Judges 17:1-18:31, John 3:1-21, Psalm 104:1-23, Proverbs 14:20-21
Today is the third day of May, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you today as we continue the journey, the journey moving into this month, brand-new as it is, and the journey that we have been…been on since the 1st of January, the journey through the Bible, the journey through a year together and so let’s continue that journey. We’re reading from the Modern English Version this week and we’re moving our way through the judges the Book of Judges, which tells us about the judges of Israel that follow Joshua’s leadership. Today, Judges chapters 17 and 18.
Commentary:
Okay so, in the Book of Judges, we have this, kind of odd story, about a man named Micah who, who has prominence and he ends up hiring a Levite to be his priest from Bethlehem. Then later, the Danites get mixed up into the story because they’re looking for land of their own. They’ve kind of been within the other tribes and they’re looking for land of their own and as their scouting for land, that’s when they come upon Micah and see his carved idols and his…his priest, the Levite from Bethlehem. And so, that’s one of the things that they scout out and see and then they go on to the city called Laish, and they see a group of Sidonia people who are living peaceably in a really, really beautiful area, but they’re undefended, they have no allies. If they were to be attacked, no one could get there in time to help defend them. They were just living peaceably, all by themselves and the tribe of Dan, made a decision to go and take that land. And so, they left to do exactly that and that’s when they come upon Micah again. They steel his carved idols, they take his Levitical priest from Bethlehem and kind of seduce him away by saying ‘you want to be this priest for this one household or do you want to be a priest for an entire tribe of Israel’, of course, the Levite wants to be the priest for the tribe of Israel. And so, the Danites make it to Laish, where they conquer the people and changed the city’s name from Laish to Dan. That place is still there, like the ruins of that place are still there. It is more toward the extreme northern part of what we now know as modern Israel but even in ancient Israel, once things are all established the territory is known from Dan to Beersheba. So, from Dan, in the north to Beersheba in the South. Today, we see where the city of Dan comes from and how it came to be.
Then, when we flip the page into the Gospel of John, we come to perhaps very, very, very likely, the most famous verse in all of the Bible, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life’. And that very important verse, in the Gospel of John, really lays out a framework for God’s love for us and our response in believing and once we do, eternal life becomes a reality. What is like, not always apparent or always known about this most famous of all verses is that, Jesus said that verse. He said it while having a conversation in the cover, under the cover of night with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. So, by this time, in Jesus’ ministry, there is animosity going on, Jesus is not understood and there are people who are very against him and other people are plotting against Him. So, this Pharisee, Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cloak of darkness to have this conversation because he sees what’s going on. In fact, everybody can see what’s going on, they just don’t know how to interpret it. They know that Jesus is drawing a crowd, they know that His words come with authority, and they know that signs and wonders are following what He is doing. And so, some people can say clearly this man is from God and other people say He gets His power from the devil so, that’s how divided the whole thing is. But it’s in this conversation, between Jesus and Nicodemus that this concept of being born again. comes from. And being born again, is like almost cliché for becoming a follower of Jesus, or converting to Christianity. But what Jesus is unpacking here is that, a person is born into the flesh, we are born into a human body, we are human beings of flesh, but there is a second birth of the Spirit, the awakening of this spirit, the reunification of the spirit with God, so that the separation isn’t there, so that God is within us or as the Scriptures say, it isn’t me who lives anymore, it’s Christ who lives within me. This spiritual awakening, this spiritual birth, if we want to use the term that Jesus is using, is what being born again is and it is explained in this verse; for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish but have eternal life. Of course, Nicodemus is confused. Like, how does a person get born again, like how does a person, when they have become old, then get born again? Do they, how can they go back into their mother’s womb and be born again. That’s when Jesus explains, that we are born of the flesh and born of the spirit and we are born of the spirit, when we believe. And according to Jesus, when we believe, we are no longer condemned, but when we choose not to believe, we are experiencing condemnation already, which does make perfect sense, doesn’t it, because when we feel the most condemnation in our lives, is usually the time that we believe the least. Which gives us a glimpse of the fact that there really does seem to be a war within between darkness and light, clean and unclean, good and evil. And Jesus says as much, the light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. In other words, their deeds were in the darkness so, they don’t want the light. For everyone, and I’m quoting Jesus again, “for everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed, be he who does the truth comes to the light that it may be revealed that his deeds have been done in God. So, yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and we who believe are not condemned anymore. But as we believe we have an inherited, we have inherited eternal life, which brings us into the light where there isn’t anything to hide anymore. So, the pertinent question for us then becomes well, what do I not want to be exposed to the light because that, whatever that is or whatever those things are, those things are actually pulling us toward and into the darkness. One of the beautiful things about the Gospel of Jesus and one of the really difficult things to live among other believers, is that the more we become like our Savior, the less there is to hide, the less there is to hide, the more truthful we can live, the more true that we can live, the more freedom that we can experience and yet we still choose darkness often. We still choose the darkness often, either out of fear of exposure or well-worn tired trails that we keep walking. God loved us enough to come for us and demonstrate for us what living in the truth, and in the light looks like and then going to Jerusalem and laying His life down to make this possible, for we who believe. So, why would we choose the darkness. Why do we choose the darkness? Maybe we know less about ourselves than we think we do, which means we know far less about God than we think that we do. But the one thing that we do know is that He loves us and desires our freedom. And if the gospel is correct, and the cross and its work is correct, then it’s all available to us. We are simply choosing otherwise.
