
  10. Ezekiel 5:13 In God, jealousy is a demand for exclusive loyalty. He can tolerate no other gods.
  11. Ezekiel 5:15 The Hebrew reads she, a reference to Jerusalem.
  12. Ezekiel 5:16 Literally break the staff of bread
  13. Ezekiel 6:4 Or shrines or images of the sun god
  14. Ezekiel 6:4 Gillulim, one of Ezekiel’s favorite names for Israel’s idols, is a harsh word. Gillulim means idols made from round things. The round things are dung balls, hence the term could be rendered dung-ball deities or horse-apple gods, or one of the more graphic words for excrement.
  15. Ezekiel 6:10 Or for no reason
  16. Ezekiel 6:11 Several kinds of clapping, with different meanings, are referred to in Ezekiel. Here the meaning seems to be fear or despair.
  17. Ezekiel 6:14 A few Hebrew manuscripts read Riblah. Most Hebrew manuscripts read Diblah, but all other passages support Riblah as the name of the city in question. In Hebrew script r and d look alike.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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Hebrews 4

Some Will Enter God’s Rest

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be fearful that any one of you may be judged to have failed to reach it. In fact, we have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united in faith with those who did listen. Indeed, we who believe are going to enter his rest.

It happened just as he vowed when he said:

So I swore an oath in my wrath,
“They will never enter my rest.”[a]

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way:

And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.[b]

And again in this statement:

They will never enter my rest.[c]

Therefore, since it is still the case that some do enter this rest, and yet those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not enter because of disobedience, God again set a certain day, namely, “today,” when he later said through David, as quoted before:

Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.[d]

For, if Joshua had given them rest, then God would not have spoken later about another day.

So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God rested from his work. 11 Therefore, let us make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the point of dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, even being able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from him, but everything is uncovered and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we will give an account.

Jesus Is Our High Priest

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, namely, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. 16 So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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Psalm 104:24-35

Days Five and Six—Animals and Man

24 How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the sea, great and very wide.
In it creatures swarm beyond number—
living things, the small with the large.
26 There the ships go back and forth,
and the leviathan[a] that you formed to play in it.
27 All of them wait hopefully for you to give them their food in its time.
28 You give it to them. They gather it up.
You open your hand. They are satisfied with good things.
29 You hide your face. They are terrified.
You take away their breath.
They breathe their last and return to their dust.
30 You send your Spirit—they are created.
You renew the face of the earth.

Closing Benediction and Prayer

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever.
May the Lord rejoice in his works.
32 He looks at the earth and it trembles.
He touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord throughout my life.
I will make music to my God as long as I last.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners come to an end on the earth,
and the wicked—may they be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord![b]

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 104:26 Leviathan refers to large creatures in the sea. Here, in the discussion of creation, it probably refers to whales.
  2. Psalm 104:35 Hebrew hallelu Yah
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Proverbs 26:27

27 The person who digs a pit will fall into it.
The person who rolls away a stone—it will roll back over him.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday November 1, 2020 (NIV)

Ezekiel 1:1-3:15

Ezekiel’s First Vision

In the thirtieth year,[a] in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, when I was among the exiles by the Kebar Canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of that month, in the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, the word of the Lord came in a dramatic way[b] upon Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans,[c] by the Kebar Canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

The Glory of the Lord Appears

As I watched, I noticed a windstorm coming from the north. There was a large cloud, with fire flashing through it, and there was a bright light all around it. In the middle of it, there was something that looked like glowing metal[d] in the middle of the fire.

In the middle of it I saw what looked like four living creatures. This was what they looked like. Each of them had a human appearance, but each one had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Each of their legs was straight,[e] and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like polished bronze. They had human hands under their wings on all four of their sides. All four of them had faces and wings.

Their wings were touching one another. The creatures did not turn from side to side as they moved, but each one faced straight ahead.[f]

10 This is what their faces looked like. Each one had a face like a man’s face. On the right side of their heads, all four of them had a face like a lion. On the left side, all four of them had a face like an ox. All four of them also had a face like an eagle. 11 Those were their faces.

Their wings were stretched upward. Each of them had one pair of wings which touched the wings of each of the cherubs next to it and another pair of wings which covered their bodies.

