Jeremiah 37:1-38:28, 1 Timothy 6:1-21, Psalms 89:38-52, Proverbs 25:28
Today is the 21st day of October welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian and it’s wonderful to be able to have a place to gather like this every day…every day and take the next step forward together. And, so, that’s what we have gathered to do, to take the next step forward together which leads us back into the book of Jeremiah. And today we will read chapters 37 and 38 before moving forward in the New Testament back into first Timothy. But first, Jeremiah.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we are reading through the book of Jeremiah, and we are at the point in the story where the Chaldeans, the Babylonian Empire, has its absolute sights set on Jerusalem and the conquering of Jerusalem. And everyone can surrender, or the Chaldeans can overcome Jerusalem eventually and destroy it completely. This isn’t unfamiliar territory to us. We’ve read through. Like we know that the kingdom of Judah, that Jerusalem does fall, and the people are carried away into exile in Babylon. So, the book of Jeremiah takes us inside the story. It takes us inside the walls of Jerusalem where Jeremiah is prophesying, and we can see how things are beginning to fall apart inside the city. All kinds of different groups of people. Some people are trying to escape and defect. Some people are trying to hold everyone together. People are mad at Jeremiah for basically saying, thus says the Lord, if you want to live, you’ve gotta surrender the Babylonians. If you don’t surrender the Babylonians you’re going to die, which is a demoralizing thing to say to a people who are under siege inside the city walls if you’re expecting somehow that there’s going to be a way out of this. Jeremiah is prophesying that there isn’t a way out of this, like the one way you can live is to surrender. But what we’re talking about is a nation surrendering to another nation. And like that’s a pretty big deal. There’s a king involved, and he’s divided. He’s like…his power has been diminished considerably. If people want to rebel against the king how can the king stop them. Like society is falling apart. There’s nothing to eat. Jeremiah gets arrested, he gets thrown into a well where he sinks in mud where you supposed to die because there’s nothing to eat or drink. And then he gets pulled up out of the well and a secret meeting with the King. We see all of this stuff is just falling apart inside of the city walls. So, the siege that Babylon as enacted against Jerusalem is working. The people are starving. The people are confused. The people are demoralized but they won’t surrender. And, so, the wall is going to get breached, and soldiers are going to come rushing in swinging swords at people, and people are going to die, and people are going to be running. And there’s going to be chaos because that’s what happens when the walls that are protecting you fall down. And, so, Jeremiah is giving us this in a front row seat. We’re taken right inside Jerusalem to see what’s going on.
Now, let’s flip over to the book of Proverbs and read the one sentence Proverb that we read today. One sentence that makes the entire story that we are reading in Jeremiah a story that we need to pay attention to. The proverb says, “he who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” So, imagine Jerusalem. Imagine there’s a breach in the wall because once that happens, it’s only going to get bigger. Imagine the chaos. Imagine the fighting there at the breach. Imagine the panic inside the city, panic by people who are starving to death. Imagine the adrenaline flowing through the bodies, but their bodies don’t have the strength to actually fight or flee. Imagine enemy soldiers getting in through that breach in the wall and starting to light things on fire and the smoke beginning to rise and the chaos of it all. That’s what it’s like to be one without self-control. It’s like a city that is broken down and without walls, is defenseless. Now we have something to talk about, right? Now we have something to meditate upon all day, all the time. Like we can really really hold onto this one because Jeremiah takes us inside the city, and we see just how crazy it’s getting. And it gives us such a picture of what it looks like when we lose control over ourselves. And that should snap a picture into place for us because we’ve all lost control, like everybody, every human being. But when we never get it back, when we kind of live without self-control, the chaos that our lives look like, indeed look like a city that is broken down and without walls. Looks remarkably like what we’re reading about in the book of Jeremiah. And, so, let’s take that into our day today and think about that and watch ourselves and see when we’re beginning to lose it and remember what the proverb said and remember what it looks like inside of Jerusalem in the book of Jeremiah and understand spiritually, we’re setting ourselves up for the same thing. And ironically, what Jeremiah was telling the people inside Jerusalem is you can live. You can live. You can save your own life as plunder of war. You have to surrender. And again, they were really really wrestling with surrender because you don’t surrender. One sovereign nation doesn’t surrender to another sovereign nation. We’ll fight to the death of the last person. In our case, though, in the book of Proverbs with the city broken down, without walls, we still need to surrender. When we have lost all self-control, we still need to surrender, surrender to the Lordship of the Holy Spirit’s leadership in our lives. That changes everything. It’s worth thinking about today.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit come into this. Thank You for this example. Thank You for personalizing in such a way that we can understand what is going on here and that we can draw parallels because we’ve all lost control and we’ve all seen the chaos of it, but to liken it to the falling of walls, and the rushing in of troops and the fall of a city gives us a picture that we can carry with us. Help us to see that sometimes we can be our own worst enemy and we need to surrender to You. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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Community Prayer and Praise:
