The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday February 4, 2023 (NIV)

Exodus 19:16-21:21

16 When the morning of the third day arrived, thunder cracked and lightning lit up the sky. A thick cloud veiled the mountain, and there was a long, loud blast of a ram’s horn. Every person in the camp trembled. 17 Moses led the anxious people away from camp to encounter God. Everyone waited at the base of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was covered in thick smoke because the Eternal descended on the mountain in fire; and the smoke of that fire rose up to the sky as if it were billowing out of a furnace, and the entire mountain shuddered and quaked intensely. 19 The blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered with a voice that rumbled like thunder.

20 The Eternal descended to the summit of Mount Sinai. He called for Moses to come and meet Him, so Moses began the long, hard climb up the mountain.

Eternal One (to Moses): 21 Go down, and warn the people not to cross the boundaries in order to try to see Me, or else many of them will die. 22 Any of the priests who draw near to Me must first rid themselves of any impurity so that I do not break loose and kill them.

Moses (to the Eternal): 23 No one can approach Mount Sinai because You warned them when You said, “Set up boundaries around the mountain and keep the area holy and separate.”

Eternal One: 24 Go back down and bring Aaron with you next time. But do not let any of the people (including priests) cross those boundaries to come up and meet Me, unless they want Me to break loose and kill them.

25 Moses went back down the mountain and told the people all the Eternal had said.

20 Then God began to speak directly to all the people.

Until now God has dealt only with Moses on behalf of His people; at Mount Sinai, He turns to address them directly in order to express the core of His covenant obligations. He begins by reminding them of all He has done for them. His miraculous deeds in liberating the Hebrew slaves and providing for them in the desert become the basis of this new relationship. He then proceeds to lay out the Ten Directives that will define and shape their lives together. The first four Directives concern their duties to know and worship the one True God. The last six pertain to how Israel is to live with one another in a covenant-based society. Properly understood, all the other teachings, prescriptions, and directives that come in later chapters derive from these Ten Directives.

Eternal One: I am the Eternal your God. I led you out of Egypt and liberated you from lives of slavery and oppression.

You are not to serve any other gods before Me.

You are not to make any idol or image of other gods. In fact, you are not to make an image of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. You are not to bow down and serve any image, for I, the Eternal your God, am a jealous God. As for those who are not loyal to Me, their children will endure the consequences of their sins for three or four generations. But for those who love Me and keep My directives, their children will experience My loyal love for a thousand generations.

You are not to use My name for your own idle purposes, for the Eternal will punish anyone who treats His name as anything less than sacred.

You and your family are to remember the Sabbath Day; set it apart, and keep it holy. You have six days to do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is to be different; it is the Sabbath of the Eternal your God. Keep it holy by not doing any work—not you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, or any outsiders living among you. 11 For the Eternal made the heavens above, the earth below, the seas, and all the creatures in them in six days. Then, on the seventh day, He rested. That is why He blessed the Sabbath Day and made it sacred.

12 You are to honor your father and mother. If you do, you and your children will live long and well in the land the Eternal your God has promised to give you.

13 You are not to murder.

14 You are not to commit adultery.

15 You are not to take what is not yours.

16 You are not to give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 You are not to covet what your neighbor has or set your heart on getting his house, his wife, his male or female servants, his ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

18 As all the people witnessed the signs of God’s presence—the blast of the ram’s horn, the roaring thunder, the flashing lightning, and the smoke-covered mountain—they shook with fear and astonishment and wisely kept their distance.

Israelites (to Moses): 19 We are afraid to have God speak directly to us; we are certain that we will die. You speak to us instead; we promise to listen.

Moses: 20 Don’t be afraid. These powerful manifestations are God’s way of instilling awe and fear in you so that you will not sin; He is testing you for your own good.

21 But everyone remained far away from the mountain as Moses began moving toward the thick, dark cloud where God was.

Eternal One (to Moses): 22 This is what I want you to tell the people of Israel: “You yourselves witnessed that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 It is essential that you not make any idols to rival Me. Do not make any idols out of silver or gold for yourselves! 24 Take earth and build an altar to Me and sacrifice all of your burnt offerings and peace offerings there. Offer Me the best of your sheep and oxen. Wherever I choose for My name to be remembered, I will come to you and shower blessings upon you. 25 But if you decide to build an altar out of stones for Me, use only natural stones, not hand-cut stones, because any attempt to shape them with your tools will desecrate the altar. 26 Also, do not approach My altar by walking up steps, for you might profane the altar by exposing your nakedness.”

After God gives Israel the Ten Directives, He gives them other instructions that derive from the first ten. They do not cover every situation but provide guidance for how God’s people should live.

21 Eternal One (to Moses): These are other rules and guiding principles that you must present to the Israelites:

If you purchase a male Hebrew slave, he will be your servant for six years only. When the seventh year arrives, he will go free without having to pay a price for his freedom.

