A Walk Through The Word

Exodus 34:1-35:9, Matthew 27:15-31, Psalms 33:12-22, Proverbs 9:1-6

Today is the 12^th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we continue the journey…well…we’re…we’re journeying toward the center of the second month of the year. We’ll be there in a few days. And, so, we are moving right along but we have…we have moved through some significant territory in the Bibl. And as we begin our reading today from the book of Exodus, we still find ourselves around the mountain of God, otherwise known as Mount Sinai. Just some really, really important things have happened and transpired. We read of this golden calf that the people decided to worship as their redeemer as their savior as the one who brought them out of Egypt. And we saw Moses come down from the mountain away from God’s presence to discover all this, all that transpired there. Moses is back on top of the mountain again. Now he’s been pleading for the people. God basically told Moses, “yeah, I can’t deal with these people. I’m sending you to the land. You lead them in, but I’m not going.” And Moses is like, “if you don’t go, if you don’t go then I don’t even want to be a part of this story. If you don’t go, we have no hope.” And there’s this moment of real deep realization that there is no hope…hope outside of God, that we whether we acknowledge it or not we are utterly dependent upon Him. And, so, let’s continue the story. Exodus chapter 34 verse 1 through 35 verse 9. And we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week.

Commentary:

Alright. Let’s look at some words from the Psalms that we read today or the Psalm that we read today in light of what we’re seeing kind of both in the Old and the New Testament stories. The story in the Old Testament, of course, is God beginning to give the law, but the people’s rebelliousness their stiff-necked, their neck…necked-ness…their…their stubbornness and their rebellion and their adultery spiritually by worshiping false gods and just all of this stuff that we…we’ve been able to witness.

In the New Testament we just completed the trial of Jesus, like, He’s sentenced to death, which is how…that’s what we’ll experience tomorrow. So, let’s just consider for second in these stories the posture of heart of humanity toward God.

So, in the Old Testament we have God invading Egypt to set His people free and all of the drama about that and they’re in the wilderness seeing and hearing from God and God is laying out a tapestry for a culture and yet they are stubborn, they are rebellious, they grumble, they complain, they are not grateful, and they are easily distracted into putting their hope and their allegiance and their heart into the worship of something false. And God is exasperated about it. Who wouldn’t be? But He is patient, He is continuing forward with the journey despite their rebelliousness.

We go into the book of Matthew and then we look at the posture of humanity toward God and we see that these same people, like the descendants of this stiff-necked people, they want to do away with God while trying to defend God. But now they have this law, they’re trying to obey this, and it’s turned into a power struggle of control over the people. They have to obey the rules. And then God comes in the flesh and they don’t even recognize Him. In fact, they are so put out, they are so put off by Him and His ways that they don't…like it…that’s how backwards it’s gotten. I mean you would…we would say that God would display God’s ways, right? He’s God. So, that’s what we’re seeing in Jesus. If they can’t recognize the ways of God and they call him blasphemous and they call him of the devil, then they have so perverted the actual ways of God that it can’t even be seen anymore. And what do we see? God in the person of Jesus patiently taking out there giving. He is going to allow Himself to be killed by His people. That’s a pretty stark thing to think about. But could we maybe at this point in the year acknowledge what we’re seeing here and stop blaming God for things He doesn’t do us and stop telling Him He doesn’t understand what we’re going through? He does. And He patiently and carefully continues to love humanity until this very day, including us and our complaining and our lack of gratitude and our grumbling and our turning to something else for hope and our giving our allegiance and fealty to something that is false and our acting like a two-year-old and throwing ourselves on the ground and kicking and screaming when we don’t get our way. God is patient and kind because He loves us. If we would ever actually get that through our heads it would change our very lives, it would change the way we behave toward everybody.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come. Let us see this. Let us see Your kindness, let us see Your patience, Your compassion as we continue to navigate all of the different times and stories and people’s lives that we find in the Scriptures because we find ourselves in…in…in these stories. We find ourselves in the lives of these people. And, so, open our hearts. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear what You are speaking to us and where You are leading. We acknowledge that You have been patient, beyond what we could ever deserve. You have been kind in the face of our unkindness. You have loved us even while we were Your enemies. Help that to sink in we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out and stay connected to what’s going on around here, so, indeed, stay connected in any way that you can, in any way that you want to.

Be familiar with the Community section of the app or the website. That’s where the Prayer Wall is. That’s where to get connected.

Check out the resources that are available in Daily Audio Bible Shop. They are to take this journey deeper and wider to make it more comprehensive to make it more connected. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage. I thank you humbly and profoundly for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible 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, which is 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 DAB family this is your friend your brother in Christ in Michigan. I want to say thank you to, so many. Your prayers have touched myself and my family in ways you can ever imagine, and we are praying for you all. I’d also like a prayer over my wife. She struggled with many many ailments now but fibromyalgia now followed by lupus and she has some problems with her liver. Through it all she’s been upbeat and God fearing and showing me what it is to be a true believer. So, I ask that you raise her in your prayers as I raise all of you all in my prayers. I want to thank the DAB family. What a blessing to hear this every day. I am new. I’ve only been here since December 21^st of last year but to say…I can’t even describe the impact on my life, and I want to thank you. With love from Michigan. Bye now.

My name is Latasha and I’m calling from California. I need prayer in the way of my housing situation. I was placed on a housing program for homeless and disheveled men and children. It could be for anybody for that matter, but it’s been going up and down. Sometimes I feel like I’m out of the loop. And I found out that my rent wasn’t being paid. And now that I’m able to get a lower income of housing I’m being told by management here at the property that I need to hurry up and sign my lease when there are damages, i.e., a big old hole in the ceiling of the bathroom and the thermostat not working. It seems like these companies work together and they try to make the person like myself feel as though I’m crazy almost by saying that you have to hold off but then the other parties saying you have to hurry up and expedite. And I just don’t know what to do. I’m at a complete and utter loss and I just need prayer. I need prayer so bad because I’m afraid of being homeless again. I’m afraid of my children finally being stable and it could be taken away from us. And I’m afraid bad because of my situation and circumstance maybe they believe that I’m not apt enough to understand clearly. I just need guidance and direction because I’m so tired. I’m so tired of being tired. And it hurts so bad to feel as though on this earth I am alone and by myself and mostly I’m just…

Hello Daily Audio Bible this is Janelle living in China and I wanted to call and say I am caught up. Yay. At one point last year I was over two months behind and now it is February 7th 11:37 AM in __ China and I am caught up. I just listened to today. That was all I had to listen to today. Yay. I also wanted to do a little bit of gratitude because I have not been doing much of that. So, Lord I thank you that I am living in China and I am able with the low cost of living that China has I am so grateful for my job even though it is stressful and I am trying to learn how to teach without any formal education. It’s still an amazing journey and I’m so grateful for it. I am also, as strange as this may seem, grateful for Covid still happening in the US because my church, Church of the Highlands in Alabama, is now doing online small group classes and I can be in a small group. It’s at 5:00 AM on Sunday but I can be in a small group. I will wake up for that. I just…I miss that so much and I am so grateful that I’m now able to get back into being in small groups with my church even though I’m living in China. It’s amazing and I can’t believe it. I’m…I’m in shock. I’m just odd that says even possible a possibility…

This is Whitney in South Florida and I’m here with my kids Finley, Levin, and Lenna and we just wanted to call. And mommy had heard a message from Jody from Arizona and she wanted prayers for her granddaughter Leslie. And we just wanted to let Jody know that we heard her prayer request and we are praying for Leslie and we are praying for that whole family and your daughters one year old as well. Just that their home would be safe and Leslie would feel…that Leslie would just feel Jesus comforting loving arms all around her and know that Jesus is King. And it happens that Ezekiel in his reading had the perfect words that maybe another kid to another kid could hear and he had a great prayer on February 7^th, and it was just about the devil and that he has no place in our homes. And, so, we just pray that over Leslie just as Ezekiel did. And the kids wanted to tell Ezekiel one of their favorite parts about his reading and what is that you guys? Bye. Bye guys!

