Exodus 39:1-40:38, Mark 1:1-28, Psalms 35:1-16, Proverbs 9:11-12
Today
is the 15th day of February. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am
Brian. It’s great to be here with you today to take the next step. So,
yesterday was a big day - Valentine’s Day, we talked about the beginning of
Lent, finished the book of Matthew yesterday, the first of the Gospels, which
will lead us, of course, into the book of Mark when we get to our New Testament
reading. So we’ll talk about that when we get there. But first, the law is being
given in the wilderness with the children of Israel and Moses and we’ll pick up
with that story. We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week.
Exodus chapter 39 and 40.
Mark:
Okay. So, I mentioned at the beginning that we concluded
Matthew’s gospel, which leads us, now, into Mark’s gospel. And we should
probably say up front, Mark wasn’t one of the 12 disciples, he wasn’t an
apostle. He was rather, mostly, a long-term disciple of Peter. And we first see
him show up in the Bible in the book of acts, which, obviously, we haven’t gotten
to yet. He’s also known as John Mark and he lived in Jerusalem and came from
pretty well-to-do family. His mother’s name was Mary. She had a big house. She
had a servant whose name was Rhoda. So, John Mark’s mother, Mary, was one of
the earliest of believers and she opened her home to early believers. And
church tradition holds that her home may have been the place of the upper room
where the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early believers after Jesus
ascension. Of course, that’s a church tradition that just goes way back. But
it’s not explicit in the Bible, but John mark, or Mark, was around the gospel
all his life, even as a boy. The apostle Peter was captured by Herod. And we’ll
read about this story little further into the New Testament. And he was going
to be executed by Herod who had put other Christians to death. And this seemed
to be pleasing the people. So, we plan to execute Peter, but an angel came and
sprung Peter from jail. And it was to John Mark’s house, to Mary’s large home,
that Peter first came. And all the believers were there praying earnestly for
Peter. And that prayer was answered by God, sending an angel to spring Peter
from jail. So, Peter comes to John Mark’s house and Rhoda, the servant girl,
comes to the door and sees him and slams the door in his face, basically,
because she can’t believe it’s Peter. And that’s a story we’ll come to later,
but it shows us a little bit about who Mark is. So, John Mark had been around
the gospel his whole life. His cousin’s name was Barnabas, who was a dear
friend of the apostle Paul. And Mark went with Barnabas and Paul on Paul’s
first missionary journey. So, there is a long pedigree with Mark. And church
tradition holds that Mark later became a disciple of the apostle Peter and
traveled all around the countryside with him and served as an interpreter in
Italy, and especially in Rome. And everywhere that Peter went, he was there to
share the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, John Mark had heard Peter’s gospel over
and over and over everywhere that they would go as Peter was evangelizing. And Mark
recalls and remembers this because he’s heard it so many times. And he’s
finally asked to write it down so people can remember the whole story that Peter’s
giving everywhere that he goes. And, so, Mark eventually does. In a real way,
what Mark could be recording is the gospel according to Peter. And most agree
that Mark himself was the writer of Mark. There’s some speculation as to the
time of its writing, but most scholars believe this…and this might sound
surprising to you…but the first books, the first Christian writings preserved
in the New Testament are the earliest letters of Paul and, perhaps, the letter
of James. The gospel of Mark, being the first of the Gospels, so the first
narrative of the life and ministry of Jesus, came later. About 10 or 15 years
after Mark comes Matthew and Luke. And they’re a few years apart. And then
about a decade, maybe even more, later, comes the gospel of John. So, we’re in
the section of the New Testament known as the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And we’re about
to enter the gospel of Mark, which is the first one. So, you may be like, yeah,
I don’t care about all this stuff, just read the Bible, but this stuff is
actually kind of important. Because when we can understand it, then we can
begin to see how the gospel developed and spread. So, Mark is the first of the
Gospels, then comes Matthew, then comes Luke, then comes John. And they’re
spread out over a couple of decades. So, they’re written at different times and
they’re also written to different audiences. So, their purpose is different.
