Genesis 46:1-47:31, Matthew 15:1-28, Psalms 19:1-14, Proverbs 4:14-19
Today is the 23rd day of January welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you today as we gather and take the next step forward together. And our…our steps lately have been centered, at least in the book of Genesis on the story of Joseph. So, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, whose name became Israel and now his son Joseph. And we don’t need to review everything. He got trafficked into Egypt. He was sold into slavery. He eventually became the second in command of all of Egypt. Eventually his brothers who had trafficked him are before him bowing down to him. They need to buy grain and there’s been some back-and-forth there, a lot of drama, a lot of family drama, a lot of back story. Finally, Joseph in yesterday’s reading revealed himself to his brothers and the word has traveled and now Jacob, Joseph’s father who believed that Joseph had been dead for a very long time now has found out that his son is alive and he wants to go see him before he dies. And that’s where we pick up the story. Genesis chapters 46 and 47 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, a very dramatic reunion between Jacob and his lost son Joseph occurs today. The family arrives in Egypt. They go before Pharaoh. They are assigned a place to live, a good land, the land of Goshen, good for livestock. And, so, they are…you know…because the shepherds and stuff are like beneath the dignity of the Egyptians, they are in a land that they have to themselves - a beautiful spacious land that is their salvation. It is keeping them alive. The whole family of Jacob. So, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, right? So, all of his family, all of the children of Israel, and grandchildren. The entire household has migrated to Egypt. Jacob is about to die. And, so, he makes Joseph promise not to bury him in Egypt to take him back to his ancestral burial plot in the land of promise. Like, he is instilling in his son, this isn’t our home. We were promised a land. This isn’t our home. Bury me back in the land of promise. But this is how the children of Israel got to Egypt. And it shouldn’t probably be too much of a spoiler alert. They’re going to stay in Egypt, like for centuries now. Like for 400 years they’re going to stay in Egypt and we will get to know that story as we continue the story. But we are coming to the end of the book of Genesis. I believe we finished Genesis, the day after tomorrow. And, so, the story of Joseph and the formation of the family of Israel, the children of Israel and their migration, how they ended up in Egypt in the first place, this is the part of the story that we’re in. This is the part of the story that we’re learning about. And what a beautiful story. So much for us in Joseph. So much injustice in the story of Joseph. So much to be bitter about. So much to be depressed about. So much to be in anguish and hopelessness about. And yet somehow, he continues to navigate forward believing that this…this wasn’t the end of his story. And we see that the story has turned out well and that Joseph’s perspective on his own story is that although evil was intended for him God intended it for good, and it had a greater purposes beyond just Joseph. He was sent to save lives, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of lives, including the children of Israel, his own family. And we are beginning to bring that chapter to a close here in the next couple of days.
Then we get into the book of Matthew today and Jesus teaches something really really important. It’s not like He’s not teaching this in every way that He teaches. But there’s a confrontation that happens. The Pharisees, the legal experts come to Jesus and go like, why are your disciples breaking the traditions that the elders have handed down to us? Jesus kinda flips that around and says, why are you breaking God’s commands by keeping traditions that are handed down to you from the elders? Like, you’re going after my disciples for things that you do all the time. And He gives an example about honoring your father and your mother, and that a tradition had come down and a ruling had been dealt that, yes you have to honor your father, mother, but if you’re going to honor your father and mother by taking care of them in their old age and you had been…you know…you had some money for that, resources for that and you decided you’re gonna not take care of your mom and dad, you’re just gonna…you’re gonna give that money to God. Well, then you don’t have to honor your father and your mother with that…with that money because they…I guess…I guess they’re on their own. And Jesus is just calling the hypocrisy out of that as He leads to what He’s trying to point out, what He points out often, that our lives are lived from within and when we only focus on the exterior of our lives, we are missing the central component of what makes us us. And if our interior lives and our exterior lives are incongruent then there is hypocrisy present. But even beyond just like, it’s wrong to be hypocritical we are divided. We are presenting a false reality externally that is different than what is actually true inside of us. This is not how we were made. We were made to be true inside and outside. And, so, we live our exterior lives with levels of deception. And if we look back just a few weeks, we’re just getting into the year, we remember in the garden of Eden that it was a deception that eventually caused a fall. And, so, living into this deception where there’s an exterior life and an interior life Jesus is trying to unify, to bring back together, to put back together what got broken. And, so, Jesus teaches. Everything that goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then goes out into the sewer but what goes out of the mouth comes from the heart. And that is what