Month: February 2023

Leviticus 6:1-7:27, Mark 3:7-30, Psalms 37:1-11, Proverbs 10:3-4

Today is the 18^th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today once again, from the holy city of Jerusalem where we will be embarking on our final day of our tour here in the land of the Bible in Israel. We had a great day in the lowlands yesterday and today we will be spending the day in and around Jerusalem and centering ourselves in the final days of Jesus as we bring this tour to a close. But we will talk about all that in a little bit. We have come here, and we are at the beginning gathered around the Global Campfire to take the next step forward together. We have transitioned between the book of Exodus and Leviticus. So, we’re in the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament and we transitioned between Matthew and Mark in the New Testament this week. And, so, we’re in new territory but we’re definitely getting ourselves moved in. And, so, today we will in the book of Leviticus, and we’ll be learning about the sacrificial system. Leviticus chapter 6 verse 1 through 7 verse 27 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for a community that we can come together like this, no matter where we are on this earth and be together, knit together in Spirit as Your word washes into our lives and teaches and instructs and corrects and rebukes and comforts and leads us forward. We thank You. And we thank You for bringing us through another week. And we thank You for bringing us through the journey that we have been on here in the land of the Bible. And right now our minds and our hearts are exploding. They’re so full. We are being expanded. And, so, it’s gonna take a minute for us to kind of move back into our own environments and begin to unpack all this and process all this, but we thank You and we thank You for all that You have done in the community, even as we travel virtually just observing everything. Seeing the places, hearing about the places, we thank You for what this means to us in our knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures as we move through them this year. And as we are here for our final day, we ask that You bless all that we experience. As we always ask, lead us into the truth. Lead us deeper into intimacy with Jesus. Lead us forward in the way that we should go understanding that wherever we go, we are ambassadors and representatives of Your kingdom and that we are here to reveal it and share who You are. Lead us forward on the narrow path that leads to life, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

Okay. So, as I mentioned today will be our last day and that’s happening or has yet to happen. And, so, I’ll certainly tell you about our last day tomorrow. But yesterday we went into the lowlands, and it really couldn’t have come at a better time. We had…I mean…since we left the Galilee it’s been kind of hard charging. Lots of distance covered and then arriving in Jerusalem and just a whole new way of getting around and a whole new way of processing things and just a lot of people, all of that. So, that takes a lot of effort. And, so, to just go down and see this final region on our trip, the lowlands, the Shephelah, the low lands is beautiful because it’s so fertile. And it was so green and open and fertile and beautiful. And, so, we went outside of Jerusalem to Emmaus Nicopolis. And there’s a few Emmaus candidates, at least for the Emmaus in the New Testament. But this is one of them and there’s an ancient Byzantine church there and just the grounds, they’re…they’re small, but there’s a little loop that you can walk and it…it is serene and garden like and there’s some history there and actually some ancient tombs there. So, it’s not like a lot of time is spent there. But we do talk about Jesus’ meeting with His friends on the road to Emmaus and their hearts burning inside them when they reflect back upon it. We did take a few minutes to just walk just silently by ourselves, just move around, enjoy the beauty of the nature of the lowlands, enjoy the beauty of the nature of Israel drinking it all in knowing that we’ll be going back to Jerusalem and that’s our final stop. And, so, we know what that’s about and how congested, and busy that can be. And, so, just drinking in the beauty of God’s creation in the land of the Bible. Beautiful way to focus our morning and then we’re just moving south deeper into the Shephelah, deeper down. And, so, the next stop, another kind of short stop, but too important to just drive by and that is the biblical city of Beth-Shemesh, where after the Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant and plague broke out among the Philistines and they sent the Ark of the Covenant back, this is where it came, to Beth-Shemesh, this Levitical city. And, so, just appreciating that, that the Ark of the Covenant was here, that this is the kind of border territory with the Philistines. Very good. Very very important to just place ourselves. Not now. When we read that story, we’ll see it. We’ll see what that land looks like and…and appreciate that. And then our next stop was an active archaeological site at Beth-Goren, which is biblical Maresha so the hometown of…of the biblical prophet Micah and a major city and export of olive oil. And it has a lot of history. There’s the history going back to the prophetic times in the Old Testament but then there’s a lot of history from the time between the Testaments like the times of the Maccabees in that war. And, so, we…there’s so many caves there, over 5000, and some of them are amazing and some of them have been quarried out. This was a place of quarrying chalk and olive oil and all of presses. And, so, we were digging in a cave that was from the intertestamental period, a time between the Old and the New Testaments and finding pottery. Ezekiel and I went down, and we dug this…this cave and we found some pottery. Everybody found some pottery. There were some bones found and some cooking pot fragments found with soot from the…the fires, you know, 2000+ years ago. So, like, 2200, 2300 years ago. So, that’s cool. That’s amazing. And then we had a picnic lunch. Beautiful, beautiful day. Beautiful, like really probably the most pleasant day that we’ve had on the entire trip. We’ve had really good weather, but this was just a beautiful day to be outside having a picnic. And then before leaving we…we explored another cave. It’s called the Bell Cave, a huge quarry. Really impressive to be in this massive space that had been carved out over time by hand. Really, really impressive. And we appreciated that. And it’s really striking. Lots of pictures. And then I left there and went to the site of the ancient biblical city of Lachish. This is a place that people don’t really go much, and we don’t spend a lot of time there. But it’s also really important in the Bible. This was like the second most powerful city in Judah next to Jerusalem. And Sennacherib, the Assyrian king who was trying to push his invasion after conquering the northern kingdom trying to push his agenda into the southern kingdom had conquered Lachish and then sent all these intimidating messages to Jerusalem. And the Lord spoke that he will not get in and he didn’t. So, he conquered Lachish but then he had the go home and…and he was taken out assassinated. But the siege works, the way that they built a mound so that they can get battering rams and soldiers up to the walls and, you know, try to eventually break them down and get into the city and take the city, the remnants of what they built there to get in are still there. Like, it looks like part of the hill until you and know what you’re looking at. But that has made Lachish like a UNESCO world heritage site because it’s the only…it’s the only siege works from the Assyrian Empire that are left to be observed. And they were a brutal, ruthless, notoriously brutal people when they conquered other peoples. And, so, you know, we just…we didn’t spend a lot of time, but we did look at that and…and just located ourselves and appreciated where this is and so that when we encounter it in the Bible we understand where we’re talking about. And then moving back northward on our way back to Jerusalem we went through the Valley of Elah, sort of a border valley between the Philistines and the Israelites in ancient times. And there are number of cities all along that Valley. And we just located, sort of situated, what was going on in the David and Goliath story and then considered the David and Goliath story and our own giants and fighting those giants. And we could go down to the brook that runs through the valley. So, the one that David would’ve approached and gathered his stones as he crossed over to face the giant. And, so, we could see that and even maybe grab some stones and take some pictures before jumping back on the bus and heading back to Jerusalem. So, beautiful beautiful day in a beautiful beautiful part of the country experiencing some pretty monumental things in the Scriptures and…and just adding to our understanding of the geography of the land and the biblical geography as we read it. And, so, that was great. Today we will be centering ourselves in the story of Jesus final days and I look forward to sharing that with you.

Thank you for your prayers. Thank you so much for your prayers. We’re at the point now where we’ve been hard charging for a couple weeks and so we’re full and our minds are full and our minds are tired and are our bodies are tired because we’ve really invested into seeing everything that we can see - north, south, east and west, and write down the middle. Like, to see all these regions takes effort and we’ve been putting that effort in. And now we have to begin the process of thinking about packing and, you know, airports and flight changes and long flights and just coming home and reentering and working back through jet lag and all that. We’re just starting to think about that and just asking for you to pray for us as we return back. We are coming home full and we are coming home changed, but it does take a minute to kind of unpack and allow all of this to become a part of who we are. And, so, thank you for your continued prayers as we prepare to move toward home, toward our homes.