Mark is writing for the first time, the life and times of Jesus. And Mark’s
gospel, more than any of the other Gospels shows the apocalyptic nature of some
of Jesus teachings. We’ve already covered the apocalyptic worldview as we’ve
talked before, but certainly will talk about it more in the gospel of Mark. Whereas
the gospel of Matthew, that we just completed, was written for different
purpose and to different people. Matthew was written to Jewish people and its
intention was to show how Jesus connects to the Jewish story, how it’s the same
story, how Jesus fulfills prophecy, and how Jesus fulfilled the law. If Matthew
were being written to a Gentile audience, they wouldn’t even understand what
was being talked about and they wouldn’t particularly care that Jesus was
fulfilling prophecies from a different religion. However, Mark influences
Matthew and Luke. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the synoptic Gospels.
And we’ll talk more about that along the way. But that means that they share a
lot of the same stories and in a lot of cases they share exactly the same
wording. Now, as it turns out, Greek scholars have examined the Greek of St.
Luke, which is very educated and well written, contrasted with the Greek used
in the gospel of Mark, and it’s very different. Mark’s gospel is written almost
in like fifth grade elementary, like it’s written in very, very basic Greek. So,
although Matthew and Mark use a lot of the material from Mark’s gospel, they’ll
often make corrections to the grammar and expand the stories, as the traditions
and stories about Jesus are collected through oral tradition. So, that’s kind
of the lay of the land. What we’re going into as we go into the book of Mark is
the first telling in written form in the New Testament of Jesus life and
ministry. And we’ll see that it’s focus is on Jesus and his ministry. For
example, there isn’t a birth story. Like, the Christmas story isn’t in the gospel
of Mark. It begins with Jesus ministry. And so, we begin the second gospel in
the New Testament in order, but the first gospel in the New Testament in time.
Mark 1, 1 through 28.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us
to this point. And as we enter into the gospel of Mark, we invite Your Holy
Spirit. Jesus, it’s You that we seek. You are our Savior and it’s You that we are
getting to know day by day through this process of sanctification. The Gospels,
they give us the opportunity to follow along with You, hear the things You had
to say, see the things that you did, all while modeling what humanity can look like,
what humanity should look like, what it’s supposed to look like. And, so, we pay
such close attention, because the Gospels introduce us to Your heart. And, so,
as we move into this second gospel we continue to invite You to reveal Yourself
to us through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. We pray in
Jesus’ name. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it’s home base, it’s where
you find what’s going on around here. So, check it out.
And it’s just a couple of days from now, day after tomorrow…hooo…I
have a lot of packing to do…that we will be boarding the big plane and heading
across the ocean and landing in Tel Aviv. And many of you from all over the
United States and the world will also be making that journey as we prepare to
pilgrimage together throughout the land of the Bible. So, I’ve been mentioning
this for a couple of days, mostly asking for the community here to begin
interceding and praying over every aspect of this trip that we’ll be journeying
together. And we’ll be making it as interactive as possible. We do this every
year. And, so, we’ll be posting pictures as were at places and videos, when the
signal is strong enough. And, so, we’ll be doing as much as we can to connect
everybody. And I’ll be talking about where we’ve been and what we’re doing on
the Daily Audio Bible each day. But it is just a canopy of prayer that were
raising up over this, over technology, over transportation, over safety, over
stamina and health, over all of the aspects of moving a couple of busloads of
people all over the land. So, if the Holy Spirit begins to move in you to pray
as were there, then thank you. And if we come to mind while we’re there, then
thank you for your prayers. And if you want to stay connected, I would
recommend that you follow the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page, which is facebook.com/dailyaudiobible or follow us on Instagram. This is where we’ll
be posting the most. And about halfway through the trip we’ll be doing a
Facebook Live from the Sea of Galilee, not from the shores of the Sea of
Galilee, but from where we’ll be staying at the Sea of Galilee. So, we’ll give
more details as we get closer, but just wanting to pray for this in advance and
keep on praying over it as we move through the land of the Bible. So, thank you
for your prayers.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. If what we’re
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be
waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. It is February 8th.
