Exodus 26:1-27:21, Matthew 25:1-30, Psalm 31:1-8, Proverbs 8:1-11
Today is the seventh day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is fantastic to be here with you and the first time in a long time, being able to say welcome to the land of the Bible. It is great to be here in Israel, where jet lag is an abundance. Fatigue is sort of the way of it, until your body clock kinda gets adjusted and then you go home and do it all over again. Great to be here with you today. Days and nights are mixed up, the whole thing, but we are getting acclimated and so many people are arriving in the land today. This evening will be our sort of inauguration dinner, our welcome dinner, first time we can all get to be together in the same place and can do some orientation and prepare ourselves. And so, looking forward to that tonight. But it is wonderful to be back in the land and I am really excited, whether in person or virtually, that we can…we can journey through the land of the Bible together and just looking forward to posting pictures and just talking about it. It’s such a, it has traditionally been such a beautiful time in the community, especially as we’re just getting going in the beginning of the year and kind of locking into the rhythm of being in the Bible every day around the Global Campfire. Coming to the land of the Bible is always kind of knit us together as a community, as we experience, experience this, jet lag. I don’t know, I don’t know if I’m coming or going. But that’s how my body works and it’s fine. That’s why we’re here, getting acclimated but it’s wonderful to be here with you today from the land of the Bible. And let's…let’s dive in and take the next step forward and our next step forward leads us back to Mount Sinai, leads us back around the mountain of God where the Lord is revealing to Moses how this…this former slave people, will become God’s chosen people and how they will be organized. So, we pick up the story, Exodus chapters 26 and 27 today.
Commentary:
Okay so, in the book of Exodus the dimensions and materials that are to be used in constructing a tabernacle are being given to Moses. This tabernacle will be like a portable, movable place for God to dwell, and we will see that as we go for this tabernacle, that we’re just talking about right now, but it will be built, but its position is to be right in the middle of the Israelite camp. In other words, God is right in the middle of you, wherever you go. And so, that’s what’s happening here and I’m reading this and just going wow. I think it’s…think it’s the day after tomorrow that we will actually be out in this wilderness and out in this wilderness is an actual kind of scale, replica of this tabernacle just kind of out there in the wilderness. And so, very soon we’ll be seeing this with our own eyes. We’ll be sure to post pictures of that but looking forward to that.
In the gospel of Matthew, it’s been a couple of days ago that Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem, and the disciples were marveling at the temple complex. Jesus tells them that it’s all gonna fall, like it’s all going to be destroyed. And so, they begin to ask Him about when that might happen because that seems like the end of the world to them. And He begins to tell them different things but what He’s telling them is not the date and the hour that they can expect this to happen. He’s telling them that they can see it coming if they have eyes to see and ears to hear, they can see it coming in the same way that you, that we could see summer coming. And then He begins to do some teachings to describe what this time will be like. And we spent some time discussing that yesterday. Jesus is still using examples in today’s reading to describe this time and to describe this, how the kingdom of heaven will be at this time. And so, he uses a famous parable that we probably all know from Sunday school, the parable of the 10 virgins who were waiting to meet the bridegroom. Basically, there’s like, it’s just a paragraph of the story but as a lot of beautiful tapestry kind of in the heritage. I mean in the culture there is a betrothal and engagement. Sort of, she’s spoken for, he’s spoken for, and they will be married and then the boy, the young man and his father will go and prepare a place for the new family to come and join the household. They would build this, the young man who was betrothed would now be building this space for his beloved and their future family together. So, everything that he’s building he’s got her on his mind and thinking about the future that will happen and what they’re building together, and they would get it done. And then it would be it would be up to the father of the house to decide when the time is right, when it’s time to go and get her. And maybe she’s two doors down or maybe she’s in a different village. Maybe she’s two days journey away. The father would say, it’s time to go get her son, and they would set off on this journey. Meanwhile, she’s been waiting, she doesn’t know