Leviticus 4:1-5:19 ~ Mark 2:13-3:6 ~ Psalm 36:1-12 ~ Proverbs 10:1-2
Today is February 17th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is great to be here with you today, another step forward through the scriptures this year and we’ve just taken our first step into the book of Leviticus and so we’ll move back in and continue moving forward as God gives out the customs and laws of this new culture being formed in the wilderness, a people that is headed for a promised land. Leviticus chapter 4, verse 1 through 5:19 today.
Commentary
We’re reading about sin offerings, different types of offerings to the Lord in the book of Leviticus and like I said a couple days ago when we started this, we can read into this a lot of blood, a lot of sacrifice, and we can look into it through the lens of our time and kind of see it as a barbaric time with all of these sacrifices and all of these animals being burned up. I get that. It was a different time. We’re looking thousands of years back behind us to the way people related to the elements and things around them and life around them. But there are some things that have not changed – the fact that all of this was pointed at reminding people of something very important, something that has not gone away: Sin is barbaric to our souls. It is the thing that separated us and separates us from God. So God instituted something that is stark to remind people of the gravity of what is being dealt with here in atoning for their sins.
Jesus’ sacrifice was also a hard road that set us free from all of that. So now we can sin at will and just ask forgiveness. That is a beautiful thing, but it also kind of cheapens the fact that sin separates us from God. The beautiful thing is that the atoning sacrifice of Christ is available to all who call upon the name of the Lord, and so we do this. But there would be a certain gravity now if we had to take an animal and we had to kill that animal and shed its blood and pour it out as the remission for our sins, if we had to shed the animal’s blood because of what we did.
So we can look at the sacrifices and say that yeah, that was just a different time, or we can understand the fact of sin and separation and atonement were built into this culture and it was not any easier for them to just go ‘oh my goodness, I have sinned. Son, go grab me a lamb. I need to go down to the Temple.’ That is not how it was. They had to pull from their life-sustaining flock and shed blood, a process that not only required their time to contemplate what it was that had offended God, but also to take a life in exchange for that. If we had to do that it would be very strange in this particular time and culture in the world, but you can put yourself in that position and understand how stark of an example that is. Then we begin to appreciate the stark sacrifice of the Son of the Living God on behalf of the world.
As we move forward through these books of Torah, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, as we move through and understand the law and understand the customs and understand what God is initiating, then we can see that everything is attached to something else. Everything symbolizes something. Everything is a reminder of this new identity: Chosen people of Yahweh. We can see that it is woven into the fabric of their identity, a complete transformation from that of slaves of Egypt to chosen people of the sovereign, almighty, highest God. When we get that context and kind of move through these spaces in the Bible that we would think are tedious or antiquated, this makes much more sense and then we begin to realize we have a lot of symbolism in our own faith. It looks different, but it is all attached to telling the story, the constant reminder of who we are – chosen and redeemed. Everything is intended to continually remind us of this because we forget who we are all the time. We find ourselves being our own sovereign and trying to do everything in our own strength only to crash and burn and return for forgiveness.
Prayer
Father, the fact that you would enter into all these time periods and tell the story of identity, reminding us who we are and helping us to understand the gravity of the things that would separate us from you, how that allows us to fall backwards again and regress and try to live on our own terms without your Spirit, and what life is that? It was you who gave us the breath of life. It was you who created our species in your image and what are we without you but animals? But what are we with you? Sons and daughters of the Most High God. So this lets us see the gravity, the weight, the cost of sin. It separates us from you. It separates us from actual life. We were not ever made as a species to be separate from you, so we embrace these things that we’re learning in the book of Leviticus. We embrace them fully. We look at them fully. We commit to not just checking out and tuning out, but to embrace what you are teaching us. Come Holy Spirit, we pray, in the name of Jesus we ask, amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you. I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Hi Daily Audio Bible. This is Alissa from New Jersey and I’m calling because the Lord gave me a word. I was in prayer and I saw the narrow way going into a thorn bush and there was no way around it. The Lord led me through this thorn bush and the thorns were scratching and poking. I stood still and then the thorns stopped. And he said if you want to get out, you have to trust me and follow me through the thorn bush and know that I will bind whatever wounds come your way, but if you stay here the pain will stop temporarily, but you’ll be stuck in a cluster of thorns. So my encouragement to you today is whatever you’re going through, just know that the Good Shepherd will lead you through to green pastures and that whatever thorns scratch you and poke you along the way, you can trust him that he will bind those wounds and that you will be stronger than before. So be blessed and thank you so much for this program. I hope you have a wonderful day. Take care.
Hi everybody. This is Lisa the Encourager and I am so, so elated tonight to hear the wonderful news about Gigi. I have to tell you guys all a little bit more about that story. I called in and I told you guys that I went outside (maybe you remember or not) and I called out to God because it was such a burden I had for Gigi, for her to be healed. I went outside and I looked up at the stars, the beautiful moon, and I said, “God, I know you see me. Please, please heal Gigi from her seizures.” So that night the moon was a perfect shape of a smiley face. I remember that. I remember just looking up and just smiling and I said, “God, please just heal Gigi.” And then I had this small whisper in my ear, you know, in my mind that said, “Gigi will be healed when it is a full moon, Lisa. When it is a full moon.” And I said, “O God, is that you? So I’m just going to pray that. I’m going to pray that.” So every day I prayed. I prayed. I said, “God…” I kept looking at the moon every night. Every night looking at the moon. I’m thinking I want to believe as much and more than a mustard seed that what you’re telling me is true, so I kept praying and I kept praying and I kept praying for you, Gigi. Every single night. And Friday night my husband took me out to dinner and I looked up at the most gorgeous full moon. I’m sure you guys saw it. I had no idea about this super moon, this moon that was supposed to come about. I saw the most beautiful moon and I just said, “God, thank you so much. I know you healed Gigi. I know you healed her.” So I just had to tell you guys that story because I’m just so, so happy for Gigi. I love you guys. I thank you so much for sharing that faith with me, Gigi, and I shared it with you. I would just like to say this to God: You’re a good, good Father. That’s who you are. And we are loved by you. That’s who we are.
