Joshua 7:16-9:2, Luke 16:1-18, Psalm 82:1-8, Proverbs 13:2-3
Today is the 13th day of April, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it is great to be here with you today, as we take the next step forward together, which will lead us back into a book that we’re getting into, the Book of Joshua. Well, we have finally found ourselves in the Promised Land. The children of Israel have made their first conquest of a city, that being the city of Jericho, the walls fell down. Then they went to scout a nearby village called Ai, they decided not send the whole army because it’s just small place and they are defeated. They attacked the city of Ai, and they are defeated and it is because someone rebelled against God, in the matter of Jericho. And they’re trying to sort it all out and that’s where we pick up the story. Joshua chapter 7 verse 16 through 9 verse 2.
Commentary:
Okay so, in the book of Joshua we finally now know what’s going on and why the children of Israel were defeated in their second battle. Right, they had marched around the walls of Jericho, the walls came tumbling down, they ran inside, Jericho was destroyed, they had been given specific instructions about what was to happen and there was no plunder to be taken. Everybody knew what was going on, but Achan, Achan he saw some stuff he wanted and he took it and when the Army went to go against the city of Ai and were defeated 36 people were killed and they were defeated, the children of Israel were defeated and ran away, which sent them consulting with God, which eventually revealed that Achan had taken some plunder, against his oath, against his covenant, against his promise, against everyone’s promise and against God’s specific explicit instructions. And this is where idolatry begins. Right, it begins with disobedience, dishonesty, deception and trusting in that which is not God or from or of God. And it did not work out well for Achan. And through this story, we are once again reminded that it will not work out well for us or anyone else.
Oddly enough, when we turn over to the New Testament into the Gospel of Luke, Jesus pretty well explains this for us and I quote “whoever is faithful in small matters, will be faithful in larger ones, whoever is dishonest in small matters, will be dishonest in larger ones. If then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth. If you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you. No servant can be the slave of two masters, such a slave will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” And so, what we see unfolding here is that God has given instructions, has also given vision for an outcome of those instructions, they’re clear instructions, they’re not nuanced. But then, like people, we look for the shortcuts, we look for the nuances, we look for what we can get away with, we look for how far we can press the matter. And in the story of Achan and the children of Israel and the battle of Ai, as well as Jesus statements to the Pharisees, we see that there is, indeed, a limit. And it appears to be that the limit is anything that will cause us to be drawn away from God. Anything that will turn our hearts, even a little bit, because over time it will become a lot and actually the children of Israel will teach us this lesson over and over again because what we’ve seen begin with Achan, is a pattern that we will see recur over the generations and once again we’ll…we’ll see where the road goes, and it never goes anywhere good. Whatever we put our trust in, is something that gains our devotion and allegiance and loyalty, if that is not God, we are not on the right path. If we’re not on the right path, we’re not going where we want to go. If we’re not going where we want to go we’re not going to end up where we wanted to be and no shortcut is going to get us there. Jesus said that there is a narrow path that leads to life, but will you ever find it. One of the first steps in finding it, has to be removing anything that would draw us away from it. And this is one of the great themes in the Bible. It’s one of the things that recur over and over again, across the generations. Because we’re still learning those lessons, even in our own personal lives, even in our extraordinarily modern times. And so, we’re left to consider where is my allegiance, where is my loyalty? if I know the answer to those things, I know where my trust is. If the answer to that isn’t God, then we have a problem.
Prayer:
So, Father, we invite You into that, it is not hard. It is our desire to walk with You day-by-day, step-by-step, every moment, of every day in Your presence, doing Your work in this world. And we are distracted by every possible thing that can pull us away from that and we recognize that and we know that and we need You. We need You today, more than we needed You yesterday. We need You more than ever. And so, Holy Spirit, come. Help us to have that margin where we can see these things before, they become strongholds in our lives so that, we can see that the choices that we’re making, are choices to chain ourselves to things that are going to take a long time to get unchained from. Help us to see what You are seeing. We pray in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
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And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Prayers and Encouragement:
Hey everyone, I’m Christie from Kentucky. I wanted to call and just talk to a couple of my sisters in Christ. I want to thank you both. I sit here this morning with tears in my eyes. Daddy’s Girl in Kansas, you called in and talked about a sister who had lost her mom. She had called in on the community prayer on April the 2nd, I don’t know the ladies name. But Daddy’s Girl I want you to know that thank you for calling in because sometimes when we call in for other people we’re also calling in for someone we don’t even know has walked through that and that was the exact scenario when I lost my mom in 2017 when I begged her. She was in a coma. I begged her please don’t leave, please don’t leave me mom. And then a tear came from her eye, just a single tear. And it, my heart broke. And then I said, it’s okay, it’s okay, mom it’s okay you can go to Jesus. I’ll be okay, I’ll be okay. I’ll take care of the family. You were speaking to me too. Thank you. And LGB, I just wanted you to know that, thank you for your call, it was so precious. The last thing to do is I was singing Amazing Grace over my momma. I love you guys so very much. God is so very good and He works through us when we don’t even know that He’s working through us. I love this family, I love you guys so very much. I pray you have a blessed day today.
