Exodus 15:19-17:7, Matthew 22:1-33, Psalms 27:1-6, Proverbs 6:20-26
Today is the 2nd day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here today gathered around the Global Campfire for what we’ve come to do, to take the next step forward in the Scriptures. And by way of reminder, we are in the book of Exodus. The children of Israel have crossed through the sea. the Egyptian army has been swallowed up by the waters. What seemed like a situation in which they were boxed in with nowhere to go and no hope turns into redemption. And, so, let’s move forward. We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week. Exodus chapter 15 verse 19 through 17 verse 7.
Commentary:
Okay. In the book of Exodus on our journey with the children of Israel or the Israelites we find ourselves fully immersed in the wilderness. And let’s remember, there are no paved roads, there are no automobiles or buses or vans or trucks. There are no lights, electricity hasn’t been discovered yet. We’re thousands of years before that. And as we’ve seen pretty clearly from our reading today, there’s not a lot of water out there nor is there a lot of food. The wilderness that the Bible is speaking about is an actual place. And I’ve roamed around that wilderness many times. Now of course there are roadways and there are automobiles and electricity etc. etc. but it’s still a barren wilderness. You would not want to be lost out there. And the Bible has told us that God took them directly out into the wilderness instead of taking them the shorter route through Celestia. They hadn’t seen battle and they would return to slavery in Egypt. And we’re going to be camping out with them in the wilderness for quite a while. The wilderness is the geographical backdrop for a lot of the Bible but something extraordinarily important has to happen in the wilderness. The children of Israel have been slaves for 400 years. Nobody in that party was 401 years old. Nobody had known anything other than slavery. They were born into it. They didn’t know any different. To be a slave to the Egyptians was the only identity they had ever known. If that is your mentality, then that’s what you carry into everything. But that mentality isn’t going to get them into the promised land where they are a chosen people set apart and holy, a priest to the nations. That’s not gonna happen while they continue in their mentality of this Egyptian slave. So, a pretty large move in their identity has to shift. They have to become former slaves, who are now chosen by God. And doesn’t that sound similar to the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we are former slaves to sin, but now new creations in Christ. The vehicle that God has chosen to make this shift happen is the wilderness. In the wilderness they can certainly grumble and complain which they are doing and which they will continue to do, but they won’t survive by grumbling and complaining and they won’t survive in their own strengths. They can begin to understand that they are chosen when they begin to understand that they are utterly dependent upon God for everything. So, think about the wildernesses of your own life, the seasons where it’s dry and barren and you’re trapped and grumbling. And think of the times that you’ve been able to move through that. The lessons of the wilderness are the deepest, most pivotal, most influential, most shaping things that happen to us in life. We hate wilderness seasons. I hate them too. I’m not talking as if I’m a master here. These are the lessons from the scriptures that teach us how to live. And one of the categories that we might need to change is that hard is bad. Hard his hard. It’s difficult. But it’s the difficult seasons in our lives that actually shape the convictions that we live into. And, so, we’re in the wilderness now with the children of Israel. They’re gonna be hanging out there for an entire generation and we will have a lot of stories to encounter as we move through this territory. But let’s pay attention to the wilderness. Some of the most crucial lessons for the children of Israel are discovered and put into practice in the wilderness. If we can embrace that, then we can begin to get context and begin to embrace the wilderness seasons of our own lives.