If you want partner with the Daily Audio Bible thank you humbly. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can Hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Coming soon…

Leviticus 4:1-5:19, Mark 2:13-3:6, Psalm 36:1-12, Proverbs 10:1-2

Today is the 17th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today, greetings once again, from the holy city of Jerusalem. We spent our day in and around Jerusalem yesterday. Today, we will be heading into the lowlands, but ending up back here in Jerusalem tonight. This has been a whirlwind; this is our second to the last day of the tour. So, tomorrow a big day, long day, but it concludes our tour and that has kind of flown by, as it does; feels like we’ve been here for a good six weeks but we don’t want to miss anything. And so, it’s drinking from a fire hose and packing it all in, but it is wonderful to be here with you today and we’ll talk about all that in a little bit. But we are here around the Global Campfire, all over the world together, to take the next step forward. We began the book of Leviticus yesterday and then we read the first three chapters of Leviticus. Today, Leviticus 4 and 5.

Commentary:

Okay, so, we talked quite a bit about sin today in the book of Leviticus. And one thing that we can notice right off the bat, is that God was being extraordinarily intentional about keeping the cost of sin clear, that it had a cost. And so, we went through the tedium of how a sacrifice had to be given, where blood had to be sprinkled, and what fingers had to be dipped, and what horns of the altar and all of this stuff. We can kind of like just tune out, like thank God we’re not doing that anymore because…because we claim the blood of Christ over our sin. So, it’s almost easy to get to Leviticus and go, man, I do not relate and that’s where the journey ends, like I was saying at the beginning. But that would really be missing the point; sin against God has always been what estranges us from God. Like, that’s been the story since the second day we started reading the Bible this year, since we’re back in the garden of Eden. And that truth, which is still true today, is being woven into the fabric of this new culture that is being formed in the wilderness among the children of Israel. So, sin required a sacrifice and going through that process was tedious. So, we can wonder like, seriously, God, the Almighty God is this bloodthirsty, He needs all this blood from all these animals, He needs to smell it? Like, is He really like that? I would have to say no, He’s not. Sin destroys people and so, in this context, sin would destroy God’s chosen people, that has not changed, sin, like look around you. Sin leads to death and destruction, in this culture that is being formed in the wilderness that is being baked in, like impossible to miss because it’s so much of the ritual and procedure of any given day. We, like we don’t have to do that. And so, it’s easy for us to not even pay a attention to what we’re doing and the impact that it’s having on us and those around us. For them, at the inauguration of this people, it is embedded as a foundational truth and view of who they are and how to live. We read it as instructions in the book of Leviticus but if we step back and think about the practicality that is, like going to your flock, and I know some of us have flocks, but most of us probably don’t have flocks, but we choose the spotless one, the perfect one, the one you’ve raised, maybe since it was born. And you lead the sheep, or this animal and you walk with it and you get to the place of sacrifice, and you put your hands upon its head and a blade is unsheathed and its blood is spilled, and you realize that this is happening because of your own transgression. That’s, that’s more stark and it’s supposed to be that stark, because sin is deadly. This is one of the things that the Bible repeatedly teaches us. And we can still have our, kinda our arms folded and be like yeah, I don’t know, like that’s pretty harsh. And then we find ourselves immediately going, I don’t like this procedure and then we realize we’re judging what God laid out to teach the people and we forget that there is no need for a sin offering if there isn’t sin. Like, if the people were transgressing, then there would be no sacrifice. So, it’s not the sacrifice that God’s all interested in, its holy people, set apart from sin, and holy unto Him, to reveal Him, that He’s after. Now we claim Jesus to be the sacrifice once and for all, destroying the claims of sin in our lives and that’s a beautiful thing, but it’s easy enough for us to forget that that cost something and we just moved through that story, as we were concluding the book of Matthew, just days ago. So, it should be fresh in our minds. The thing that destroys the bond of fellowship between us and God, is sin. It’s deadly, it can tear our world apart and not put it back together. So, let’s keep that in mind, not only to meditate upon in our own lives, but also, as we continue to take steps forward in the book of Leviticus.

Prayer:

So, Father, we…we thank You for Your word and this stark reminder today, that the decisions that we make, and the actions that we take have impact, impact on our own lives and souls, and impact on those around us. And You have invited us into Your story to be a holy people, that we might reveal You and Your kingdom and Your holiness to the world. Help us to remember, we ask, Jesus name. Amen.

Commentary:

Okay, so, I was mentioning we’re going into the lowlands today, but yesterday we spent the day around the old city of Jerusalem, and we got a lot of lessons on congestion and maneuvering and in Jerusalem itself, and it's…it’s as if one day in Jerusalem takes twice the energy of one day anywhere else, just because of the jostling and that’s just the difficulty in navigating around things. And there’s always something going on and always something to move around and so, whether it’s road construction or whatever. It’s a congested city with small streets and a lot of people and a lot of vehicles and that’s a recipe, for, for a lot of chaos in a lot of, a lot of different ways. And so, just maneuvering around it, it’s just daily life in the big city. That’s what we got to experience what that’s like, but we got to see everything we wanted to see and that was spectacular. So, we began our day going up on top of the Temple Mound. Seeing the Dome of the Rock, walking around, it’s really, it’s really something. It’s iconic, for sure. But there’s just all kinds of things to think about, certainly thinking about the temple, certainly thinking about the ancient people and how they lived and how Jerusalem developed over different periods of time in Jewish history. And…and just how the Dome of the Rock came to be. Just all of it. And so, we walked around and processed all of that and then moved out from the Temple Mound, down through the Muslim quarter and kind of circling back through the checkpoint to where the Western Wall is, and then kind of exiting back out the way we came in, so that we crossed the street over to the archaeology that is being done on the city of David, the earliest archaeology of ancient Jerusalem. Even some archaeology going back to Canaanite times, when the city would’ve been Jebus, but mostly centered around the establishment of the city of David. After King David concurred Jebus and made it the City of David and the development that happened there with the first palace and kind of the government buildings and the establishment of the city and then preparations for the temple, which David’s son Solomon built the first Temple, so that is pretty remarkable. I’ve been there before, many years ago, but much archaeology has been done and is ongoing and restoring as much of the original City of David as…as is possible. And so, that…that was really great. We ended up walking down and then through, there’s a couple of tunnels, that were waterways into ancient Jerusalem. So, the way that David concurred the city was through a waterway and that still exists, from that time. That’s got a lot of water in it, and you can do that, but we went through Hezekiah’s tunnel, which was a from the time of Hezekiah. So, maybe around 700 years before Jesus. Hezekiah was a great King, reforming King, and so, he…he established a lot of things, including water access and the strengthening of the walls, the Assyrian Empire had come and destroyed the northern kingdom. And so, they were preparing, as well as expanding, and we get to appreciate some of that. And then getting all the way to the pool of Siloam, which we…we can locate Jesus at, in the Scriptures. And that is actually become much more of an active archaeological venture. The steps going into the pool, some…some of the steps going into the pool had been found a while back. And so, that’s something that can definitely be visited, and you can…you can see how the steps went down into the pool. But now, I guess, the way that I understood it, the person who kind of owned the rest of the pool, well, wasn’t really willing to sell the land and so it was just kind of bush and trees and stuff like that. But they finally did. And so, they’ve moved into gear and digging up and restoring the archaeology of the entire pool of Siloam. So, that was really cool. But just in general, being able to archaeologically see some of the original stuff going on as Jerusalem was established as this focal capital city, with the temple of God in it, that's…that’s special. After that, we made our way back to the Western Wall. Some people call that the Wailing Wall, it’s because of the prayer that is generally always happening there. There are plenty times, I guess, when it’s empty, early in the morning, like when we were going on the Temple Mound, we could see the Western Wall, and there were definitely people praying there, but not a lot. I guess that’s just kinda comes and goes and depends on what time it is, but we were able to go in, and pray at the wall. The women and the men are segregated there, so the women pray on one side of it and the men on the other. I always enjoy going…going and praying at the wall. I really just have one prayer, like I go there like, what am I supposed to say. Like this is a place where people have been crying out to God for a long time, for a lot of things, and what words can I say. And I guess it’s a place that I go, that has had so much prayer happening there, that it’s like, do I just pray for my needs, and the needs of my family. And so, usually I have one word to say there and that is help, help, help us Lord, help us see. Help us. So, we…we prayed there and then walked up into the Jewish quarter, which is more than one flight of stairs, it’s a good climb of stairs to get up to the top there, were we found some lunch. It’s kind of cold, little bit rainy, thankfully it wasn’t like blowing wind and heavy rain, but it was a little chilly. And so, we got lunch and just kind of collected ourselves. And then moved toward our…our…our final destination for the day. The pools of Bethesda, where Jesus healed a man who had been waiting for 38 years. And He asked him do you want to be made well; do you want to be made whole. And we thought about that and thought about the journey that we’ve been through from the wilderness to the Galilee, to the coast, to Mount Carmel, to Jerusalem to Bethlehem, like all the places that we’ve been. And how so much of that boils down to that question that Jesus asked, do you want to be made whole? So, we spent some time there. We also went into St. Anne’s church, which is right there at the pools of Bethesda, this is a Crusader era church, that’s got remarkable acoustics. So, Jill sang for us, and we sang with her, feeling the heavenly reverberations of that space bouncing all around us and echoing. Before heading back, to catch our buses, which give us a little bit of a challenge, some road closures, some protests closing some roads about different political things. Same kind of stuff that we see in probably all of our countries, from time to time. And so, we had to do a little bit of walking to find a way to get picked up, but once we did, we navigated back to the hotel for the evening. So, fantastic day in Jerusalem around the old city. And we’re going to the lowlands today and I’m looking forward to that, and I’m looking forward to telling you about it, after it happens. Thank you for your continued prayers. Tomorrow is the last day of our journey, our pilgrimage together. And so, not only do we ask for your prayers over that, as we walk in the footsteps of Jesus final days, but also all of the packing and preparation and…and airports, and flights that are long and jostling around, and immigration and customs, and reentry and then reverse jet lag, trying to get back onto our home schedule and I just full hearts. All of the stuff that goes with that, just ask for your prayers, as we begin to think about those things. And we appreciate it very much.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. First of all, thank you, humbly, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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, this is Feddie from Florida. I’m so excited to be a part of this ministry with DAB, it has really been a blessing in my life. And I want to pray for Webster, from Tennessee. He gave a request, back on January the 8th. He was a man that talked about how he understands everything analytically and does really wanting to hear from God and to know that he has faith to believe God, in the midst of all that he’s going through. So, Webster, just want to let you know that God loves you with an everlasting love. Yes, just continue just to tune in and listen and hear and He’ll speak to your heart because you are so important to Him. So, sometimes we look at this like being like rocket science, but it really isn’t. He’ll even come to you in the still of the night and just speak a word to your heart, your soul, your mind, your spirit, so that you know that the Lord is with you. So, Father, I pray Lord God, that You will just open up Webster’s understanding. God, breath on him, Lord God, let him know that You hear his cries, You hear his prayers and that You’re with him. And God, I just pray that You’ll just give him an experience with You, like never before. Move by Your power, Your might, Your Spirit, in Webster’s life. Lord God, I declare new beginnings and that he’ll understand You in such a real way, Lord God, that You’ll just make Yourself known to him, through Your word, through even dealing with him, heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit. And God, I just plead the blood of Jesus that You will cover him and keep him. In Jesus name I pray. Amen and Amen. Have a blessed and wonderful day DABers. Bye Bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible Family, this is Michael from London. I wanna go back to the 8th of February and a request lifted up by Webster from Tennessee about faith, or he believes he has a lack of faith. And as I listened to his recording, he is showing faith by actually calling in and asking people to pray for him. So, I want to read out, Hebrews 11 verse 1 for Webster. And it says this Webster, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So, you have cried out to people, all around the world, people that you may never see, including myself, for faith. We’re gonna pray for you right now and that for anyone else who is struggling with their faith at this time, we know that Lord will hear our prayers and will do what He needs to do in our lives. Lord God Almighty, we give You thanks and praise for today. We give You thanks and praise for Webster, Lord God, and his request, Lord God, for more faith. Let him know, oh God, that he has more faith than he recognizes. He has faith as a mustard seed and that will grow to be the biggest of trees that will grow in his life to be something fundamental that will change, not only his life, but people around him. So, I pray Your blessing, oh God, strengthen, oh God, with Your words. Encourage him, oh God, that there are people all around the world praying for him, lifting him up. And anyone else, oh God, who is hearing this prayer, who is struggling with their faith, we pray Father, that they would just look to You, the author and finisher of their faith, oh God. That’s where their faith will come from. And their faith will increase and rise. So, we give You all the praise and glory right now, oh God, and bless us we ask. In Your wonderful and precious name. Thank you everybody, have a great day. God bless. Bye Bye.

Hi, DABer family, my name is Lori, calling from Telu, Mexico but I also go by Tipsy for Jesus and I just felt compelled to call. This is my first time. Calling, thank you Brian and the entire family and staff for your beautiful ministry. There was a woman who called in on February 8th, her name was Erica from San Francisco. And I had to call because she had lost her mother last August and we have a very similar story because my mother had been pouring into me, her entire life, basically. Because she wanted to see me saved. She wanted to see me follow God and His Son, Christ Jesus. So, I had to call in and give you encouragement and let you know that, that is my testimony. My mom went home to be with the Lord in 2015 and it was only until then that that’s what brought me out of my lukewarmness and really made me, the Lord’s used that to testify to my heart because of the pain of losing such a beautiful mother. And so, I wanna see your testimony fall in the same exact steps, because it is not a coincidence that your mother wanted the same thing for you and your seeking. And so, I don’t want to pray for you but instead I want to bath you with some scriptures. And the first one is James 1:17, every good and perfect gift if from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lives, with whom there is no change or shifting shadows. God is giving you this beautiful gift in your mother. So, please rejoice, please know that your mother is in the a very presence of the Lord, of Christ, and of the almighty God. And she wanted the same thing for you too. 1 Peter 5:7, I found this scripture after my mom passed. She wrote it down on a little note, it’s taped to my Bible, and it says, cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. Our almighty sovereign God and our Lord Jesus Christ, cares for your pain. They want to comfort you, they want to be there for you. And hopefully, this pain that you’re feeling right now, is going to move you to …

Good day, Daily Audio Bible family. It’s PQ and I’m calling in response to Daniel the Whole Hearted from North Carolina, rap for Renzo. Daniel I have one word, in response to your rap and that is BARS. That was a great rap. And I totally agree, and I add my faith to yours Renzo. All you now need is a dope beat and to walk that thing out. Praise the Lord. So, Father, I lift up Renzo and I thank You for this rap that Daniel created for Renzo. And I pray, Father God, that he will continue to live up to each and every line of that rap. I pray that You would anoint him from on high, to be and to do, all that You have called him to. Father God, I thank You for Renzo’s transparency, I thank You for his passion, for his love, for You and for this community. And I pray, Father God, that You would equip him and continue to bless him with wisdom beyond his age. And that You will continue to just be a shield around him and continue to give him the wisdom, Lord God, that he needs to be the man of God, that You have called him to be in the earth. Let him continue to speak Your words to his generation and to be an example to his generation and above all, I pray, Father God, that when he speaks, that You will let them hear it. In Jesus name. Amen.

Hey DAB family, this is Byron out in Florida. I hope you guys are doing well. So, Lent is coming up soon. Which is a very interesting time. I was not raised in the Christian tradition that observed Lent, had no idea what it was all about, until I started listening to the DAB years ago. Brian, observed it, as well as other parts of what they call, the Christian calendar. And eventually, I began to embrace it myself. And tried different things from Lent, and it’s lead to some of the most impactful fuel of my life. I’ve gotten out of practice of it over the last couple years and I want to get back into it. And, over the years, I transitioned from thinking of Lent as like, me giving up something, towards me doing something. And I try to pray about it beforehand, to figure out what I should do and this year, the plan is, I’m going to listen to every single second and hour of the community prayers that are aired once a weekend, in addition to the rest of the DAB prayers and readings. With the way my life is now, it’s a fight just to have enough time to listen to the DAB readings and the daily prayers, let alone multiple hours of community prayers. I don’t work a job where I could just play it in the background. And I want to be intentional in my listening. So, I have no idea how I’m going to work this out, but it’s something that I plan on doing and I covet your guy’s prayers in that regard. So, that I can fully engage into it and I also recommend that you guys pray over it too. If the Lord wants, you to commit to something for that period leading up to Resurrection Sunday. It’s lead to some really lasting and impactful changes for me, and I hope if you try, it does for you too. Love you all, praying for you all. Take care.  

