Numbers 21:1-22:20, Luke 1:26-56, Psalms 57:1-11, Proverbs
11:9-11
Today is the 14th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today around the Global Campfire. And I’ve got my steamy cup of Windfarm coffee here to my left. That’s what I was in the middle of doing when I turned the mic on. So, sorry about that. But what I have before me is our next step forward and that next step will lead us back into the book of Numbers. The children of Israel have turned away from the promised land and are wandering in the wilderness at this point. But it’s a lot of people and it’s disrupting all of the nations around them as we will soon see. Numbers chapter 21 verse 1 through 22 verse 20 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the book of Numbers we have a story being set up here. The children of Israel are moving around in the wilderness. They’re kind of in a no man’s land and nobody will let them pass through. So, their stuck until they get attacked and win. And then they win some territory. So, they have this base of operations but that happens to be next to Moab and the Moabite king, Balak is starting to freak out. And, so, he sends for a person named Balaam to come and curse Israel. And, so, we’re just kind of getting that story set up, but the last words in our reading from the book of Numbers today are the imperative ones in the story. God tells Balaam who has been summoned to curse Israel, “do only what I tell you to do.” And we will see more of this story unfold tomorrow.
Then we flip over into the gospel of Luke and we see an enunciation, an angelic visitation by the angel Gabriel who was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, according to the gospel of Luke. And he was sent to a girl named Mary. And he told Mary that she would be with child and give birth to a son that was to be named Jesus and that He would reign over the house of Jacob forever, and that His kingdom would have no end. Mary’s ultimate response to the angelic visitation was, “here am I the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.” Interestingly though, because we’re just…we’re in chapter 1 of the gospel, we’re just getting going, we met a man named Zechariah as we began Luke. And he was a priest, and his wife Elizabeth had no children. They were barren and they were old, and they were righteous, very, very much parallel between Abraham and Sarah who were old and righteous but barren. And Zechariah receives an angelic visitation. And it’s a pretty poignant one because it’s Zechariah’s turn to serve in the temple. This a like a rotating duty, and it’s his turn to be in the temple burning incense before the Lord when he receives this angelic visitation. So, he is in the temple of the most-high God receiving an angelic visitation that tells him he’s going to have a son, and that this son is to be named John. So, what we have here are two annunciations. The angel Gabriel gave two announcements about forthcoming children, one in the temple of the most-high God to Zechariah who would be the father of John who would come to be known as John the Baptist, the other to a maiden in Nazareth named Mary who was told she will become the mother of God and she is to name her baby Jesus. The thing that makes this kind of interesting is the responses to the angelic visitation. John the priest, a priest of the most-high God is in the temple of the most-high God burning incense when he receives an angelic visitation from the most-high God telling him that he will be a father and he should name his son John. His response to this announcement was, “how can I know that this will happen, for I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years?” The result of that statement was that Zechariah was no longer able to speak until the child was born and named. On the other hand, same angel, different town, Mary is visited and her response to the announcement is, “here am I the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.” These are very different responses to very similar announcements because they reveal different postures. And, so, the Scriptures invite us to look at this and place ourselves in the story and look into our own hearts, so we feel impressed by God of a direction, of the path forward. Let’s even imagine that it is confirmed, maybe even buy like an angelic visitation. This is happening to Zechariah and his response is, how can you prove to me that this is true? How can I know that this will happen because you’re telling me something that’s not possible? How can you prove it to me? What Mary was being told by Gabriel is even less possible than what Zechariah was being told, and Mary’s response is, I…I don’t know how this can be but here am I the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word. Both of these people who received angelic visitation were told things that were impossible, things that couldn’t happen. The educated priest wanted proof and certainty. The lowly maiden wanted to be available to serve God even if it was impossible if she could. In both of the enunciation a son was born, and John the Baptist and Jesus came into the world. It’s just that Zechariah was struck dumb so that he couldn’t say another word until the promise was fulfilled. And, so, where do we land in this story? Are we the person that’s like going to need some certainty. Can you show me something that would give me confidence and proof that this is real? The other posture is, I don’t understand what I’m being told. I don’t understand what’s being revealed but I am a vessel. I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be done as you say. The gospel of Luke is giving us an opportunity to check in with our own hearts.
