Category: DAB Transcripts

Numbers 26:1-51, Luke 2:36-52, Psalms 60:1-12, Proverbs 11:15

Today is the 17^th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is fantastic to be here with you today as we gather around the Global Campfire, just find our place, exhale, take the next step forward, together. We’re continuing our journey in the book of Numbers. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week and we are indeed watching the emerging generation arise in the wilderness because the first generation out of slavery, they were doomed to wander in the wilderness until they were no more. And, so, we pick up the story. Numbers chapter 26 verses 1 through 51 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in last couple of days we were talking about John the Baptist and how his arrival didn’t just happen in a vacuum. And today we cross territory that helps us understand that Jesus didn’t just happen in a vacuum, either. So, with John the Baptist we certainly have an angelic visitation and enunciation to Zechariah. And we saw Zechariah muted until the baby was born, and then named him John which was an unusual name in the family. And, so, everyone wondered. Because this is the son of a priest, a priest that was in the temple and saw an angelic visitation. So, what’s gonna to become of this kid is something that’s kind of in the fabric of the culture. Jesus also had an angelic annunciation to Mary. She came back. They go to Bethlehem. The baby is born. Angelic announcements. Wiseman following a star. Herod hearing about a new king of the Jews and freaking out. This wasn’t in a vacuum. And then in our reading today, it’s a pretty famous passage where Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem when the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem is over and everybody’s headed back to…to the Galilee region. Jesus stays behind. And it’s such a human picture. If you’re a parent, like you can just imagine how freaked out Mary and Joseph would be to get a day’s journey away from Jerusalem believing that your kid is among the relatives and cousins and friends and everybody going back to the same place, only to find out that he’s not and then have to travel a whole day back to Jerusalem and start a search in one of the metropolitan areas of the world. And, so, when they do find Him, He’s in the temple and what is he doing? He’s sitting with the elite scholars and teachers, and authorities, the religious leaders that interpret what God wants. He’s listening to them. He’s discoursing with them. He’s asking them questions until His parents show up and then he goes back Galilee. But now He’s on the radar. He’s just a little kid, but according to the gospel of Luke, “all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and his answers.” And the “all” here are the religious scholars, the most educated, the most authoritative, the people with the power, the spiritual power over the people. So, they’re not gonna forget this. So, when Jesus does show up in ministry in Galilee the Scriptures tell us the people came all the way from Jerusalem to check out what He was doing and what He was saying. Probably some of the same people were going to hear what this kid had to say all grown-up. Of course, we know how the story goes. It’s a political maneuver. Like it's…the high priest ends up saying it’s better for one…that one man to die than all of us. So, it’s a political maneuver around rejecting Jesus because He is drawing a crowd and moving things forward. But at this point in the story we now have a little bit of context about how John the Baptist emerged and how Jesus emerged in the culture.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for another day, another step forward in Your word. We thank You for Your kindness to us. We thank You for Your grace and we thank You for allowing us to look into these stories and see their context and allow them to kind of unfold like a flower before us, that our understanding may be enlightened and enriched so that our journey with You is fruitful and growing. And we praise You for this and thank You in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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It’s St. Patrick’s Day today. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Although if we were like really diving into the Christian calendar, we would have someone or something to celebrate, or observe most any day, but this is one of the more well-known St. days. And Saint Patrick was indeed a very intriguing missionary, and his life represents a lot more than green beer. So, happy St. Patrick’s Day after the same fashion that we said happy St. Valentine’s Day. I hope it’s a wonderful day wherever you may be.

And, of course, as always if you have 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 there are a number of numbers that you can use depending on where you are in the world. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to call. In the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to dial. And if you are in Australia are that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello this is Via from the farm. My husband just came home from a very long visit with a neurologist and that it was confirmed that he has Parkinson’s disease and I just been asking for prayer. We need guidance. We need to, you know, just deal with this in s positive a way possible and I imagine it’s going to be a long haul. I just really appreciate prayer and that God will guide me and give me strength and help me understand all the things I can do to support my husband as we enter this stage of life. Thank you all very much.

I love what you all do and this has changed my life….

Sean in the UK this is Retaining Honor in southwest Missouri, and can I tell you I was listening to DAB and I am jumping up and down and celebrating with you in my kitchen. Seven days sober. I am so happy, so proud of you. It’s absolutely amazing. I heard your first prayer request, and I heard the gentleman from Kansas City MO that called in and so many to encourage. I was praying for you, and I am just so happy. I’m elated. Alcohol is not my main vice, but it just wasn’t adding to my life. And I have not had a drink since June 30^th, and it is however my fund husband vice. And, so, I ask that you pray for my husband. He is not a believer and the more that we can have voices raise him up that would be a huge blessing to my family. I know he’s working on that diligently and I’ve just got to let him go through his process. And but tonight I just wanted to give you this encouragement, first Corinthians 13:11. When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man, I put away childish things. And Sean you were just speaking like a man with the authority and bringing the word and the gospel through your request for other people. And I just want to say I’m so happy for you. So, congratulations. I hope that you are way beyond your seven days of sobriety. And if not just start over. One day at a time one second at a time. We are praying for you we are on your team. Love you brother.

Hi this is Victoria Soldier calling to pray for some of the DABbers. I wanted to pray for my precious sister Kate who said that… think she said her dad died. I wanted to pray for that family and really encourage her. I’m sorry for the…for the loss of your precious one.  Gracious Father we just ask You to touch Kate. We just ask You to touch her through it all of what she’s going through right now with her precious loss of this loved one. I just wanna encourage her to let her know that at the time that…that before it was announced he reached his destination to be with the Lord. And I want to comfort with you with the fact that he’s with the Lord and I want to just continue to pray with you and the family that you will be strengthened. Lord, touch my sisters and brothers and I ask You…and of this family Lord, I just ask You to touch them. They lost a precious soul, a precious soul who knew the Lord. Lord, we just ask You to have Your way in that family. We ask You to encourage them. We ask You to help them to remember the good times and the great things that…that he…that he left here on this earth and in our…in their Spirits Lord. And we ask You to bless them in a mighty special way. And Father, we give You the glory and the praise and the honor. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

This is Hannah from Wyoming, and I just recently found the Daily Audio Bible and it has been a huge blessing to my life. So, Brian thank you for your dedication to this. I just wanted to pray for Ricky who just lost her mom. And I can feel the grief and weariness in her voice. And God I just ask that You would be her strength and her comfort. Give her grace for each day and each thing that it requires Lord. I thank You that You are near to the broken hearted and I pray that You would be near to Ricky today. Comfort her heart God. Make Your presence near to her so that she doesn’t feel alone in the loss of her mom. I also pray for the gentleman who called about his marriage. I don't…I don’t remember his name but he’s on my heart as well as he’s struggling in his marriage with his wife and feeling his love not being reciprocated. God, I ask that You would bring healing and restoration to that marriage, that You would do a miracle there, that You’d comfort his heart, that You’d give him wisdom and guidance God. And I ask these things and the mighty name of Jesus who is able to do all immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. God, I pray that You would do this in this situation…

Hi family this is Dimitri calling from Portland OR. I called a few months back asking for you guys to keep you guys…keep my ex-wife in your prayers. We’ve been divorced now for two years…for about two years now and I just wanted to just continue praying for her for whatever she’s going through. I believe that God has plans for us to get back together and I believe that that’s what’s best for…for the entire situation. So, I’m trying to do my best to keep the faith. And it’s hard some days and easier the other days. And today is a word that Brian read and talked about just to kind of reminded me of keeping the faith. So, if you guys could continue praying for her. I’m also…just wanted to…as you all know the situation in Ukraine and Russia. I come from that area and the…the community here in Portland and the West Coast is very divided in the whole situation. And, so, that just breaks my heart. So, if you guys could just pray for the Slavic community in general, the Russian community, the Ukrainian community, for the situation in the…in the…where the war is going on. If you guys could just pray from them all and that God can give everybody peace, that the war ends and that just everybody just stays calm and doesn’t blame each other and just for the whole situation. So, if you guys can pray. Thank you, like always pastor Brian Hardin for what you do for this family and thank you family for keeping us in your prayers and the entire…the entire Global Campfire. Thank you all. Have a have a blessed day and I hope I talk to you guys later next time.

Numbers 24:1-25:18, Luke 2:1-35, Psalm 59:1-17, Proverbs 11:14

Today is the 16th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it’s great to be here with you today as we move forward on our journey and we are in the book of Numbers we’re reading the story of King Balak of Moab and this prophet figure who can bless and curse named Balaam. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Today, Numbers chapter 24 and 25.