12 Each one faced straight ahead as it moved. They went in whatever direction the spirit[g] wanted to go. They did not turn as they moved ahead.

13 The appearance of the living creatures was like red-hot coals, like the appearance of blazing torches. Fire was moving back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning was coming out of the fire. 14 The creatures darted back and forth. They looked like jagged bolts of lightning.

15 As I looked at the living creatures, I noticed one wheel on the ground beside each one of the living creatures that had four faces. 16 The appearance of the wheels and their design were like the sparkle of topaz,[h] and the four of them looked alike. Their appearance and their design were like a wheel within a wheel.[i] 17 They could go in any of the four directions when they moved, but the wheels did not turn from side to side when they moved.[j] 18 As for their rims, they were high and intimidating, and their rims were full of eyes all the way around—all four of them. 19 Whenever the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and whenever the living creatures would rise from the ground, the wheels rose too.

20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they would go. Wherever the spirit wanted to go,[k] the wheels would rise together with them, because the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 21 Whenever the living creatures moved, the wheels would move. Whenever the living creatures stood still, the wheels would stand still. Whenever the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels would rise together with them, because the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

22 There was something above the heads of the living creatures like the dome of a vaulted ceiling.[l] It looked like ice. It was spectacular. It stretched out above their heads. 23 Under the dome, two of their wings were stretched out to touch the wing of another one of the creatures. Each of the creatures also had two wings covering themselves, each had two wings covering themselves—covering their bodies.[m] 24 I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of rushing water. It was like the voice of the Almighty when they moved—a sound of commotion, like the noise in an army camp. When they stood still, they lowered their wings. 25 A voice came from above the dome that was over their heads. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

26 Above the dome that was over their heads, there was something that appeared to be a sapphire that was shaped like a throne. Seated on that throne-like form there was a figure that looked like a man. 27 I saw something like the gleam of glowing metal[n] with fire in it and all around it. It extended upward from what appeared to be the man’s waist. Below what appeared to be his waist, I saw what appeared to be fire, and a bright light surrounded him. 28 The bright light that surrounded him looked like the rainbow that is in the clouds on a rainy day.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the Glory of the Lord. When I saw this, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.

Ezekiel’s Call

He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.” The Spirit entered into me as he spoke to me and brought me up to my feet. Then I heard him speaking to me.

He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel,[o] to disloyal nations, who have been disloyal to me. They and their fathers have rebelled against me to this very day. These children of mine are brazen-faced and hard-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you are to tell them that this is what the Lord God says. Then, whether they listen or do not listen—for they are a rebellious house—then they will know that a prophet has been among them. But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words. Even though briers and thorns surround you and you are living with scorpions, do not be afraid of their words, and do not be intimidated by the look on their faces, for they are a rebellious house. You are to speak my words to them whether they listen or they do not, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, listen to what I am telling you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out toward me, and in it there was a rolled-up scroll. 10 He unrolled it in front of me, and there was writing on both sides. Written on it was: Laments, Groaning, and Woe.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat what you have received. Eat this scroll, and then go, speak to the house of Israel.” I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving you.” I ate, and in my mouth it was sweet like honey.

He then said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. For you are not being sent to a people who have incomprehensible speech or a difficult language, but you are being sent to the house of Israel. Nor are you being sent to many peoples who have incomprehensible speech and difficult languages, whose words you cannot understand. Certainly, if I were to send you to such people, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, because the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. Look, I have made your face just as hard as their faces and your forehead just as hard as their foreheads. I have made your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not fear them, and do not be intimidated by their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

10 Then he said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all my words that I will speak to you, and hear them with your ears. 11 Go now to the exiles, to your own people.[p] You shall speak to them and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ whether they listen or they do not.”

12 Then the Spirit[q] lifted me up, and I heard a loud rushing sound behind me—Blessed be the Glory of the Lord in its dwelling place!— 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures beating against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. 14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and so I went, bitter and heated in my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was upon me with power. 15 I came to the exiles at Tel Aviv, who were living by the Kebar Canal—there where they were living.[r] I sat among them for seven days—stunned.