This prayer is for Kayla who called in on October 17th. Lord I just pray Father God and I lift up Kayla to you Father, God. Lord, I pray that you would give her hope that she would understand that you have not left her you have not forsaken her. Lord, I pray for restoration of her body. I pray peace over her mind Lord. And as she seeks you, I pray that you would manifest your glorious presence to her and cover her and breathe your life into every part of her body. I speak peace over her body. I pray Lord that you would reconcile everything that needs to be reconciled. Lord, I pray that she will hear your voice and the voice of the enemy she will not hear. So, Lord I thank you right now for Kayla and I thank you for the testimony that she will have in her healing in Jesus’…
Hey everyone my name is Samantha I called it a few weeks ago about my husband who was having a baby with somebody else after I lost mine and I just wanted to say I…I posted that prayer request and then maybe several days later October 12th she ended up having her baby. And when I tell you all that I sobbed and I cried and I prayed for comfort and just for anything. And the very next day I come on here, I…I listen every day while I’m doing my routes at work and it just so happened the day after she had her baby y'all’s prayers were on there for me and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody pray out loud for me and that…that touched me in ways that I can never explain and that just proves that God’s timing is beyond our understanding and when I tell you I’ve had the most rough life the past two years. I lost my mom I lost my grandma and now I’m going through this. And…and I’m not close with any of my family. I don’t talk about my situation to anybody outside of my husband and…and that prayer request was the first time I did, and it just showed that this is really what I needed in my life. And I’m so happy that I was shown this app and I’m so thankful and blessed for it. So, I just…I want to thank everybody who sent me their prayers and I’m praying for all of y'all. I listen every day and pray for you all.
Hi this is Victoria Soldier just calling to pray for some of the DABbers. I wanted to pray for that precious pastor’s wife who was shot in the head. I want to pray for them and pray for that precious family. I want to play for Lazarus. And I want to pray for the marriages that…that are going through. I wanna play for Lazarus. I wanna pray for…I wanna pray for that precious family, the mother, the daughter who lost their mother to COVID and I wanna pray for that precious family. I also wanna pray for…for Deborah also and the one with stage four cancer. I want to pray for her that the sister that only had four months to live, I wanna pray that she not only be healed but also, she see Jesus Christ as her savior. Gracious Father, we just ask You today, Lord You’re a miracle working God. You can do anything but fail. Father, we just ask You to touch the marriages. We ask You to touch that precious pastor’s wife. We ask You to touch that precious lady with stage four cancer. We ask You to touch that mother, that family that lost their mother and they’re going through Lord. We ask You to have Your way. Help them through Lord. Help them through the situation Father as only You can do. Lord, we just ask You to have Your way. We ask You for life and favor. We ask You for Your miracles Lord. We ask You to have Your way in this nation and all nations that __ God. We just ask You to have Your way Father. We ask You to bless Lord. Bless those who have a calling and don’t know which way to go Lord. You direct them Father. You open up jobs for those that have lost jobs through the COVID Lord, that family that called and needed. Father, we ask You to have Your way and we give You the glory we say You for providing all the needs according to…
This is Justified Now in North Carolina and today is October the 15th. I heard Yolanda a long-time listener who has a son and his name is Al who’s in the ninth grade who has been bullying issues at school and he was beaten down in the bathroom. You requested prayer Yolanda, and my heart went out to you and your son and I pray for you both. Lord I come in the name of Your son Jesus asking that You look on this mother Yolanda and her son Al. Your word gives us great comfort when it says that we can cast all our cares on You for You care for us. So, I pray that You will help You Yolonda and her son to bear down hard on You for comfort so that they will be able to go through this situation. Let them be overwhelmed by Your love and Your peace and Your grace in this situation and may those bullies come to the saving knowledge of who You are. I send love to you dear mother and to Brian and the family and all the community of DABbers. This is Justified Now and North Carolina. God bless you. Love you, DABbers.
Hi everybody this call’s from Waco TX. I’m calling as a…I think I called maybe once or twice over the last few years, but it’s been at least two years since I’ve called, I think. I listen to this podcast every day and it’s very good. It helps me a lot. I just love hearing the Bible in the manner that Brian reads it. So, thank you Brian for that. I’m sober four years now and I’m so grateful for that and happy. I find that I’m just very much alone though and no matter what I do or how much I pray or how hot I try, interacting or whatever I’m at, or whatever I do I’m just unhappy. I just am alone and I’m unhappy. I think ever since I began way back in the past when I was in my addiction, I just think I lost my…well obviously I lost myself, but I lost my happiness and joy and I never really got that back. And, so, you know I’ve been working on rebuilding with my family and stuff and that’s not going great but it’s not horrible either. But the point is, I just need you guys to pray for me for some kind of…something from God to just help me get through this with not feeling so bad all the time and so alone. So, I don’t do all the meetings and all that kind of stuff but just that part never…that part never worked for me. But, you know, I’m working every day and…and everything right. So…I think…well not everything, but you know, the best I can. But anyway, thank you guys so much. Bye.