My name is Barbie and I live in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania and I wanted to call
today for two specific sisters. I wanted to call for Salvation is Mine and for
Melody from Canada. Ladies, I heard your prayers this morning. I heard your
cries and I want you to know that you are so dear to my heart. And I am going
to pray right now. Father, I pray for Salvation is Mine, that she rest in that
promise, that she would hear Your voice calling to her, that You would open her
eyes to see that You are with her, that she is not alone, that she is not
invisible, that she is the only thing that You are looking at right now Lord. Comfort
her and give her the strength that needs to move about her days, to be a light
in her world, and the witness of Your glorious love. Father, I lift up Melody
in Canada. The pain that she feels right now of wanting so deeply to have a
career and to be a mother. And it hurts so much to want something that is being
denied to you. Lord, I pray that you would give her just strength in knowing
that this is for Your glory. We do not know what Your future plans are for her
but in this time, as You call to her, I pray that she would respond, that her
heart would be moved toward You, that You would use this time of rest to
strengthen her for whatever is that You have in store for her and her future.
Mold her into the woman that you are calling her to be and let her be
strengthened by You Lord in this time. Give her a hunger and thirst for Your
word for your company, that every…
Hey Daily Audio Bible. This is Paul from Houston and I
want to pray for people as we’re going into Valentine’s Day next week. I want
to pray for the folks that are brokenhearted, the people that are hurting from
strained relationships. And I looked at Psalm 34:18, the Lord is near to the
brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. So, I want to pray
now. God, You are sovereign. I don’t understand why we go through this pain,
but let that heal our brothers and sisters who are hurting. God, You loved us
so much that You would spare Your own Son, but He endured the pain and hurt of
the cross to redeem all of us to You. Thank You Lord for revealing Yourself and
Your love to each of us in an individual way. Help us to know You personally
and to know how much You love each of us individually. Please fill us with Your
love so that we can pour Your love out into others that are around us each day.
Bring them to know You Father so that we can know that we were made in Your
image and for a purpose that You put in us before we were even born. Jeremiah 1:5,
before I created you in your mother’s womb I knew you. Help us to know You Father.
Help us to love those who are hurting and difficult to love. Thank You for Your
presence. Pour out Your spirit, Your love on these brothers and sisters this
Valentine’s Day and may they know, Ephesians 3:18, how wide, how long, and how
high, and how deep is Your love for them. I just thank You Lord for being with
us all Lord. Please give people peace and seal Your love and Your Spirit toward
them and to know You personally, Father. And thank You. Thank You for the
opportunity. Paul from Houston. Have a great Valentine’s Day…
Hello this is Candace from Oregon. Salvation is Mine, our
beautiful, beautiful sister from San Leandro California. Our hearts ache for
you amidst all that you’re going through. 2017 was shockingly difficult for so
many of us. And in your case, I feel proud of you and honored that you are my
sister when I remember your many calls across this past year and how many times
you valiantly withstood hardship. A year like that requires recovery time.
Please, immerse yourself in the Psalms. Cry out to Your beloved Savior, Jesus.
It was kind of a shock to hear you say that you feel invisible. You are not
invisible to us. And the Lord, Your beloved, as you engraved on the palm of his
hand. He longs for you to just look to Him, cry out to Him, weep, even be
angry. Just come to Him. Come to Him every minute that you have that you can
and just pour out your heart. He loves you so deeply. One time, after I’d lost
my husband of 41 years, a month later, it was in April I think, I asked the
Lord to forgive me for how angry I was. And He…I heard Him in my heart say to
me…I don’t have to forgive you for that…I hate death to. So, just know that you
can fellowship with Him in a deeper way, even more than ever. So, go there my
sister. We love you. We are praying for you.