Footnotes:

  1. Ezekiel 1:1 Apparently the thirtieth year of Ezekiel’s life, when he would have become eligible to serve as a priest in the Temple, if he had not been in exile in Babylon
  2. Ezekiel 1:3 Or in a powerful way. The Hebrew uses an intensive verb form.
  3. Ezekiel 1:3 The Chaldeans were the ethnic group ruling Babylon.
  4. Ezekiel 1:4 Perhaps electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver, or perhaps amber
  5. Ezekiel 1:7 Or stretched out straight. It is not clear what this phrase means. Perhaps it means they did not bend at the knee. It is also uncertain whether each creature had two legs like a man or four legs like an ox, as many cherubim pictured in Near Eastern art have.
  6. Ezekiel 1:9 This apparently means that each one of the living creatures that Ezekiel was seeing always remained facing in one of the four directions of the compass. When the platform moved in any direction, the living creature facing that direction served as the driver. The other living creatures did not turn when the platform serving as a chariot headed in a different direction, but they remained facing in their assigned direction.
  7. Ezekiel 1:12 Or Spirit
  8. Ezekiel 1:16 Hebrew tarshish, a gemstone of uncertain identity
  9. Ezekiel 1:16 This seems to mean one wheel was at a right angle inside the other.
  10. Ezekiel 1:17 The wheels revolved when the platform was moving in the direction they faced, but the wheels did not turn to the right or left as automobile wheels do.
  11. Ezekiel 1:20 Repetitious speech is common in Ezekiel. Such repetition often marks excited, emotional speech.
  12. Ezekiel 1:22 This is the same word that describes the dome or expanse of the heavens in Genesis 1. Here this structure serves as a platform for God’s throne.
  13. Ezekiel 1:23 The repetition may be due to excited speech, due to seeing such an amazing vision.
  14. Ezekiel 1:27 Or electrum, a natural alloy of silver and gold, or amber
  15. Ezekiel 2:3 The Greek text reads house of Israel, a common expression in Ezekiel.
  16. Ezekiel 3:11 Literally the sons of your people
  17. Ezekiel 3:12 Or the wind. This may be an experience like Elijah’s experience with the whirlwind. See also verse 14.
  18. Ezekiel 3:15 Again the text is repetitious. It is not likely that this is the result of accidental duplication in the text.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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Hebrews 3

Christ Is Superior to Moses

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, focus your attention on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in God’s whole house. In fact, Jesus is worthy of greater glory than Moses, in the same way that the builder of a house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, and God is the one who built everything.

Moses was faithful as a servant within God’s whole house by testifying to the things that would be spoken. But Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house. We are his house, if we hold on firmly[a] to our confidence and the hope about which we boast until the end.[b]

Do Not Harden Your Hearts

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness.
Your fathers tested and tried me,
even though they saw my works 10 for forty years.
That is why I was angry with that generation
and said, “In their heart they are always going astray,
and they did not learn my ways.”
11 So I swore an oath in my wrath,
“They will never enter my rest.”[c]

12 Watch out, brothers, so that there is not an evil, unbelieving heart in any of you that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become people who share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firmly until the end. 15 As it is said:

Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.[d]

16 Who was it who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who left Egypt, led by Moses? 17 And with whom was God angry for forty years? Surely it was with the ones who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness, wasn’t it? 18 And about whom did he swear an oath that they would not enter his rest, if it wasn’t concerning those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

Footnotes:

  1. Hebrews 3:6 A few witnesses to the text omit firmly.
  2. Hebrews 3:6 A few witnesses to the text omit until the end.
  3. Hebrews 3:11 Psalm 95:7-11
  4. Hebrews 3:15 Psalm 95:7-8
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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Psalm 104:1-23

Psalm 104

Bless the Lord, Who Creates Wonders

Introduction

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with splendor and majesty.

Day One—Light

He wears light like a robe.

Day Two—the Sky

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy.
He lays beams on the waters to support his upper chambers.
He makes clouds his chariot.
He travels on the wings of the wind.
He makes his messengers[a] winds.
His ministers are blazing fire.