Hey, this is Christina from Northern Virginia. I just wanted to reach out to Lana, the woman who lost her mother and she was living with her for a while. I just wanted you to know that I heard you and my heart just totally broke hearing your message and just hearing how lonely you are. I’m so sorry. I know being lonely is the worst feeling. It is really hard. So I just wanted to share some verses with you that the Lord showed to me when I was going through some really lonely spots in my life. There is this verse in Isaiah 66 and it’s as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you and you will be comforted over Jerusalem. And there is also the verse, I believe it is in John, even unto the end of the age, I will be with you. Just know that while no one can replace your mom, you have God and he is always with you. He is always with you. I know you’re lonely and it hurts, but maybe you should find some community. Maybe try a Bible study or perhaps could you live with roommates. Just some ideas. I’m now living with roommates and it has been such a blessing. I just want to say I love you and we’re praying for you. Bye.
Hi. This is Victorious Soldier. Just calling to pray with the Dabbers. Oh, I’m so excited to hear, Gigi, that the Lord healed you. Praise God. I am just so glad. Continue to rejoicing and as I rejoice with you, I want to definitely continue to pray with you that the Lord continues to manifest the ending of his healing, that it be into completion. I want to pray for Rosemary about her oral exam. I’ll definitely be praying with you and I’ll pray with you right now, Rosemary, about passing your exam. Just trust God and just ask him to bring all things to remembrance, whatever thing that you learned, and you will be just fine. I want to pray for Bill B. and let him know that I enjoyed his poem. You’re very talented and I think it is good that you and Blind Tony, you all have been definitely an inspiration. Just thank you for your poem. I truly enjoyed it. I’m sorry, it was Daniel who had the… Daniel Johnson Jr. Thank you, Daniel, for the poem. I’m sorry. I want to pray for Bill B. in San Antonio. Bill B. is going through and I’m definitely praying with you. And Elaten in Sacramento, I’m definitely praying for you. You’re going through a divorce. You’re going through these challenges at this time, but God will bring you out. Just continue to trust him. As I pray right now, Gracious Father, we come before your throne of grace once again. Father, in the name of Jesus. Lord, we just thank you for the blessing you did on Gigi. We just lift you up and give you the praise. O Lord, we just thank you, Lord, for touching Rosemary, Lord. O Lord, she is endeavoring to take this exam. O Lord, we ask that you bless her, Lord. That you bless her in abundance, Lord, as you always do. Let her pass with exceedingly high grades. O Lord, touch Alton in…
Hi DAB family. Over the course of the years we’ve had several calls about being hurt by the church and being hurt by Christians and I have never understood that. I have just waded over in my mind and my heart and thought how could Christians hurt each other, especially if you’re attending the same church, but I prayed for those prayer requests. Last week I was put to the test because three Christian women that I have considered very close to me hurt me in a way that I never thought was possible. The first thing I did was I called my pastor. And he didn’t come at me with his opinion or opinion of others, he came at me with the Bible and what the Bible says and what the word says. It brought up the issue of forgiveness. And I said to my husband I forgive them, but I don’t know how to move forward in the relationship. Again, my pastor turned to scripture. In scripture it tells us we can forgive. It doesn’t mean that you have to let those people back into your life, but that you just move forward. And if God gives you peace of mind to open that door and continue to go through it, then you are to obey that. But if he gives you peace of mind to leave the door closed, then we need to obey that as well. And it has helped me. While I have not cried tears like this in a long time, I’m looking to see what the deeper message is, what God wants me to learn from this experience and how it is to reflect in my life. I just want to encourage all of you who have had something similar happen to you. Don’t get bitter. Let it go. Turn to scripture. Ask God for forgiveness. Ask him to forgive those who have made assumptions and opinions of you and remember the only opinion that matters is that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you DAB family. Thank you Brian Hardin and family. Cheers. Asia from Munich.
Hey everybody. This is Annette from Oklahoma City. Hello my friends and family. I love you guys. Hey, Jan from SoCal. Sister, man, I’m so glad to hear you again. I’ve missed you so much. My arms are around you today. Hey, I was listening to you talk about having to take math class and all that stuff and I was thinking about when I was in high school I literally failed chemistry. I could not deal with it. I don’t know what… The teacher was terrible. And then I joined the Air Force and what do I do? I get into water treatment. Total chemistry. Oh my goodness. I was freaked out. But let me tell you, I got a teacher who was amazing. It went from something that I was just like had zero concept, zero. I mean, I was a failure, to when I got my licenses and everything for water treatment which involves tons of math, tons of chemistry and I understand, I had to do it too, from not knowing anything to when the instructor was gone for the test, the people would go, “Nette, Nette, help me out. Help me out. I know you understand this,” so leading people into teaching them. So I know that you can do this and you might be surprised that you find out that you are excellent at this. You know, you just had to play a little catchup. It was pretty funny because I was thinking about that. I got kind of distracted from actually calling in and the next call is Alphaio chewing my butt saying, “Nette, call.” I thought it was pretty funny. But you’re right, you know. I pray for you and I wish you good studies and I hope that you grasp everything quickly.