Ezekiel 21:1-22:31, Hebrews 10:1-17, Psalms 108:1-13, Proverbs 27:12
Today is November 10th welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you for another day, another opportunity to come in out of the cold and warm ourselves around this Global Campfire together where we have…well…we’ve created a safe place, a safe place for our souls, a safe place to just come in out of it, lout of the chaos of it all, out of the frustration of it all, out of the tensions of life, all the things that are pulling us in so many directions and just be…just be here together letting God’s word, letting the Scriptures speak. So, let's…let’s do that. We’re reading from the God’s Word Translation this week. Ezekiel chapters 21 and 22 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, yesterday we were talking about…well…we were talking about how an early first century Hebrew person, a devout Jewish person hearing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time, like, how…what challenges they would’ve had to have overcome through faith in order to enter into a relationship with Jesus because so many things flew in the face of their tradition, a tradition given to them by God through Moses and the writing of the Torah, the Bible that they read and read today. And we just did a little exercise, like trying to put…trying to put ourselves in that position because it does offer us glimpses of how we kind of do get enmeshed in those traditions. And then when God comes and does a new thing then it becomes very, very difficult to move with that or to move into that. And, so, let’s just explore that a little further. I…I’m gonna read again from the beginning of what we read today and we kinda need to go back to that place where we are, you know, we haven’t really heard the story of Jesus. We don’t have thousands of years of tradition behind us. We’re first generation to hear this. We’re some of the first people to hear this. And, so, here’s what the writer of Hebrews says. “Moses teachings with their yearly cycle of sacrifices are only a shadow of the good things in the future. They aren’t an exact likeness of those things. They can never make those who worship perfect. If these sacrifices could have made the worshipers perfect the sacrifices would’ve stopped long ago. Those who worship would’ve been cleansed once and for all. Their consciences would’ve been free from sin. Instead, this yearly cycle of sacrifices reminded people of their sins.” So, reading this now 2000 years in the future with 2000 years of tradition behind us and a faith passed down throughout those centuries, we can just read this and go, “yup. That’s right. Amen! That’s the truth. Thank God. No more sacrifices.” But if we put ourselves back in the first century, first generation to hear this what’s being said here sounds quite offensive because it sounds quite heretical. So, this is controversial at best. Hebrew people already…like it had been ingrained in them from the get go, they already considered themselves to be the chosen people of God. So, they….it wasn’t as if somebody was showing them a way to come to God. They had been coming to God all along - God, like the most-high God. So, this announcement, this proclamation comes along to try to explain how things have shifted, and to tie those things historically to the prophets and show a path forward that essentially said this has been foretold, like we’ve known this was coming. Then to tie this to Jesus and say like, “the whole…it has happened” caused an incredible amount of controversy. So, like just try to put ourselves in the position as believers. What…what…what person…I’m trying to think like…whoever is the most famous pastor or television person…whoever has the most…has the most influence, let’s say that that person came onto television or on podcast or whatever, and said, “a new revelation from the Lord that the time of no sacrifices has come to an end. That was a grace for the last couple of thousand years. Now God would like us to return to the sacrificial system because at our time now it’s gonna make more sense and it’s gonna be more valuable. And, so, beginning on the day of atonement, on Yom Kippur we’re gonna start this back up among evangelical Christians around the world. And, so, you got a little bit of time to prepare. You need to go raise a sheep or goat or a bull or whatever. Like you need to start with the livestock preparing for sacrifice because we’re going to start this again, thus saith the Lord.” Are you gonna do it? Like what’s it gonna take for you to kinda get your mind around that…that that could even happen? And then over the course of months and months and all kinds of social media flaming arrows and arguments and insults and all the stuff that would go on with something like this. Camps would be formed, people…some people would be early adopters. Other people would say, “this is heresy” and “that person is a heretic and they…nobody needs to listen to them anymore.” And other people would be in between. It would be disruptive to say the very, very least. We would have theologians arguing both sides of the coin. Like it would be…I was gonna say incredible, but that denotes…that it would… denotes that it would be like a good thing. It would just…it would be a spectacular thing to observe and because it would cause unbelievable divisiveness, which is what the gospel did. And that’s what we’re getting at here. Not…I’m not saying we’re going back to the sacrificial system and nobody’s gonna say that. It’s an example. It’s just like if something like that were to happen, we can see how difficult it would be to get our minds around. And this is what that first generation would’ve been dealing with. And, so, although Hebrews is…the writer of Hebrews is saying the things that we’re reading, the argument, what like…what’s trying to be peeled back here is that this was always going to be the way things went. This was coming. This was foretold. The good news of the gospel wasn’t inviting them to change into a new religion or to worship