Commentary:

Alright so, in the Book of Numbers we are well, we have worked our way through the story of Balak, who is the King of Moab and Balaam who was summoned to curse the children of Israel on behalf of Moab. And there is much for us in our own human experience and in our motives and the way and the why in what we do what we do that can be found in both of these characters in the story. So, we talked some about Balaam yesterday and the talking donkey and him looking like a fool and him only being able to say what God told him to say, which is what we saw play out. He was only able to bless Israel, but whether or not Balaam had mixed motives, we know he did from this story but we also know and we’ll see this later in the Scriptures that he made some suggestions. He invited the Moabites to consider sending their women into seduce the children of Israel’s men, which is something that we began to see in today’s reading. So maybe Moab isn’t gonna be strong enough to take on Israel militarily but maybe they can undermine the culture by getting within them and starting to destroy them from within. But let’s turn our attention to King Balak today because that’s mostly what we we’re reading. Balaam shows up, Balak wants the children of Israel to be cursed. Altars are made, sacrifices are given, Balaam listens for the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord is to bless and not curse Israel and so, what is Balak do? Let me show you a portion of the camp of Israel from a different place and so they travel to a different peak or a different viewpoint where more sacrifices are made and more listening for the word of the Lord and the word of the Lord hasn’t changed. And so Balak’s like, let’s, let’s go look from another place. Maybe there God will allow you to curse them and so they go to another place, but it’s only blessing that God wants to do to Israel and so the word of the Lord hasn’t changed just the location where there looking at the children of Israel has changed. Where this really does become something in our lives is how we do that, we’re not getting the answer that we want so, we want to reframe the question in a way that we can get the answer that we want. Let’s look at it from over here. Oh, it’s still a no well, let’s look at it from over at this angle, this should be a yes, right Lord. Oh it’s still and no well, let’s look at it from this angle then. Because all we’re doing is looking for the answer that we want, not the answer that we need, not the answer that is the truth. We are looking for what we want and then so often when that doesn’t work out, we blame God for what we’ve done. So, aside from the fact that this story carries us forward in the history of the travels of the children of Israel in the wilderness, it is also a very, very insightful story for us to examine our own hearts posture and motivations for why we do the things that we do. And this the story certainly exposes some of the shadow side of that.

And then in the Gospel of Luke, we must make mention of the fact that what we, what we witness today is the story that we celebrate at Christmas time. The birth of the Savior and the rejoicing and the hope and the peace and goodwill that is offered and all of the people that were waiting for this. And so, I know Christmas is past and is in the future. And so, this is Christmas time but there is no shortage of times to be grateful that God would come for us and become one of us so, that we can see what it looks like to live in this world, as broken as it is, to have this example of being Christlike. An example that lets us know that our lives are headed in that direction when we surrender ourselves to God, we are moving in that direction, Christlike. And if there is any one wise thing that we could do this year, it is not to thwart that in any way. To walk humbly with our God surrendered, that we might be transformed into the image of our Savior. This is the goal and one of the ways that we look at that is to examine the motives of our hearts as we we’re doing in the Book of Numbers.

Prayer:

And so, Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for another day to take another step forward together. We thank You that each day there’s something for us. It’s like You’re so gracious and not dumping all of the things that we’re doing wrong and all of the things that need to be worked on. We realize in our own strength, we are nothing but You have given us an opportunity day-by-day, step-by-step be challenged and comforted in specific areas of our lives that need to be transformed. And the thoughts and intents of our heart, our motives are definitely one of those things that need to be continually and vigilantly examined. So, we thank You for this story of Balak and Balaam that allows us to enter into that story by viewing it through someone else’s eyes and then applying it to our own lives and in our own hearts. And so, come Holy Spirit, show us what needs to change and give us power to surrender to You in these changes we ask. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and that is where you can find out what is going on around here. An alternative would be the Daily Audio Bible app, you can find out what is going on around here in the Daily Audio Bible app as well, by pushing the little drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner of the app screen, that opens up a drawer and you can find things like the Community Section, whether on the web or in the app, and that is where there are links to the different social media channels that we are associated with and participating in. And it is also the home of the Prayer Wall, which is always available to us, no matter what blind-sides us in life, there is a place to go. And no matter what we’re rejoicing in, surprised by joy and overcoming in victory and we want to share that good news, there’s always a place to go, the Prayer Wall is always there for us to reach out in and ask for prayer or for us to reach back with prayer and let our brothers and sisters know that we’re praying for each other and so, check that out. That can be found in the Community Section of the web or the app.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and given freely to whoever will listen, anywhere on this planet, any time of day or night and to build community around the rhythm together so that we’re not alone. We are in this together and we know that and we experience it every day, if that is life-giving to you then thank you, humbly, deeply, for your partnership. 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 P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

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

Prayer and Encouragements:

Good evening family, it’s Mikayla from Glosser. It’s Sunday the 12th of March. I hope you’re well. I’m just calling with an update really and some advice I suppose. So, on the 1st of December, 2021 I started journaling. So, I’ve attempted before, it’s not a habit that’s ever really stuck or something that I’ve ever really been consistent in. But on the 1st of December I started just because I needed an outlet. I needed to get my thoughts out you know, down onto paper and also to use as a way of crying out to God and getting those things down. And you know, 3 and half months later more or less, I’m still doing that. You know, and I can see the change, going back and reading, you know, those December entries to where I am now. You know, only God, you know, it’s only by God’s grace that I am where I am now. And I can say, at times I’m still struggling, you know, you still battling some negative thoughts or the temptations to pick up previous coping mechanisms. But you know that will, it’s a slippery slope, that you have no control over. So, it’s just, yeah, I coveted advice, if it’s your thing, to try you know, at the end of the day, just talking to God and committing that to paper and see where that goes.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible community. This is Diane Olive Brown with my husband Jeff and it’s about five after six in the morning central time. Shalom, shalom, nothing is missing and nothing is broken. I’m responding this morning to Karen in St. Louis who has wanted a husband all of her life and she, she just wants a husband. And I would like to pray with you Karen because it’s something to want. My husband, we’ve been married, will be 50 years, I think this July. And we’ve married and it’s been such a wonderful marriage. And I would like to pray for you to have a husband by God, given by God who is Jesus with skin on. That’s all I can tell you about my husband. I don’t deserve it. I’ve been a mess all my life. And here he is this farm boy, just does everything right, quiet, steady as you go. And I’m the helium balloon he’s holding on to. But something in me says, if she wants a husband, a good husband. Who’s to say that God can’t give her good husband this late in life. And so, Karen in St. Louis, I am going to believe God for you to get a husband like my husband who is Jesus with skin on.

Hey my tremendous DAB fam, this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Family, it’s day 72. I’m praying for marriages. And today, I want to pray for missionaries Bob and Barbara in Nicaragua. You guys didn’t actually request prayer, when I heard you call in. But you just made mention of the fact of the work that you’re doing for the Lord on the mission field and I just felt prompted to pray for you. So, thank you so much for what you guys are doing for the kingdom. Father, I lift up missionaries Bob and Barbara in Nicaragua. God, I thank You so much that they have said here we are Lord, send us. I thank You that they went, Lord, as you sent them and I’m asking Lord, that You would continue to equip Bob and Barbara and I pray that You would give them all the resources that they need. Bless the school that they are over, the children that they are caring for and teaching and instructing in the word of God and all the things that they are administering to the country of Nicaragua. I ask Lord, that You would let Your hand of provisions be upon them. Let Your hand of favor be upon them. Will you cause no good thing to be withheld from them as they continue to walk up right before You on the mission field. Thank You for this precious man and woman, this son and daughter of Yours, Lord. And I’m asking that You will bless their home, bless their family and everything that they put their hands to. In Jesus name. Amen.

Hello precious family, this is Shannon from Salem, Oregon. I would love for you to pray for my husband, he is part of a team that is working in the UK on an evangelistic tour that will be happening throughout the spring and summer. So, my husband Brett is in the area of Sheffield, England. But there are teams located in several cities throughout the UK. And I am so delighted that Sarah from London responded to my recording a little while back. And we’ve been emailing each other and God’s Smile and I have been messaging each other too. So, if any other brothers and sisters from the UK want to connect, I would love to be praying intentionally with you, for you, for your communities and you’re free to, feel free to message me through Facebook, I’m a member of the DAB friends’ group there or my email too. My email is shannon@innocencefound.org. So, like the opposite of innocence lost shannon@innocencefound.org and I would love to connect and pray. Pray also for our family and the many other families of these staff members that right now are away from home, more than they’re home. As their kind of leading up to these events. My husband comes home on Wednesday of this coming week. And he’ll be home for about a week and half and then be off again, back to the UK. So, it’s challenging but the Lord sustains us. So, I would appreciate your prayers everyone. Love you all, bye.

Hello family, my name is Grace. I called before, a year or two ago asking prayer for the bullies in my life. It’s going on three years. I’m to the breaking point. What I don’t have the strength to continue to endure and I don’t feel like I can go back to my work. I don’t have the strength to do it. So, I’m asking you to pray for a solution in my situation that God would just do His will in my life. And I ask you to pray for the bullies in my life to be restored. My desire has been and I have endured so that I can show them the love of Jesus through me. But that has not come to any effectiveness in their life, I don’t see fruit in that but only in the fact that they continue to persecute me. And now I’m just unable to continue family so, I’m begging you please for you pray with me for a resolution. I’m a single lady, I’m 55 now and very little means. So, please pray because I might lose my job and I just don’t know what else to do. I just need my family to be there for me so I’m … thank you Brian, thank you family for this, it has hold me through the most difficult times in my life. I have endured a lot but God is faithful.

