Numbers 10:1-11:23 ~ Mark 14:1-21 ~ Psalm 51:1-19 ~ Proverbs 10:31-32
Today is March the 8th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is a pleasure and an honor to spend this time with you and come around this global campfire that is ours, that is the fire by night that we were talking about yesterday, leading us forward. And so, from the Good News Translation this week, Numbers chapter 10, verse 1 through 11, verse 23.
Commentary
We have been encamped at Mount Sinai for quite a while now as the law and the rules and the customs and the regulations and the rituals that God is weaving into this culture, where everything is a reminder, where everything they do as it relates to God orients them to God and tells them the story of who they are, but we finally get to kind of move out. We’ve been hanging out there for a long time, but we get to move out today. Everybody is fine. Everybody is following the directions, the order of things. Everything looks good. Everything feels right. They are moving out and then they start complaining again. “All we get to eat is this manna.”
If you ate the same thing every day for a long, long time, it starts to become bland and you’re kind of used to it and you don’t have any variety. So we kind of get that, at least from a tastebud perspective. But this manna is being snowed down with the dew and all they have to do is get up in the morning and collect it and they are nourished for the day. God is sustaining their life in the wilderness. I have been in that wilderness. There is no way, even today that a million people out there on the desert floor can find enough food to survive. They are in the middle of a miracle and it is happening every day. I mean, cloud by day and a fire by night and manna on the ground every day, everything is miraculous around them. God is present with them. There is no denying it and they are complaining about having to eat the same thing every day.
Then it gets to the meat thing. “Oh, you guys remember the meat we got to eat when we were slaves? You remember that? The watermelon? The cucumbers? The leeks? The onions? The garlic? And now all we have is this manna.” So God came to Moses and said, “Fine, I’ll give you meat and you’ll find that you’ll get sick of that too.”
It’s like they should have understood that they were in the wilderness. They were like in the middle of nowhere. They were on their way to somewhere that was promised but they were out there in the wilderness and were being fed. So if there is a land of milk and honey out there, there will probably be some cucumbers there. Probably some garlic and onions and watermelons and some meat. The gourmet meal may be on the other side of this promise as it has been fulfilled, but for now they’re alive and their God is mightier than anything on this earth.
But that is not what happened. Even Moses came to the Lord after saying the promise and he’s like, “Look, there’s hundreds of thousands of people you’ve got me leading here. Where will this meat even come from? We don’t have enough cattle and there is not enough fish in the sea.” And God reminds Moses, “Is there a limit to my power?” “You’ll soon see whether what I’ve said will happen or not.”
This is our story, my brothers and sisters. I mean, we are watching the story play out of God’s chosen people, but it is a mirror into our soul because this is us. Cloud by day, fire by night, we’re being led by the Lord. We just want to skip the fact that the wilderness precedes the promised land. Even in the wilderness God is sustaining us, giving us everything that we need and somehow we are still here, but it doesn’t take too long before we’re starting to talk about times when we were a slave because it was easier to be a slave. We didn’t have to contend for anything. We just had to do the work. We didn’t have to pay for any of the food. It was just given to us. We were just the labor. We were just the help. There wasn’t much to think about. We didn’t have to plan. We didn’t have to obey. We didn’t have to observe. We didn’t have to be vigilant. We didn’t have to be aware. We didn’t have to fight. We didn’t have to go through the wilderness. So in those times slavery looks more appetizing. But really? Is this who we really are? Is this what we’re made of? Because we were made to be free and we were made to be intertwined with the Spirit of God within us. We are meant to walk around with an authority on this earth like Jesus.
May we stop replaying the tapes in our head that lead us to the places that we’re reading of in the children of Israel’s lives right now because it is going to get us nowhere. Nowhere. We will never get out of the wilderness that way. I promise you. And if you don’t believe me, then just watch as this story unfolds in the book of Numbers.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the mirror into our souls because we need this disruption. We need to be shaken awake. And we thank you for fathering us, for being patient with us, for parenting us, for helping us learn how to grow up, for helping us to remember that we are your children and, of course, you love us. But there are lessons that we must learn in order to mature and in order to heed the voice of wisdom. So you brought us to places that we must wholly trust in you, not because you want it to be hard for us, but because we’ve got to learn how to do this. So we thank you. We’re sorry that we’ve misinterpreted what you’re doing in our lives so often. We’re sorry that we’ve so often turned back and gone into slavery. We’re sorry that we’ve so often complained about the way you’ve sustained and kept us alive only to just long for the good ol’ days. Forgive us, Lord. Have mercy on us, dear Lord, because we are so lost without you. We never have to be without you for a moment. We choose it. Forgive us. Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive our sins, we pray. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Announcements
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base and it’s the website. It’s where you find out what is going on around here. And yeah, this freedom that we’re talking about here is one of the things we really explore at the More Gathering. We’ve been talking about the More Gathering for Women that is coming up less than a month from now. Registration will be closing soon and that will be that. So, if you’re out there, you’re a woman, even if you’re a man in love with a woman and you want this freedom for her, if you want this freedom for your heart, ladies, this is a good start. This is a good reset. This is a good beginning point. So check it out. All the details are at www.DailyAudioBible.com. You’ll find the More Gathering very easily and all your questions about it will be answered.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com. There is a link. It’s on the home page. Thank you for pressing that link. If you use the app, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner. Of the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.