when it’s gonna happen. She’s been waiting for his arrival and so, he goes to get her and there’s probably some kind of celebration there. But the idea is that they will come back to the place that he has prepared for them, and there will be people waiting there as well, for this celebration or even the wedding ceremony, so that they can then go into their new dwelling, consummate their marriage and begin their life together. So that’s kind of like a little bit of a backdrop to this story. These virgins are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive, and they don’t know the day or the hour. They don’t know exactly when that’s going to happen. And so, they’re waiting and what we see in this depiction is that five of the…of the virgins are waiting with extra with enough oil, like to wait as long as they need to wait, they know it’s any time, to wait as long as they have to. While the other five did not have enough to wait. And so, when the announcement comes that the bridegroom is coming, they don’t have oil for their lamps and they have to run and go, try to get some and they don’t, they can't…they can’t they weren’t ready, which is the point. Like that was the point of all of what Jesus was saying yesterday that the way you live while you discern the signs of the times is to live prepared and ready and part of the way that we live ready is how we take care of each other, how we are prepared. Jesus goes right into another famous parable. The parable of the talents and we see the same kind of criteria. A master is going away. It is unknown when he will return, the day of the hour, the day and the hour are unknown. And the parable of the talents one servant is given five talents, one servant is given two, one is given one and then we watch what they did with it while the master was away, where it was. So, we can see how this metaphor goes, what are we doing with what we have, while the master is a way because he will return, and we do not know exactly when. And so, if we begin to assume that he won’t or that we’ve got more time and we slack off or backslide, or however you. When we stop being vigilant and ready, when we stop taking care of each other then we’re not using what we have. When we watched the story of the talents, the one with the five turns it into 10, the one with the two turns it into four, like they double their master’s investment. The person with the one talent hides it in the ground because he’s afraid. And so, he gives the talent, he gives back what he was given, whereas the other two servants were able to use what they were given and make more. What are we doing with what we’ve been given? We can’t just keep waiting for more so that we can start doing what we’re supposed to do and is not just about money, it’s about taking care of each other. So, once again we have this theme of being vigilant of being prepared. We have this theme of using what we have and realizing that we are equipped. So, there’s some challenging things for sure, for us to think about as we gaze upon our own lives and our own priorities because that’s what’s supposed to happen. These parables, like that’s what’s supposed to happen, we’re supposed to be challenged into examining ourselves, asking ourselves, are we ready, are we living ready, are we taking care of each other, are we using what we have, are we prepared?
And so, Father, we invite You into that. There is absolute room for…for profound growth in each and every one of us. And the first place of growth that we ask for is that we become aware and vigilant, that we simply are able to see what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. So, that we begin to understand the inside and the outside and how those two differ in our lives, because You are making us true on the inside and the outside. Come, Holy Spirit, lead us into all truth, help us examine our hearts today. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
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And obviously what’s going on around here for the next bit, is that we are traveling through the land of the Bible and that kind of officially begins this evening and I will definitely keep us posted on what’s going on each day and what we’re doing. We will also be posting photographs and videos to the Daily Audio Bible Facebook and Instagram pages as things happen. And then, in a few days from now, this Saturday in the evening we will have a Facebook live from the land of the Bible from the Galilee, from the Sea of Galilee and we’ll just kind of share a little bit about what our experiences have been and just interact with everybody in itself. That’s always a lot of fun. So, make plans for that. And then, just asking everybody, all over the community, all over the world to cover us with your prayers: prayers for fatigue, health, safety, technology, logistics, travel. Everything about what we’re doing and may the Holy Spirit flood us with an awareness of God’s presence all around us and thank you in advance for your prayers.