a different God, of course. It seems that God was trying to…to reshape, to pull forward, to expand the people’s understanding of His heart and who He is and so He came in person. This is what is so compelling to us, that we can enter into a relationship with God, that we can know Him, that we can be known by Him. This is the good news. But this also was God doing a new thing. And as we’re reading this, I mean, as we read the New Testament itself we can see that…well…I mean, we can read the Old Testament for that matter and see that God is not afraid of shattering the paradigms because the paradigms are things that we made to explain things. And we make a paradigm and live into that paradigm and its passed down from generation to generation and it’s not right and it’s actually leading people into bondage or away from God then if it's…then He will…He shatters it. He comes and makes things right. And that requires certain elements that shake us. They…they make us feel uncomfortable like the ground we’re standing on isn’t solid. It disrupts and reshapes our understandings and ironically, this is what we are asking him to do. Like, when we go to church and sing worship songs, listen to what you are singing. This is the kind of stuff we are asking for. We are asking for revival, to be awakened, to be resurrected, to wake up and receive new life, to collaborate with Him and His work in the world. This is the stuff we are asking from God. But we think it’s just kinda…kinda gonna come all nice like a big bow on top and it’s just gonna happen that we just wake up and see things differently, when if we look at our heritage, if we look at our history, if we look at our own cultural history, but if we look back into church history we see that, no, the way things move forward usually happens in tremendous disruption and discomfort and a reshaping of a lot of things. The writer of Hebrews today said, and I quote, “Moses teachings”, right? So, this would be like Torah “with their yearly cycle of sacrifices are only a shadow of the good things in the future.” Obviously, that would’ve been a disruptive thing to say because they’re believing that what they have is the perfect law of God given through Moses. And yet the writer of Hebrews is saying, “that was a shadow of the good things to come in the future. God is doing a new thing now and those good things won’t be shadows anymore. We’re moving forward.” And now we find ourselves in this time a couple thousand years in the future, crying out to God to remove the veil, no more shadows, let’s do the good new thing in this world, let me be a part of it, send down your fire, send revival, awaken us O Lord. Like, we’re having prayer gatherings all over the place and repenting. We’re asking God to do something new without understanding that He probably is because we are in a tremendously disrupted time. And if we just relax and allow the Spirit, God’s Spirit within us to continue doing the reshaping we might see what we’re praying for.
Prayer:
Father once again we invite You into this. It would be so much easier if You would just…if You would just ride in on a white horse and everybody could see You and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, but we are here right now and we see how much we don’t see. And yet in our hearts as Your people, as Your children we are crying out collectively. Like we sense the necessary need, our utter dependence upon You and we want, we cry out for Your movement and for us to be able to see what You are doing. And we don’t always get that because sometimes we miss it because sometimes the first thing that we should be noticing is the disruption and the shaking and the unsettling that a new thing brings. Holy Spirit we need You. We need You always of course but we need You now. We need You in this time as we move forward as we sense You moving us forward. We don’t want to go kicking and screaming because we’re so disruptive and we’re just really asking You to take away everything that we’ve asked You to do. We want to grow up. We want eyes to see and ears to hear and we’ve been asking for this all year, and You have been giving it to us all year. We’ve seen more this year than…than I can remember any year. So, we are awake and eyes open in ways that we haven’t been before. And, so, You are doing this. Help us Father to see You in it and relax instead of fighting You in it. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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Community Prayer and Praise:
Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Dion calling from sunny Southern California and I have to tell you I am so excited today. First of all, I wanted to just thank God for this ministry. It has been absolutely life-changing for me. I started listening in January. I’ve been behind for a little over a month and I’ve been wanting to call in, but I told myself that I could not call in until I caught up. So, here I am it’s November 4th I am finally caught up in calling. Today on the prayer line I heard Desperately Running…Running Desperately to Jesus call in and she also calls herself Staying Desperately Connected to Jesus. My sister I just wanted to let you know that I heard you I feel you and I am standing in the gap for you. I have been there I know that darkness. I know what it’s like to be there and not know how to pull yourself out but I’m letting you know that I am praying for you my sister. The Lord will pull you through because He has pulled me through. So, I just wanted to let you know that. And Amy from Illinois I heard you as well. I understand that loneliness. I have felt that loneliness. I…I am actually still feeling that loneliness. So, I get it, I understand, and I am just sending you a hug to this phone and letting you know that I love you too my sister. It will be okay. You are not by yourself. So, again thank you Daily Audio Bible family. I am so excited that I am finally caught up. I love you all and I want you all know that I am praying for you, each and every day.