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into that, into what we’ve read today and what we’re contemplating right now. The wilderness, it’s not something we sign up for, but it is something that we all experience and how we interpret the seasons of wilderness in our lives shape us. And so often we find the wilderness makes us bitter and cold and angry and it’s not until later in hindsight that we can see that shaped us profoundly. Some of the deepest convictions that we have have come through hardship and trial. And we don’t like it. Nobody likes to go through those seasons. And yet we have to confess that the things that we learn in those seasons stick and the one fundamental thing that we must recognize and realize and live into is that we are utterly dependent upon You for everything. And, so, come Holy Spirit. Help us to learn this. Help it to become part of who we are, our deepest conviction. The safest place for us to be is utterly dependent upon You. And we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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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:
Hey DAB family it’s Pam His Ransomed Soul in New Jersey. And as Victorious Soldier always says I’m calling in to pray for some of the DABbers. Ty, I’m asking God to give you the strength and endurance you need in your faith walk, victory over the enemy’s mental attacks and for calm and sound mind for you. Marjorie, I hear the frustration and the deep concern in your voice for your mom who’s bipolar and has begun drinking. Father God please come alongside Marjorie’s mom and take away the desire the thirst the need to drink as you bind these demonic forces who are attacking and afflicting her mind and cast them far from her. Bring healing to her mom and bathe this household in the shalom of Christ and help Marjorie to trust you more as she surrenders her mom in this whole situation into your capable and faithful hands. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen. Carla Jean. Darling my heart is so heavy for you in the loss of your best friend’s husband Andy. I’ve been praying for safe travel for you as you fly out to New Hampshire to be with Nicole and her family. I can’t even begin to imagine the emotions you must have felt receiving Andy’s call to say he was going to end his life. So, may our good and gracious Father give peace comfort and strength to you too as exit well list and Nicole and her children. And may Jehovah Jireh offer extreme and generous provision for them in the days and weeks to come. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen. Keep running the race family. Keep pressing on and pressing into Jesus.
Hello this is Prodigal Princess from Massachusetts. I’ve never called in before, but I’ve been listening for a long time…well…not as long as some of y'all but I’ve been with you about two years off and on. My dad shared this application with me a couple of years ago. While he, you know, and many many others were praying over me and praying over my life I was trapped in addiction and sin I would…I would play the Daily Audio Bible almost every day sometimes. I was deep, you know, in…into really hard drugs and a lot of really just like hellish stuff. I’m a recovering…a long…I’m a recovering heroin addict and I remember I was still using and, you know, I’d be preparing everything and having…having to get high one more time so I wouldn’t be sick that day and…and listening to…to the proverbs and it just really spoke into my life and seeds were planted and seeds were planted since by youth. I’ve now been free of drugs alcohol for almost a year and a half again. I was serving in…
Hello family, it’s Jackie calling from Canada and family I don’t even know how or where to begin. I just feel at the very bottom of myself. I feel like God has forgotten me and that my prayers don’t go anywhere. In the last few weeks everything I have wanted four has come back negative. I was waiting for an answer for a space, and they came back and said no. I’ve been trying to get pregnant and that isn’t happening. I’ve been trying. There’s a guy I really like and had a good really year of being friends and it seems like that’s not going anywhere. My business is going slow, and I just feel so alone. I’m surrounded by people that love me, my girlfriends and…they all belong to someone and I’m just…I'm…I’m alone. And, so, I keep wondering am I completely irredeemable. Is this why nothing? I mean, like I pray and I fast and I’ve done everything, but I feel like my faith is abandoned. I feel like I’m at the complete bottom of myself that I don’t have…I feel helpless. But I also know the only thing I have is prayer. I don’t have any faith right now. I have a mustard seed of faith and I know that that’s sufficient. But I’m just coming to your family to pray for me. I…I call and sometimes…I hardly ever hear my name really. I hardly ever hear my prayer or my name but today I just…I need…
Hello, my name is Lydia from Maryland. I’m calling for…oh dear…I forgot your name darling, I’m so sorry from Virginia whose husband had serious heart surgery. Please know that I am praying for you. I feel your pain. You’ve got so much on you right now. Lean on God. I know that sounds easy to say but please lean on Him. I’ve seen what He can do. [singing starts] Turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace [singing stops]. Okay. Now you get some sleep knowing that God is in control, and I am praying for you. You’re frustrated, you’re tired. It’s because you care. You have a heart. Remember God’s heart is so big He can take care of this. I love you and you will be…you will remain in my prayers. Take care of my friend. Bye for now.
Hi how are you DAB family I’m calling from Norway. I just need your prayer. I’m trying to lose weight for my health. So, please pray for me. Thank you. God bless you all. I love you.