Leviticus 1:1-3:17, Mark 1:29-2:12, Psalms 35:17-28, Proverbs 9:13-18

Today is the 16^th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem. We made our journey up to Jerusalem and landed yesterday, and we will be spending the day in and around Jerusalem. And we had a great day yesterday getting here and we’ll talk about all of that in a little bit, but we have gathered together around the Global Campfire to take the next step forward in the Scriptures.

Introduction to the book of Leviticus:

And as we step forward today we are encountering the third book in the Old Testament, the third book of the Torah, the book of Leviticus. So, we have been in the wilderness with the children of Israel for a little while since we’ve come out of the land of Egypt and slavery. So, we’re in the middle of the desert at this point and God is establishing the terms of the covenant between Himself and His people. And it’s been about a year since they left Egypt and the law’s being given. And we’ve been working through the construction of the tabernacle and the vestments for the priests and the process of ordination as we come out of the book of Exodus. And as we can continue forward with what God is revealing to Moses we’ll notice that everything is pulling the people together in a cohesive culture and that interweaved among everything that the people need to do to be a part of this culture is a reminder of who God is and who they are and where they’ve come from and where they are going together with God. And one of the things that we will invariably realize is that holiness is vitally important to God. The things that are being instituted into everyone’s everyday life remind them of a Holy Almighty God and that fellowship through God is through holiness. God tells them, “I am holy therefore you will be holy.” And of course, holy is being set apart, set apart unto God. So, God is saying in this fellowship, in this covenantal relationship that we are to have we can enjoy fellowship and intimacy through holiness. And as we read through Leviticus, we will find that here’s a lot of blood in this book, a lot of sacrifice, a lot of animal sacrifice. We can check out. People get to the book of Leviticus and they’re like, I don’t know what’s going on here. I don’t know what I’m reading. I…and that’s kind of where the journey ends. But if we actually press in we’ll see that God is teaching the children of Israel who are coming out of slavery and are having a complete identity shift in the wilderness that sin breaks fellowship, that sin leads to destruction, that it leads to death, that it leads away from holiness, and that it costs us. And as the people are taught to offer sacrifices that is ever present. That theme is ever present, and it’s being woven right into the fabric of the culture. And, so, we will see the burnt offering and the grain offering and peace offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering and…and how they’re to be offered and we’ll see how things are consecrated - the consecration of the priests and their families. And we’ll learn about what is clean and what is unclean. And we’ll learn about celebrations and festivals and feasts that are…that are celebrations and parties but are reminders of who God is and who they are and where they’re going as He invites these people to become His own people and to be a nation of priests to the nations, to reveal God to the nations, to put the world back together. And all of this against the backdrop of the absolute and utter holiness of the sovereign Lord. And, so, with that we dive in and begin Leviticus chapters 1, 2, and 3 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for this new territory that we are moving into in the book of Leviticus. Thank You for bringing us through two books in the Old Testament. And now through Matthew, now we’re in Mark in the New. We are moving forward day by day, step-by-step, and You have brought us this far and we ask that You continue to lead us day by day step-by-step deeper in our understanding and deeper in our relationship with You. Guide our steps, we pray, and help us to be attentive in paying attention to where You are leading, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Commentary:

Okay. So, on our journey here in the land of the Bible we have reached the holy city of Jerusalem and that took all day yesterday to get here. We had plenty of ground to cover and some things to see. But we are in the holy city now and kind of getting settled in. This is where we’ll stay until we depart, and we have some places to see certainly in Jerusalem and some places to see…places to see outside of Jerusalem but we’ll be staying here. And, so, that is good to arrive here. It was really just a couple days ago we were leaving the sea of Galilee. That genuinely feels like a week ago, but that's…that’s just kind of how it works when you’re covering a lot of ground and packing a lot of stuff in. And, so, yesterday we left the Mediterranean coast and moved in land and basically to the middle of the land and then we began to head southward with…with the intention of just kind of moving right down the middle through the land of biblical Samaria. And the first place that we went was Shiloh. And this is…this is an active archaeological dig that like there are still things going on there, but there are a lot of things uncovered and it’s believed it to be Shiloh, the…sort of first capital of Israel. So, the children of Israel were wandering around in the wilderness with the tabernacle. And we saw a replica of that tabernacle down in the wilderness. But when the children of Israel moved into the land, the tabernacle had a permanent home at Shiloh for like four centuries. So, we often think of Jerusalem, this is the holy city, this is the capital city, this is…this is where the action is but there was a time and there were centuries before that where Shiloh was the place. And of course, there are stories about Shiloh that are famous in the Scriptures. The story of Samuel and his mother, Hannah takes place there and their annual pilgrimage to Shiloh, where she wants to have a son and then when she does have a son and she gives him back and Samuel becomes the final judge of Israel. That’s getting a little ahead of the story for where we are this year, but we will eventually learn of the time of the judges, and we will eventually meet Samuel. And, so, maybe we’ll remember that that happened in Shiloh. And then so we spent some time there. Chilly morning, little bit chilly but not freezing cold or anything like that, just a little nippy here in…in Israel this time. But we spent some time there and then began moving southward. We had lunch at a winery that is there on the way that we like to…we like to enjoy and have lunch there. Really really good food. And then…then we got ready because things change as we move toward Bethlehem and in Jerusalem we’re moving into a big city with a lot going on, a very very different kind of feeling than any of the other regions that we visited in the land so far. And, so, we got together and talked through going into Bethlehem moving through checkpoints and stuff like that and going to the church of the Nativity and Palestinian guides getting on the bus and getting to know them, just getting ready for all of it, the onslaught of the busy city when we had been out of that kind of environment for a while. And then we proceeded and went into Bethlehem to the church of the Nativity. And that takes some effort and some coordination and some time. It’s just not easy to run in. Like you can’t just drive-up, go to the parking lot, park your car, get out of your car, walk in and see what you want to see and them drive away. There’s like a bit of a production to get in and out. There’s a lot of congestion and we’re moving around on tour buses. So, lots of congestion but we made it. And it’s like we came between, I guess some big waves of people because as we were on our way to the church of the Nativity the…the guides were telling us kind of what the…what the crowds were like and they were saying, yeah, earlier…you know…a a few days ago very, very empty, but last time they were there, which we had been a few hours earlier there was a couple of our wait to go down into the grotto, into the caves where…where it is believed that Jesus was born. And, so, we didn’t…we didn’t know but when we came we…there was not a lot of pilgrims there. And, so, we were able to spend some time just really learning about the place and taking our time and going down into the cave. And where’s a star that commemorates the spot that Jesus is to have been born. And that’s just a little star kind of over the bed rock. This place has been visited for a couple thousand years. So, people in antiquity all the way through modern times, until…until the star…right? Who’s not gonna try to chip off a little piece of rock or something to take home from the place where Jesus is born. So, a lot of these places are like that. They have to protect the ground and the rocks and stuff like that. And, so, there’s a star over where Jesus was born and everybody gets a minute or a moment anyway to…to gaze upon it, appreciate what we’re talking about. And spent some time in the cave. And there’s this spot where the manger was supposed to have been where Jesus was laid in the manger. It’s a combination of several churches over a site and it is this struggle to explain the unexplainable, to explain that Emmanuel, God is with us, God came to be with us, became one of us. And, so, thousands of years of…of not only venerating and appreciating a spot but also trying to explain and understand through art and poetry and architecture and…and just the different eras. I mean we’re looking at really really old stuff. Like there’s part of the mosaic flooring from the original building from the 300s onwards all the way up until today. And there have been some pretty major reconstruction or restoration projects going on at the church of the Nativity for the last couple times I had been there, scaffolding everywhere, that kind of thing. But that’s all done now. And, so, it was beautiful. Beautifully done. Beautiful. So, we took our time. Spent some time there, saw it, and then moved back through the crush of Bethlehem towards our buses and all the shopkeepers and little things going on trying to keep altogether and keep ourselves moving in the same direction. And then, by the time we got back to the buses it’s like all of that, it took all day and we’re tired. We had to start, really, really early and then we got into all of the congestion. And, so, by the time we did get into Jerusalem to our hotel we were ready to be off the bus and ready to unpack and ready to have dinner and ready to get some rest because it’s another big day today. We will spend the day in Jerusalem all around the old city and really appreciating Jerusalem.