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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 everyone. It’s Christy from Kentucky. I wanted to call tonight because as I was working on the community prayers for February 25th, Justin from Oregon, you called in about the 2-year-old child that was missing and there was such great compassion and concern in your voice. And then when the child was found, you were so grateful and I could hear the relief and the sincerity. The Lord just put across my heart the word authenticity. And I just wanted to tell you that you all are such a loving family, each of you. I hear such great compassion and love for one another. I hear such sincerity in your voices when you pray for each other. And I just love that this family is a family of authenticity. And it is not self-serving. It is such an unselfish love the each of you have for each other and it blesses me. So I just wanted to share that with you. And also I wanted to ask for a prayer request. My friend Judy in Orlando has just been diagnosed with COPD and she just sent me a text and asked me to pray for her because she is having difficulty breathing. They are going to have to do more tests because they are concerned something else may be wrong and she is afraid. I can just hear it in her text. She loves Jesus so she is saved, but I just want you, if you would, to please pray for her to have peace and for them to be able to find that there is nothing else wrong and that she will be healed of this COPD. I’m just asking that the Holy Spirit breathes through her and for her. Alright everyone, I love you guys. I pray you’re having a most blessed and lovely day.
Hi, good morning. This is Judy in Salt Lake City, UT. I’m calling because James in the UK called regarding Faraj seeking work and the fact that he had been kidnapped and tortured or mistreated badly in Libya because of his human rights work as a human rights lawyer. I just wanted to remind everybody that at noon every day some of us here in the DAB community are praying for those that are in captivity, whether it be sexual slavery or in Faraj’s case, what was happening to him, those that have been enslaved by Boko Haram or used as human shields and kept captive by ISIS and others. Please remember at noon wherever you are in the world to join us all as we pray for those that are captive. We know and give the God the glory that he answers prayer. Faraj is an excellent example of that and Jen’s daughter is another one and there are so many others that we don’t even know about. So thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for freeing Faraj. Now, please, we ask that you find him work that he can support his family in a decent manner, that he can continue his work. Also I would like to thank our new listener, Candace in Kansas. At first I thought you were Candace in Oregon. Thank you for that beautiful prayer. And thank you, Sally in Mass, for your beautiful prayers for the community. I felt them all the way down to my heart. God bless you and we ask you please to don’t forget praying for the health __________ at…
Hi family. This is Rachel or Thankful from Australia. Faraj, I’m praying for you that you will find work in your field. And also wanting to praise God and thank you, family, for praying. My daughter who lives in New York, her visa was renewed which was at first denied and then three days later, I believe after your prayers, was granted. Thank you, family. Also please pray for my mother who is suffering and tormented by Parkinson’s disease. I do pray for healing for her. I believe the Lord can heal her. Also if you would pray for me. I’ve a longstanding gut condition which I’ve tried all sorts of things to heal and I’m just asking that God would heal that condition, in Jesus’ name. Thank you, family. Running out of time so just asking for prayer and also, Faraj, we pray for your beautiful family. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hello. This is __________ from Way out West. I don’t call in very often. Don’t like to use that name, but that is the name that God gave me and __________ my life when I thought I was going to give it all up. That name has kind of haunted me. It has __________ me and done a lot of things in my life and a bit of a __________ working on me. God has given me this name and it made me think of Victorious Soldier. That name, Victorious Soldier, is so powerful. That woman is so powerful. I just thank God for her and her prayers on the prayer line. I thank God for this ministry that Brian and Jill sustain every day. It’s a wonderful thing and my wife and I support it. We hope that all the people that listen to it try to support it in some way. At one point, this one guy on there said try to give $10 a month and I think that is probably a good thing. If you listen to it, it’s worth $10 a month. If you listen to it every day like I do, it’s worth $10 a month. My wife and I give more than that because we feel led to give more than that because we feel like it is a very powerful ministry for a lot of people. God bless you all. I pray for you all on this prayer line. We’re all praying for each other. It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing. God bless you.
Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible family. My name is Femi and I’m calling from London. This is my first time of calling. I’ve been listening now for about two years, but I just had to call today, today being Brian’s birthday. Oh wow! Brian, you have been such an inspiration to us all. You have helped me personally on my faith walk. I thank God for your life and I pray that God will continue to strengthen you and God will continue to plant your feet firmly in his presence and to forever meet you at every point of your need. You will never know no lack. Oh Brian, you have been wonderful for responding to God’s call and for you being steadfast at it as well. Oh man, you are such an inspiration and I thank God for you and I thank God for your life. I thank God for DAB family. Thank you very much. Love you. Take care. God bless you and God bless every member of this family of Daily Audio Bible. Thank you very much. Bye-bye.
Hi, this is Blessed Beyond Measure from New Jersey. I just finished listening to the March 3 podcast twice. Brian, you are truly gifted in weaving the word of God into an amazing tapestry that we as listeners can view its true beauty. Thanks for guiding us through Leviticus and helping us to understand that the laws and explanation of the rituals were to help, not harm the children of Israel. What a reminder that the word of God continues to be an ever present help to guide and not harm as we traverse through this world. Brian, I know that margin was the word you had emphasized for the DAB listeners this year, but after hearing your commentary on that day’s reading in Mark, I’m convinced it is actually release. As true Christians, by faith in God, we need that action word to actually live and experience God’s forgiveness, grace and power. I agree if we release all things that we see as bad that have happened to us, that we are released to have our faith in God be unstoppable. So let’s pray. Thank you, Father God, for dying for us because we are all sinners. That act of love provides us the means to ask you to forgive us for our sins and in turn accept your forgiveness. We in turn are instructed throughout your word to do the same to others. Jesus, listening and reading your word with others in the DAB community is not just a devotional, but a way of life. Thank you so much for the Holy Spirit that prompts people all over this planet to call in and speak praise to you, Father God, ask for prayer in times of need, offer prayer for those requests, share praise reports and even just words of encouragement. Bless each member of the Hardin family for releasing their will in this world and letting your will be done through the Daily Audio Bible ministry. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.