Numbers 22:21-23:30, Luke 1:57-80, Psalms 58:1-11, Proverbs 11:12-13

Today is the 15^th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian, and it is fantastic to be here with you today as we take the next step forward together here around the Global Campfire. And that next step will lead us back out into the book of Numbers which we’ve been traveling through for a while now. The children of Israel have had to go back into the wilderness, and they’ve been trying to pass through different nations and just on the road, like just to get through, just to get somewhere. And that’s been shut down and now they have had some battles and have actually conquered a little bit of territory, which is very much unsettling the land of Moab. And King Balak who was sent for a person named Balaam to curse the Israelites. The first time an envoy was sent to Balaam God told him he can go. And, so, he didn’t go. And, so, a more prestigious envoy has been sent and God has told Balaam he can go with these men, but he is the only say what he hears God tell him to say. And that is where we pick up the story today. Numbers chapter 22 verse 21 through 23 verse 30.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Numbers we are reading the story of Balaam and Balak. Balak the king of Moab and Balaam the…sort of prophet enchanter, sort of figure who speaks for God and has been called to…well…to put a curse upon God’s people, which he can’t do. But there is so much in that story that we’ll get you today and tomorrow that really really forces us to look at our own motivations and our own lives. So, we have a pretty interesting, very intriguing story today where a donkey speaks to Balaam. His donkey has a conversation with him. Very unusual. But if we go back to the story, we know Balak sent an envoy to Balaam and God told him don’t go. And, so, he sent the envoy back to King Balak who subsequently sent more prestigious people to request of Balaam that he come and take a look at the situation that he’s dealing with. There’s a people he’s afraid of. He needs them to be cursed. They outnumber him. They are intimidating them. Now let’s look at what’s at stake here. If Balaam goes and is able to curse this people that are out in the wilderness, then the payoff is honor and wealth and power. And those are incentives that seem to span millennia. For thousands of years people have definitely been seduced by honor and well and power. Balaam; however, has already been instructed by God that he can’t say anything that God isn’t saying. And he’s already told him he can’t go. So, he inquires of God the second time and this time God says he can go, he should accompany these people back to Balak but he is only to say what God has told him to say. But that opens up a little crack in the door. God’s letting me go with these people. Maybe God is leading me into honor and wealth and power. And, so, he’s got this in the back of his mind as he gets on his donkey to take this journey. If you don’t understand that piece of the story then all Balaam’s doing is obeying God, getting on his donkey, and off he goes. And then there’s an angel whose angry wants to kill him and it doesn’t make any sense. But Balaam’s got the idea that maybe he is moving into something that will make him prosperous, maybe he’ll be allowed to do or say or curse or whatever when he gets there because God has given him permission to go. And, so, he begins to think about these things as he’s riding on his donkey. And his donkey is the one that’s aware that there is an angel with a sword standing in the path. And, so, the donkey moves into a field to avoid the angel which embarrasses Balaam. They get bac on the road and then Balaam’s foot gets smashed on the wall which makes him very, very angry. And then the angel moves into a place with there’s nowhere to go. And, so, the donkey just sits down, and Balaam is furious and beats the donkey, his donkey, the one that he’s had for his life, the one that he knows, the one where they know each other. And then the Lord opens the mouth of the donkey, and a little conversation happens that tells us the rest of the story. So, the donkey says, “what have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?” And then Balaam answers the donkey with the truth, “because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” So, now we begin to realize that God has given Balaam instructions to only speak what God is spoken but now Balaam is concerned about how he looks and he’s not going to look good when he has to tell King Balak that he cannot curse what God has blessed. And, so, this is all coming out on the journey, reiterating for Balaam that he must only speak with the Lord tells him to speak. He’s not being led into any kind of other alternative. He’s not necessarily being led into power and wealth and honor. He’s being sent on a mission to speak on behalf of God very clearly to King Balak. This is very helpful when we consider our own motivations and the postures of our heart and what we believe God is leading us to do. And we very much like to make things situational so that we can get the kind of answer that we want to hear. But just because we get permission from the Lord to take the next step forward does not mean that he has approved all of our plans. We’ve gotten permission to take the next step forward and we have permission to follow His leading. But so often once we get through the door we’re off and running. And we can make a mess of things and then turn around and blame God for it. And, so, this story that is unfolding before us, and there’s more for us as we continue the story, allows us to look into a situation that quite easily can be looked at through our own eyes in the circumstances of our own lives. But if we go through that door with mixed motives, we have already compromised ourselves. And, so, there’s plenty to think about their today.

And then when we turn over into the gospel of Luke, we have the story of the birth and the naming of John the Baptist. His name will be John, which is not a name that was in Zechariah’s family, but when Zechariah did affirm that his name will be John everyone wondered about that. There was conversation about that. But his mouth was opened, and he worshiped and spoke prophetic worship to God which made all of the people wonder because he hadn’t been able to talk during the entire pregnancy. And, so, now here he is affirming this odd name for his family line and then speaking out prophetic worship to God. And he’s a priest and he’s around the priestly families. And, so, they’re seeing all this, and they begin to talk about it all throughout the countryside according the gospel of Luke. And, so, the birth of John didn’t happen in a vacuum like under some deep cover and nobody even knew. A lot of things happened in the priestly community around the birth of John. This was an unusual pregnancy because Zechariah and Elizabeth were too old to have children. And, so, they do have this child but then Zechariah is in the temple and sees a vision and there’s an angel and a conversation and then he’s struck dumb so he can’t speak throughout the pregnancy. So, there’s all this stuff swirling around this baby in Elizabeth’s womb. So, when this baby is born and named John and his father Zechariah’s mouth is opened and he speaks worship to God everybody is wondering what’s gonna become of this kid. So, it’s not like John the Baptist shows up out of the wilderness at the Jordan River. Nobody’s ever heard of him. He’s just a guy. 18 mile walk from Jerusalem out at the Jordan River outside of Jericho baptizing people randomly. As soon as the word starts spreading about this guy wearing camel’s hair and eating locusts and coming in out of the desert and saying with repent, it wouldn’t have taken too long to put it together, this is that baby. This is Zechariah and Elizabeth’s kid. When all of that stuff was swirling around him when he was born, everyone was wondering what’s gonna become of this kid. Maybe he’s a legitimate prophet. There hasn’t been a prophet for 400 years. And there’s mysterious and even miraculous things swirling around his birth. And now he’s baptizing people, asking them to repent and return to God. That’s what a prophet would do. Return to me. Return to God. Maybe this is what’s gotta happen before God does what God’s gonna do. And, so, John didn’t just show up randomly. Since they knew the story and heard what he was saying they began to believe he was a prophet of God, all except for those who were in religious authority, and they didn’t for the most part. And as we continue the story, we’ll see John and his life and what he went through, but we will also see the same kind of treatment and worse of Jesus, our Savior. And, so, this gives us a little bit of background for where we’re moving in the gospel of Luke.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another day to be together, centered around the Scriptures and around the Global Campfire around each other. We thank You for these gifts of one another and the Scriptures and every day to take the next step forward. And today we have been challenged in our motives as we look at the story of Balak and Balaam. And, so, Holy Spirit come and help us to examine. Are we following You or are we telegraphing what we want after You’ve given us the next step forward? Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, and its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, certainly check in and check it out. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app you can do that inside the app as well.

So, check out things like the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources there, things like Promised Land, photographs from the land of the Bible. A beautiful coffee table edition that allows us to kind of thumb through the beautiful pages of this land where the Bible happened. So, this land that we are reading about is not a mythical land. It’s a real place and we can glimpse into it. Or the promised land films for that matter to take the journey deeper into motion pictures and just get little snippets, little glimpses of these places where pivotal moments in the Bible happened. You can find those resources as well as a number of other resources that are made for the journey, made for going through the Bible together like this in a year in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this Global Campfire that we have a place at every day is life-giving to you and enriching in your life and encouraging then thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. And, so, thank you profoundly and 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. 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’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello Daily Audio Bible it’s Sebastian. God my heavenly Father I thank You for releasing me from anxiety, depression, from occasional suicide thoughts. Thank You for releasing me from shame and fear. Thank You for taking care of my mental health. Thank You for taking care of my mental health. I’m grateful God. I’m grateful Jesus. I am grateful heavenly Father. My dear beautiful loving Father, thank You for blessing me and blessing this community and thank You for taking care of my mental health. Thank You. It’s so great, it’s so healthy to believe and fear You and to know that You love me and that You love this entire community way more than anyone can ever understand. So, thank You for loving us, thank You for taking care of us, thank You for blessing this community. I thank all of you for listening to me. God bless all of you. Bye.

Good morning I’ve got an awesome story to tell you all. I was on my treadmill this morning praising God for the walk that I started in my Lenten journey to give up alcohol. I was praising God for freedom. My mind is being cleared and healed. I find myself less fearful and more confident than I’ve ever been before. I feel so much of God’s love in me in a reality I’ve never known before. I started drinking at the age of 10. I would drink to hide. I would drink for courage. I would drink for strength. I would drink to celebrate. I would drink to mourn. Whatever the reason I would drink. As I was on the treadmill I about fell off when I heard Sean’s voice. He was on day 7, praise God. I am on day…I was on day 8. Everything he said I felt. And I thank you Jesus. I thank you Jesus for this wonderful…this wonderful place to be. Hallelujah! I’m 64 and I have freedom and I praise God for Sean’s first testimony because I felt everything that he was going through. I felt it all. And praise God I don’t have to feel that anymore because I have the strength of God through all of you guys, through all of your prayers. I thank you so much. I thank you so much. This is Jerry.

