Leviticus 1:1-3:17, Mark 1:29-2:12, Psalms 35:17-28, Proverbs 9:13-18
Today is the 16th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem. We made our journey up to Jerusalem and landed yesterday, and we will be spending the day in and around Jerusalem. And we had a great day yesterday getting here and we’ll talk about all of that in a little bit, but we have gathered together around the Global Campfire to take the next step forward in the Scriptures.
Introduction to the book of Leviticus:
And as we step forward today we are encountering the third book in the Old Testament, the third book of the Torah, the book of Leviticus. So, we have been in the wilderness with the children of Israel for a little while since we’ve come out of the land of Egypt and slavery. So, we’re in the middle of the desert at this point and God is establishing the terms of the covenant between Himself and His people. And it’s been about a year since they left Egypt and the law’s being given. And we’ve been working through the construction of the tabernacle and the vestments for the priests and the process of ordination as we come out of the book of Exodus. And as we can continue forward with what God is revealing to Moses we’ll notice that everything is pulling the people together in a cohesive culture and that interweaved among everything that the people need to do to be a part of this culture is a reminder of who God is and who they are and where they’ve come from and where they are going together with God. And one of the things that we will invariably realize is that holiness is vitally important to God. The things that are being instituted into everyone’s everyday life remind them of a Holy Almighty God and that fellowship through God is through holiness. God tells them, “I am holy therefore you will be holy.” And of course, holy is being set apart, set apart unto God. So, God is saying in this fellowship, in this covenantal relationship that we are to have we can enjoy fellowship and intimacy through holiness. And as we read through Leviticus, we will find that here’s a lot of blood in this book, a lot of sacrifice, a lot of animal sacrifice. We can check out. People get to the book of Leviticus and they’re like, I don’t know what’s going on here. I don’t know what I’m reading. I…and that’s kind of where the journey ends. But if we actually press in we’ll see that God is teaching the children of Israel who are coming out of slavery and are having a complete identity shift in the wilderness that sin breaks fellowship, that sin leads to destruction, that it leads to death, that it leads away from holiness, and that it costs us. And as the people are taught to offer sacrifices that is ever present. That theme is ever present, and it’s being woven right into the fabric of the culture. And, so, we will see the burnt offering and the grain offering and peace offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering and…and how they’re to be offered and we’ll see how things are consecrated - the consecration of the priests and their families. And we’ll learn about what is clean and what is unclean. And we’ll learn about celebrations and festivals and feasts that are…that are celebrations and parties but are reminders of who God is and who they are and where they’re going as He invites these people to become His own people and to be a nation of priests to the nations, to reveal God to the nations, to put the world back together. And all of this against the backdrop of the absolute and utter holiness of the sovereign Lord. And, so, with that we dive in and begin Leviticus chapters 1, 2, and 3 today.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for this new territory that we are moving into in the book of Leviticus. Thank You for bringing us through two books in the Old Testament. And now through Matthew, now we’re in Mark in the New. We are moving forward day by day, step-by-step, and You have brought us this far and we ask that You continue to lead us day by day step-by-step deeper in our understanding and deeper in our relationship with You. Guide our steps, we pray, and help us to be attentive in paying attention to where You are leading, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Commentary:
Okay. So, on our journey here in the land of the Bible we have reached the holy city of Jerusalem and that took all day yesterday to get here. We had plenty of ground to cover and some things to see. But we are in the holy city now and kind of getting settled in. This is where we’ll stay until we depart, and we have some places to see certainly in Jerusalem and some places to see…places to see outside of Jerusalem but we’ll be staying here. And, so, that is good to arrive here. It was really just a couple days ago we were leaving the sea of Galilee. That genuinely feels like a week ago, but that's…that’s just kind of how it works when you’re covering a lot of ground and packing a lot of stuff in. And, so, yesterday we left the Mediterranean coast and moved in land and basically to the middle of the land and then we began to head southward with…with the intention of just kind of moving right down the middle through the land of biblical Samaria. And the first place that we went was Shiloh. And this is…this is an active archaeological dig that like there are still things going on there, but there are a lot of things uncovered and it’s believed it to be Shiloh, the…sort of first capital of Israel. So, the