Hi neighbors it’s Lisa the Encourager. I’m calling tonight because I really had God press upon my heart to share with you a bit of encouragement regarding the reading that Brian did a couple of…probably a week or so ago and it was about when the disciple asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment. And, of course, Jesus replied back to love the Lord your guard with all your heart and your soul and all your mind. And then the second one was to love your neighbor as yourself. And I really embraced that I think it was a couple of years ago and that’s when I started calling in and I’d refer to all of you as my neighbors, to remind me to love you as I love myself. And this year God pressed on my heart to share with you the first commandment and that is to love the Lord our God with all our heart our soul and our mind. And I really started thinking hard about that, like how…what would that look like in action. You know, of course we can say it with our words and our lips but in action. And the only thing that really only came to my mind and the Holy Spirit bless me with was your prayers. Your prayers to God shows the tremendous amount of love. Just think about when somebody calls into the Daily Audio Bible and they call out your name and you hear it and how much it just…it just warms your heart. Well, that’s probably the feeling that God, when you call upon His name and you seek Him, and you pray daily. So, I just encourage you to show love God and put that to action, that first commandment, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.

Exodus 32:1-33:23, Matthew 26:69-27:14, Psalms 33:1-11, Proverbs 8:33-36

Today is the 11^th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is an honor and a privilege, it is a joy to come in out of the cold and come around the Global Campfire together with you and just let it go, let any…any of the things that are pulling us in all kinds of negative directions just let them go for a minute and let this be an oasis for God’s word, for the Scriptures to be read and for us to bring them into our minds and hearts. I will say it probably 100 times before this year’s over. I mean we don’t have to drag the anxiety in here. This is a safe place. We’re here together. We’re here together for one reason. We don’t have to guard ourselves. We’re here together for one reason, to hear the Scriptures. We can go back into the anxiety when we’re done, We can even amp it up. We can leave here as if it doesn’t matter and go right back and pick all that up or maybe we can catch our breath in here and maybe we can go back out into the world with a renewed perspective and that happens more than it doesn’t. And, so, let’s just let go, whatever’s going on. We just have a few minutes. We can take a break. If we want all that anxiousness, if we want all that depression, we can go pick it back up. But we can let go while we’re in here and see what God does through His…His word today. So, we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week going back to the book of Exodus and God has been meeting with Moses on the top of Mount Sinai. He has been laying out the expectations and weaving together the tapestry of a culture that will be formed out of these former slaves who…who are Hebrew people. He’s reforming them and the people have been all around the mountain freaking out. Moses has been gone a long time up in the clouds, the…the glory of the Lord upon the mountain. And, so, they don’t know what’s going on. And we’re gonna see…we’re gonna some things today that shouldn’t have happened and we’re going to see ourself in those things. Exodus chapters 32 and 33 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Exodus, the story of the golden calf, that’s a pretty famous story. And so…well…chances are we’ve encountered it in one way or another before. This happens because Moses has been gone too long in the presence of God hearing from the Lord what he, you know, how to lead the people and what the expectations are, all the stuff that we’ve been reading for the last several days. Meanwhile this…this whole thing takes 40 days, and the people are down around the mountain going, “whatever happened Moses?” And “where do we go from here because we don’t know what happened to him?” And, so, they decide to make a god, the gods for themselves to lead them forward and leave Moses behind. And, so, they commission Aaron. And we know this will story. Then God tells Moses to go down and Moses goes down and he throws down the tablets and they shatter, and this visually represents the breaking, like almost the instantaneous breaking of the covenant, the breaking of the law of the expectations of God. And he confronts the people about their idol worship. He confronts his brother Aaron about their idol worship. Aaron does all this whole back side-stepping blurring of the whole situation that we’ve probably seen so many times in our lives or even done so many times in our lives. Aaron is directly confronted about what he has participated in and he’s like, “what? How? You know. What? You know how these people are. You know how they are. And I don’t really know what I did wrong. I just told them give me all your jewelry and I threw it over here in the fire and out came this idol and so we worshiped it”, which of course…I mean…it’s like, “dude couldn’t you’ve…you don’t think very quickly on your feet do you? Like we can all see through this.” And Moses is just exasperated. He has been in the presence of God receiving this revelation about this people and formation. And, so, it’s like quite a contrast to come down off the mountain and see what’s going on. So, he grinds up the…the golden calf and everybody has to drink the water that it’s poured into and then Moses goes back up onto the mountain and it gets really interesting because Moses is back up on the mountain kinda changed. Like he knows how ornery and rebellious these people are. He’s one of them. He knows, but it’s like things just went to a new level. God has done so many miraculous things to rescue and protect this people. And they are around this mountain that God is descended upon and spoken. Like they’ve heard the voice of God at this mountain. It terrified them to the point that they asked Moses to be the spokesman for God and not God be the spokesman for God. So, they know God is upon this mountain and they know Moses is upon this mountain. So, Moses is back up on the mountain and God is like, “I’m not gonna go with you. It’s time…you need to lead to people but I’m not going to go so I don’t destroy the people.” This is like a whole change in complexion for Moses where he’s realizing deeply the gravity of the situation. He’s realizing for himself no matter how good of a leader he might be and no matter how revered he may be, he’s got almost 0% chance of success. Like if God doesn’t go this is not gonna work knows it. So, he’s pleading and asking like, “if you don’t want to go then just take me out of the story altogether because there’s no way.” And Moses says something really really riveting that we should be saying and meditating upon. He says, “you said” so, he’s speaking to God, “you said I know you by name.” In other words, Moses is saying, “you told me you knew who I was. And you also told me that you found favor with me. So, if indeed I have found favor with you” and I’m quoting here, “please teach me your ways and I will know you so that I might find favor with you.” God’s response to that is “my presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” May we remember that as we go out into the chaos of the day. Like if we’re gonna pick all that stuff up we were just talking about at the beginning, may we remember Moses and his leadership here. We don’t have a grandstander, we don’t have an arrogant person, we don’t have a power-hungry person here and Moses. We’re seeing a leadership style here in the Scriptures as we see the posture of Moses. And Moses is a human being and has done all kinds of things including asking God to send somebody else, but here we are. We’ve gone through all that, and now Moses reaches this point where he realizes very clearly, there really is no other way to lead or navigate life without an acute awareness of the utter dependence that we have on God. And when we acknowledge that then we are surrendering our own power and control into the hands of the Almighty knowing that there is no other way. And God responds, “my presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” May we remember that today.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come into that. When we surrender it feels counterintuitive because it feels like we have to put our hope and trust outside of what we can control or speculate or see it forces us into this other realm called faith, that we believe in what we can’t see or prove, that we believe in Your power, that You are mighty to save and we are not. We need to know this. We need to live this. It could rescue us from so much damage. So, come Holy Spirit and help us learn to surrender. Help of us learn to acknowledge You in all things as we are seeing built into this culture may we find all of the things that will continually remind us of Your goodness and make them a part of our practice as we are continually reminded of who we are, Your children, and who You are, the most-high God and where we are going -wherever You go where all things are made new. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that is home base, that is that where you find out what’s going on around here and how to get connected and how to find the resources that are available that surround this journey through the Bible that we are on. So, check that out. Of course, if you have the Daily Audio Bible app then you can check most of these things out as well said, so, indeed do that.