And, so, once again thank you for your continued prayers as we move toward the final few days of our journey here in the land of the Bible. And we are still posting pictures on social media as they happen. So, pretty much the whole trip you can kind of go the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page or the Daily Audio Bible Instagram page and…and see what we’re talking about, what I’m trying to describe for yourself. So, check that out.

And what is the other thing. I am told…so before we left for Israel we got these brand-new Daily Audio Bible hats and beanies and those were gone pretty quick. And we didn’t know but they were gone pretty quick. They were sold out pretty quick. So, before we left, we had ordered some more and those…they are in stock in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. So, if were looking for one and they were sold out unless they’re sold out again pretty quick you should be able to grab one. So, those are in the Daily Audio Bible Shop in the Lifestyle section. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you humbly. Thank you. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you are using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is…I was gonna say Penny Saved from southwest Missouri but I’m now the Woman at the Well. And I just heard Webster from February 8^th and I loved what I heard, not because of your discouragement of course but because of your dedication, the fact that you still feel like, you know, you're…you’re in this cycle of addiction and yet you’re still staying in the word, which is exactly what I did Webster. I was…well…I was 17 years and totally out of control in an addictive compulsive lifestyle and then I kind of traded that addiction in for drink and then guess what my life even got worse. What do you know? But I will say that the one consistent, and you guys have heard me say this, was staying in the word and I was literally pouring Daily Audio Bible into my life more and more and more until I truly looked back, and it was like I had been transformed when I wasn’t watching. And it…it happens in a miraculous way because it is a miracle. God’s word does heal, it is alive, it is working on you. Even if you don’t feel it Webster it is. And I am so proud of you. You just stay in the word and a transformation will take place because when you’re in the word you’re literally spending time with God and you are becoming more like Him. Even if you don’t feel like you are it is changing you because God’s word is alive, and it does miracles. And, so, you hang in there. You’re doing great. I love you guys.

Dear DAB this is Jan from Maryland and I’ve never called in before so I’m a first-time caller, but I’ve been listening for several years. I witnessed something last week that was distressing to me, and it was a young girl, she couldn’t have been more than 12 or 13 being manipulated by and older but youngish man. And I believe it was either at the very least being given drugs or at the very worst sex trafficking. By the time I figured it out it was too late, so I called the police. But still I don’t know her name. I don’t know who she is, but I hope I never in my life forget her face. I don’t want her to be a forgotten child. So, I ask you to join me in prayer to help her…to help her. So, dear God Holy Father please be with this young child who was in a situation beyond her control. Cover her with Your protection and help her and all others like her to be free and to know and love You in a life that’s full of love and care. Give us all strength to help watch for this and to be with those people who are in need. I know of anything this will help. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Hi, my name is Danny I just wanted to tell the simple-minded plumber I’m an air conditioning mechanic myself and you always kind of feel like you can do better as a parent. Just know and trust God. And the best thing you can do is love your kids like Christ loved us. Yes, we’re going to be making mistakes left and right but trust them and love them and most of all trust God. And things could have been different, but they’re not so just keep loving them man. Take my word for it. I have three and I feel like I haven’t done a good job, but I do pray for them every day daily just like Job did. Remember.

Hello DAB family my name is Kevin. Three weeks ago, I received divorce papers from my wife and have been feeling pretty broken and also have been feeling pretty close to God. Just…I’m worried about my kids and I’m worried about my wife. And I just…I don’t know. Just ask that you would be with them and that you would bless this house. Thank you for bringing me close to You again in this hard time and I ask that You would just stay in my heart. I really wish this wouldn’t happen and I realize it’s not my power. And, so, I surrender, and I give it to You. Please pray for me.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible community this is Diane Olive and Jeff Braun at 6:33 AM central time on February the 10^th 2023. And I just got through listening to Brian Hardin speak of the way they treated Jesus, how Judas betrayed Him with a kiss and how they slapped Him and pulled out His beard and…and then the high priest tells that they’re going to crucify Him and then they all abandon Him. Not one was left to be with Him. And Jeff is sleeping right now I wanna wake him up and talk about this, but I am here by myself and I just wanna say thank you Jesus. What you did for us nobody ever did. And if you can forgive us, I can forgive others and I release everyone who has ever abused me or hurt me in forgiveness now. And I thank you Brian and the family of Daily Audio Bible for helping me understand the price my precious Jesus paid and the Father created You and the Holy Spirit interprets everything…

Exodus 39:1-40:38, Mark 1:1-28, Psalm 35:1-16, Proverbs 9:11-12

Today is the 15th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you today, on the Mediterranean coast. We are kind of, we began our journey on the Mediterranean coast south of here in Ashdod, we’re well up into the North, near Caesarea. Had a great day yesterday, kind of migrating out of the Galilee, which is always a little bit sad to leave behind. Made our way to the coast and we could talk about all that in a little bit but we’re here at the beginning, and we have gathered around the Global Campfire today, to take the next step forward together on our journey through the Scriptures, and what a joy it is to be able to immerse ourselves in the actual land of the Bible and go through this together and see some of these places where the Bible happened. Like I said, we’ll talk about that a little bit more in a little bit. In the Old Testament today, we will be moving back to right where we left off, which is in the book of Exodus, where all of the things around the priesthood that need to be made to lead the people into worship are being made and we’re continuing to see that today with the priestly, with the garments that the priests will wear. When we get to the New Testament today, we enter the second Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, and we will talk about that when we get there. But first, Exodus chapters 39 and 40.

Introduction to the Book of Mark:

Okay, so, that concludes the book of Exodus. So, we’ll be moving forward tomorrow, but now we are entering into the second of the Gospels, the Gospel of Mark. So, let’s get our bearings. Mark was not a disciple, one of the 12, he wasn’t an apostle. He was really a long-term follower and disciple of the apostle Peter and Mark first shows up in the Bible in the book of Acts. He’s known as John Mark and he lived in Jerusalem, and it seems that he came from a reasonably wealthy family. According to the book of Acts, his mother’s name was Mary. She had a big house and a servant named Rhoda and Mary was an early believer and she had opened her home to early believers for worship. There are some church traditions, this isn’t in the Bible, but there are some church traditions that…that place her home as the spot where the upper room was, where the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers after Jesus ascension. So, we get the picture that Mark was around the faith from the beginning, even…even as a boy. In the book of Acts we have this story of the apostle Peter, who had been captured by Herod and we’ll…we’ll certainly read the story when we get to it later, and Herod has the intention of executing Peter. He put some other Christians to death, seemed to make people happy, was planning to execute Peter but an angel came and…and helped Peter escape from jail. And then it was to Mary’s house, to John Mark’s house, that Peter went. And as the story goes, there were a number of believers there in the house, John Mark’s house, and they’re praying for Peter. And then Peter shows up, knocking on the door. And so, Rhoda, the servant girl comes, answers the door. She sees Peter she…she can’t believe her eyes. She slams the door on Peter, runs back in to tell everybody, Peter’s outside. So, this is a wonderful story, but this gives us a little texture, little glimpse about who Mark is. And so, even from a boy John Mark’s been around the Gospel. He has a cousin; his name is Barnabas. Barnabas is a dear friend of the apostle Paul. So, we’ll watch Mark go with Paul and Barnabas on Paul’s first missionary journey. Mark leaves that journey and that causes a little bit of a rift between Paul and Barnabas. And it’s thought that ultimately Mark becomes like a disciple to the apostle Peter, so he travels with Peter, serving as his assistant, his disciple, as his interpreter, everywhere that Peter goes sharing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. So…so, John Mark has heard what Peter teaches repeatedly, over and over, city-to-city, and he eventually writes it down. So, then what we have in the Gospel of Mark, is, at least in part, what Peter was traveling around teaching, the Gospel that he was teaching. And most scholars agree, Mark was himself, the writer of this Gospel. There is speculation as there’s prone to be like no sets, very few sets of scholars agree on everything. And so, there’s speculation about the time that the Gospel of Mark was written, but most scholars land that this is the earliest of the Gospels ever written, and that is the first of the synoptic Gospels, those being, Matthew, Mark and Luke. And they’re called the synoptic Gospels because they share so much of the same material, and so many of the same stories, that most scholars believe that, for example, that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a bit of a template, even though Mark and Luke tell the stories and add things into the stories, nuances into the stories, details into the stories, that we don’t have in the Gospel of Mark. And so, that’s what makes them the synoptic Gospels. And so, as we read Mark, we believe we are reading the first Gospel written about Jesus. And so, with that in mind, we begin, the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1 verse 1 through verse 28 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for every day that You allow us to immerse ourselves in it and allow it to speak and inform our lives. We thank You for these…these times of transition, as we’ve concluded the book of Exodus today, and we prepared to move forward tomorrow into the book of Leviticus. And even as we have begun the gospel of Mark, today, we thank you for bringing us this far into the Scriptures and we thank You for all that you have spoken so far in this year. And we look forward with great anticipation, for all that You have yet to teach us in this year, all that will be touched and transformed by the power of Your Holy Spirit and the counsel of the Scriptures in our lives. And so, as we so often do, we pray, Holy Spirit, come into all that we’ve read today, plant it in our lives, lead us into all truth. We pray, in the precious mighty name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Announcements:

Okay so, as I was mentioning yesterday, we had to leave the Galilee and we have, and we worked our way back to the Mediterranean coast, which is where we begin a very early morning as we head inland and southward through the interior, making our way toward Jerusalem, where we should end tonight. But yesterday leaving the Galilee, we went south to the Decapolis City of Beth Chan, which are pretty impressive ruins and it’s really just a fraction of what’s under the ground, maybe 5 or 10% of what’s under the ground, it was a city of the Decapolis. It was a very large, very powerful, very influential city. And even looking at the ruins that exist you can tell that, and it has been a settled civilization for millennia, through many different seasons and different peoples. So, we did some time exploring around there and it really is an impressive sight to see. So, we spent a generous portion of time, beautiful morning another beautiful day to travel, and then after Beth Chan, we began moving through the Jezreel Valley, and I just kind of driving through a valley that we gazed upon from Nazareth, when we were at Mount Precipice, you can really look into the Jezreel Valley and that is an impressive thing to see, incredibly biblical site. Today we’re driving through that valley and pointing out and looking at some of the things that we had gazed upon from Mount Precipice, a little bit more up close, making our way westward toward the coast. So we drove by things like the ruins of…of the ancient city of Jezreel, by the ruins of Megiddo, on our way up Mount caramel and we got to the top of Mount Carmel and explored the story of Elijah, and a showdown with the prophets of Bal, who were serving their Queen Jezebel and about Elijah calling the people back to God and God answering with fire from heaven, and Elijah running away once Jezebel found out that her prophets were dead, she was intent on killing Elijah. And so, we just explored that story there. And then there’s also a fantastic view from the top of Mount Carmel, looking down into the Jezreel Valley, also known as the Valley of Armageddon. So, you look down on that and you think about the prophecies about the Valley of Armageddon and its, you know reconciling those things is really interesting because it’s a beautiful Valley, it’s a fertile valley. It’s a huge Valley, and so, the showdown that is foretold there, it’s just, you look at it and you go wow, wow, this is…this is pretty incredible. So, just processing that, taking it in, is…is…is great and challenging and good. And so, we spent some time there and then started our way back down Mount Carmel, moving through the village populated by the Druze people and we stopped and had lunch with them, a beautiful lunch and filled our bellies. And…and then moved on down Mount Carmel all the way to the coast and then south along the coast, to the ancient ruins of Caesarea Marittima, which was essentially the Roman capital of the region, where the governance of the region took place. This is a city that was conceived of and and…and constructed by Herod the Great and it was meant to be a jewel, a real attraction, a real, legitimate Roman empires city in the region at the other end of the Mediterranean Sea. And those ruins are equally as impressive as any other, and…and they are also, just a fraction of what it was, but enough to get a glimpse, enough to get an understanding that this was a powerful, influential affluence, well established city with all of the modern technologies of that era, that day. And so, we spent another generous portion of time there just really just immersing ourselves in the site, it’s right on the Mediterranean coast. And it was really beautiful day, another really beautiful day for us. When we began our journey, I don’t know how many days ago that is, it seems like of a long time back, we began on the Mediterranean coast in Ashdod, and the remnants of a pretty aggressive storm, that even had a name, the storm was called Deborah, it was moving through and so very windy, very choppy, angry sea. Today, not so much, very calm, serene, beautiful there on the Mediterranean coast. And so, we finished our day, it was quite a good amount of traveling today. And so, we got back on the buses and about another half an hour drive south along the coast to where we had landed for the night. And we got in and got settled and everybody’s feeling fatigued and that’s just the nature, the nature of it. But we got some rest, had to get up early and…and like I said, head inland. And I look forward to telling you about that, after it happens. And so, once again, thank you for your continued prayers. We are moving toward the final phase of our journey, as we base ourselves in Jerusalem and spoke out from there, a little bit. And so that’s a completely new complexion in front of us, as we approached Jerusalem. And just the…the tensions that are there and the history that is there, and the remarkable things we get to see there, all whipped up into a blend. And so, thank you for your continued prayers, as we move into that phase. We love you, and yeah, even as a community we’re talking about you, every day, thinking about everybody, and so thank you for your prayers.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Thank you, thank you, humbly. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudioible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hi there, Daily Audio Bible family. It’s His Precious Seen One from the UK. It’s been a while since I’ve called, my apologies. Just wanted to come on here and pray for everyone who is out on the trip in Israel. I pray that God will give you a fresh revelation of His glory. I pray that you will experience Him in new way. I pray that you will be blessed in your going out and your coming in and your moving about. I pray that He will cover you with His wings of protection and that in everything that you will just experience God in a truly new way. Amen. I am a little bit jealous. I’m not sure how it works for us in the UK, making it over but anyway, that’s beside the point. Have a wonderful time out there. I pray for everyone else who’s put in a prayer request. I pray that God will meet you all at the point of your needs. And that He will just continue to cover you will His precious arms of love and I pray that you know, you will enjoy His sweetness. In Jesus name. Amen. And also, just a final thing from me, if you could please pray for me concerning my marriage. You know, I’d really appreciate it. Yes, thank you so much. God bless you. Hope to speak to you all again very soon. Have a lovely day. Have a lovely rest of your day and whatever you’re doing. And a reminder, I may not see you, but I hear you and I love you. God Bless you. Take care.

Hello, my name is Tracy. I’ve been married 31 years. My husband’s walked out on me two weeks ago. We have a decent marriage; we’ve had our shares of ups and downs but mostly ups. And we just got off vacation, he was acting strange on vacation but when we got back, he told me that his journey with me ends here. I have been trying to keep my head up and be okay. Have people praying for me but I’ve heard that God has something better for me, things like that. I just don’t know that that’s the kind of God we serve that would be okay with a 31-year marriage ending. We are both Christians. As far as him, I mean that what was portrayed to me from him, so. I pray that you all please pray that whatever’s going on with him that he would come to his senses and talk to me and maybe we can get back to being married. I don’t know. I should be angry, and I am at times. Until I tell myself, fine, I don’t want anything else to do with him. If he can live without me, surely, I can live without him. But I just, I’m not able to do this. I don’t know what to do. So, if you all would just, please pray. Maybe God would hear your prayers, because He doesn’t seem to be hearing mine. So, thank you very much. I love the Daily Audio Bible. I know you’ve been able to help a lot of people. Have a blessed day. Thank you. Bye.