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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:
Hey, DAB it’s Refined by the Fire in Ohio. Oh, Mr. Brian, between you and your wife this week, God has certainly been honing in on some areas that He wants me to work on. So, whether it is embracing what He’s led you into, embracing the desert times, seeing what it is that God has for us just, really, really convicting this week. Thank you as always for bringing us the word but also your commentary and the spirit that just flows through you and reaches out as if He was speaking just to me and me alone, while I know, obviously there are thousands of us listening. Just several areas, if guys could pray for me this year, we are tackling, my husband and I are tackling our finances as a couple in, like a real adult way, finally, after all these years. Better late than never. And then my dad is, has dementia. He got kicked out of his nursing home and relocated to another one that honestly, I feel like I’ve just been throwing a two-year-old tantrum about not wanting to have to step up and be the person. But, you know, hello Moses, we’ll have a good chat one day. Anyway guys, I love you much and I will talk to you soon. Bye.
Hello everybody, this is God’s Smile here. My goodness, we’re in February already. And I’m just so happy because you know, springtime isn’t far away. February makes me smile; the nights are gaining light. And if you look real closely, you’ll notice it’s two minutes each night. The crocuses are peeping up, Bluebells popping up from the grand. And the perennials deck wood calls, it’s time to prune, I have colors to reveal. Oh, springtime is near, how that makes my heart skip with joy. Isn’t God’s wonderful creation a blessing? It gets richer year by year and we, the DABers, have much to share and sprinkle with each other what we learn. Thank you, Brian, Jill, China and Ezekiel. We love you, so much. God Bless. Love, God’s Smile. Kiss kiss everybody. Muah, muah, muah, muah, muah.
Hey DAB family, this is Josh from Kentucky. I’m asking for prayer for the Lord’s guidance. I’ve been dating my girlfriend for nearly two years. And I’ve just revealed like a bunch of lies, being unfaithful, continuing pornography addiction on my part. And, you know, I’ve been thinking about marriage. I just had to reveal it. She’s willing to work with me. But I just need prayers to keep my mind pure and help me to correct my wrongs. And push further into the man He wants me to be. I definitely need to learn self-worth and understand God’s grace, to do so. I ask you guys to please pray for me. Thank you.
Hi, this is Lee Lee in Missouri. I woke up this morning and I just wanna give God the praise He deserves, and I cannot praise Him enough. I’ve got ten fingers and ten toes and bloods running through them. And God’s given me what I need to get done what I need to get done. I just pray that you are doing fine, and you are doing well. And for those things that are giving you trouble, somebody just told me this morning, don’t let the happenings, stop your happiness. Don’t let, don’t, just don’t let it happen. I’m so grateful today. And for the things that you may be going through, take time to think and look around for the things you absolutely can be grateful for and that you can praise God for. I really appreciate the DAB. I really appreciate how Brian explains things, in a way that I’ve never heard before. I really appreciate it, from the bottom of my heart. Ya’ll, just have a good life right now, just, at this moment, have a good life.
God is awesomely good. Good morning DABers, today is February 2nd, 2023. This is formerly known as Allissa Marie from Dinuba, California. I no longer live in Dinuba, I am now in Fresno, and I would like to be known as Proverbs 31 Woman, as my husband lovingly calls me now. Twelve years ago, we were on our way to being a statistic of divorce. Thank God that He intervened miraculously, got ahold of us and turned us around. I humbled myself and I started interceding for my marriage and my husband and he followed. So, that’s another story for another time. Anyways, I just want to say that I really enjoyed Brian’s narrative, commentary today. Today’s reading in Exodus that the children of Israel as they started traveling in the mountainous desert and other things that they’re starting to do grumbling and complaining. But anyways, it was just so awesome. I am on my way to being 62 this year and right now I feel like I’m going through a little bit of a desert. But I’m holding on. I learned a long time ago not to grumble and complain but just to praise God and to say thank you Lord and just hold onto His word. But anyways, I fully embraced the commentary today, it was so wonderful that I forwarded it, I shared it with my daughters-in-laws and my son’s. And so, I just want to thank God for Brian and Jill and China and everyone that helps in this podcast. It’s a wonderful podcast. I thank God for that. But anyways, DABers be blessed and just always remember that God is on the throne and His word is established forever in the heavens and it shall not be moved. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his word will never pass away. And though those that have been on this journey listening to that to daily audio for the past however many years, every year is wonderful.