One thing that’s in the app or on the web would be the Community section. This is where to begin to get connected. This is where the Prayer Wall lives. This is where we can always reach out to each other and reach back to each other. Also in the Community section are different links of places to be connected on social media. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the mission that we share collectively to do what we’re doing and bring God’s spoken word read fresh every day and offered to anyone who will listen anywhere any time then to build community around that so that we’re never alone and we’re aware of that, clearly aware of that. If that has been a life-giving source to you than thank you for your partnership. There’s 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, which is the little red button 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:

Hi, everyone it’s Christy and this is Tim from Kentucky. We wanted to call and let you know that we are keeping each of you in our prayers as we hear your prayer requests and I just want to say as special hello to Abigail and Desiree in Golden. I just want you to know that we have been listening and praying along with you and your names are just etched on my heart lately, just such young people with so much faithfulness to call in and we thank you so very much and will be praying for each of you. Also, I just want to let Tiffany know that we will be praying for you and Tom and also for Emily. Just all of your calls were so heartfelt. And we want you to know that your family, your DAB family is lifting you up in prayer. Also, Kingdom Seeker Daniel, brother we are praying for you. You and your wife are so very special and just praying for your children and we too are battling some issues with my husband’s children. So, we understand, and we are praying for you. Also, if you would please keep Chris Thurston’s family in your prayers Pam Carlyle’s family in your prayers, Gene and also Dottie one of the ladies from our church. We…we’ve had to say goodbye to four of those in the past month. And, so, if you would, we’d ask you to pray for them and I just thank you for that. They’re now home with Jesus. I just wanted to ask for your prayers. Alright everyone. We love you so much and we pray each of you are having a most blessed and lovely day.

Hi, everyone it’s Desiree. I called in January regarding about my mother with the drug addiction. I want to thank all…all of you guys who have been praying for my mother. She is still the same. I’ve been getting…I’ve been listening to all the prayers that you guys have done they melt my heart. And I want to say thank you to all of you guys, even though you may not call, thank you though for keeping Her and I in your hearts Lord. I’m thanking the Lord for all that. So, after I submitted my video, I just want to say she…after some of your prayers that you’ve done, she called after 8 months of not knowing what was going on with her. So, that was a big crazy time for us. And with all that’s been going on though I want to say that you guys hit it right on the nail. I mean, my life has been so much better living here with my aunt and uncle. My grades are good. I’m an A, B student A+ B+ student. I still have problems with school you know that teenage little attitude. So…so, I just…I’m getting to know God so much more than I’ve known before. And I just want to say that’s thanks to my parents…well…my adopted parents but it’s all because of them and mostly because of God. So, I just want to say thank you to all of you guys that have been praying for us and I love you guys and I’ll be listening to you guys and I just want to say I’m praying for you guys as well, who have been having problems. So…

Hi, this message is for Tyler from the February 8^th podcast of the Daily Audio Bible. My name is Jessica from __ California and I just wanted to say a prayer for you. You said that you’ve been praying because you have a pitiful spirit. And I just wanted to let you know or share that God’s been working with me lately. Those are thoughts from the enemy and every time I think about, you know, I need to lose weight or condemn myself for eating something or not exercising enough, God’s been just having me repeat this over and over again when one of those thoughts comes in my head. He has me say, “thank you God for just the way I am. Thank you God for just the way I am.” And I know it sounds kinda silly but actually it’s only been less than a week and these thoughts are coming less and less into my mind. So, you know, I know it’s hard to love ourselves sometimes and the enemy really can get ahold of us but just know that Jesus loves you so much and you’re not a beautiful spirit. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. And I know people have told me that before and I’m like, “sure, sure. Easy for you to say.” But really, just believe it and just like right now actually have…I have a sheet covering my mirror, so I don’t look at myself, I don’t judge myself every day. I know it kind of sounds weird, but he really just has me trusting him and saying, “thank you God for just the way I am. Thank you God for just the way I am.” So, I encourage you Tyler that God loves you just the way you are, and you should be thankful for it. In Jesus’ name I pray.

This is Dave from the United States calling. This prayer call is for Haneron from New Zealand. Once I heard your call it stopped me in my tracks. You’ve been through some tough times. You’ve had the strength to call in and ask for prayer. And in detail you asked for a covering. I will be covering. This family, Daily Audio Bible will be your covering and the Holy Spirit will be your covering. I pray that you continue to call in anytime that you need strength from your covering. We will be here. And anytime give this family a call. Someone on this planet will be praying for you. I’m going to commit to a day to pray and fast for you and your family and the Holy Spirit be there for you. Thank you so much for calling and giving me the opportunity to ask our savior to pray and cover you and keep you…keep you covered as your request is.

Hi DAB family this is triple T calling to encourage those of you today who are longing for a spouse, longing for a child, longing for friendships just to be surrounded by love in a like tangible way. I know leading up to Valentine’s Day and that time frame is always quite difficult on people. I have many people in my life who are struggling and just want to encourage you guys, just press into the Lord and to seek Him and just to keep going after Him and letting him be or strength, your love, you’re all in all. In psalms 34 17 and 18 it says the righteous cry out and the Lord hears them. He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. So, Lord we just come to You right now. God, I thank You for these men and women across the globe. God You see their hearts, You hear the cry of their hearts Lord longing for a spouse, longing for a child, longing for a friend that they can walk through life with. God we just pray that You would open the doors of opportunity, Lord that You would give men wives and give women husbands Lord Jesus and give them together children Lord Jesus, that You would bring friendships that are unified Lord and strong and growing and encouraging and accountable Lord and just pressing into You God. Through all these things and their waiting in Your time and God we know Your timing is perfect. May You give them the strength to continue, may they press into You even more. Lord Jesus may You be their everything. All that they are, all that they have Lord may they press into You. We love You, we glorify Your name Jesus, for in Your name we pray all these things. Blessings and love. Bye.

Good morning DAB family this is Doctor John in Illinois good this morning I was listening to the prayers and I hear Greg from Washington. Brother it’s hard to hear all your troubles in your families but I guess what I hear…what I hear most of all is your love for your family and your concern. Again, your honestness and your contriteness is what I hear more than anything. And I want to read to you, this is psalms 57:15. For thus says the one who is high lifted up who inhabits eternity whose name is holy, I dwell in a high and holy place had also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Just know brother that He hears here. The word says there’s nothing outside His hand. There’s nothing He doesn’t see or touch or hear. And Father I pray for my brother right now for Greg and for all these Lord that petition you for their families. Lord would you woo their hearts. Just know brother that there’s a lot of people, a lot of brothers and sisters in this group, in this family, this wonderful family that are praying and believing for you that God will make a way for you. So, I pray, God bless you. Keep your head up and trust in God. Wait on the Lord and be of good courage for He strengthens your heart.

Exodus 30:11-31:18, Matthew 26:47-68, Psalms 32:1-11, Proverbs 8:27-32

Today is the 10^th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is great to be here with you as we continue the journey through another one of our weeks together, hump day here on this, actually this is the first full-blown seven day week of the month of February. So, we’re smack in the middle of it and ready to take the next step, which will lead us back into the book of Exodus, back into the instructions that the Lord is laying out at the mountain of God, otherwise known as Mount Sinai. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Exodus chapter 30 verse 11 through 31 verse 18.