Hi this is Victoria Soldier just calling to pray for some of the DABbers. I want to pray for Jared from Duluth on his son coming home. I’ll be praying that…that you’ll come together in in a wonderful way. Running Desperately for Jesus. I’m calling in to pray for you my sister. Don’t…I want to pray for you. I want to pray for John from Bristol and the separation between is his…his mother and his father. I want to pray for D who’s going through with her marriage and the loneliness. Lord I ask you to have your way in her life. Oh, Father the names I’ve called Lord, they need You Father in the name of Jesus You Have Your Way, Lor in the name of Jesus. You touch Lord You deliver there is nothing impossible for You. Oh Lord in that marriage Lord You bring them together. You Show Your Way, Lord. You have Your way. In the name of Jesus that son let him see what a wonderful Father he has. Lord and learn…and learn to say like and learn as Solomon say that we being obedient to his more better than sacrifice. Oh Lord I just ask You to touch. Oh, Lord touch the mothers and the Fathers. Touch the families Lord. O Lord touch us through this pandemic. Oh, Lord touch us through all of the challenges Lord. You are not an author of confusion but You’re God of peace, power, love, and a sound mind. Lord my sisters in darkness. Lord You turn on the light for her. You turn on the light Lord and let her see that You are able. That You are able to do exceedingly abundantly. Give her the mind of Christ Lord. Let her not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of Your mind. Giver her joy unspeakable and full of glory. You have Your way in Your people’s life. And Lord I give You the glory. Oh, Lord and the honor and the praise in the name of Jesus…
It is bedtime and I have a little friend with me tonight my daughter Imber and we’re going to do a little bedtime prayer. Hi. Go ahead Imber go. Go ahead and pray. Dear God make sure everybody is safe today and all the children if their mom and dad are divorced make sure they don’t be sad anymore. Make sure they’re in a safe place and…and everybody around the world is safe and that if anybody gets in danger everybody would be okay. And make sure that all the schools be fine for their schoolwork. Yes, Lord and I pray for Amber’s friend that doesn’t know You, Tinguin . We ask that Imber can continue to just be Jesus to her and thank You so much Father that You’ve encouraged Imber to invite Tinguan to church with us and hope that she is a special time with her family and just pray protection for us because Billy is not here and he’s hunting. So, we’re all just the kids and me tonight. Father we pray for protection for all of us in our whole world and we ask that You just protect and comfort all those mommies and kids out there. And just all the crazy stuff. We know everything has to go through the throne room God. Everything has to be approved through You before it happens. Amen. Amen. This is Eyes of a Dove and Baby Eyes of a Dove Imber. Bi. Signing out. We love you. Bye.
Shalom shalom this is Diane Olive Brown calling from Newburgh Indiana it is Friday, November 6th, 2020 at 1:33 AM central time. And I just listened to this daily reading and I kind of feel like Job just put my hand in front of my mouth but I just wanted to say how grateful and thankful I am for this community to put my log on the fire and sit around with all of you in the Global Campfire. And I realized something that I didn’t realize before, that I have a choice and nobody is going to take that gift away from me, that I have to make a choice. I have to choose every minute of every day and nobody is responsible for the choice I make, not all the things that happened to me. I can’t blame any person, thing or anything. It’s just me making a choice. I’m that little girl but I ran away from the one person, God the Father who could help me through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit. It’s my choice, no one to blame. God is just. Shalom shalom.
Good morning DAB family this is Walking in the Light in Tennessee. I was just blown away when I listened to the recording from November the 6th. It was just…well…actually…not November the 6th August 25th because I’ve been playing catch-up all year long so I’m listening to August and November. But Rosie, I believe it was Rosie made a recording, she said it was the second time she had done at and it was about being set free from the problems that your children…your children have. And she said that God had told her that, “look at me I’m the perfect Father.” And I still have problems with my children and that was so freeing for me because I’ve been going through it with my son so much and beating myself up about it. So, thank you Rosie for that recording. I’m listening again to August and November and so it just happened that I heard it this morning. God is so good and He’s such an on-time God. Thank you, Rosie. I am praying for you as I know you are praying for me. Walking in the Light in Tennessee. Thank you, my sister.
Hi DAB family. I love thinking of you all is my brothers and sisters. I’m calling today to ask for prayer for my sister. I remember about a year ago or so there seemed to be a lot of people asking for this kind of prayer for an adult sibling or an adult child who had gone back into a life of drugs. And at that time my adult sister was out of that or so we thought. She wasn’t. She’s had a very rough year and half or two and her son has taken her out of a really bad situation and brought her to his house but it didn’t last long and she’s gone back to drugs and I just found out that she’s also selling her body for money for drugs. She might be an adult but she is still 13 years old and at 11 years old she was raped, molested by our dad and she’s never been the same and she’s never really grown up from 12 years old or 13 years old. She’s still in that mindset. It’s heartbreaking to see her go down this rabbit hole again and I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I don’t know how to help her. She’s not reachable. Not by any of us. So, I’m asking you to pray for her. She’s reachable by God. And she needs Him. She loves Him, she knows Him but she can’t help herself. Thank you, family for praying for her. Her name is Andrea, and this is Kari, overcomer Kari from Ontario Canada.