Day Three—the Waters and Plants

He placed the earth firmly on its foundations.
It cannot be moved forever and ever.
You covered it with the deep as a garment.
The waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled.
At the sound of your thunder they hurried away.
The waters surged up the mountains.
They went down into the valleys,[b]
to the place that you prepared for them.
You set a boundary that they cannot cross.
They will not return to cover the earth.
10 He makes springs flow into streams
that run between the mountains.
11 They give water to every wild animal.
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky live by the streams.
From among the branches they send out their song.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers.
The earth is filled with the fruit he produces.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants that people use[c] to produce food from the earth.
15 Also wine that makes people’s hearts glad,
olive oil to make their face shine,
and bread that sustains their lives.[d]
16 The trees of the Lord have everything they need.
He planted the cedars of Lebanon,
17 where birds make their nests.
The stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats.
The crags are a refuge for the rock badgers.

Day Four—the Lights

19 The moon marks off the months and seasons.
The sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night.
During it all the animals in the forest move about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey.
They are seeking their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they gather together.
They return to their dens and lie down.
23 Man goes out to his work.
He continues his labor until evening.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 104:4 Or angels
  2. Psalm 104:8 Or the mountains went up; the valleys went down
  3. Psalm 104:14 Or cultivate
  4. Psalm 104:15 Literally sustains man’s heart
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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Proverbs 26:24-26

24 With his lips a person hides his hatred,
but he hides deceit inside.
25 When his voice sounds gracious, do not believe him,
because seven abominations are in his heart.
26 His hatred covers itself with deceit,
but his evil will be revealed in the assembly.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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11/01/2020 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 1:1-3:15, Hebrews 3:1-19, Psalms 104:1-23, Proverbs 26:24-26

Today is the 1st day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you as we greet the new month while simultaneously greeting a brand-new, sparkly, shiny week. So, this is one of those rare opportunities where we’re…we’re starting all over, like it’s a brand-new start here to the month and the week. And welcome to the 11th month of the year and the 306th day of the year. And on top of all of this newness we have a brand-new book we’re going to move into as we begin a new week and a new month. So, we moved to the prophecies of Jeremiah and then we saw those prophecies come true and then we moved through the book of Lamentations and lamented that all of the stuff that had been prophesied did come true pertaining to the destruction of Jerusalem. And, so, now we find ourselves on the threshold of the book of Ezekiel.

Introduction to the book of Ezekiel:

Ezekiel is another major book of prophecy in the…in the Scriptures in the Old Testament. And here’s what we know about Ezekiel. We know that he was a well-educated person, we know that he was deeply loyal to God. We discover that in this in this text. And we also understand that he was loyal to the traditions of the people, the Hebrew people. He came from a priestly family and…and like Jeremiah he used his prophetic ministry as instructed by God symbolically in a lot of ways. He symbolically acted out what he was prophesying. And Jeremiah had been prophesying previous to Ezekiel, but they also had a time where they were prophesying alongside of each other it’s just they were doing it from two different locations speaking on behalf of God from both sides of a story basically. Jeremiah prophesied from Jerusalem. Ezekiel’s prophecies were from exile in Babylon and there was considerable upheaval in the world of that time, a lot of empires going against other smaller nations and assimilating and conquering them while other empires were fighting…well…empire against Empire. So, Babylon, the Babylonian Empire had conquered the Assyrian Empire. And if we remember from the Scriptures, it was the Assyrian Empire that came and conquered Israel and took the 10 tribes and just deported them. They disappeared from history after that. And then Egypt and Babylon were clashing inside the land of ancient Israel because that was kind of like a land bridge between continents. So, controlling that major trade route is what made this land so important and so valuable. And we’ve watched the different alliances in the Scriptures, especially going through the book of…the book of Kings and Samuel and Chronicles. And, so, there were times where were the Hebrew people were vassals where they paid tribute to Kings who had conquered them then they would rebel and maybe regain their freedom and it was kind of a back-and-forth thing on a continual basis But we also watch in the Scriptures the generational decline of the entire system. So, in 597 B.C. the Babylonians subdued Jerusalem. And they did start deportations, they did take people into exile in order to assimilate them into the empire in different regions. And Ezekiel was among the first to go into exile and then a few years later, Zedekiah who had been installed as the king rebelled against Babylon. This is something that Jeremiah prophesied against as we were going through his…his work in the book of Jeremiah. So then in 588 the Babylonians came back to Jerusalem, laid siege to the rebellious city, and two years later they broke in and conquered Jerusalem and completely destroyed Jerusalem. Up to this point even though things had changed hands and tribute was being paid and all this stuff was going on Jerusalem hadn’t been destroyed. But the Babylonians destroyed it. There…like there’s evidence in Jerusalem until today of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. So, similar to Jeremiah, Ezekiel in his early years of prophecy in exile was prophesying of…of the destruction of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was in Jerusalem prophesying the same thing from Jerusalem. So, we’re just at two sides…like at two different points in the same story. Jeremiah’s in Jerusalem, Ezekiel is in exile in Babylon. But as we just talked about, eventually the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. And, so, after the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple was destroyed then Ezekiel’s prophecies transform and some of the most beautiful hope filled messages of encouragement and restoration in all of the Bible can be found. Things like Ezekiel 37, which has been such an important portion of Scripture in my life and in the life of the Daily Audio Bible – the…the valley of dry bones, the spirit instructing Ezekiel to call to the four winds the breath of life. So, significant. And we’ll get there. Ezekiel also has really interesting imagery, almost like visions that are cinematic. Kind of like Daniel, or even the book of Revelation - apocalyptic literature it’s called as a genre. And, so, Ezekiel shares place along with Daniel and Revelation and many other portions of Scripture for those studying eschatology - the study of the Apocalypse, the end times. And, so, as we go through Ezekiel it's…it’s like going through any of the other books of prophecy. We understand…we have to understand that this is the genre this is a prophetic narrative that includes visions. And, so…well…basically we have to understand that things speak to us in different ways. So, if you’re sitting on a mountaintop and you have a really nice picnic and you’re there with somebody you love and it’s a perfect day and the scenery is wonderful, you can be having your lunch just looking out over it all not saying anything to each other because words don’t need to be said. You’re in this moment and nature is speaking to you, beauty is speaking to you, the power of God and His creation is speaking to you. And then after lunch if you pick up a novel and start reading then that book is gonna speak to you differently than nature did. And then if you read for a while and you pick up the newspaper, well the newspaper’s gonna speak to you in a different way than the novel did. And if you spend the whole day there and you watch the sun go down then the sunset is gonna speak to you different than the newspaper did. So, let’s just invite God to speak to us in whatever way that we’re listening as we move through the book of Ezekiel and to guide us into what we need to hear for the days ahead in our own lives. And, so, let’s begin. We got a brand-new month. We got a brand-new week. We’ll read from the Evangelical Heritage Version of the Scriptures this week. Ezekiel chapter 1 verse 1 through 3 verse 15.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. We thank You that we have this image of all things new - brand-new week, brand-new month, brand-new territory in the Scriptures - and it brings us a sense of sigh. Like we’ve been through a lot this year and we are here, and You have been faithful, and You continue to lead us forward. We are so deeply grateful. And, so, Father as we move through these days, they have been indeed tumultuous days this year on a number of levels and continue to be on a number of levels right now as we continue to move through this time. May we find comfort and rest under the shadow of Your wings, that we are cradled and protected by Your mighty strong arm, that we are Your children and we are here bearing witness to the birth of new things because You are doing a new thing, You are continually doing a new thing and we want this new thing to continue in our hearts, this transformation, this sanctification, this setting us apart, that we lose our taste for the world and hunger and thirst for Your kingdom. Declaring along with the psalmist, better is one day in Your courts than a thousand anywhere else. And, so, as we move into this final couple months of the year we already know where gonna need You. When do we not?  We think we don’t sometimes and then we take things up in our own power and strength and crash them. We’re not doing that anymore. We learned our lesson. We need You and only You. And we need Your ways and only Your ways in our hearts and in our lives. This is what will lead us on the narrow path that leads to life. And its life that we are looking for and life comes from You. You are the source, the source of life. And, so, come Holy Spirit we pray as we…as we consecrate this week and this month to You. Come Jesus in Your mighty name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website and indeed where you find out what is going on around here.