Commentary:

Okay. There’s…there’s stuff we can talk about in every portion, every section of our reading today. So, let’s just touch base on them real quick. So, we are at the mountain of God and God is laying out statutes and ordinances and expectations. He is building a culture. He is weaving a tapestry and that usually begins with a foundation of some type of rule, right, the rule of law, some type of basis so that everybody has an understanding about how this culture conducts itself, because a culture is what, the interaction of people, right, in some sort of way, whether that be commerce or relationship or any other way. Like it’s the interaction of people and expectations that one person can have another inside of a society that sort of glues the expectations together. And then we usually as people proceed to live on the margins and find out we can get away with. And that will be the story of the children of Israel just like it’s our own story. But right now, God is laying this out and He’s being very specific about certain things, very specific. And if certain things aren’t obeyed then the consequences can be dire. And we can read through some of this and go, “why such a dire consequence for mixing up some type of formula of incense that can, you know, like…what’s the big deal? Yes, I can see that the recipe would be specific, but why can nobody else make this? Why wouldn’t they want to have this holy aroma around them all the time?” There’s reasons for everything. Everything that God is laying out for the people to do or to build or to observe for that matter, certain holidays etc. etc., everything is there to…to serve a purpose. It is a reminder of identity, that they are chosen and set apart and that this is their identity. It is a reminder of who God is, who it is that they have entered into a covenant with, and it is a reminder of where they’re going. They’re headed toward a land of promise. So, as we’ve talked about before. We can get into all this and go, “this is so tedious.” But so is our culture friends. It’s tedious, we just happen to know the lay of the land because we grew up in it. There are expectations inside of every culture. We can look at this and go, “this is so tedious” and forget what’s obvious right in front of us. Everything these people do is a reminder of either who they are or who God is or where they’re going. Everything that they do is order around the same outcome. This puts them on the same page moving in the same direction submitted to the same God. So, if there is an aroma for that than that smell means something specific, and that smell only comes from the tabernacle or the temple. That smell is what you smell when you become aware that you are entering a holy place in the presence of God. So, when you understand it in those terms instead of, “I’m just gonna go order some essential oil from my favorite essential oil”…look…I love this stuff. I love essential oils. I have aromas in the studio all the time, most every day. I love the atmosphere. I love these traditional rituals and I’ve been to Israel many times. I fact, had Covid not arrived we’d be gearing up to go in just a couple of weeks, but we’ve had to postpone and cancel that because the borders aren’t even open. So, but I’ve been there many times and I’ve have been places where these holy mixtures are mixed together minus one ingredient. Like, even in the tradition today they won’t make this outside of the holy place. So, you can kind of get an aroma of what this smells like minus one of the ingredients so that it’s not made exactly as specified in the Bible. And we could be these thousands and thousands of years in the future going, “what’s the big deal?” But we have to understand that aroma changes atmosphere, does it not? And we’ll talk about this later when we get into the…deeper into the New Testament. Can you not walk into a room and if the cookies are baking that changes…like you just immediately think of something or you walk into a room and there’s the scent of pine and it’s Christmas time and all of the sudden that brings the spirit of Christmas or any number of things. And…and certain smells can have very very negative triggers for certain people because it reminds them of harm or it reminds them of danger. Aroma around us sets an atmosphere. So, we could understand why this would be an important thing, that this particular aroma doesn’t remind anybody of anything but God. We…we can keep going here, but let’s just leave it at that because that’s the point that we’re observing here, is that everything is intentional for a reason and everything means something.

We turn into the book of Matthew and we witness the betrayal of Jesus. And I’ve said we’re going into this territory for the first time and we could, “yeah, I know the story of Jesus on the cross and He rises from the dead three days later and it’s a big big deal. And that’s the story of Easter and we just move on. Like I’ve heard this a thousand times.” That’s really not the way to approach this though. Let’s observe what we’ve seen just today. Judas, Judas is one of the 12 disciples, Je’s one of the inner circle of God on earth. When you put into…some of these terms where you understand…like when you say it most directly it’s pretty riveting. Jesus is God made flesh, right, God incarnate, and these 12 people are His inner circle, they’re His disciples on earth. Judas is one of the inner circle of God on earth and he decides to betray Him. And Jesus is fully God and fully human, so He experiences humanity in the same way that we experience humanity. And, so, when one of His closest friends brings a mob of people with clubs and swords and they’re there to arrest Jesus and this friend walks up and puts a soft kiss upon His cheek, that is the kiss of betrayal. Anybody out there ever been betrayed by somebody you loved, right? Or anybody betrayed somebody that loved you? We are right at…at some of the most painful experiences that a human being can experience emotionally. There’s nothing more tearing and cutting and painful and disruptive. There’s nothing that tips you upside down and question reality more than betrayal does. The kiss of betrayal by somebody Jesus loved is how He was captured. And then he was led away. Like what we witnessed today was the loss of freedom. God submitted himself to be bound by humanity and taken away captive. And it wasn’t just random humanity it was the church leaders it was the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They’re bringing Jesus to the high priest Caiaphas. They’re going to hold counsel and make a judgment about the life of Jesus, which is what we see play out today. They’re trying to get two witnesses, but they can’t really cobble that together. And, so, they just…they just ask Him outright, “are you the son of God, are you the Messiah?” And then Jesus says you have said it, which is basically like saying, “if…if that’s what you say. You said it.” And then He goes on to say, “in the future you’ll see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” They don’t fall to their knees and worship at that point. They don’t go like, “hang on a second, we need to explore this further” and fall to their knees and…and say, “tell us more” so that they can begin to get an understanding. They tear their robes and cry blasphemy and then declare that He deserves death and then they blindfold Him. And I know we know this, but this is Jesus. Like we’re here for this. We’re here to find out what the big deal was about Jesus. I mean some of us have been following Jesus and following His paths and being in a relationship with Christ for many many years. But then there are others of us who are here, really, truly saying, “I’m not like trying to deny or affirm anything. I just want to know the big fuss is. And, so, we have to enter into this. If we’ve heard the story a thousand times, fine. This is Jesus. This is God made flesh. They are spitting in His face. They’re spitting in His face and smacking Him and asking Him to prophesy who smacked Him. I don’t know. Can that sink in? That’s where we left…where we left the reading of Matthew today, is that Jesus is being spit upon and smacked around. He’s being ridiculed and made fun of. These people that have been plotting to kill Him are the religious people. And now they believe He’s committing blasphemy and they plan to execute Him. That’s where this story is going. The son of God, God made flesh. That’s what humanity is doing to God. And it’s not just humanity. That’s what religious humanity is doing to God as portrayed in the gospel of Matthew. Let’s sit with that today and invite the Holy Spirit to bring up the ways in which we do the same thing usually when we don’t get our way.

And we turn into the book of Psalms today and can…let…I mean…lets just listen to these words. “I will instruct you.” Let’s take this from God. “I will instruct you and show you the way to go. With my eye on you I will give counsel. Do not be like a horse or mule without understanding that must be controlled with bit and bridle or else it won’t come near you. Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the Lord will have faithful love surrounding him.” Let’s take that as the truth. Let’s live into that and understand that we are seen, and that the guidance of the Holy Spirit is available. The trick really honestly, like the biggest trick we could learn this year is to insert a beat before we react to anything, like one second. If we take one second before we react to anything and in that second become aware of wisdom and become aware that God is present and watching and will show us we could save so much mayhem from like…we could take out…where we would be giving life back to ourselves. Some of the days out in the future of this year won’t get ruined if we will listen. We won’t go through days of silence with our spouse trying to show who’s more dominant. We won’t be doing this stuff anymore because it doesn’t do anything that leads to life.

And, so, then we turn into the Proverbs today and we’re listening to the voice of wisdom. And it is here that She tells us She has been with God from the very get-go. She was with God when humanity was made. We should seek wisdom. She is older than human beings are. She has seen it all. And we should seek her as the Bible tells us as a more valuable thing than any kind of treasure we would go after, that everything flows from her and everything flows to us because of wisdom. And, so, we hear the voice of wisdom as we end our reading today and she’s like, “listen to me, those who keep my ways are happy.”