Prayer:
So, Jesus, even thinking about that, even thinking about choosing otherwise, almost feels like it’s another slap in the face. But you haven’t come to keep condemnation upon us, You have come to continually encourage us forward and comfort us forward so that we can move toward the truth, move toward the light. And that is our desire, that is the desire of our heart, in a world of darkness, in a world full of dark people and a world where we’re battling it ourselves, within ourselves. We need the light more than ever, we need to be awake, and alert, and aware, and seeing more than ever. But we can’t open our eyes and we think it’s all up to us, and it’s all about us. Our eyes open in surrender. So, we surrender to You, we believe that You are changing and transforming us, in a world full of transformed people, living in the light is a transformed world and You have invited us to be a part of that story and it begins in our own hearts. So, come Holy Spirit, show us the things that lead us into darkness, show us the things that we do not want to be exposed. We pray this in the name of Jesus. 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.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Good morning, my beautiful DAB family, this is Livy from Queensland in Australia. A few weeks ago, I prayed God would, from Psalm 51:10, create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew my spirit within me. Well, it’s been a rough couple of weeks and my faith has been sorely tested. This morning as I prayed, God showed me to read a passage where Jesus is praying prior to the ascension, John 17:3, This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and the one you sent - Jesus Christ. That’s it, to know Jesus and to know God. Well, with the light of a thousand suns spoke to me. My goal has been to read the Bible through and to read it again, through and through and through. And to get to know God and Jesus so that I might love them. I’ve struggled with doing what I think is right and what my faith in Him leads me to know what is right. I’m not going to do the things out of guilt. My goal is to do what I’m led to do with love because of love, the goal is love. May you all have a blessed day. Thank you so much Brian and the Hardin Family for this beautiful family, with the DAB community.
Good morning, everyone, this is Janelle in China. It is currently 6:57 on April 29th, I just listened to the April 28th recording and I wanted to call in response to the gentlemen who is celebrating his 18th birthday. I am praying for you; I am praying that the Lord will give you peace and discernment during this time. But I wanted to call and give you some unsolicited advice. That feeling of being totally unprepared, I’m sorry to tell you but that’s part of being an adult. Cause, I can’t tell you the number of times that that’s happened to me and what I’ve found is that it’s how you deal with that feeling and you respond to it which really defines how you are as an adult. There’s gonna be so many times where God will push you out of your comfort zone and He’s trying to grow you as a Christian. And this is one of those times, right now, I’m sorry but welcome to adulthood. There’s lots of joys as well as the anxieties, so focus on the now and trust God and He’ll get you through.
Hello DAB, this is Loyalan in Hohan in China. I’m calling because I listened to April 28th and I heard Owen, just had his 18th birthday. Doesn’t feel ready to be an adult. Dude, I feel ya, I just turned 27 recently and I still don’t feel like an adult a lot of the time. It’s hard, it’s hard to know what to do. But the good news is, even when I don’t feel like I know what to do and everything seems like a huge mess, God’s still there and He’s still taking care of it, even when I can’t see it or when you can’t see it. So, I’m definitely praying for you. In other news, I had posted on the Prayer Wall to pray for my friend Domin, who was really searching for God, having dreams. And praise report, he says he wants to become a Christian. It’s really amazing to just watch this unfolding. I don’t think that I helped very much but it’s not my job. So, thank you DAB for the Chinese that I could play for him. Thank you for praying, those of you who prayed. Praise God.
Good morning, Daily Audio Bible, this is Sharon in Southern California. I hope everyone is well and doing prosperously in the name of Jesus. I just heard a call from a young man named Owen. He just made 18 years old and he’s feeling anxious about being an adult. Owen, I just want to say, I think you calling the Daily Audio Bible was a very adult decision. You were asking for guidance; you were asking for God to be there for you and I am 56 years old and I do the same thing every day. So, Owen, I pray, my prayer for you is that the Lord will answer your prayer and help you, guide you through life’s ups and downs, you know, through happiness, joy, sadness, triumphs and obstacles, that is what He’s there for. I commend you for calling, I think that was wonderful. You made my day actually to know that there is still some young people out there seeking the Lord. So, I’m really happy for you. My prayer is that you find what you’re looking for. I pray that the Lord keep you in his protective care and loving arms always. In Jesus name. Amen.
Hey Owen, this is People on the Water from Indiana and I’m also 18 and in the last few weeks of my senior year. Looking into college and what it is being an adult. So, first of all, welcome to the club, it’s a good age. And there’s people around you, you’ve made it this far and you just trust that God does have your back. There is a good people around you, I just pray that God might give you eyes to see them. Alright, see ya.
Hello, Debbie DAB DABers, this is Trixaleena. I haven’t called in a while and I’m calling in cause I need prayer. I’ve been involved in my ministry for two years now and it’s been wonderful, just falling deeply in love with God, serving His people and finding people that love God as well, just spending time with them. But it turns out the pastor has not been paying rent on the houses, the ministry people have been living in. In exchange for work, they get free rent. We can house about 70 men that are coming out of prison, that are getting sober in their living. It’s the least of these that we serve in these houses. And it’s really sad to think about them losing their homes, is what it’s looking like. And so, if I may, please have prayer that may the Lord’s will be done in all of these men’s lives may the worlds, the Lord’s will be done in the path and where they go. And it’s obvious that it just, it got over the Pastor’s head and he didn’t know what to do and then it just got to the end. And I pray the Lord’s will be done over my path and where I go, I’m just kind of like, I don’t know where to go now. I don’t know what to do but I know that I follow the Lord and He has a plan. I know He has a plan; I don’t know what it is. But may the Lord’s will be done, in the name of Jesus. And I just pray peace, happiness, hope, joy are over all these people in this transition and thank ya’ll, ya’ll have a good day.