contaminates a person in God’s sight because that is coming from the heart, that is coming from the interior life. And he’s using these Pharisees and teachers of the law, experts in the law as the backdrop for this teaching essentially saying they look good. And this isn’t the only time Jesus says this kind of stuff. We’ll see this repeatedly. You look good on the outside but on the inside you’re like…you’re like a whitewashed tomb. That’s an example that Jesus uses elsewhere. You look pretty on the outside but on the inside you’re just a corpse, a rotting dead corpse. And this helps us kind of understand that like our bodies have systems, right? So, like what you eat gets processed by these systems and what does not get used leaves the body one way or the other. And whatever leaves the body one way, or the other is what was processed by what we put into our bodies. This is how the body works. If we understand that our interior lives have these kinds of systems, what we’re going to put into us is going to get processed and then exit. And in Jesus example here the exit is the mouth. So, are we just pooping things out of our mouth constantly? Is that what our language is like? Is that what’s coming out of us? Is that because that’s what we put into us and that’s what got processed inside of us? And, so, that is informing who we are and making us very duplicitous. Understanding that what we put in is what comes out is not something that should be so foreign concept to us. It’s something we’ve been learning since we were born. Maybe if we begin to apply this in spiritual terms in our interior lives it could be a lightbulb moment for us. It could turn the lights on and go O okay. Well, I am I am consuming things that do nothing but make me anxious and make me full of anxiety and so that is coming out of my mouth because that is what is going on inside of me. Maybe my diet needs to change. We certainly understand this concept externally. We understand that if you only eat Twinkies, you’ll get sick eventually and only Twinkies whatever is left over is what’s gonna come out. But a well-balanced diet that gives us energy and that our bodies know what to do with provide us what we need for health. Why would that be any different than what’s going on inside of us? And, so, something to think about today.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, we invite you to lead us in how to think about that and kind of examine what we’re consuming. And not just consuming as entertainment, but just the way that we are framing everything in our story, the way that we are looking at everything. We surrender these things to you asking you to lead and guide us into what we should be putting within us, and what will yield fruit for your kingdom. Come Holy Spirit into this we ask as we think about it today as we watch ourselves today. In the name of Jesus, we ask. 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:
Hello beautiful Daily Audio Bible family this is Asia from the city of angels. I haven’t called in for a while and I have been meaning to call in and just let you all know how edifying it is to hear all of your prayers your praise reports and your general encouragement on this line. Thank you again to the Hardin family for this most anointed ministry that we are all being blessed with. I did want to call in today and give some encouragement to the teen who called in on January 18th talking about faith and really encouraging those other teens out there to not be ashamed of their faith. And I would step that one step further to say not be ashamed of the gospel and while you are being saved and that young people to have this type of encouragement and knowledge at such a young age, it's…it’s nothing less than beautiful. So, thank you for calling in. And I am praying for you as well as the rest of the teens out there. I also want to give some encouragement to Lisa who called in from the West Coast, Philippians 4:6. You let us know that you do have stage four stomach cancer and you need prayer, that the hospital that you’re in will that you stay there for the rest of these next, I guess, about almost five days or so before your caregivers are available. And you sounded still so hopeful and…and encouraging. And I just wanted to pray for you as well as Speaking from the Desert who called in asking for prayers for people who have cancer. And I just want to do that. So, heavenly Father we lift up our beautiful brethren to You that are suffering from diseases like cancer, and we just lift them up to You. May You have Your perfect will for them Lord God and may they soften in the presence of Your grace.
Hello DAB family this is God’s Tree. Not many branches but I’m rooted by the word of God. And I’ve really got to be rooted today. I just got my heart broken by my husband and right now I don’t know what to do with it. But I found out that he was doing some things behind my back. But it is what it is. It’s what marriage is. Been married 29 years so things are bound to go wrong sometimes. But I asked God to fix our marriage and I kept praying and kept praying and then this happened. And now I’m wondering if this is the reason why God never tried to renew our relationship, was because He saw this going on. But anyway, I’m not gonna stop trusting God. I’m not gonna be angry with God. I trust and believe He knows what’s best for me and He sees what the end is going to be. He’s going to carry me through it. I just ask for my DAB family to pray for me and help me to get through the situation in my life and keep trusting God and believing, not reacting, but holding my peace and let God work it out. And I ask God to hold my heart together is what I need because it’s really broken right now. I thank you for your prayers. And as you continue to pray for one another we’re going to get through this y'all because God got us. God bless you.