Prayer:

Father, there's…there’s always rich depths in Your word. And they're…they’re rich in that they inform our minds, but they’re rich in that they touch our hearts. They begin to transform things in us. They question…they ask the right questions of our lives and they begin to shape us. And, so, we are thankful for all that we have read in the Scriptures today and we ask Holy Spirit that You would come and plant these words, plant these thoughts deep into us as we move and navigate the rest of this week. May we be continually considering the path that we are walking. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that makes it home base for the Global Campfire and of course the Daily Audio Bible app is part of that home base too. So, anything on the web is for the most part in the app as well. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected.

Check out the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop to accompany us on the journey as we make our way across a year through the Bible.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well and I thank you. We’re on a mission. It’s an ongoing one. It’s one that doesn’t end in the foreseeable future. It’s a day by day step-by-step journey that leads us certainly through a year in the Bible, but leads us into a relationship with the Scriptures that doesn’t really end. It’s always there. The…the Scriptures are always there to inform our lives and it’s our mission to bring the spoken word of God to anybody who will listen anywhere on this planet any time of day or night and…and to build community around that rhythm. And if that’s you and that has been life-giving to you than thank you for your partnership. So, there’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is 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, which is the little red button at the top or there are a number of phone numbers that you can use. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to dial. In the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to dial. And if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good evening DABbers this is Blessings Flow in Pennsylvania. Tonight, is February 6^th and there were a number of heavy prayer requests tonight and I just want you to know that I’m praying for you. Kingdom secret Daniel with your kids, the sister her and her husband lost their daughter seven years ago this month, the woman whose son took his life in college and for the rest of your family. I just want you to know that we’re praying for you. I’m praying that you’ll be strengthened with power in your inner person, that Christ may dwell in your heart that through faith, that you would be rooted and grounded during this time in love. And I just wanted to pray over you. [singing starts] The blood that Jesus shed for me way back on Calvary the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power. It soothes my doubts and calms my fears, and it drives all my tears the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power [singing stops].

Hello DAB family this is God’s Grace for Japan I just listened to the February 6^th broadcast where a brother and his sister called out for prayer for families in crisis. I want to speak as a daughter of two faithful believing parents who were raised in abusive alcoholic households who chose to turn away from the path of the family curse and to believe in Jesus and His design for family. It was not easy for them. I’ve watched them for decades prayerfully go through crisis after crisis both from the previous generations and sickness disease cancer hatred of God all sorts of things as well as in between me and my siblings I’m afraid the abuse got through my sister abused me for 20 years and I don’t think my family even knew how to process that and I’m sure my parents felt like failures that that had gotten in however I can’t go into all the details for the past five years God has been redeeming that situation. My sister and I are now reconciled because I rebuked her according to Matthew 18. She fully repented and all of this is because my parents were faithful. They kept praying. I know that our families are in crisis, but God loves family. He redeems family. It takes time. Sometimes it takes decades. Sometimes it takes generations. But as a daughter of faithful parents who did not give up did not stop caring who saw who grandfather who hated God his entire life come to faith on his deathbed because of my parents belief in God’s design for family, He said this a good family and because of that he believed in Yeshua before He died. I just want to encourage you parents you brothers’ you sisters keep praying keep being faithful because God will be faithful and will redeem. I love you all. I’m praying for you. God bless.

Hey this is Pike hey this is Ben and we just wanted you guys to pray about our grandma who has COPD. She really needs some prayers. She walks to the spare room and then she walks back and then she’s out of breath. She has COPD because she…because she…what was it again? She started smoking when she was six. And we just ask you guys to pray about that and then that you guys will make sure God will heal her. And yeah, she is doing really bad. And yeah, that’s all. We just ask you to pray about my grandma and then bye. Bye.

Hey DAB this is beautiful soul in North Carolina. I’m calling after listening to the February 8^th episode. I heard a call in from a young man. He didn’t give his name or anything, but he spoke about how he just come to faith within the last month and how God has changed him and pulled him from where he used to be to where he is now and how God is giving him a desire to chase after him and find out who he is in his life. He encouraged everyone to just talk to God like He’s a person because He is a person and that’s all he wants. And I really needed to hear that. And it’s amazing how God can use the babes in Christ to…to…to speak to those who have been in it for a while. I’m literally driving around in my car this morning just taking a drive and trying to get my head focused on God and hearing from Him and listening to Daily Audio Bible. When this young man sent his word of encouragement out, I know it was God that spoke because I needed to hear that this morning because I’m trying desperately to hear from God. So, I just appreciate God using you, young man. Continue to let God use you, continue to chase after Him and…and I’m gonna keep chasing after Him too and having these conversations so I can hear from Him. So, I appreciate that encouragement. God bless you all. God bless you, young man.

Hello this is Alice from Idaho I’m calling in to ask for prayer for my mom and her family right now. She…a few weeks ago she found out that her brother had passed away and a few days ago she found out that her sister had also recently passed away. We haven’t been able to visit them 10 years now because we live in China and it’s been really tough on all of us not being able to see them and for this sudden news to come as a shock for all of us. I’m asking for prayer also for my grandma my mom’s mom. Obviously, this has been really hard on her and I’m praying that her heart will be softened towards the Lord and she will find comfort and peace in Jesus as well as joy and happiness. I’m praying for the same thing for all of my relatives in China. This is definitely one of the most unexpected things and I’m just hoping that they will find God and peace and joy surrounding that. Thank you so much. Bye.

Greetings fellow believers and prayers. This is Paul from Manchester calling. I have…I’ve just listened to the 2^nd of February and I heard Jody from Arizona praying, asking for prayer for her family and particularly her granddaughter…her granddaughters. I just wanted to share it really touched my heart and as I started to pray, I heard the words of Psalm 23 came to mind. And I just want to pray that over them with anyone who will pray, that thank you Jesus, that you the Lord are there Shepherd, that in you they have everything that they need, that you let them rest in green meadows and that you lead them by peaceful streams, that you renew their strength and that you guide them along right paths bringing honor to your name, that even when they walk through the dark valley of death they will not be afraid for you are close beside them, your rod and your staff protect and comfort them. You prepare a feast for them in the presence of their enemies. You welcome…you welcome them as a guest anointing their head with oil and their cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and your unfailing love will pursue them all the days of their life and they will live in the house of the Lord forever. Thank you, Jesus for this wonderful way that we can connect in prayer together and for your power at work in their lives. And I pray for wisdom and courage and boldness for all parents and grandparents and carers including myself, that we would make excellent decisions for and on behalf of the people that we care for. Yeah, Lord I pray that you would be present in their…in their situation, that they would know your…

Exodus 29:1-30:10, Matthew 26:14-46, Psalms 31:19-24, Proverbs 8:14-26

Today is February 9^th welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we continue our journey through this week and through the territory that we are covering in the Bible right now. In the Old Testament we are in the book of Exodus. So, I want to keep us rooted to this story because it can get so tedious. We are at Mount Sinai. We are around the mountain of God and the people are in the wilderness and they’re gonna be in the wilderness for a while. But right now God is weaving together a tapestry that will form a people that have only ever been slaves. It will pull them forward from slavery into becoming a nation, a nation of people, God’s chosen, the Hebrew people. And, so, let’s pick up that story. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Exodus chapter 29 verse 1 through 30 verse 10.