children of Israel were wandering around in the wilderness with the tabernacle. And we saw a replica of that tabernacle down in the wilderness. But when the children of Israel moved into the land, the tabernacle had a permanent home at Shiloh for like four centuries. So, we often think of Jerusalem, this is the holy city, this is the capital city, this is…this is where the action is but there was a time and there were centuries before that where Shiloh was the place. And of course, there are stories about Shiloh that are famous in the Scriptures. The story of Samuel and his mother, Hannah takes place there and their annual pilgrimage to Shiloh, where she wants to have a son and then when she does have a son and she gives him back and Samuel becomes the final judge of Israel. That’s getting a little ahead of the story for where we are this year, but we will eventually learn of the time of the judges, and we will eventually meet Samuel. And, so, maybe we’ll remember that that happened in Shiloh. And then so we spent some time there. Chilly morning, little bit chilly but not freezing cold or anything like that, just a little nippy here in…in Israel this time. But we spent some time there and then began moving southward. We had lunch at a winery that is there on the way that we like to…we like to enjoy and have lunch there. Really really good food. And then…then we got ready because things change as we move toward Bethlehem and in Jerusalem we’re moving into a big city with a lot going on, a very very different kind of feeling than any of the other regions that we visited in the land so far. And, so, we got together and talked through going into Bethlehem moving through checkpoints and stuff like that and going to the church of the Nativity and Palestinian guides getting on the bus and getting to know them, just getting ready for all of it, the onslaught of the busy city when we had been out of that kind of environment for a while. And then we proceeded and went into Bethlehem to the church of the Nativity. And that takes some effort and some coordination and some time. It’s just not easy to run in. Like you can’t just drive-up, go to the parking lot, park your car, get out of your car, walk in and see what you want to see and them drive away. There’s like a bit of a production to get in and out. There’s a lot of congestion and we’re moving around on tour buses. So, lots of congestion but we made it. And it’s like we came between, I guess some big waves of people because as we were on our way to the church of the Nativity the…the guides were telling us kind of what the…what the crowds were like and they were saying, yeah, earlier…you know…a a few days ago very, very empty, but last time they were there, which we had been a few hours earlier there was a couple of our wait to go down into the grotto, into the caves where…where it is believed that Jesus was born. And, so, we didn’t…we didn’t know but when we came we…there was not a lot of pilgrims there. And, so, we were able to spend some time just really learning about the place and taking our time and going down into the cave. And where’s a star that commemorates the spot that Jesus is to have been born. And that’s just a little star kind of over the bed rock. This place has been visited for a couple thousand years. So, people in antiquity all the way through modern times, until…until the star…right? Who’s not gonna try to chip off a little piece of rock or something to take home from the place where Jesus is born. So, a lot of these places are like that. They have to protect the ground and the rocks and stuff like that. And, so, there’s a star over where Jesus was born and everybody gets a minute or a moment anyway to…to gaze upon it, appreciate what we’re talking about. And spent some time in the cave. And there’s this spot where the manger was supposed to have been where Jesus was laid in the manger. It’s a combination of several churches over a site and it is this struggle to explain the unexplainable, to explain that Emmanuel, God is with us, God came to be with us, became one of us. And, so, thousands of years of…of not only venerating and appreciating a spot but also trying to explain and understand through art and poetry and architecture and…and just the different eras. I mean we’re looking at really really old stuff. Like there’s part of the mosaic flooring from the original building from the 300s onwards all the way up until today. And there have been some pretty major reconstruction or restoration projects going on at the church of the Nativity for the last couple times I had been there, scaffolding everywhere, that kind of thing. But that’s all done now. And, so, it was beautiful. Beautifully done. Beautiful. So, we took our time. Spent some time there, saw it, and then moved back through the crush of Bethlehem towards our buses and all the shopkeepers and little things going on trying to keep altogether and keep ourselves moving in the same direction. And then, by the time we got back to the buses it’s like all of that, it took all day and we’re tired. We had to start, really, really early and then we got into all of the congestion. And, so, by the time we did get into Jerusalem to our hotel we were ready to be off the bus and ready to unpack and ready to have dinner and ready to get some rest because it’s another big day today. We will spend the day in Jerusalem all around the old city and really appreciating Jerusalem.
