Joshua 11:1-12:24, Luke 17:11-37, Psalm 84:1-12, Proverbs 13:5-6
Today is the 15th day of April, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is wonderful to be here with you today, as we take the next step forward on our journey, through the Scriptures today. Of course, it’s Good Friday and it is a Holy day on the Christian calendar, as has been this whole week. This is the day that we commemorate the death, the crucifixion of Jesus. A day like no other day. And so, let’s hold that in our hearts, as we take the next step forward together. So, our next step leads us back into the book of Joshua. We have seen all kinds of drama in the Promised Land. Many kings have aligned themselves against Israel. Many kings have been defeated in the process. We’ll continue the story with Joshua chapters 11 and 12 today.
Commentary:
Alright so, in the book of Joshua today, we continue with the narrative of the conquest of the Promised Land. And so, we are in the Promised Land, which is where we’ll spend most of the rest of the time that we have in the Bible. This is the conquest of the Promised Land. We’ve seen kings gathering together now, for the second time, the kings of the north, the great King’s coming down to simply join forces because Israel has recently come into the land and the land is turning upside down. They are conquering everything. So, all of these remaining kings in the nearby regions from the Jordan River, all the way the Mediterranean Sea, are coming together as one. And as one, they are defeated and all of their cities are conquered. One of the great cities of Hazor is burned by Joshua; this is the only mounded city, so the only like, fortified city burned. The remains of Hazor exist until this very, very day and there is a burn layer in the archaeology showing when this great city was burned and so we can look at these ash, well this kind of layer of ash. Understanding wow, this goes back to this…this detailed explanation in the Book of Joshua to what happened in this city. So, it’s deeply fascinating, as we continue what to watch the emerging kingdom of Israel.
But then in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of Heaven and what he says today is profound indeed, but monumental in our understanding. So, if we think about the Kingdom of Heaven, a lot of the times we are thinking about something that is yet to come. Something that will eventually be here and it will look like some type of national governance, it will look something like what we understand in governing people. So, this will be the Kingdom of God that will usurp all of the kingdoms of the world and that this is a coming thing and certainly the fullness of all of God’s plans, at least the ones that are out in front of us are a coming thing. This goes to expectations. The people in Jesus’ time did know about a coming Messiah and did expect a coming Messiah and expected that Messiah to bring the Kingdom of God back, to restore Israel to God and boot out all the people that didn’t belong there anymore. So, when Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, those kinds of expectations are in the fabric of the culture and those same kinds of feelings still exist with us in the world today. We have this expectation that at some point all will be made right and all that’s wrong will be done away with, there is this coming kingdom. It’s just that, that’s not what Jesus says about the Kingdom of God. And so, I want to quote Jesus, understanding what He’s saying, is a game changer. So, I quote from Luke, “Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, “The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’; because the Kingdom of God is within you.”” Within you! Because the Kingdom of God is within you, within you, friends. That’s where the Kingdom of God is. And if it’s a coming Kingdom then that’s where it’s coming and that’s how this whole thing changes. We realize that it is within us. We cultivate it within us, and it spills out. It’s the message Jesus has been giving all along, what is within you, is what matters and what is within you will spill out, into the world. And if the Kingdom of God is within us and spilling out into the world than it is coming, it is being revealed. It is being seen in our lives and not in buildings or power or taxes or the judicial system or whatever. It is within us and when it is being built up within us, it changes everything outside of us, it changes the way that we look at everything. And if we change the way we look at everything, then we are effectively changing our lives, which is what repentance is, to change.
Prayer:
And so, Father, we thank You for Your word in Jesus, on this day. There is no inappropriate day be grateful, but on this day, this Good Friday that we observe. The darkness, the darkness of it all, that Your creation could turn on You and kill You and that Your love is so vast and profound that You would allow it, in order to set us free. That is a mystery beyond our comprehension, a love that is deeper than anything we’ve ever experienced and brings hope, that nothing else can. That You are God and that You have demonstrated Your love for us so profoundly, that everything has changed. The trajectory of the human race is changed because of Your coming. And we pray that we can be involved, that we can walk with You, that we can enjoy this gift of salvation, but enjoy the work of sharing the good news throughout the world. So, we love You, and we thank You and we are grateful. And our words and our thoughts are gonna come up short. It’s our lives, given over to You as a living sacrifice, that is the absolute best we can offer and that is not enough, but it is what we have and You take that and make it something beautiful. And so, we humble ourselves before You, with deep gratitude for Your love for us. We pray this in Your precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Song by Trinity Music and Marty Reardon “Agnus Dei (feat. Jen Reardon) - https://apple.co/3L5wJjm
Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Oh, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, oh grant us your peace, oh grant us your peace.
Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, oh grant us your peace, oh grant us your peace.
Oh, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us.
Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us.