Greetings my dearly beloved DAB community. This is Fill My Cup from California. I hope that February is treating you as well as it can be. If not, I pray that it gets better. I’m calling to pray for a few people. Father, thank You so much for giving us life. Father, some of us maybe in the hospital, at home, traveling, everywhere, but Lord Father, we thank You’ve given us life. Father, that in giving us life, You’re giving us a purpose for each day. Lord, I pray for Webster. I pray that You guide him, as he needs encouragement and he’s feeling, he’s just feeling things right now, but I pray Father, for your comfort and Your guidance and please surround him with a community and friendships that…that help him, Father. And that he feels that he is also contributor to encouraging their faith. I pray for Erica in San Francisco whose mom just passed away and she was the rock of their family. I pray Father, that you comfort them during this time, Lord. And I pray that through this grieving time, dear Lord, they see You at work more and more. And that also, You raise up someone within the family to be that the next builder of bonds in them, dear God. I thank You so much for hearing Duncan Holms, I hadn’t heard his voice in so long and I’m so grateful that he called in. I pray that You help him to bless his concerts as they come and also, the weather, that it gets better. And all his traveling. Father, please be with everyone in Israel and guide them and protect them. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Hello DAB family, this is Skylar from Virginia. Long time listener, first time caller. I’m asking for prayers, financial, I’m having a lot of problems with meeting the bills. And my job is really getting me down. Also, the enemy has been keeping out of church but I’m getting back to it now. And I feel like my walk is starting to get better with the Lord. But, I need prayers. I need spiritual warriors. I need prayers for financial help to meet the bills. And my wife is planning to go in for her third spinal surgery in six weeks. And I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to prepare for it right now. Family, I truly need your prayers. Please, heavenly Father, Hear me. I love you all and thank you for your support. And my God bless and keep all of you. And I’ll keep you all in my prayers. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name I ask these things. Amen.

Hi, this is a prayer of encouragement for Webster. This is Sherrie, By His Grace, Sherrie in New England. And I wanna say, Webster, I believe in you, and I believe that you can conquer sin and addiction and even the mental struggles that you have with those two, you know they’re there. And the Bible tells us that these things are the things that keep us from being close to the Lord, from building a relationship with the Lord. Let me say that you are so, so blessed to have family members and church members praying for you and lifting you up and trying to help you in your healing. But you, Webster, need to do the work and talk to the Lord and observe the addiction or the sins, one, little, tiny one at a time. And I feel like with you knowing that, you know, that you know, that you will grow closer to the Lord. So, give it your best effort, one little step at a time. We will be listening Webster; we will be waiting for that call to come in where you are giving praise to the Lord for His work that you’re doing and the work that He’s putting you on the road to healing. I know it will happen, Webster, you want it, and you know the steps you need to take, and I am praying for you and all the other DAB members, I’m sure are praying for you as well. In Jesus name. Amen.

Exodus 37:1-38:31, Matthew 28:1-20, Psalms 34:11-22, Proverbs 9:9-10

Today is the 14^th day of February Happy St. Valentine’s Day today. It is great to be here with you. Once again coming from the Galilee. We will be leaving the Galilee today, but we did have a wonderful day yesterday in this region and around the Sea of Galilee. But we can talk about that more at the end. We are here at the beginning. And, so, let’s dive in. We’ll obviously pick up where we left off yesterday and we will see that the things that God instructed to be constructed, to be built are being made…are being made. Exodus chapters 37 and 38.

Commentary:

Okay. So, it’s Valentine’s Day and we celebrate love, right? We celebrate our partners and maybe flowers, maybe chocolate, maybe going out to eat, just a special day to commemorate the relationships that we have and to celebrate love and an appropriate passage to read in the Gospel of Matthew, because this is…this is the story of…of the greatest love bestowed upon humanity that has ever been. And, so, we read today the story of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. He had trusted the Father. He had drunk from the cup that he had asked if it there was any it could pass. He had drunk it. He had trusted all the way into death and returned victorious to life. Obviously, we commemorate and greatly celebrate this story at Easter. This is the Easter story. And, so, if we’ve been around for a long time we know that and so we commemorate it and we know of the resurrection and it becomes part of the story of our faith, but we’re talking right now about the event that changed everything. It changed everyone who was following Jesus and it changed the world going forward all the way right up until this very day. And, so, Matthew tells us about the women both named Mary going to the tomb only to have an encounter they were not expecting, an angelic visitation, a rolling away of the stone, and instructions that Jesus was no longer there and that they should meet him in the Galilee, which ironically is where we’re at. And, so, it’s very poignant. But we also got to see the scene where Jesus has risen from the dead and the word has gotten into Jerusalem to the very people that were trying to stamp Jesus out, killing him, having him killed so that the story would just die away. And, so, they payoff the soldiers that were guarding the tomb and spread around the room or the Jesus disciples had come and stolen the body. Meanwhile, they’re in the Galilee meeting with Jesus. And we actually bring the gospel of Matthew to a close today. So, well done. We have now concluded our first full book in the New Testament. So, in both in Old and New Testaments. We have completed our first books. The gospel of Matthew ends with the words of Jesus. “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.” And, so, a tremendous promise that we will never be abandoned, that Jesus is with us, that Jesus holds all authority in heaven and on…and on earth and has bestowed authority upon us to obey His instructions. It’s like Jesus is saying it is accomplished, which is what He said from the cross. It is finished. It has been done. Now go tell everybody. Go tell everybody the good news. And is there anything better, like on Valentine’s Day that we could receive as I note from Jesus from the Scriptures today then to be told, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Let’s carry that in our hearts today.

Prayer:

Jesus we…we thank You for all love that is really beyond our full comprehension and a display of love that has changed the very landscape of the world and its people. We thank You for loving us enough to come here and be one of us and identify with us and experience what we experience in a way that we can see and so that we can never really say God doesn’t understand what I’m going through. You do. And You lived and You modeled, and You endured and You showed us what humanity can be even in a fallen world. Now we live our lives imitating You because this is the way to life, and You have provided it and You have loved us, and we love You and we are grateful. Lead us forward in our lives. Give us wisdom for our steps, lead us into all truth Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

Okay. So, as I mentioned at the beginning we’re leaving the Galilee today, which is always a little bittersweet. It’s a little sad. It's…it’s a remarkable place to visit and the serenity of the Galilee is…is beautiful. And, so, it’s hard to say goodbye even though I have to say goodbye to move forward into the next…the next regions that we need to visit before we can conclude our journey together. And, so, we’ll talk about where we’re going and how we got there and all that after it happens.