And, so, once again thank you for your continued prayers as we move toward the final few days of our journey here in the land of the Bible. And we are still posting pictures on social media as they happen. So, pretty much the whole trip you can kind of go the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page or the Daily Audio Bible Instagram page and…and see what we’re talking about, what I’m trying to describe for yourself. So, check that out.
And what is the other thing. I am told…so before we left for Israel we got these brand-new Daily Audio Bible hats and beanies and those were gone pretty quick. And we didn’t know but they were gone pretty quick. They were sold out pretty quick. So, before we left, we had ordered some more and those…they are in stock in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. So, if were looking for one and they were sold out unless they’re sold out again pretty quick you should be able to grab one. So, those are in the Daily Audio Bible Shop in the Lifestyle section. So, check that out.
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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 this is…I was gonna say Penny Saved from southwest Missouri but I’m now the Woman at the Well. And I just heard Webster from February 8th and I loved what I heard, not because of your discouragement of course but because of your dedication, the fact that you still feel like, you know, you're…you’re in this cycle of addiction and yet you’re still staying in the word, which is exactly what I did Webster. I was…well…I was 17 years and totally out of control in an addictive compulsive lifestyle and then I kind of traded that addiction in for drink and then guess what my life even got worse. What do you know? But I will say that the one consistent, and you guys have heard me say this, was staying in the word and I was literally pouring Daily Audio Bible into my life more and more and more until I truly looked back, and it was like I had been transformed when I wasn’t watching. And it…it happens in a miraculous way because it is a miracle. God’s word does heal, it is alive, it is working on you. Even if you don’t feel it Webster it is. And I am so proud of you. You just stay in the word and a transformation will take place because when you’re in the word you’re literally spending time with God and you are becoming more like Him. Even if you don’t feel like you are it is changing you because God’s word is alive, and it does miracles. And, so, you hang in there. You’re doing great. I love you guys.
Dear DAB this is Jan from Maryland and I’ve never called in before so I’m a first-time caller, but I’ve been listening for several years. I witnessed something last week that was distressing to me, and it was a young girl, she couldn’t have been more than 12 or 13 being manipulated by and older but youngish man. And I believe it was either at the very least being given drugs or at the very worst sex trafficking. By the time I figured it out it was too late, so I called the police. But still I don’t know her name. I don’t know who she is, but I hope I never in my life forget her face. I don’t want her to be a forgotten child. So, I ask you to join me in prayer to help her…to help her. So, dear God Holy Father please be with this young child who was in a situation beyond her control. Cover her with Your protection and help her and all others like her to be free and to know and love You in a life that’s full of love and care. Give us all strength to help watch for this and to be with those people who are in need. I know of anything this will help. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Hi, my name is Danny I just wanted to tell the simple-minded plumber I’m an air conditioning mechanic myself and you always kind of feel like you can do better as a parent. Just know and trust God. And the best thing you can do is love your kids like Christ loved us. Yes, we’re going to be making mistakes left and right but trust them and love them and most of all trust God. And things could have been different, but they’re not so just keep loving them man. Take my word for it. I have three and I feel like I haven’t done a good job, but I do pray for them every day daily just like Job did. Remember.
Hello DAB family my name is Kevin. Three weeks ago, I received divorce papers from my wife and have been feeling pretty broken and also have been feeling pretty close to God. Just…I’m worried about my kids and I’m worried about my wife. And I just…I don’t know. Just ask that you would be with them and that you would bless this house. Thank you for bringing me close to You again in this hard time and I ask that You would just stay in my heart. I really wish this wouldn’t happen and I realize it’s not my power. And, so, I surrender, and I give it to You. Please pray for me.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible community this is Diane Olive and Jeff Braun at 6:33 AM central time on February the 10th 2023. And I just got through listening to Brian Hardin speak of the way they treated Jesus, how Judas betrayed Him with a kiss and how they slapped Him and pulled out His beard and…and then the high priest tells that they’re going to crucify Him and then they all abandon Him. Not one was left to be with Him. And Jeff is sleeping right now I wanna wake him up and talk about this, but I am here by myself and I just wanna say thank you Jesus. What you did for us nobody ever did. And if you can forgive us, I can forgive others and I release everyone who has ever abused me or hurt me in forgiveness now. And I thank you Brian and the family of Daily Audio Bible for helping me understand the price my precious Jesus paid and the Father created You and the Holy Spirit interprets everything…