Prayer:
Jesus, we invite You into that as we check in and just consider the stories here and the announcements here and the responses to those announcements and just consider where we would…we would fall in that. Would we be Zechariah who imitates so much of the story of the children of Israel as we’re going through it right now or Mary, a person with eyes to see that things are going on beyond our understanding, and that if You are in it nothing is impossible. Holy Spirit, come. Help us locate our hearts in this and may they begin to move in trust and utter dependence on You. We pray this in Your beautiful name, the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is where you find out what is going on around here.
But I do have something to tell you that’s going on around you. So, I’m just gonna tell you because you won’t find it at dailyaudiobible.com. I think I’m the last one…I think I’m the last one to say this. I’ve been waiting to make sure. I didn’t want to jump any guns. So, it has been…it has been told here in the Hardin clan, here around our family that expansion is his ongoing, is continuing, and that we would…would be able to be adding another member to the family yet this year, and this announcement came from our daughter China and her husband Ben who are expecting their second child. They have a daughter named Reagan who we are smitten with, very smitten with and love very much and she will turn two next month. And this new little one is due to arrive we believe in October. And, so, certainly want to bring that to the community here so we can jump up and rejoice together. China grew up…like she grew up on…under the shadow of the Daily Audio Bible. That’s the thing. Like, she’s been a part of this since she was 10 years old. And, so, yeah, more…more…more life than not has been spent around the community here and through all of the travels over all the years to all of the places all over the world. And see she pioneered Daily Audio Bible Kids and grew all the way through that into Daily Audio Bible Chronological with her mom. So, certainly very proud of her, certainly excited to rejoice about a new grandchild and simply letting you know and just asking you to pray over her pregnancy as she continues to read through Chronological and continues to do all of the work that’s involved there as well as the work of being a mom of a toddler, which is a lot of work and then the work in her body of…of nurturing and giving life to another life that will come into this world. And, so, thank you for your prayers over that. I just wanted to let you know that we have another Daily Audio baby coming this year and we’ll be excited to keep you informed about all of the progress along the way. But thank you for your prayers.
And if you have a…a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app. That’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.
And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I will be waiting for you here, right here, tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hello DAB family this is Bertie your brother in Christ calling in today to lift up David from Kansas in prayer. Dear Lord I thank You for David and I pray that You can bless him in his efforts to serve You Lord at children’s church in __ . Lord I pray that he could be motivated to continue to serve You. Even though he has this brain injury Lord I pray that You can help him to remember Your promises Lord, how You love him and are with him always and to not be afraid Lord. I pray that You can heal him of this injury Lord and if it is Your will Lord to work through him to continue to bless other people. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Brother I’d just like to encourage you. I can understand having moments of fear where you seem to forget everything you’ve read and the promises you know that…that God has given to us. But one verse that’s very near and dear to my heart of some 56 verses 3 and 4. When I’m afraid I put my trust in you, in God whose word I praise. In God I trust. I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? And in second Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 God tells us that we aren’t supposed to have a spirit of fear but a spirit of love and of self-control and of power. Brother I hope you’re encouraged today and I hope you can continue to remember that you have the Holy Spirit with you at all times and that ultimately God is using you and everything that you’re going through to bless other people. Goodbye.