Hi today’s March 11^th my name is Hema I am calling for my son. His name is Joseph. He’s 21 years old. I recently found out that he has been soliciting sex. I’m not sure if with males or females. My heart is broken, and I’ve been frantically looking for help, frantically praying but I don’t think my prayers are being productive because I’m praying in fear. I really don’t wanna lose my son. I want God to reach him. I would appreciate anybody’s prayers. Thank you.

Hi DAB fam this is Halo calling from Colorado. I’m nine and I had a friend, her name is Emma. She was a really bad influence on me. So, I couldn’t handle the way she acted so I told her I didn’t want to be her friend no more. She didn’t take that well and I feel really bad. So, I ask for prayers, so I don’t feel this way. Love you family. Bye.

Good morning, DAB this is Gin in Min calling on Saturday March 12^th regarding the reading today about how the city was being destroyed from the inside. And as I heard that I thought, that’s true of ourselves, that our city, ourselves, we can destroy ourselves from the inside out. And it’s my thought, it’s my intention, it’s my emotions that I need to guard that I can tear down myself. I mean, we have enemies on the outside but sometimes our enemy is ourselves. And it was just kind of enlightening for me. And then Brian confirmed it when he gave his little talk after. And I thought that encouraged my soul because yes, that was the Holy Spirit teaching me at that moment, talking to me and leading me to think…to guard myself. And it just was a glorious morning. It’s 5:00 it’s almost 6:00 o'clock in the morning. I’m out getting ready to go to work and it’s just a nice way to start a day. So, happy Saturday everybody. Bye. This is Gin in Min.

Numbers 21:1-22:20, Luke 1:26-56, Psalm 57:1-11, Proverbs 11:9-11

Today is the 14th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today, today and every day as we gather around the Global Campfire and move forward together. So, we encountered some pretty pivotal things yesterday as we began our week in the Book of Numbers which is the story, we’re gonna pick up on in just a couple minutes. We said goodbye to Miriam and Aaron the siblings of Moses, who had traveled alongside of him and we also watched Moses become disqualified, he will not lead the people into the promised land, which is, that’s where we left off and so we’ll be picking that up today. And then we also began the third gospel, the gospel of Luke yesterday and so, getting ourselves moved into the gospel of Luke and we’ll continue that journey today. So, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week, Numbers chapter 21 verse 1 through 22 verse 20.

Commentary:

Okay, a couple of things from our reading today, first in the Book of Numbers we see the children of Israel, they have had to go back into the wilderness, there’s more to learn in the wilderness and they have 40 years to spend there, they’re not going into the Promised Land, neither is Moses. So, it’s like a next generation thing that is beginning to evolve in the story that we are reading. We are watching the emergence of the next generation. But they have challenges, they’re landlocked in the desert and that’s a bad place to be landlocked. They just need to get somewhere else but to try to get somewhere else, they got to go through land that does not belong to them, that is a nation, that has a king, that has a military. So, like in yesterday’s reading we saw that Moses had sent word to the Edomites asking like, can we just go on the Kings Road right, the main trade route. We won’t leave the road, we won’t eat, we won’t drink we won’t anything we just need to get on the other side of your land. And the Edomites say no, that will not be possible. And they send their army out to their border. And so, it’s like you want to come in here it’s going to be war. We can understand like, if we’re just being pragmatic here, we can understand the nature of things. Why the Edomites wouldn’t want a million people walking along the Kings Road through their territory. Like, that’s not a caravan of traders, that’s a moving city that could present like, once there in the land, if they’re lying it’s going to be war from within the land. So, we can kind of get that. But what we might not quite understand is how big of a decision this is because the Edomites are the brothers of the Israelites. So, let’s pause for second and just kinda reflect back on our journey so far. We remember Abraham right, we remember the child of promise Isaac, we remember Jacob and Esau, and we remember that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel and his children are the children of Israel. The Edomites are the children of Esau and so, although centuries have passed, they are family like, blood family and they have been denied. And so, in today’s reading, we see that another letter is sent to King Sihon of the Amorites with the same request. Just let us, we gotta get through here, can you just let us pass through, we won’t do anything to anybody, we won’t move anything, we just need to get through and they don’t want that either. And so, they come and attack and they lose, Israel defeats them with the edge of the sword, according to the Scriptures. And so, they have taken some land and now they, it’s not the Promised Land but they have a place to be, at least for now. And then that just upsets the Moabites. And so, the Moabites they were in the territory that is now modern-day Jordan and their king’s name was Balak and he’s freaking out and he knows the reputation of the Israelites. So, he needs them to be cursed so that he can defeat them and this introduces us to a man named Balaam, who has the reputation that what he curses, God curses and what he blesses is blessed by God. And so, they Balak sends for Balaam to come and curse the Israelites and we will be moving through that story in the days ahead and that is quite a story for our lives.

In the gospel of Luke we see the scene that we know as the Annunciation, so the angel Gabriel comes to the maiden Mary and announces to her that she will bear a child, a child of the most high God. So, we moved through that story and then Mary goes to stay with Elizabeth basically for her first trimester, Elizabeth is moving into her third trimester and their greeting to one another and then John who will be John the Baptist leaping in his mother Elizabeth’s womb at the nearness of Mary and the baby Jesus within her womb, it’s a beautiful scene, which results in some really beautiful words. Mary’s prayer is known as the Magnificat, very famous, very beautiful and worth reading over and over again. But there are lessons in this story for our own lives. Let’s just look back yesterday when the gospel of Luke is beginning, and we are introduced to a man named Zechariah who will be the father of John the Baptist. He’s a priest and it is his turn to go burn incense before the Lord within the temple. That shouldn’t be extraordinarily foreign to us because we watched all that become inaugurated when we’re moving through the giving of the law with Moses at Mount Sinai. What we have in this whole encapsulated story are two Annunciation’s from the angel Gabriel who stands in the presence of God. It is the response to these announcements or Annunciation’s that really give us an opportunity to examine our own lives. So here is Zechariah a priest of the most high God in the temple of the most high God burning incense before the most high God. When the angel comes to visit him and he’s startled, as anyone would be but a conversation happens in which Zechariah is told that he will have a son in his old age and that he is to be named John and he will and I’m quoting the Bible “he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God and he will go before them in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord, people prepared” those words are very similar to how the Old Testament ends in the book of Malachi. It had been 400 years since then. And so, this is the announcements of another profit, and there had not been a prophetic voice like this for four centuries. This is massive. Zechariah’s response to this is how shall I know this, for I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years, in other words how are you going to prove this. This is not a possibility, that is Zechariah the priest of God in the temple burning incense before God talking to an angel, he’s asking for proof how this can happen. The result is that Gabriel knows that Zechariah doesn’t believe him. So, Zechariah gets shut down. Gabriel tells Zechariah and I quote “behold you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their time”. So basically, Zechariah is not going to be allowed to spout off words of doubt and blanket this miraculous process in doubt. He won’t be able to speak out those things because he’s not allowed to speak. The second Annunciation is to the maiden, Mary. This is a girl, like probably not more than 13 or 14 years old and angel has the Annunciation of a child for her as well. Only this child will be placed in her womb by God, Most High. She has a practical question too. How will this be, since I’m a virgin, that’s a fair biological question. She’s not saying this is impossible and I don’t believe, she saying how can this be and Gabriel explains to her how this can be and she responds I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. These are very, very different responses to an announcement with instructions from the Most High God. Where we get the opportunity to examine ourselves is to consider the times, maybe we’d not met Gabriel I certainly have not met Gabriel yet but when we feel the Lord announcing something with instructions to us, when we feel this sense, are we like this is not possible, how are you going to prove this to me, I’m too old, I’m too young, I’m too this, I’m too that that or will we end up at the place of openhanded surrender, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. The first response brought silence until the promise was fulfilled. The second is in utter openhanded surrender to the will of God. Who would we be in the story?