Commentary:

Okay. Let’s just start here at the Proverbs because it’s like we…we entered into today’s reading in…in mid thought, which is kind what happened. This is the voice of wisdom speaking here to us saying, “I possess good advice and sound wisdom. I have understanding and strength. It’s by me that king’s reign.” Like, it’s by wisdom that things are done and that things that matter, stay. They’re not just passing. They’re a solid truth. So, wisdom tells us, “I love those who love me.” So, there it is. There it is. “And those who search for me find me.” So, you know, we’re just getting going in our year, but we’re…we’re well underway. We’re moved in now. We…we can’t see the shore. Like we’re or out in the deep now and wisdom has been telling us all along that the most valuable thing we could achieve in life would be her, that we would be wise, that everything else follows wisdom. And that it’s not just us. It’s God. Like, I quote from Proverbs, “the Lord acquired me at the beginning of His creation before His works of long ago. I was formed to before ancient times from the beginning before the earth began.” Okay. So, wisdom is what God used and uses to create. And we are, in black-and-white, invited to pursue wisdom above everything else in life. And, so, let’s remember that. Let’s remember that reminder.

I remind you of the Daily Audio proverb, which is, like if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app it’s just another one channels. It’s like five minutes a day and you go through the entire book of Proverbs in a month. You can go through the entire book of Proverbs 12 times in a year. Just pouring that…that wisdom into your mind and letting it seep into your heart and then, I mean, over time these things build up. And, so, we become less reactionary. We’re not just reacting to life and more being proactive and deciding in advance what life is gonna look like instead of just letting it happen all around us just being pulled in every direction by…by influences that have nothing to do with us on our walk with God. Or we can be wise. So, let’s remember this.

And then let’s just back up into the book of Matthew just for a quick second here because we are coming to some territory, that this is the first time we’re encountering it, and that is the betrayal of Jesus and, yeah, His arrest and trial and His execution and His resurrection. So, this is the first time that we’re entering into this story and it’s important that…that we embrace it and not let it just be something we’ve heard before. We’re gonna, I mean, we’re gonna hear it in the Gospels and then we’ll move on from there, and it’s important that we embrace this because it’s the centerpiece of the faith, it’s the centerpiece of the story that we’re living in. And, so, to understand how this all goes down, this envy, this jealousy, this uncertainty, that Jesus is who He says He is, but also that He is gaining power because He is speaking with authority and He is calling out the truth from the shadows and exposing the truth and in the process exposing the power structures that are dominating the people and making them confused and polarized and marginalized. Yeah, they…they ultimately decided they needed to kill Jesus to shut Him up and we need to pay attention to this as we go through it because it’s the story of our salvation.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank you for this. We thank you for the counsel again toward making wisdom the centerpiece and we thank you that we have an example as we watch your life and ministry of what it looks like to seek the truth, to see the truth, to live wise. Come Holy Spirit we pray into these coming days, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi DABbers my name is Hineron I’m from New Zealand. I just want to start this off by thanking everybody in the community and Brian and everyone who’s behind this because, what a change to my life this has brought. I look forward so much to listening to the daily word and how it’s explained by you Brian and it just…I don’t know how many times I have read the 1^st three books of the Bible and nothing’s ever really sunk in, but I’m really enjoying where we are at the moment in the Bible. It’s just incredible. So, thank you. I just want to quickly ask for some prayer for myself and my family. My dad took his life a few days before Christmas in 2020 and I’ve recorded this a few times but I think what I actually need is just a covering. I know that God knows exactly what it is that I need and what I’m struggling with and what my family needs. The list is too long to try to fit in. So, just some prayer, just general prayer for a covering of God’s goodness, which already has been so prevalent, was such a blessing. But this community is powerful. God…God moves through this community and I really wanted to tap into that because the situation is…is not a good one. There’s a lot of heartbreak. He was only young. There’s a lot of division in our family now. But thank you all. I love you. Hope you have a blessed week.

Hello this is Wonderfully Made in Albuquerque and I am calling to pray over Kingdom Seeker Daniel and your children, Daniel, Hannah and Bianca. I just listened to the prayer requests from today about just the heaviness there that’s going on with each of your children. I think today is the 6^th of February so prayer requests for today. So, heavenly father I lift up Daniel Hannah and Bianca. Each situation is heartbreaking, and you know the details that are going on, you know their hearts and their minds, and I just pray that you’ll deliver each of these children Lord. Deliver them from the different struggles that are going on and guard their minds, guard their hearts with your peace and shine through. I pray for the mental health issues and what’s going on there for the past assault and that situation, how that really…the influence there and then the identity crisis Lord. I just pray that you’ll intervene and transform these lives and that there’ll be a beautiful testimony there for each child. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning this is Dennis from Los Angeles it’s February 6^th I just got done listening to today’s DAB and I felt inspired to call. Lately there’s been a lot of prayer requests from families that are estranged from their children. I myself am suffering with that same fate. My oldest daughter has decided she doesn’t want to speak to my side of the family. And I’ve been dealing with this on my own, but I figured why not reach out to the DAB family for prayer. I always pray alongside all of the others that are going through a similar circumstance and I would like for the family to pray for me. And as I listened to the prayer requests today, I felt so inspired to call and just share my prayer and that I’m praying for Tiffany and Tony in Ohio who lost their child and her prayer request to love her husband. Just know I’m in prayer for you. My wife and I also lost our son over six years ago, so I know what you’re going through. Also, for Emily in Minnesota, your pain, I hear it in your voice. Know that I’m in prayer for you and your situation, the loss of your son and your family’s difficulties and then right behind that Kingdom Seeker Daniel came on and asked for prayer for his son,0 his mental health issues, and his daughters’ situations. Just know that we’re in prayer for you, that we come together as a family and even though people might not call in, they’re in prayer with you immediately. So, just have faith and hope. Father God is gonna be doing miraculous things in our lives and we just have to have the faith of a mustard seed. So, I thank you for this podcast and I thank you for your prayers. God bless.

Hey DAB family this is Brookee545. I was just listening to the prayer request from January 6^th and I just want to lift Emily up in prayer, Emily from Minnesota. As I was praying for you I was getting a vision of a pillar that was in rough weather but it was still standing firm. So, God I just thank you for Emily and her strength and her faith in you and that she called in and that she’s a part of this community. Lord I lift up her…I just lift up her family to you right now, that they have the same strength and wisdom and knowledge that Emily has to run to you. Lord I pray for multiple anointed divine appointments for Emily and her family, that they listen and they accept your truth Lord and that they can work together for your glory in this time. Lord they’ve had a lot of attacks from the enemy. So, God I just pray that you protect them from that. And God again as I was praying for Emily proverbs 31 came to mind and how she’s just a pillar for her family. And a verse from 31 that always encourages me is verse 25. She is clothed with strength and dignity. She can laugh at the days to come. She can speak with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue. So, Emily I just encourage you to press into the Lord, let Him be your guide and your strength, and always be patient with your family in these times because they’re hurting. And I know that you’re hurting as well. So, I just pray for the Holy Spirit just to guide your family.

Hello this is just another Joe calling in on February 6^th. I’m calling in response to Kingdom Seeker Daniel. I want to encourage you and pray for your…your son. At the beginning of this year on the 6^th of January I also snapped and was admitted into a crisis Center for 13 days. And it’s really, really disorienting, and you don’t even know if…if what’s happening is real sometimes. So, Father God I just want to thank you for bringing me out of that situation and I want you to show Daniel the 2^nd that…that same kindness and mercy that you…that you showed me through those 13 days as you were with me the entire time. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Hello DAB family this is Greg, Greg from Bethel Washington. I just wanted to call in and thank everyone for being so transparent about your pains and your griefs and your challenges. I’ve been part of this community for many years, but I’ve had so many distractions and this is the first year I’ve actually really committed, daily being here with you all. I’ve survived a heart attack in 2014. I’ve talked to you about that before. I survived all these things and this last week has been a really challenging. I’ve seen my cardiologist. I’m having angina chest pain. They put me on a new medication for hypertension. I also have had, you know, diagnosis of bipolar. And I don’t know that that’s really true. You know the medical community treats our bodies, but they don’t know what our spirit is about. My wife and my daughter and my grandkids are not saved. I live in this home and there’s forces that are all around us impact them and I try desperately to carry it, but I can’t. So, just…I just wanna give this all to you to pray for my…my wife Jane, my daughter, Robbery my granddaughter Carolina and Bradley. Please Lord Jesus protect us all. In Jesu’s name I pray. Amen.