Hi DABbers, it’s Angie from Winchester VA. I just heard Laurie from South Carolina share her experience about God filling her tank and the kindness of the worker at the gas station and it brought to mind 13 years ago God calling me out of a 35 year career and into the field of nursing. I was fighting Him. I could not see away where financially I could do this. I could not take two years off of work to go to nursing school. And I kept fighting Him and He said trust me, I can do this. So, I kept hiding it. And low and behold I got laid off from my job and instead of being devastated I said you know what, God is trying to show me something here. And I ended up getting a severance package of 18 months and it was just enough money to pay for my tuition and pay for my bills while I was a nursing school for two years. How that happened I do not know but He provided for me so beautifully. So, I’m telling you anytime that God is calling you into something don’t hesitate. He will provide for you. He will bring people into your lives. He will work situations to where the situation where He is calling you into will be provided for you. So, He’s making beauty out of ashes and I am doing things in my career now that I never imagined possible and I am helping people in a way that I never ever ever ever believed I would. You guys have a great day and I love you guys and God bless.
Hi this is Donna from California and today is January 18th and I’d like to lift up Lisa from the West Coast in prayer today. She called in and is…has been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, stage four, and she is asking if she can just be allowed to stay in the hospital until Thursday which I think would be tomorrow. Hopefully that’s been granted until her caregivers can…can get to her and take her home with them. We thank you that you have provided people who can help her. And let’s pray for Lisa. O Father, Your daughter Lisa needs You and we thank You for her. We thank You for her mighty faith. Her faith just so deeply touched me that she still sees God and all of this. She also goes by Philippians 4:6 which is just be beautiful. Be anxious for nothing. We ask that You ease any anxiety about procedures. We ask that You take away pain and we ask that You keep her focused on You through all of this. Keep her eyes on You and gather people around. May people see You in her, people who are caring for her. If they don’t know You may they see You Lord. I pray that a miracle can be done for Lisa and that she…she can be healed. But You have this in Your hands, and we know that You are good and mighty God and that whatever plans You have for Lisa will be good ones. Thank You, Lord. Amen. And we love you, Lisa. We love you.
This is from Junk to Treasurer, and I have a special prayer request. My great uncle had married his second wife who is the great grandmother of three young girls all under 18. They were coming home after school and were involved in a car wreck. They pulled out from what the reports say in front of a truck that was going down the state road. One of the girls is suffering with a brain bleed. One of the girls had had to have jaw surgery and had several of her teeth knocked out. And one of the other sisters was treated and released. And their grandmother is raising them. And she works as a bus driver and the two girls that are hospitalized are in two different hospitals in different parts of the state which are in opposite directions of each other. So, I ask you to also pray for traveling mercies for the grandmother who I am undoubtedly sure will want to travel to see both of the girls as often as she can. So, I just ask you once again to lift these girls up. Their names are Lacey Lila and Lexus and the grandmother’s name is Jill. Thank you so much for your…
Hello dad family this is Diana from Florida and I want to pray for Lisa from the West Coast who also goes by Philippians 4:16 I believe on the Prayer Wall. She has stage four cancer. O, Lisa, you got me, you got me mourning with you and in the trenches with you because I could hear the noise of the hospital equipment in the background as you spoke and I was just like, God help this young lady. So, let’s pray. Dear Jesus, I pray for Lisa. Lord look at her prayers. She is praying O Lord God that You would extend her stay at the hospital to align with the arrival of her caregivers so that she won’t have to struggle at home by herself with the inability to do her basic tasks. Lord God, I pray that You would supply this need O Lord, that You would extend her stay, that You would provide for the hospital bills, that You would use Lisa as a light in that place oh Lord to preach the gospel Father God. And if it is Your will to heal her body of this infirmity, I pray that You would do so in Jesus’ name. Father, I pray that You would continue to foster in her that strong faith that she is carrying and that she would continue to give her boldness for You in Jesus’ name. Amen.