Prayer:

And so, Father, we love You and we love Your word and we thank You, with deep, deep gratitude for the way that the Scriptures are alive and can penetrate deep within us to the level of our identity, where all these big decisions are made, we thank You for the gift and we embrace it fully and invite Your Holy Spirit to come and plant the truth within our lives. May we pry our fingers off the death grip that we have on things and open our hands in surrender to You, we ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where we find out what’s going on around here. Oh, I am grateful for the time change. That’s one thing that’s going on around here where we live in the rolling hills of Tennessee; we’re like really close to the time zone marker and so we live in the central time zone very close to the Eastern time zone except we get none of the benefits of being in the Eastern time zone and all of the deficits I guess, in terms of light. And so, when this time comes around each year and the time changes back and the days are little bit longer, it lifts my spirit. I hope it’s the same way, wherever you are if you have the time changes as well. Maybe some of you hate it, but it brings light into our world a little more light into our world this time of year. So, that’s one thing that’s going on that I’m grateful for but of course Daily Audio Bible is all over the world and all the different time zones on every continent and so, wherever you may be, you can always reach out day or night into places like the Community section in the Daily Audio Bible website or app. The Community section has links to the different social media channels that we participate in. It also is the home of the Prayer Wall and prayer is a distinctive beauty of this community. We pray for one another and we love one another through prayer. And so, be sure to check that out if you haven’t, visit often.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what’s happening here, gathering around the Global Campfire and taking another step forward day-by-day, is life-giving to you, then thank you for being life-giving. Thank you for your partnership, we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. Thankfully we are in this together and so thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage and 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 P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always if ever 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’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

This is From Treasure to Treasure and after listening to Thursday’s prayer request on the line how encouraging it is to hear a testimony from Sean from London who called in with his praise report that he is seven days sober. I don’t say this for any glory for myself, that’s not the purpose of this call because I try to remain in a very humbled, submissive state to my Father and King but it is very encouraging to hear the difference in the sound of his voice from him calling in sober and free from the addiction from what the sound of his voice is when he called in and to know that here is proof that prayer and the blood of Jesus, the power of God does miraculous things still today, even for the people who didn’t call in but they stood in their homes praying for him, this is just a confirmation of the fervent prayers of God’s righteous people calling out to Him for helping others and I don’t know about you but for me, knowing, I mean we know prayer works but being able to hear a testimony for prayers you prayed for just, it helps strengthen my prayer life knowing that I, I’m not alone in those prayers working but from lifting him up is so powerful to feel…

Sean, when I first heard the first message on March 10 podcast I was so encouraged, I was inspired and I wept with joy for our own son, Justin has struggled with alcohol for years. He is doing much better now and we know how gripping this addiction can be. I listen to so many prayers for you on the March 5th community prayer line and I have prayed for you and many other men by the name of Sean. I pray that you would listen and be inspired to know how much you are cared for and loved. May you be strengthened in your inner man to stay free. And also your prayers for Sarah were heartfelt and encouraging. May you be a force for good to others who struggle with addiction. And Sean, please be aware that the enemy will try to come back to tempt and taunt you, perhaps in other ways. And please stay connected to a good recovery group. And may you prosper in all that you do, keep on hanging in there and fighting the good fight. This is Allen in Southern Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA. God bless you.

Hello DAB family. My name is Nathan from Melbourne, Florida. I’ve been a listener for eight years and this is my first phone call. My marriage is really bad right now, I need prayers for wisdom and how to respond with love to my wife. And I need God’s comfort when she doesn’t return love to me. Thank you for the ministry. It’s been really helpful for me for many years.

Hi, this is Victorious Soldier. Just calling to pray for some of the DABers. I wanted to pray for Treasure to Treasure and the anguish that she’s going through. I want to ask God to have His way in her life and to strengthen her. I want to pray for Dr. John, it’s so good to hear from you Dr. John. I wanted to pray for his patient Joy and Amanda who is pregnant and the husband is going through, or the boyfriend is going through a stronghold. I want to ask that You would heal him and take away the desire and to knock the cob webs of life out of his mind and give him the strength to hold on to your, to the victory. I want to pray for Bob Kelley and his wife who is serving as missionaries and the things they’re going through in Nicaragua. And also, struggling, the daughter that is struggling in Houston with her grades and going through some challenges, I want to pray for her. Gracious Father, we just ask you to have your way. God, we thank You that You are a mighty God. We thank You that You are a Holy God. We thank You that You are a God that all You have to do is speak the word. We thank You that You’re still a miracle working God, that You’re still healing, You’re still delivering and that You’re still forgiving, that You’re still working miracles. We ask You to have your way in the names I’ve called today and those that are going through Lord. Those that are going through challenges. Those that have the strongholds that have overtaken them, those that are going through financial dilemmas, You have Your way. Also, Brian and Jill and China’s life. And I want to say Happy Birthday, happy belated birthday to Brian. And thank you so much for this podcast and the wonderful people of God. Lord, You have Your way, give life and mercy, give life and favor to Your people Lord. Bless them with Your mighty, precious way. People over in the war zone, we ask You to have Your way. Provide provisions for them.

Hi, this is Vicki from Arizona calling today for prayer. Prayer, I lost my mom on, last Thursday. It’s just been very sad and you know, losing so many people in such rapid succession, I just really, you know, even physically, I need prayer. Just how, it just affects every area of your life when somebody you love is taken from you. Even though you know they’re in heaven, even though you know they’re in a better place, it’s just that you miss them. So, just for prayer to walk through this and I know that God is our comforter but I am still hurting. So, if you would just pray for me, I would appreciate it. Thank you, and I pray that each and every one of you have a prosperous day today. Let it all be in God’s hands and He will take us through whatever we got to walk through. It’s just sometimes, it’s hard. I’m just praying for strength and God’s amazing grace to settle over every area of our lives when we have to walk through hard things God would be with us in such a powerful way. That’s my prayer today, that I would actually see His hand on my life. Cause He is a great and powerful God and I know this. Thank you and I appreciate your prayers.

Hi there. Hope all is well with you and yours and that you’re having a great day!

I’m so so sorry for the delayed reply. If you would like a copy of the transcription of the Daily Prayer, please send me an email at johnccorrado@gmail.com. I’d be happy to send it to you…

God bless you and keep you…

Numbers 19:1-20:29, Luke 1:1-25, Psalms 56:1-13, Proverbs 11:8

Today is the 13^th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you as we greet a brand-new shiny sparkly week. It’s all out there in front of us and off we go. So, we are continuing our journey through the book of Numbers. This week we’ll read from the English Standard Version. And picking up where he left off yesterday, today Numbers chapters 19 and 20.

Introduction to the gospel of Luke:

Okay. So, yesterday we concluded the gospel of Mark, which means that as we begin our brand-new week here, we’re beginning a brand-new book as well, the third book in the New Testament, the third of the four Gospels, and this is known as the gospel of Luke. And Luke is largely the best written gospel. And that’s a weird thing to say, but in terms of its grammar and tightness and narrative story etc. etc. it is the easiest one to read. Although all of the Gospels were written to specific audiences to accomplish specific things. And, so, it’s not really fair to compare which one is better or anything like that. I mean, how can we even do that? But Luke is also part of the synoptic Gospels, which are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And just by way of reminder they’re called the synoptic Gospels because they are so similar in the stories that they bring out about Jesus’ life even though Matthew and Luke take some of the stories in Mark further in detail and Matthew and Luke contain stories that aren’t found in Mark. Most scholars believe Mark was the first of the Gospels written. It is more crude in its architecture and language. It is thought widely to be the earliest of the Gospels with Matthew and Luke coming, 10, 15 years later in that vicinity, and then another decade-ish goes by and then the gospel of John is written. And, so, scholars who study this and are looking at the similarities and comparisons in the Gospels can certainly find in Matthew and Luke the stories that were carried forward from the gospel of Mark. But there are things in Matthew and Luke that aren’t in Mark. Where did those things come from? First of all, let’s remember that after Jesus ministry, after His resurrection, after His ascension back to the father the good news of the gospel of Jesus began to spread, but it wasn’t spread around the known world of that time through chapter and verse. So, like the apostles weren’t walking around the Roman Empire with new Testaments under their arms carrying it from village to village and then opening up that New Testament and teaching from it and revealing the story of Jesus through it. The New Testament had not been written yet. And even though it was being written and even though it ended up being written and the collected together it was centuries before it was canonized like this is the New Testament. And during that period of time there were all kinds of different ways of understanding what Jesus came to do and what it represents and what it means for the future, etc., etc. Many people followed many people in many directions in this regard while what we now know as orthodoxy was taking shape. And, so, when scholars look at Matthew and Luke and look at the differences between Mark they wonder like where…where’s this other stuff coming from. And, so, there are a large group of scholars who believe there was some other writing…there was some other writing, and they call it Q, which is short for quell which means source. In other words, a theory is that there is…there was a source document of sayings of Jesus that no longer exists or has not been discovered but was referred to and leaned and drawn from in the gospels. This hypothetical or real document is unverified. It’s never been found. The closest thing that is been found to it, to my understanding, was found in Nag Hammadi Egypt where a trove of early, early pseudo-Christian documents, a lot of them Gnostic in nature were found and have been studied by scholars since. But there was one called the Gospel of Thomas. And that is just the gospel of purported sayings of Jesus Christ. So, it’s not like a narrative. Its quotes. Although a lot of them are very very strange…like they don’t seem like super compatible with the rest of the Gospels that we have. Some strange things in there. But there are also sayings in there that are remarkably similar, if not almost exact to some of the gospel sayings. So, the search for this kind of hypothetical document is still underway and may never ever be found and its…it’s a guess. Like when you run into these problems where you’re trying to look historically, bring context, understand the origin or the provenance of things and you’re just kind of moving back systematically through all of the details that we have then sometimes you reach a place where you’re like okay, we don't…like we can’t get through here. Here’s what we think. Here’s what we think is going on here and until there is further evidence or proof in some sort of direction than this is the placeholder for now. But this kind of stuff that comes into play when you’re trying to date something, trying to find out where it actually sits in history. And, so, the gospel of Luke has been debated. Most scholars ascribe to the idea that Luke and Acts were written by the same author as a two-volume companion, the story of Jesus and then the story of everything that happened after Jesus’ ministry. Because of the construction of Luke in its narrative form and the some of the traditions that are included in it and just the way it reads a lot of scholars believe that this is a later document than Mark for example, because we can see some of the traditions beginning to develop. But Luke was written to a person named Theophilus. So, then you start looking for Theophilus, and there was a Theophilus who was a high priest in Israel between 37 A.D. and somewhere in the 40s. A.D. Most scholars don’t think that these books were written to this high priest, but some do, which would give it a much earlier dating. So, we can see some of the…some of the biblical scholarship challenges in this regard and we’ll talk about these kinds of things as we continue further into the story of the Bible as we make our journey through this year. No matter how this all came to be, like no matter what the story actually is the words of Luke, we understand are written to a Gentile audience and that it introduces the gospel of Jesus Christ to a Gentile audience, which is a pretty big deal because it’s an inclusive gospel, Gentiles are welcome in. It’s not only a Jewish only religion. The whole world, all who believe are welcome to the family. And, so with that, let’s begin the third book of the New Testament, the third gospel, the gospel of Luke. Chapter 1 verses 1 to 25.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we have already talked about the new territory they we’re moving into in the gospel of Luke, but we can’t just kind of go by what we read in Numbers to some really important…really important things happened today. First of all, Moses’ sister and brother reached the conclusion of their lives. Not simultaneously, but within the space of our reading today. So, Miriam, she passes away. And then at the end of our reading Aaron passes away on Mount Hor. And we remember, Aaron has been by his brother’s side since the wilderness where Moses saw the burning bush. So, we’re saying goodbye to somebody that we have traveled long with who has been a part of this story pretty close to as long as Moses has. And, so, indeed, that is pretty pivotal goodbye. But before Aaron’s death, and after Miriam’s death both Moses and Aaron were disqualified from going into the promised land. That is huge. They had been right at the border and then they had to turn around and go back into the wilderness and now even Moses who has been their leader will not be going in. He was disqualified. He exalted himself to assume the power of God. So…so here’s what happened. The People are complaining, they’re not…they’re just…they want…they’re grumbling the whole way and very, very thirsty, they don’t have water and God tells Moses to gather the leaders of Israel, go to this rock, speak to the rock in the name of the Lord and then see the Lord provide water for the people. They didn’t do that. They went to the rock, stood there at the rock with all of the people watching and said, and I quote from the Scriptures, “hear now, you rebels shall we bring water for you out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice and water came out abundantly and the congregation drank.” Moses was instructed to go and speak to the rock and God would show once again His provision for the people. Instead, what Moses said is, “do I have to do this for you? Do we have to bring water out of his rock for you?” And then he hits the rock and water comes out. The Lord still provides the water for the thirsty souls. But Moses, who could not bring water from any rock like any other person took the glory in front of the people. And, so, the Lord told him, you’re not gonna be…you’re not gonna be leading the people into the promised land. So, we’ll have to see how this just shapes up in the days ahead. It’s just hard to blow by what we’re reading in Numbers because the really big changes have happened today. And we will continue that journey in the days before us.