Dear Eyes of a Dove, I just heard your call on April the 11th and I just want you to know I am so sorry. I know this feeling of exhaustion, the fear and not knowing what will happen next. Two years ago, I experienced something similar. God gave me the wisdom and strength to let go of my fiancé in the pain, I loved him enough to let him go and place him into the Lord’s hands. To let God, do what He’s famous for. God will bless your obedience. I heard you say he took a job as a trucker and you don’t know how that will help. But like Brian said about Joshua and the walls of Jericho, God works in the most unexpected ways. I will be praying for you sister, you’re not alone and we will be holding your arms up like Aaron and Her did for Moses, we will be holding you up. I love you, love your sister Ashlee in California.
Hello DAB family, this is Atesia calling. I just called prior with the news that I lost my father. He passed away at 92 a couple weeks ago, March 22. His wife, my mother, passed away this Monday, April 4th. I’m calling because I want to get out to respect her as well. I’m so grateful that I am able to share with you, the sadness of these occurrences. I don’t share with family. But thank you for allowing me to share my mourning with you and I know you’re praying and I pray for you. I am grateful. Thank you Brian and Jill. So, my mother left her husband, her man, her entire hero and so, now they rest together. And I feel blessed for it, but I am very sad. I loved them very much. Thank you for allowing me to share, God bless my friends.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is Robbie from Canada. I would like to repent. I am perhaps the most double minded Christian that’s ever walked this planet. I often feel like I’m the worst Christian on the planet, but I just want to repent right now because I feel God’s spirit in me and I just, I have to be all in, like Brian was saying today, April 11th Jesus asked us all or nothing and oh wow, I just, that’s the key. And so, I just wanted to just thank you for that Brian, thank you for your ministry and yeah, it’s like you slay me. I trust you, like Job said, it’s so important to have that level of faith. Our bodies are a living sacrifices for God. So, I just wanted to repent and ask for prayer to give me faith and to walk out my whole life in faith and to acknowledge Him in all my ways. I have not been doing that. So far, my life has not been a good testimony for the Lord. So, I want that to change, okay. God bless you all. Thank you.
Good morning family, this is Erin in Michigan and it is what, April 12th today. But I just finished listening to April 9th, so I’m a little behind but I keep on, keeping on. So, Brian, thank you, Jill, China, Ben, Ezekiel, thank you so much for this wonderful podcast. And thank you for answering God’s call. So, I was listening to the April 9th podcast and it was about healing the daughter of Abraham and 18 years being bent over and you know, just being. And right now, friends, I am, you know, a year out from my really big break up and trying to heal from that and trying to look at my behavior and within that I see addiction and within that I see the way that I have learned to deal with things and where I found my worth in the past and where I continue, sometimes, to look for my worth instead of to Jesus, to look for my identity and worth in Jesus. And it just really struck me today that, you know, for over 18 years now I have been bent over with this addiction and couldn’t straighten up and couldn’t stand tall and couldn’t stand worthy in the face of God’s love. And now, I understand Sabbath are no, He asked me to, He asked me to stand up and asked me to be whole and I just praise You. So, today’s, you know, the ninth, that’s not today’s message but the message from April 9th really just blessed my soul. Thank you, Brian, thank you for your obedience to God. And friends, if you look in the mirror and or if you’re shown a picture of you by people that is not, that is not whole and that is not who Jesus sees us. Let us deny that. Alright, thanks friends, have a great day.