Hello, DAB I am a first-time caller. I’ve been listening to DAB for the last couple of years but this year I’ve been committed to listening to it every day and it truly is my oxygen in each day and I really appreciate this ministry. I could use some help. My name is Christy and I need to go to the psych ward and pick up my son. He has been in for about a week and we know there are some issues. He’s an adult son. So all I can do is be there for him, pray that I have the strength to be solid for him, and to not be pushy when I need to __ stand back. And he’s not following the Lord. He’s really following deconstructionism. And, so, he's…he doesn’t have that to lean on and this last year has been a bad year for him. He’s made a lot of poor choices. So, one of my prayers is that he would…we would be able to get him a full psych eval and help him to get back on the feet and understand what his challenges are instead of feeling shamed by them. We love our son, but we also know that he…he can’t continue on the way it is and he needs some help. So, pray for me to be strong for him and that Jesus would just reveal himself to him in a way that he cannot deny, and he can embrace. Thank you.
Good evening family I wanted to tell you about something that happened the other day. We had a thunderstorm here where I live in the early hours of the morning before it was light outside. I was up getting ready for work and there was a particularly bright flash of lightning. And when I went back through the house after that flash of lightning, I found one of our small solar lamps was lit and it had been dark when I got up. Apparently the flash of lightning was bright enough to power that solar lantern for a couple of minutes. And I got to thinking when the light of Jesus is shining through your life no matter how brief your contact is who’s swallowed in darkness even a brief flash of the love of God in your life - a smile, a pat on the back, a cheerful good morning, even the slightest touch of the light of God on someone’s life - can be enough to eliminate their darkness. So go out there and be the light. This is hands to heaven. God bless you all.
Hey DAB family this is Minnesota Aruka buchina. Have not called in a while but just want to let you know that I love this community. I love this family and I thank you so much for all of the prayers and the answered prayers __. I’ve told you in the past about my son who has struggled with alcohol and drug issues and he’s been in prison for…off and on for the last 13 years and hasn’t been to Minnesota back in 13 years because of his addiction and…and jail time. But he is actually getting out. We’ve gotten the OK and authorization to bring him back to Minnesota. So on Monday the 13th he’s actually gonna…my husband’s gonna pick him up and he’s gonna be living with us to begin to kind of get back on his feet. So, he just ask for prayer. So let us pray. Heavenly father I just thank you so much for Brian and this platform and this amazing community and family that is all over the world and how we stand unified. So, father I just ask that you be with my husband as he leaves on Sunday to go pick up our son Lord. The name Aruka means to restore and renew. So, Lord I pray that You stir up a restoring and a renewing in Tori’s heart and in any of us that struggle with children in this community, the struggle with issues and bondages. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ that this renewing begins to happen here and today in all of these people’s lives. And we just give You the glory. I pray for protection upon this family and this transition Lord. Help us to be able to stay strong in You and to be able to be as strong example for Tori’s life giving You the glory and the honor.
Hello DAB family this is Widespread Jesus out of Omaha NE. It’s been since November since I called and I just wanna say God is good. I asked for a prayer for my niece Chloe, and she had a breakthrough in her living arrangements and in her work. She had a recent surgery and she’s recovering well and just thank you for the prayers for her. Praise God. I also…my job situation I formally transitioned on February 1st. It’s been tough but it’s going well it’s getting better each day. Thank you for the prayers for making that transition in my career. And then also an update on Nick our friend. He’s out of the hospital praise God but he’s still struggling. He has some bed sores and such that need to be killed and he’s waiting for a liberal transplant. But he’s still fighting Lord and we just thank you for the prayers and continued prayers for breakthrough in that he could be fully healed in Jesus’ name. What prompted me to call today is 3 months out from my wedding to marry my bride. I’m so excited and we are both excited but it’s just a lot of stress that’s coming up a lot of anxiety with all the wedding planning and it just seems like our communication skills are lacking where we can talk through things and we get in some frustrations and we just discourage us from the whole wedding planning and we know this is God’s will for us to be together and we just want to pray for peace and comfort through this process pray for unity that we can come together and over the next three months and just have excitement and joy about our upcoming wedding and we pray against any attacks from the enemy Lord. I just pray that you can lift up us over the next three months as we approach our wedding day. Thank you DAB family. I love you. Have a wonderful day. Amen.