Prayer:

Father, we love You. We thank You for this brand-new shiny sparkly week that we get to live. It’s a story that we get to tell. You’ve given us dignity in that. We can make mistakes, or we can absolutely willfully do horrible things that are deeply sinful, and we get to reap what we sow. You have given us the opportunity to walk with You though, walk the pathways of righteousness, so that our story is ever increasing in ever upward, that we are becoming more and more aware as the days go by, that we are getting more and more alert as the weeks go by, that we are seeing things we hadn’t seen before and we’re seeing them in a way that we hadn’t seen before. We’re not so uptight and angry at every other human being on the face of this planet. We are now beginning to understand that we’re a part of something and we have many many millions of brothers and sisters all over the world and we are all created in Your image and we are all invited. So, come Holy Spirit and allow where we are right now to sink in, not only in the Scriptures but in our lives. Give us hope, abiding hope for the days before us. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi everyone, this is Karen in Saint Louis. Brian thank you, thank you for your ministry. The talk that you gave yesterday on the 8^th of March, I can so identify with Moses, how he cried out to the Lord to just basically strike him dead because he didn’t like what he was being called to. And I guess if I’ve been called to singleness, I’m thinking I have been. I’m 63. I have been praying and praying and praying for a husband and it’s never happened. I’ve longed to have a husband and a family. I took all the hom-ec classes known to man when I was in high school hoping to get married and there were opportunities, but they were not the right opportunities. And anyway, I…I’ve had friends who have died. I have longed that I was the one that I had died instead of them, why did God take them instead of me? I just…I love the Lord; I spend time with the Lord but I’m lonely and I have so longed to have someone to walk alongside with me to share life with me and it’s never happened, and I’ve actually been angry with the Lord this week really bad about it. And anyway, and with the way things are in the world I’d love to have a man by my side that could hold my hand. And I know that the Lord is there for me but physically I would like to have someone that could be there for me. So, if you could please pray pray pray I would really appreciate it.

Hello, everyone I am calling in response to a prayer request that was called in by a Mama. I don’t think you left your name, but you have a 12-year-old adopted girl and from one adoptive mother to another I wanted to pray for your daughter and also just say a couple things of encouragement to you as a Mama to know that, yes, one thing that I’ve learned a ton about is that your daughter may be processing a lot of extra things. She’s got two families to navigate, lots of thoughts and it would be wise to find a Christian counselor. I say this because we’re doing the same thing and it’s been so great to be able to have a safe place for her to process and even for you and your husband. It sounds like he’s had some hard times. So, I get it Mama. It’s hard and that’s part of the cross, you’d wanna say, that you do bear when you’re adopting. And nobody wants to talk about that side but they’re these kids come in with a lot of trauma even if it’s just one and a half years old and they weren’t really exposed to much. So, just know that, you know, there’s different emotional things and God is going to help you and carry your family through. So, Father God in Jesus’ name we pray for this little 12-year-old. We lift her up to You, we lift up this family to You and I ask God and Your precious and holy name that You would just encourage and strengthen this Mama and this dad and this little girl. And Lord we ask that You would lead her to resources and tools that she can get that will help her to be able to navigate where she is in life right now. God, You know, You’ve done a mighty thing to many adoptive kids and I just pray that You would just let this little girl how loved she is and help her navigate some of the things she’s going through right now. Thank You for being there for mom and dad to. Amen.

Hi, my beautiful Daily Audio Bible family this is Kristen Fletcher in Oceanside CA. I’m calling with a praise report. Treasured to treasure I just heard your prayer from me. Thank you, sister. I want to say thank you to everyone that prayed for my son and I to find a better place to live. And I just wanted to let you know that God found my son and I a beautiful place to live. It’s so much better than where we were living. The whole entire situation surrounding our…our living arrangements is better. Everything is better. And, you know what? It was pretty easy. So, I think that that just like…and everyone keeps asking, “oh you moved. How is it? Oh…” And I just tell them do you believe in divine intervention because that’s the only explanation. Everything is better. So, God has just blessed, blessed us and I want to thank you for your prayers. I love you so much and I love listening to you every single day. Dear heavenly Father I just want to pray for my DAB family and the people that are listening to this. Please bless them today. Please just wrap Your loving arms around them Lord and give them a big hug from me and from You and give them some peace today Lord that surpasses all understanding. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. I love you guys. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you thank you thank you thank you…

Hi family it’s Katie in Alaska. I’m calling because my dad down the road who is another DABber passed away today. Please pray for him and pray for our family. Thank you.

…community I am excited to be on my first ever venture with you all. My name is Christopher and I’ll go by Daredevil 360. I am excited to be part of venturing through the scriptures with you. I think as I study more and draw closer with Christ, I begin to see Him in everything I do, and I see and experience. Interesting things about me are that I’m walking with the Lord for about 10 years now. I have had my seasons of __ running away but He stays on my heels, and I’ve found wholeness in Him and I’m grateful. So, I want to simply let you all know that I do pray for you and that I hope for opportunities to…to lean into relationships from afar through…through payer and through trusting the work of the Holy Spirit to draw us up together into the beautiful body He is making us. I am excited to share more about myself as prayer needs or praises arise. And until then I just leave you with Jesus love and…

Numbers 16:41-18:32, Mark 16:1-20, Psalm 55:1-23, Proverbs 11:7

Today is the 12th day of the month of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it is awesome to be here with you today as we gather around the Global Campfire bring another of our weeks to a close. It’s a joy to…to be sitting here with you as we take another step forward in our journey, on our journey that takes us through the Bible this year. We have been working our way through the Book of Numbers and we’re going to continue to do that, obviously till we reach the last sentence but we haven’t reached that point yet. We’re reading from the New Living translation this week, Numbers chapter 16 verse 41 through 18 verse 32.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for bringing us successfully to the end of another week, but also to the end of another book, as we complete the gospel of Mark today. And so, as we prepare our hearts moving forward into a new week, we move into new territory and so, we ask Holy Spirit, that You plant what we’ve read and what we reflect upon, that You nurture it and that we collaborate with You in that, so that we are being transformed from within, that the fruit of the spirit is growing within us and there will be a harvest. Come Holy Spirit, into all of this we pray, in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the website and it’s certainly where you find out what’s going on around here. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop for resources for the journey that we are on. Check out the Community section for links to get connected on social media and the Prayer Wall, that is there in the Community section.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to keep bringing the spoken word of God, read fresh every day and offered to whoever will listen, wherever they may be, whatever time of day or night it may be and to build community around this rhythm so that we are not on a solitary journey. We are in this together. If that has been life-giving to you then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com or you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner of the app 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, 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 tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hey DAB, it’s Refined by the Fire in Ohio. I just love how the Spirit works. And I was listening to Brian’s teaching today about the women who was anointing Jesus with oil and they like turned on her about what a waste that was, what was she doing and how inappropriate it was and all these things and it just struck me that out of decades of hearing this story how for the first time I caught and was drawn to the fact that Simon the host of the party, so to speak, it says was the former leper. So, leprosy is not something that was curable so, I guess we can conclude Jesus probably had healed him. I don’t know, I know that’s a stretch. This text doesn’t say that as but then to turn around as a leper, just to be alienated from society, people avoiding him, what he would have experienced from that. And obviously coming out of COVID we can kind of relate right like, gearing up to avoid people and not knowing what they have and let alone leprosy and it just struck me how he turned around then and was just picking on this woman for pouring out her love on Christ and anointing Him. And, gosh, I do that, I forget where I came from, I forget what God’s done for me and it’s so easy to be critical of those who are showing God’s love in a way that might be different than me. And I don’t know, it was just convicting and a little surprising. Always refreshing and I love the Spirit for that. So, just thought I’d share. Love all you guys. I will talk to you soon.