Exodus 28:1-43, Matthew 25:31-26:13, Psalms 31:9-18, Proverbs 8:12-13

Today is the 8^th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we get into this workweek and reach out for the next step, move further into the Scriptures and into the stories that we are immersing ourselves. In the book of Exodus, we are…well…we’re listening to God begin to weave together the culture of these recently freed slaves are gonna look like. So, what God wants His people to present and model for the world, this is what we’re beginning to hear. And if we understand that then, you know, some of the stuff is tedious like, how long, how far should the polls be spread out on this tent and, you know, but what we need to understand is that this tent is something that God is saying, “I want to build this and this is gonna be in the center of the camp and this is going to represent the fact that I am dwelling among you in the middle of it all.” And, so, for God to have some specific specifications about what this is to look like not only has practical value because it needs to be movable, it needs to be portable because they’re moving around, but also because it needs to fulfill a specific purpose among the people. This is the place where God is among them. It’s something physical that they can see. It’s something that makes them aware that in the middle of everything there is God. And, so, let’s dive in. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Exodus chapter 28.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Matthew for the last couple of days we’ve been reading Jesus discussion about the end times. And this whole thing began by Jesus and His disciples being in Jerusalem, and them admiring the construction of the temple. And the temple, in Jesus time, this is the second Temple, so this is the Herodian temple, and it would’ve only been completed for about 40 years. So, this is pretty new, and Herod is one of the greatest developers in world history. As crazy of a person as he was, paranoid as he was, he was an unbelievable developer, a builder. So many of the Herodian constructions are still in existence today in ancient Israel. So, this would’ve been the temple that they would have been…would’ve been observing and they’re just admiring it and Jesus is like, “the whole all things coming down”, which is what began this discussion because later on they’re like, “tell us when this is all going to happen.” What Jesus tells us is that things get worse before they get better when we reach the times of the end, and that essentially the things that are observable like wars or famines or rumors of wars, these kinds of things, these are like contractions that a mother has when she is in labor preparing to give birth, but the contractions aren’t the birth. The birth is the birth. And I’m kinda using this line of reasoning, the birth is that all things will be made new again. And, so, this in affect is called an apocalyptic world view and Jesus was known from the outside as like an apocalyptic prophet because He said the things that He’s saying. He’s saying things about the times of the end. A lot of times…we already talked about this…we’re trying to date things, trying to find the right month just plan it all out, which has always up until this very day been 100% incorrect every time a guess has been made. And Jesus during this discourse claims that He doesn’t even know, that the only one who knows is the Father. And, so, His…His discourse, this conversation that’s been going on isn’t really to instill terror it’s just simply to say this is…this is how you will know things are moving in a certain direction when you see these kinds of things happening. Well, these things…these kinds of things have been happening for a long time. So, this is where we find ourselves, contractions or labor pains or the pains of birth depending on which translation you’re reading in, that this is what we’re seeing but this is not the end. And even Jesus…that like nobody…nobody knows that day but the father, which then leaves a little bit of unrest, right? Because how could you prepare for what you don’t know? It’s just like an ominous cloud of dread that hangs over everything. And, so, Jesus then goes into a couple of stories saying this is what the posture should be. So, He does a story of the virgins and the bridegroom, the banquet, the wedding banquet and half of these girls, they came prepared with extra oil in their lamps because they didn’t know exactly when he’s gonna show up. The other ones just came to the party excited about it but were not prepared for any kind of lengthy waiting. And, so, their oil ran out. They all fell asleep their oil ran out but when the bridegroom came the wise…the wise maidens woke up they had oil. The other three are like, “give us some of your oil. We don’t have enough.” And they have to go buy more oil and in the process, they miss the bridegroom. So, in the context of what Jesus is saying about being aware of the end and just being like just being able to see the signs of the times, what would be the moral of the story? The moral of the story then would be the ones who were prepared, right, the ones who didn’t know when the bridegroom was going to show up, but they were prepared are the ones who got to see him. So, in other words, like bringing this out of a story we would say we don’t know the day the end of things. We have some signs that are observable, but we don’t know exactly when. Only the Father knows that. We are supposed to be ready any time as if it’s in the next five minutes. Like we’re always supposed to be vigilantly ready and aware. And then Jesus tells another story about a master who gave five talents to one person, one servant, two talents to another servant, one…two to a third servant and then went away. Two of them doubled what they were given. The one with five had ten by the time the master came back. The one with two had four by the time the master came back. And the person who was given one talent buried it in the ground and did nothing with it. When the master did return it was, “well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter into rest. Enter into my joy” for the…for the two that had taken the risk and actually stewarded what they were given by the master and doubled what they were given by the master. That worked out well for them. The one who had the talent and buried the talent, it did not work out as well for him. So, what do we pull out of that in light of being aware and prepared for the end? We would have to say that the ones who recognized what they had been given and did everything that they could to steward what they had been given so that the kingdom of the master would have an increase, those who were at work and were not afraid, those were at work and prospering, they got the “good, well done.” The one who just took what they had and…and hid it so that they wouldn’t lose it and just went on with their lives, not paying attention that didn’t work out so well. So, Jesus has given us…well …first of all, an apocalyptic worldview which we all share on some level. That is the…just the general awareness, the general sense that we were born into an ongoing story, the story of humanity and this story continues to go on generation after generation and it’s all ultimately headed somewhere. It’s all…like we’re in a story that is going somewhere. From apocalyptic perspective we’re expecting that things will get worse before they get better, but we have the perspective that these are contractions that are unto something, the birth of all things being made new. So, we have that kind of baked into us, It’s just back there. But it has a profound effect on the way that we live, far more than we realize, unless we’re paying attention. This is what Jesus is speaking to, and so this is why He was known to some the way that He was, an apocalyptic prophet. So, we get into today’s reading and then Jesus is talking about when the Son of Man comes and how He’ll will be like a shepherd and He will separate the sheep from the goats. And the separation, the distinction between the sheep and the goats was how they had cared for the vulnerable, how they had cared for the least of these, how they had cared for those who were marginalized. That should prick us pretty profoundly and invite examination of our own lives. We should also be able to read into this that it’s a great encouragement for the hearers of Jesus because Jesus primary hearer, they were marginalized, they were suppressed, they had…they were subjugated. They didn’t really have a voice or representation in the culture that they were in. And, so, they were simmering and stewing, So, these kinds of words about the least of these being important to God would have been very encouraging to them. But ultimately what Jesus said is that when you care for the vulnerable you are caring for Jesus. When you don’t care then you are not caring for Jesus. And it’s fascinating what happens as He ends this discussion, this discussion at least for us that’s taken several days to move through. He finishes this discussion and I’m quoting from the book of Matthew here. “Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest who was named Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill him.” That is their response to Jesus teaching about where this is all going and the posture of heart that we must have to be able to observe it, a posture of vigilance and awareness and preparedness, a posture of understanding that we are steward…like what we have, the talent in the story of Jesus, what we have been given we are to use to advance the kingdom of God and be participating and collaborating in it. So, this general sense that we need to be awake and aware or to put it more clearly in Jesus vernacular, that we have eyes to see and ears to hear, and that we are seeing and hearing the vulnerable. The religious leader’s response to this is to plot the assassination of this guy, Jesus, who is stirring up the hearts of the people. Now, obviously we are reading the story of the life and ministry of Jesus. So, it’s clear who is against Jesus and it happens to be the religious elite. And we can very easily make judgments about them, but we must examine our own hearts. Are we prepared? Are we awake? Are we alert? Are we understanding that what we have has been given to…given to us to steward? Are we focused on the vulnerable or is it more our custom to simply rehash the political talking points that are going around at any given time? We’re actually invited by Jesus to step all the way away from all that and focus on people and be aware of people, be aware that our impact actually matters, that this is the way of God’s kingdom not paid people who interpret the news and tell us what to think. The Holy Spirit is here to lead us into all truth no matter what gets said to polarize us from each other so that we can be manipulated. This is the stuff that Jesus was against. He was against of the things of the world because the things of the world had grown false. Everything had a veneer of falseness about it. That’s the way of the world now. That’s the way of people now. We’re all hiding things and Jesus is like you…you have permission to be true and…and when more and more people are then the kingdom becomes more and more evident. It becomes a city on a hill. It becomes a light in the dark. It becomes the salt that preserves things. These are the kinds of examples that Jesus uses. And, so, we’re never going to be able to just look at Jesus and go, “that was a pretty story.” There’s nothing about Him that’s not gonna challenge something in us because what He’s after, what He was after in His earthly ministry and what He is after now is that we be free through the truth and not through the next conspiracy theory that comes down the pipe. And, so, maybe we should be listening to Him. And, I mean, maybe this is a good time to review, go back and read the entire discourse Jesus is laying out in the book of Matthew on our own because the point here isn’t that we finally learn what the Bible says. Just…that…I mean that’s the tip of the iceberg. The point is that we hear what it says, compare it to our lives, andt hen understand that there are things that must change if we’re going to come into alignment with wisdom and that we can’t do this on our own. It requires surrender to the will of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And, so, yeah, this isn’t going to go away. That’s the thing. The quicker that we…if we really want this, we want to live this faith, if we want to be in this faith, if we want it to actually work instead of it just being a set of principles that are supposed to work but really don’t. If we actually want to live into this then we’re going to have to be willing to live into this, to take up our cross and follow.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come. We ask every day. Some days, we are so full of hope and encouragement and some days we are pricked. And…and we thank…we thank You for that. We thank You for the disruption. We thank You that the Bible isn’t pandering to us. It’s looking at us in the eyes and showing us how things are. It’s leading us away from falseness and into the truth and we need, but sometimes it’s disruptive and we need to get used to disruption because it’s the thing, it’s the catalyst that shakes us that makes us get off the couch, it’s the thing that makes us move. So, come Holy Spirit into all of this we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here like I say every day because it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can find out what’s going on around here as well. So, check it out.