Man, this is it like not one of my favorite days of the year, not because there’s anything really, really bad going on. It's…it’s…this is the day where in the clocks…the clocks set back. And, so, in the time zone that I live here in Nashville that just makes for…that makes…that makes it dark. It’s gonna be dark maybe a few minutes after 5 PM. By the time Christmas gets here it’ll be dark by 430 in the afternoon and that’s…that’s not my favorite. There’s nothing wrong…everything’s fine…it’s just not my favorite. But I’ll be looking forward to it getting dark in our earlier today as will many of you. And, so, that is what’s going on around here right now, but there are always different things going on in the Daily Audio Bible world especially at the Prayer Wall. It’s an ongoing ever-growing ever-present thing where we can always have a place to go for prayer and always have a place to go and offer prayer. So, be aware of that. That’s in the Community section of the website. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the little Drawer icon. That’s in the upper left-hand corner and you can also get to the Prayer Wall. So, check that out.

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And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement 877-942-4253 is the number to dial or just hit the Hotline button. It’s the little red button in the app if you’re using the app. And if you’re not, you should be using the app. This is the portal…this is…this is where we’re developing community. And, so, be familiar. Be aware. That’s where the…that’s where the Hotline button is. So, check that out.

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:

Hey my friends it’s Mike and I’ve been in this journey with you for over 10 years and when you offer a prayer request you should know that there are people like me who are just instantly praying with you and for you. And when you feel alone you’re not alone and when you feel like you can’t go on and there’s no one in your corner look over your shoulder you got your DAB back there just cheering you on and praying for you and believing with you. So, this…this call is really to challenge and encourage and…and really ask everyone in the DAB to journey through the Daily Audio Proverb for the next 30 days, hopefully for the month of November. Each day invest five minutes in…in the Daily Audio Proverb and you can hit it right there in the app and if you do and if you let it permeate your life, your relationships, how you respond, it will have a dramatic impact. Proverbs 8 says you’ll have more joy, you will find life and grace. And then actually if we don’t get wisdom or if we refuse wisdom that we’re only hurting ourselves. We’re actually moving toward death and not towards life. And I…I found this myself a couple years ago, how I was…I was responding foolishly, and I realized, “wow! I need more wisdom. Where do I get that?” And I heard Brian mention the Daily Audio Proverb. Changed my life. I invite you to take the challenge for the next 30 days, five minutes a day, Daily Audio Proverb. You won’t regret it and you’ll be glad you did. Your Father is madly in love with you any he gave you this gift. I love you guys. Bye.

Good morning my name is __ I am calling in for prayer. I’m having a hard time right now. I need a place to live. I’ve been watching…listening to Brian for about four or five years. It’s my first-time calling in. I would like for all of you to pray for me to help…to ask God to help me find a place to live. I’m kinda down right now but I’m trying to pull myself up and keep going and wait on the Lord to guide me and help me find a place to live. So, please pray for me. I love you all and thank you Brian for what you do every day. Bye.

This prayer goes out to Brian from Australia. I heard his call for prayer about saving his marriage and being patient and stepping up to stay in it and I just wanted to say I’ve been there my brother. The strength you’re showing is amazing. Your love for your wife is amazing and for your family and kids is amazing. I just pray that God directs you and guides you and keeps your family safe and together. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. And good luck brother.

This is Candace from Oregon please join me in prayer is for Radiant Rachel’s stepdaughter Gabby, I believe her name is Gabby. Lord, we ask You to surround this beautiful Young woman. We ask You that she would be completely freed from all foul spirits that have been harassing her in any way and that the only spirit allowed to surround her is the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ over and under her, in front of her, behind her, and on either side. I pray Lord that she would just become free to become everything that You made her to be in all her beauty Lord. I pray that she will take medicines that are helpful, that You will just restore her health by any means You choose Lord, that You give her robust health. We ask these things in Jesus’ name and for His sake. We ask You Lord to bless Radiant Rachel’s entire household. Pour out Your blessing on them Lord and put a hedge of protection around even the building, the house itself and especially guard the hearts of each person and their family. We ask this in Jesus’ name and for His sake and to His honor and glory. May we all become obedient to You Lord, taking every thought captive to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.