Father God, in the name of Jesus. We lift up Josey, a 19-year-old girl who is involved in drugs with her boyfriend. And her Aunty Tammy from the Adirondacks called in March 8th. And Father God, we come to You with thanksgiving in our hearts. We thank You Father God that You hear our prayers, You honor our prayers and You answer our prayers. And Father God, we just lift up Josey to You in the name of Jesus. We know where she’s at, she’s suffering from a drug addiction in a hard way, along with her boyfriend. She is not herself, Lord God. She’s being afflicted by the enemy. The powers and principalities and the rulers of the air Lord God, You know who they are, the evil ones Lord, she’s under attack. And we ask You Father God to spare her life. Father God, we ask that You send messengers, Your soldiers. Father God, send Godly people to assist her and minister to her and Father God, we pray You bring her out of this situation right now, in the name of Jesus. We plead the blood of Jesus over her and her boyfriend and over Tammy Lord God, the entire family. We pray Father God, for Your protection and that You would bring healing over her entire body and fill up the voids that she is lacking Lord God. We come against everything that sets itself against You Lord, in Jesus’ name. We pray for peace, Lord God, and Lord God, just bring her to herself Lord God. Fill her with Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name we pray, we thank You Jesus, we glorify You.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family, this is Renzo in Florida. And I just want to pray Tammy from the Adirondacks who called in, I want to pray for her situation. Father God, I just pray in the name of Jesus, Lord God, that these chains of addiction be completely broken from her niece Josey Lord God. I just pray the addictions of drugs can be completely gone out of her system Lord God. In the name of Jesus, Lord God. I just pray for her boyfriend too that is struggling with it too. Lord God, I just pray that the addiction to drugs would be completely gone Lord God. We know that You can do the impossible Lord God. It’s only through You that You can do all things Lord God. And we ask and pray Lord God, the saints, we ask in prayer that of this healing of her niece Lord God, from the drug addiction Lord God. I just pray in your precious name we pray. Amen. So, God bless you guys. Thank you, thank you Brian, thank you Hardin Family for everything. Thank you for the Daily Audio Bible community. I really appreciate everything. Just a perfect place to just get closer to God and just get deep into the scripture and just be consistent. But thank you guys, God Bless you. Jesus loves you.

Hi DAB family, I just wanted to call in a prayer for the lady who was aired on March 7th, I think. About having a daughter adopted and going through some impulse control and then the husband being angry. Lord God, I just, I pray for this little girl. I ask for Your Holy Spirit to comfort her and show her who she is and build her up according to what You say about her. And I pray that her mom would come close to her and listen and support her through this time. Ask her to talk about her feelings and not judge her. And I pray that her dad would be able to work through his feelings as well, Lord God, and not express them in anger which may destroy their family and their daughter. And I just, I pray that You would bring him into Your fold and show him how to care for her in a way that would be supportive God. And give him a vent for those feelings, a way to express them in a way that doesn’t harm. But God we know that this family loves You and wants Your best for this little girl, their daughter. And I pray that you would just help her, I know, I want to pray that You put her out of all this troubles Lord but I know that You use those in our lives. So, into Your hands we commit this family. In Jesus name.  

Hi there. God bless you and keep you. Thanks for the question. Yes…there is a read tab for the scriptures in the app. The transcriptions for the DAB and DABC aren’t available in the app so we post them here in the hope that anyone who is listening that needs to or wants to go back and read what Brian, Jill, or China say is available…

Numbers 15:17-16:40, Mark 15:1-47, Psalms 54:1-7, Proverbs 11:5-6

Today is the 11^th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian is awesome to be here with you today around the Global Campfire taking the next step forward together. And, of course, we’ve been working our way through the book of Numbers, and we haven’t reached the conclusion yet so we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday in the book of Numbers which will be chapter 15 verse 17 through 16 verse 40 today. And by way of reminder, the children of Israel have been literally at the precipice of moving into the promised land. They sent spies into the land to…well…10 out of the 12 of them brought a report of danger and doom and the people have rebelled against God. And, so, they will go back into the wilderness. The lesson of the wilderness is still yet to be learned and an entire generation has been doomed to live in the wilderness and die in the wilderness, making way for the next generation to hopefully go into the promised land. And, so, that’s where we pick up today with numbers 15.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Numbers today we obviously see that the people, especially some of the leaders of the people are not excited about dying in the wilderness and going back out and living in the wilderness. And, so, it’s like this really interesting transfer of blame going on where a number of the Levites, number of leaders rise up against Moses and basically say, you know you don’t have a corner on God. God is all of our God and you have taken us from a land of milk and honey in Egypt. Like so quickly they’ve forgotten just how hard slave life was for them when they were the property of the Egyptians. But they’re blaming Moses for bringing them into the wilderness and not being able to take them into another land of milk and honey, the promised land, which is transference of blame. They did this and that is the thing that has Moses exasperated. He’s basically saying I haven’t done anything to anybody. I haven’t done anything but what the Lord has told me to do, and I didn’t want to be doing all of this. Like, I’m obeying God. You don’t have a claim against me. If you’re upset how things are going, then you need to talk to God about it. And what ends up happening because we just read it is a complete shutdown of the rebellion. And not a complete shutdown by Moses, a complete shutdown by God. And, so, the people…well…the leaders that were rising up against Moses are no more. The people have witnessed this and seen this. They know that they must obey God because there’s nothing…there’s like no other choice. They’re not going into the promised land and taking it. They’re going to have to utterly depend upon God in the wilderness, which is fundamentally the lesson of the wilderness in each of our lives.

And then in the book of Mark, and we are reaching the conclusion of the book of Mark soon, but we have witnessed for the second time the passion narrative, the death of Jesus by crucifixion. After betrayal and abuse and mockery and beating, He’s nailed to a cross, and He dies. As Christians we…like, we know the story and we know that it centers around Easter, and we understand that He died for our sins and that's…that’s Christianity 101 stuff there. But this is Jesus, our Savior, our best friend, a loyal one, one who has stood beside us when we didn’t deserve anyone to stand beside us. This is our Savior being nailed to a cross. And, so, it’s important as we come to these passages, and we already have in Matthew, so this is the second time that we’ve come to this narrative, that we really don’t just blow by it because we’ve heard it a thousand times. It’s really important that we consider the story because we’re looking at a kind of love that is perfect. We’re looking at something that we can’t just see everywhere. We’re looking at God coming to earth, becoming one of us showing us what life can look like and modeling it for us and then laying down His life to make it possible for us. There really isn’t any other story without this story as far as our journey goes. This is the centerpiece. And, so, as we encounter these stories and we have two more gospels and so we’ll encounter it a couple more times, but let’s allow this year for it to become deeply planted within our hearts because what kind of response is there? I mean, we can turn away from the vision of Jesus dying bloody nailed to a cross gasping in agony. We can turn away from that because it’s too painful to look at or we can enter into the story and see it for what it was, a sacrifice on our behalf to eradicate the claims of sin over our lives and our futures. This is important. And, so, let’s spend some time considering, meditating upon, contemplating, whatever…whatever term you want to use thinking about it silently, allowing it to sink in, inviting the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank You, thank You again. Some of these passages are hard to read because we love You. You’re our best friend. There is no one else more faithful and loyal and kind and loving. There is nothing else in our lives that we have like You. And, so, see this being done, just to imagine spit on Your face, bruises on her cheek, blood pouring from Your four head from a crown of thorns to anoint a king. It’s hard to consider these things, but there here in the Scriptures and they’re here repeatedly and so we’re supposed to consider them. And, so, Holy Spirit come and help us to enter into this story that set us free. And we offer deep gratitude from our hearts, and we offer our lives as a living sacrifice to You to do Your work, to be Your hands and feet in this world. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the website, and that is where you find out what’s going on around here, which can be done using the Daily Audio Bible app as well by pushing the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner.

So, certainly check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop and all of the resources there that are for this journey, the one that we are on and taking it deeper and further.