Hello there. This is JoAnn Marie. I’m calling from
Southern California. Today is Thursday, February 8th. I just heard
Salvation is Mine. I heard you this morning. And I just want to give you a word
of encouragement. I don’t know what’s going on in your life but about 10 years
ago I had a semi-break down. I call it a breakthrough, but it was hell to go
through. And God has totally seen me through the whole thing with my emotion,
physical healing, finances. He just gave me help through other people. And one
thing that you said, you’re struggling to keep it all together. You know what,
it might be time not to keep it altogether and just continue to call out to God
and let yourself have some of that time for healing for whatever it is that’s
going on. But I do want to encourage you that God is with you He hears your
call. If you can get the stamina up each day to praise Him no matter what it is
you’re praying to Him as you praise Him, and it’s so good for your soul. Have a
great day. And again, I’m praying for you Salvation is Mine. God is good. He is
with you. Take courage. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Take care.
bye-bye.
Bonnie, we heard you. I remember listening to your first
call and telling us that your son was coming out of prison and asking for
prayer for him. And Jacqueline we hear you. And others like Jacqueline who are
screaming inside or so close to that, know that you are not alone even though
it feels like that. I’ve been in a similar place myself. But you are not alone.
And I know it’s no comfort right now, but God hears you, God ___ you and I
pray, I’m praying so hard that He will give you…send you relief and surround
you with people who will be an outlet for you where you can express even the
feelings to get to the bottom of it and what’s going on. As well, I’ve got
another comment Brian. Say, sometimes you leave on such a cliffhanger. Right?
You get so into the story and suddenly you stop. It is like wait a minute I
just can’t wait till tomorrow. I know that’s how it works but like today your
reading along and then you finish on, look my betrayers here… And it’s like… No,
you can’t stop now we need to know what happens next. Yeah, I know praise God.
I’m getting into the Bible. It’s getting bad isn’t it? But yeah, thank you for
your word again today. And it reminds us that, even though it’s a story that we’ve
heard many, many times, it’s still relevant and it has relevance for us. All of
these stories have relevance now as much as they did back then. This is Blessed
by Him from Gloucester in the UK. I will run out of time probably. So, I’m just
going to pray for a bit…but if I get cut off I get cut off. Have a blessed day
wherever you are. Father God, we lift up Bonnie to You for her son. Thank you
Lord that he’s coming out of prison and I pray Lord that you be at work in his
heart and that he would want to come back to You and to read Sneezing Jesus and
that You would be glorified in his life. Father God I lift up…
Hi DAB family this is Rhonda calling from the UK. I hope you
are all doing good. Today I just wanted to pray for Pastor Gene. I heard that
she’s in the hospital and I just pray Father Lord Almighty God that You touch
her oh God with Your healing hand in the name of Jesus. We come against every
attack of the enemy on our life and we pray Father Lord God that her suffering will
stop and that she will begin to respond to treatment in the name of Jesus. I
thank You Lord God tonight Lord God for Brian. Lord God I thank You for his
ministry. I thank You for Jill. I thank You for China. I lift them all up on to
Your throne of grace. I pray Your protection on Your call for them in Your life
in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray Father Lord Almighty Father that You
continue to use them for Your glory in the name of Jesus. Father Lord Almighty
God I pray for those that are all over the world that are going through a lot
of pain especially the cancer patient and in the midst of God I pray Father
Lord Almighty God that You be with them and their family that You touch them
and You heal them in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray tonight for Jacqueline oh
God. I ask for the Lord Almighty God that You heal Jacqueline Almighty God.
That she would know that she’s loved by You in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray
for Sophie oh God. I lift her before Your throne of grace. I pray Father God
that You make Your way for her where there is no way in the name of Jesus. I
pray tonight also almighty Father Lord God also for __. For __ I ask Father Lord
God that You bless her husband with a new job ___ that she desires in the
mighty name of Jesus. Father Lord God we are just truly grateful for who You
are and for what You are doing in each and every one of our lives Lord God. For
those who pray regularly Father God I thank You Lord for their life, Blind
Tony, Salvation is Mine, Daniel Junior, I thank You Father Lord God for Viola.
Father Lord God I lift __ I lift them all before Your throne of grace and I
speak blessing upon every member of this DAB community. I pray Father Lord…