But we were able to spend a really beautiful, like near perfect day around the Sea of Galilee yesterday beginning on the Mount of Beatitudes where we just simply immersed ourselves in the sermon on the Mount, that the…that the place represents. And we just allowed ourselves to be people of the villages coming to hear this rabbi up on this hill, and just listened to His sermon and reflected upon His sermon on the Mount as we visited the site and enjoyed it. It’s a little different than the last time I was here. They…they had a fire and I remember reading about that in the news several months ago but realizing now like it…it was an intentionally set fire and thankfully it didn’t burn any buildings but it burned a whole section of the gardens. And it’s a serene place that’s really really beautiful and it really ruined a whole section that has to be kinda cleaned out and trees that can be salvaged…salvaged, and ones that can’t. And they have to be removed and the whole place will have to kind of re-grow in that area. That wasn’t a diminishment to the…to the experience. It’s having been there a lot of times it was…it was different, but we had a beautiful time there on a beautiful morning. And then coming down from the hill we went down right to the Sea of Galilee right to the shore right as…right as the glassy waves just, lapped up against the shore to a place that is a commemorative spot for Jesus cooking His disciples breakfast on the shore and asking them once again to cast their nets on the other side. And once again a hall of fish comes in and they are restored and they have breakfast together and Jesus presses into Peter - do you love me? And we just explored all of that passage of Scripture from that place and then spent some time just right on the shore, like right at the water’s edge on again like a beautiful day. It was so serene. And the Sea of Galilee when we got here the winds came in and it was really really windy but today very, very calm, very still, very beautiful. So, we moved from there to Capernaum, the kind of ground zero for Jesus’ ministry. The kind of adult hometown of Jesus and just explored that place, which is really remarkable. It’s remarkable to be there and think everything kind of started here, everything expanded from this place and thousands of years later we are drawn to this place like a big circle. We’ve come back to where it began and where so much ministry happen and where Jesus spent so much of His time and just considered that He ate there and that He drank there and that He laughed there and that He saw fires there and cooked there and just had a life there among the people. Quite remarkable. So, we spent a generous amount of time just being there, enjoying being there, learning about the place considering that we’re standing where Jesus stood. Pretty cool. In fact, more than pretty cool. It’s like it’s hard to say what the words are for the way that you feel in those moments. Remarkable! And, so, we spent a good amount of time there and Capernaum and then headed out to lunch really really close nearby really to just the other side of the Capernaum site. Had some lunch and then went around the other side of the lake and got on a boat and went sailing on the sea of Galilee for a while worshiping God, enjoying a few moments of silence. The boat drivers shut the engines down for us and we just floated freely on the Sea of Galilee for a few minutes. And it’s so interesting when that silence sets and when everybody stops talking when we just sit…just for a few minutes. It’s incredible how alive the silence is and how rejuvenating it feels. And then Jill, she stood up and sang over us and we sang along with her and entered back into worship and just enjoyed the serenity of the Sea of Galilee, knowing that Jesus calmed storms on this sea, Jesus walked on this water, everywhere that we’re looking Jesus, He gazed upon these hills. He gazed upon this like. He saw what we’re seeing. And yeah, it’s a couple thousand years later and so technology has changed everything, but…but not the landscape so much. And, so, just being there in those moments really really beautiful. And then we moved from there to our last stop around the Sea of Galilee. And that is the Valley of the doves. And so that is at the base of Mount Arbel. And Mount Arbel is a very distinct peak in the Galilee, very very noticeable. And those of you who have ever been here, you know what I’m talking about. So, there’s a pathway through there through the valley, the ancient pathway, the ancient traveling road between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. So, we walked just a bit up the valley, not too far and just looked around. It’s just strikingly gorgeous and it was. The sun was going down so it was kind of the golden hour and everything’s beautiful and just appreciated the time that we’ve had here in the Galilee and just took a deep breath and invited Jesus to be with us and appreciated once again that we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus. This was the way between Nazareth and the Galilee and so Jesus would’ve walked this road between the two. And, so, once again walking in the footsteps of Jesus and looking around and seeing what He saw and just appreciating the time that we’ve had in the Galilee, knowing that we have to leave it behind in order to move forward. And, so, just to drink it in and let it settle in and let this portion of our journey, our pilgrimage together settle in and settle into our hearts, become a part of who we are as we prepare to move forward. And, so, a really fantastic day. And today we’ll be moving back to the coast through the Jezreel Valley. That’s the plan and I’ll tell you all about it after it happens. But once again, thank you for your continued prayers over us as we continue this journey. It is like drinking from a fire hose. It’s a lot to take in. And, so, thank you for your prayers over us as we continue our journey. We love you and we thank you and we feel in your prayers and appreciate them deeply.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible then thank you, humbly, deeply, thank you. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Springhill Tennessee 37174.

And, of course, if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey fellow DABbers this is Right Where I Belong in Saint Louis and I just heard Webster from Middle Tennessee and he was crying out to God because he feels stuck, he feels like he doesn’t have a relationship with God in the same way it seems that he sees other people. And he’s saying that he’s a very logical person and nothing he seems to be doing is working. And I just set it out loud in my car on the way to work as I was listening to your call Webster, that you do. You do have faith. The fact that you keep trying and you keep trying in so many ways, you keep praying, you keep seeking fellowship, you are calling in to the DAB after not having ever called listening for two years. You keep reading your Bible. Brother that is faith. That’s what faith is, is you keep trying and you keep praying even though you don’t feel like it’s something. And it seems that you’re looking for a particular feeling or something that somebody else says or has or something. Brother your faith is your faith and God is gonna minister to you in the way that you are…the way He created you to be. And so I pray Lord Jesus open up Webster’s eyes to see the way that his faith is unique, that You love him and that You care for him and that however it is that his faith is developing that he sees that and he knows and has confidence in that. I hope you have a great day. All of you DABbers have a wonderful day.

Hey, DABbers it’s Winter on February 8^th and I’ve gotta say God has moved me this morning. When I heard about the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. And as a child I always said mom, dad I don’t know what I can do because I’m never…I’m never gonna be able to really go on mission trips until I’m much older and I’m never gonna have time for service because of the amount of school that the public school system has been doing, you know, like all the work that goes into schooling. But…and I always thought I’m the least of all the Christians because the most I can offer is kindness and grace and love when I see a need for it. But I don’t have a lot of time to give. And, so, when I just heard Jesus words saying you’ve helped Me when you’ve helped your brothers and you’ve clothed Me when you’ve clothed your brothers and you’ve looked after Me when you’ve looked after your brothers I just…I started crying because I’ve always wanted to help the person who’s helped me the most and I’ve never been able to do so in the way that I thought was necessary. So, DABbers if you felt as inadequate as me when it comes to God, be loved today. Amen.

Hello DABber brothers and sisters this is Melanie from Arizona calling in and I would like to give a shout out to and ask a prayer and say a prayer for all the faithful Christians around the world who are single. I don’t know what it’s like in other countries, but I feel that the church in the US has a very strong focus on people who are married and want children because the family is super-duper important. And sometimes I as a single…I have been married and I’ve been single they’re both hard…but sometimes as a single it feels like a second class citizen, like if you’re having problems in your marriage everybody crowds around to support you and if you’re having problems when you’re single you kind of get a pat on the head and be told to, yeah just look to Jesus, which is true except sometimes it is…it’s very minimizing. And, you know, when you’re 50, 60 and you’re single and you’ve got you know issues you need prayer desperately just like marrieds do and your issues are less important. And, so, I want to say that to the singles, and I pray God’s mercy on you. And sometimes you might feel like a Sparrow, but God’s eyes are on the Sparrow. And I would ask for prayer for people who have not thought of this before that you would remember to pray for the single believers and remember that there are issues are just as important as the marriages in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hey DAB fam it’s Connie in Rhode Island I just wanna pray for Webster in Tennessee. It is the 8^th of February today and I heard your request. I pray Lord that You help him to feel encouraged and help him to get past being stuck, that You give him the courage and strength to step out of sin and break the addiction and the cycle of mental…the things that maybe he’s choosing perhaps. I pray Lord that You light hip his path, light up where his feature go Lord and help him to have the strength and the willpower to make the choices that he needs to make. Lord, I just thank You so much that You hear our every prayer and You know our every thought. We love You in Jesus’ name. Amen. Webster, I pray for you. I…I can empathize. I obviously don’t know you and exactly what you’re going through, but I heard some of my past and what you were saying. And I had created this dark cloud for myself years ago that I would walk under, and I loved the Lord and I had so much faith in Him, and I know He could do anything. I didn’t know what He would do. And I learned in time that a lot of it had to do with my choices and I was creating almost this this block, this glass ceiling, something like these cinder blocks between me and him and it was about me and I had to work on me. And I love your heart that you are so open to that and wanting for that change and I pray for that for you. Love you brother.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is God’s tree for I have many branches, but I’m rooted in the word of God. I listened to the broadcast I think it was on January the 6^th and the brother Webster from Tennessee who called saying that he did not know if he had faith, he did not know if he had a relationship with God but he said he participated in all kinds of church activities and retreats and he was seeking God and praying to God but he felt like he didn’t have a relationship. My brother understand this, the enemy comes to beguile you, to fool you into thinking that you don’t have a relationship with our Father but if you profess with your mouth that He was your Lord and savior, guess what? You have a relationship with Him. When you’re seeking Him, you’re having a relationship with Him. When you’re praying to Him, you’re having a relationship with Him. It’s about conversations with God and it’s about opening your eyes and seeing the blessings that are all around you. God gave you life health and strength. That’s a relationship with God. God gives you provision, that is your relationship with God. Don’t let the enemy trick you into thinking that you don’t have a relationship and that you don’t have faith. If you didn’t have faith, you wouldn’t be praying. If you didn’t have faith, you wouldn’t be on Daily Audio Bible. If you didn’t have faith, you wouldn’t be seeking answers wanting to have a relationship with God. You do have faith. Again, to you I say to you my brother don’t let the enemy fool you into thinking you don’t have a relationship with God. God hears you. He hears every word, and He sees every tear. Believe and trust. He loves you and He’s got you. In Jesus’ name I say Amen.