Check out the Community section. That is where the Prayer Wall is that I mention often because it is such a vital part of the community here, this place to always be able to reach out day or night and ask for prayer and offer prayer to our brothers and sisters who are on the journey with us through the Bible this year. That is in the Community section as well as all the different links to get connected on social media. So, Check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what’s happening here day-by-day step-by-step is life-giving to you than thank you for your partnership profoundly and with deep gratitude. 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:

Hi this is Mary from North Carolina this is my first time calling in and…and this is my first year as a DABber. Actually, I’m a double DABber and it’s just been such a blessing to me since I started. And last year I asked for the Lord to just give me a refreshing in the word, and He has done just that through the Daily Audio Bible lessons. I wanted to ask the community to pray for my brother, his name is Julian, and he has been in the hospital for about three weeks with acute kidney failure. And first of all, I just want the DABbers to pray that he knows the Lord. We’ve talked about the Lord several times but I’m not sure if he’s made a decision for Christ. And the other thing is that he wouldn’t give up. There’s signs that he’s depressed and wants…seems like wants to give up but would you all please pray that God let him know that he’s loved and he’s cared for and that all will be well? I’m also praying for…for the DABber community. I hear all you alls prayers and I do pray. So, God bless you all. Thank you, Brian, Jill, and China for such an awesome ministry. Have a good day everybody.

Good morning DAB family this is God’s Life Speaker it is March 7^th. I am calling in because there are a bunch of men praying for Lazarus. And he had called in and given his age and now all the sudden there are men in their mid to late 60s calling in and supporting him. I was just reading in Numbers I believe it was chapter 8 to my husband this morning how it says the Levite’s were retiring at age 50, but they weren’t really retiring, they’re just passing on some of that physical work to the younger men and allowing them to get involved as it should be. But they are to remain in an advising and counselors’ type of role, and I see this being played out supporting each other here on this worldwide ministry. Calls coming in from everywhere, men of…and women of all ages but I just caught the ear of the men who are in the same season as Lazarus…Lazarus and still walking with him, encouraging him, advising him, praying over him. It is absolutely Biblical and what God has called us to do. So, in the name of Jesus Lazarus and all of you, but especially those of you in his season, God be glorified in your lives, in the things that you say, think and do. May He have the first of your fruit even if the circumstance is not that great, God is so we declare that over your lives. And in the mighty name of Jesus God is good all the time. All the time God is good. Amen.

Hello Latifa here calling from California just think a miracle is happening right now. I’ve heard a couple of stories from two gentlemen who are in their mid or late 60s and I…I just want to say I’m a female in her early 60s and who is dealing with work search. And then I marvel at the fact that a couple of people have already mentioned and that it’s been on my mind thinking that I might be alone in…in this journey and that I’m on. But I know it’s a faith journey. I've…I’ve lived a good life a tough life sometimes, a tough upbringing. I’m a miracle in that I am not an atheist because of the tough…tough Christian hostile environment I was in. So, I’m here in my life now. God has got my undivided attention and I know He has something planned for me. I've…I'm…I’ve got skill, I’ve got education. But I know that age is a factor when I’m interviewed. So, gentlemen I’m with you. I’m with you in this journey. And I’ve not been perfect, but God works His strength through all my weaknesses. So, I am here. Thank you.

Good morning my DAB family this is Paula calling from Albuquerque, actually in Colorado visiting famil and heading home today. I just finished reading today’s podcast and listening. Today’s Tuesday March 8^th. Man, the last couple of days really have spoken to me. You know, I’m going through what many of you probably are as well experiencing things that are very uncomfortable whether it be work or family or whatever and we need to make a decision. And today’s reading really got me in all areas. I am complaining about what’s going on at my job and how unfair it is and…and yet the Israelites were doing the same thing, murmuring, and complaining as though God couldn’t hear them. But, you know, then Psalm 51 has always been a favorite of mine because really that’s what I want. I know once I acknowledge it that God is listening, and He knows my heart and I have to ask Him to forgive me just as Jesus even spoke to the 12 at the Last Supper. What am I withholding? Wow Brian thanks for allowing the Holy Spirit to use you to speak to us. Thank you, Father for Your word and how You speak to us each and every day through Your word if we are willing to listen. You listen to us every time we utter a word. Thank You, father for being forgiving in Your Son’s name. Amen.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible this is A Penny Saved from Missouri. I am calling for a couple of reasons. Number one Sean from UK, you’ve been on my heart since the first time I heard your call. And real, quickly I will say that I’ve been there and though I was never what I considered an alcoholic I definitely abused alcohol as far as binge drinking goes and it was a roller coaster world I lived. Though I did not do it often it always led to very bad choices. And my life looks pretty good on the outside, but I was…I was in torment for decades. And I want you to know that along with anything as far as bondage goes, Satan doesn’t care what it is he just wants you in bondage. And I struggled for so long, but I am 100% delivered now. But it was all down to my focus changing. I changed my focus to I just want to be more like Christ rather than I want deliverance or healing. And it all started 16 years ago when I started listening to Daily Audio Bible. Even though there were days that I didn’t want to hear God’s word I still played it every day for 17 years and I have been transformed, absolutely transformed. But it didn’t happen overnight. I didn’t get my instant deliverance, but I did get deliverance and I’m just praying that you hang in there and just keep going. God bless you.

Numbers 14:1-15:16, Mark 14:53-72, Psalm 53:1-6, Proverbs 11:4

Today is the 10th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it’s great to be here with you today as we gather to take the next step forward and of course our next step forward is always right where we left off, which leads us back into the book of Numbers. Where we left off yesterday, the spies had been sent into the Promised Land, spy it out. It’s time to go, it’s time to move into the Promised land. The spies came back with a report that said we can’t, there’s giants like, we can’t take the land and so the people are disturbed and that’s where we pick up, Numbers chapter 14 verse 1 through 15 verse 16 today.

Commentary:

Okay so, in Numbers today, we found out what happened. The spies have come back and given this report that they couldn’t take the land and that’s kind of where we ended yesterday, and we realize today that that completely demoralized the camp, caused all kinds of division and then the Lord spoke. And it’s a sad scene because they’re not going into the Promised Land now. Things have changed. They have to turn around and go back into the wilderness toward the Red Sea and it will be that wilderness that they will remain in until an entire generation dies out, 40 years. So, there are couple of things for us to understand here. Number one, this action, this loss of faith, this breach of covenant, this moving backward away from the promise of God and believing the voice of the spies or believing the bad news that’s coming down from the Promised Land that they’re supposed to go into has not only doomed a generation, but it profoundly affects the next generation. Because those are just little kids and they have to grow up and it is they who will have to do what their parents would not do. These kids were supposed to grow up in the Promised Land. They were supposed to be the first generation of free people in the land of promise to establish. But instead, they have to be the ones to go and take it. The other thing to consider is what the wilderness was representing to these people because we remember that when they left Egypt, they did not go by the short route, straight into the Promised Land and take over. Rather, they were led into the wilderness where a complete identity shift needed to take place; they needed to be washed from the identity of slavery and put on the new clothes of chosen people by God and they needed to learn what that looked like and what the expectations were but they were also in a place where they could not survive were it not for the provision of God. They were learning that there only hope was God. They were utterly and completely dependent upon God for survival. So, once they got to the border of the Promised Land, ready to enter into the Promised Land, from the text we begin to realize that that lesson had not been learned yet - the lesson of the wilderness. And so, they had to go back into the wilderness. And the way that this starts to become a mirror into our own souls is about our own wilderness journey. And the thing is, nobody escapes it, everybody goes through the wilderness, everybody has seasons of wilderness. We can call it by any other name but we have seasons where we feel like it’s barren and it’s dry and we don’t know exactly where were going and we don’t know exactly how we’re going to get out of it. We know what this feels like, and so often every waking moment is invested, all of the energy that we have is invested to somehow get out of it, when maybe the way out of it is to learn the lesson of the wilderness; we are utterly, hopelessly dependent upon God and that is awesome news because we can trust in and rely on God in the face of wilderness, in the face of lack of water, in the face of sickness, in the face of hunger, in the face of whatever. Our only hope is ever then God created us and put us here, our source of life. There is no other place to go. There is no other hope and our seasons of wilderness they can embitter us and we can stay there for another 40 years or we can learn the lesson; there is no other hope God says is true. We will follow and obey. And so, let’s take that to heart and allow the lessons from the Book of Numbers to become immediate to our lives. We will head back into the wilderness with the children of Israel and we will see what becomes of them as we continue our journey forward. We come to a crossroads here about our own wilderness experiences; do we need to stay there for the rest of our lives, or are we ready to navigate under the leadership of the Holy Spirit trusting completely in God, no matter the giants that are before us. Something to think about today.

Prayer:

So, Father, we, as we often do, invite You into what we’ve read, we ask that Your Holy Spirit plant the words from the Scriptures deep into the soil of our hearts that they may yield fruit for Your kingdom and that this fruit may transform us from within. And one of the ways that this happens is that we begin to learn that we are utterly dependent upon You for life itself. And so, come Holy Spirit we want this to become a sovereign truth in our lives and reveal to us the ways that we are working against that we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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

Prayers and Encouragements:

Will be posted later today.