Be familiar with the Community section. As I say often that’s where the Prayer Wall lives. And knowing where that lives, that…that’s a destination, that’s a destination to know about because sometimes…sometimes we need to reach out. Sometimes we’re shouldering burdens that are crushing us for no reason because we’re not willing to humble ourselves a little bit and reach out. And, so, the Prayer Wall is a great place for that. So, be aware of that.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com or if you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or if you prefer the mail, 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 super easy no matter where you are or there are a number of numbers, telephone numbers that you can use. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number. In the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number. And if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

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 good whatever it is wherever you are whenever you’re listening to this. This is just another Joe calling in on Wednesday February 3^rd 3:13 my time. Against my logical self I’m throwing my log in on the campfire. I’ve been listening for many years, but I never really felt like I needed to call in and speak. I just want you to know that I’m standing behind you and agreeing with whatever you ask for in prayer. I love you guys. Can’t wait to hear…

Hi my name’s Amie calling from Canada and I was initially going to respond with a prayer request but instead after listening these last few weeks and indeed the last few months and just growing into the Daily Audio Bible, loving it to pieces I am so grateful for this ministry. Thank you so much for what it has given me and so many around the world obviously. But I really wanted to just reach out to a couple of people individuals who called in and requested prayer. One, the young girl with the so-called whatever brain problem that she described. Honey, you are so loved by Jesus. And when you asked for prayer, I envisioned His hands on your head and may His hands be your helmet all day long. There will be healing, and I pray for you every day. I also pray for them mum who called him with a daughter she has to be strong for. You were just diagnosed with breast cancer. I am a daughter of a woman who has just survived breast cancer and mama wherever you are I am praying for you. Remember, God does not give you what you cannot take He does not give you more than you can take and…and you will be strong. You are strong in the Lord. Rest in Him on His rod and His staff. You may walk through the Valley of the shadow, but it is just a shadow. He loves you and I am praying for you.

Well, I just wanna say if anybody is hearing this that God is good and personally just coming to Him within I would say about a month been kinda crazy but, you know, coming from a life that’s been, you know, so against God. When I was a child and going to church and stuff not really knowing what it meant, you know, coming to God, just, you know, view changing it’s encouraging. Like I actually have, you know, a purpose in life. And it’s awesome. And, of course, there’s bad days and there’s good days like He says. God doesn’t change for a season. I’m really trying not to. I really want to, you know, get the same truth out to everybody else. And, yeah, I hope that He comes back some because I feel like I miss Him. I miss my __ here but I love all you guys. And everybody who’s hearing this know God loves you. Literally, all you have to do is chase Him with your full heart, ask Him, talk to Him like He’s a real person, He is a real person, He made us into persons but have a conversation like you have a conversation with a real human being. That’s all He really wants. And, yeah, He’ll show Himself to you. He’s got you like he did me. I’m just trying to, you know, chase after Him. And I know I will find Him. Amen. Amen. Amen.

My name is Tyler I’ve been trying to pray for a less critical spirit, and I can’t pray for myself anymore. So, I need prayer from other people around me. I appreciate all of your prayers that I’ve heard and listened to. Jesus loves all of you. Thank you for the Daily Audio Bible app.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths. I’ve been reminding myself this…of this scripture quite often over recent days because everything seems a bit manic, everything seems a bit busy, you know it’s all uncertain as…as it has been for the past year really. And I’m tired and that doesn’t help matters either, you know. I’m eating properly, I’m getting sleep and yet I’m still tired. And yeah, it doesn’t help. And…and I make plans and then things happen that could potentially derail those plans and nothings certain. And, so, at this time it's…you know I’m choosing to cling to Christ, I’m choosing to trust and the Lord that even though I’ve made plans that His will will be done. And I’m praying for wisdom around that as well. Yeah, and yet…I'm…I'm…I’m choosing to rejoice, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This is Michaela from Gloucester. I hope you have a blessed day wherever you are. Thank you for your prayers. Bye.

Hello DAB family we just thank God for your lives and also thank you to the Hardin family for this amazing podcast. I just have a strong urge to encourage those who were adopted fostered moved from family home to family home or those who generally feel abandoned by their own parents, it could be either physical or emotionally they are not there, and they feel unloved. Just remember that God wipes away your tears and He hears your cry. He is mending your hearts. Abba Father is our true Father. He gives us the love that no earthly parent can give us and comfort you when you feel alone and emotionally drained. We have to also remember that in Galatians 4, 6 and 7, it says because we are His children God has sent the Spirit of His son into our hearts prompting us to call out Abba Father. Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child and since you are His child God has made you His heir. Amen. Please be encouraged. God bless you all. Praying for you all. And this is Sarah from London.