In Moses’ day, slavery exists everywhere in the world, and slaves are the first to be given protection under these guiding principles or judgments.

If you acquire a slave who is not married, then he will depart as a single man. But if you acquire a man who is married, then his wife will also leave when he goes free.

If his master provides a wife for him, and the wife gives him sons and daughters, then both the wife and the children belong to the master, and only the slave will leave the master’s service when the seventh year arrives.

But if the seventh year arrives and the slave freely renounces his right to freedom, saying, “My heart is full of love for my master, my wife, and my children. I will not leave my master’s service as a free man,” then his master will present him to the True God.[a] Next his master will escort him to the doorway and pierce his ear against the doorpost with an awl. Then everyone will know this slave will serve his master for life.

Women are to be treated differently. If a man decides to sell his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed as male slaves are when the seventh year arrives. If for any reason she does not please her master who handpicked her for a wife, then he is to allow her to be bought by another. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people because he has broken the agreement with her.

If the master chooses her as a wife for his son, then the master must treat her just as he would his own daughter.

10 If the master decides he wants to marry an additional wife, then he must not reduce his slave-wife’s food or clothing or any other marital rights. 11 If he does not provide these three things for her, then she is free to leave without owing him any money for her freedom.

12 If a man attacks another and the victim dies from the attack, then the attacker must be put to death. 13 But if God allows a person to die at the hands of another who never intended to kill him in the first place, then I will appoint a place where he can run and take refuge from those who would exact revenge. 14 But if a man plans an attack and cunningly kills his victim, then he will find no refuge at my altar. Take him from there and put him to death.

15 Also, anyone who strikes one of his parents must be put to death.

16 Anyone who kidnaps another—whether he has already sold his victim or still has him when he is caught—must be put to death.

17 And anyone who curses either of his parents must be put to death.[b]

18 If people are engaged in an argument and one hits the other with a rock or his fist, and the victim does not die but is bedridden for a time and unable to work, 19 then the one who struck him will not be punished as long as the injured party recovers enough to be able to get out of bed and walk around with the help of his staff; however, he must pay his victim for lost time and wages, and make sure he has the care he needs until he recovers. 20 If a person hits his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies because of the blow, then that person must be punished. 21 But if the slave survives a couple of days, then there will be no penalty because the slave belongs to the master.

Footnotes:

  1. 21:6 Greek manuscripts read, “to the lawcourt of God.”
  2. 21:17 Mark 7:10
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Matthew 23:13-39

13 Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. There is such a gulf between what you say and what you do. You will stand before a crowd and lock the door of the kingdom of heaven right in front of everyone; you won’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from doing so.

[14 Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. What you say is not what you do. You steal the homes from under the widows while you pretend to pray for them. You will suffer great condemnation for this.][a]

15 Woe to you Pharisees, woe to you who teach the law, hypocrites! You traverse hills and mountains and seas to make one convert, and then when he does convert, you make him much more a son of hell than you are.

16 Woe to you who are blind but deign to lead others. You say, “Swearing by the temple means nothing, but he who swears by the gold in the temple is bound by his oath.” 17 Are you fools? You must be blind! For which is greater: the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, “Swearing by the altar means nothing, but he who swears by the sacrifice on the altar is bound by his oath.” 19 You must be blind! Which is greater: the sacrifice or the altar that makes it sacred? 20 So anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by the sacrifices and gifts laid upon it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the God who sanctifies it. 22 And when you swear by heaven, you are swearing by God’s throne and by Him who sits upon it.

23 So woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You hypocrites! You tithe from your luxuries and your spices, giving away a tenth of your mint, your dill, and your cumin. But you have ignored the essentials of the law: justice, mercy, faithfulness. It is practice of the latter that makes sense of the former. 24 You hypocritical, blind leaders. You spoon a fly from your soup and swallow a camel.

25 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You remove fine layers of film and dust from the outside of a cup or bowl, but you leave the inside full of greed and covetousness and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee—can’t you see that if you clean the inside of the cup, the outside will be clean too?

27 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like a grave that has been whitewashed. You look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside you are full of moldering bones and decaying rot. 28 You appear, at first blush, to be righteous, selfless, and pure; but on the inside you are polluted, sunk in hypocrisy and confusion and lawlessness.

29 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build monuments to your dead, you mouth pieties over the bodies of prophets, you decorate the graves of your righteous ancestors. 30 And you say, “If we had lived when our forefathers lived, we would have known better—we would not have joined them when they rose up against the prophets.” 31 Even when you are preening, you make plain that you descended from those who murdered our prophets. 32 So why don’t you finish what your forefathers started? 33 You are children of vipers, you belly-dragging snakes. You won’t escape the judgment of hell.

34 That is why I am sending you prophets and wise men, teachers of breadth and depth and substance. You will kill some of them and crucify others. You will flog others in your synagogues. You will pursue them from town to town. 35 And on your heads, stained through your hands and drenching your clothes, my friends, will be all the righteous blood ever shed on this earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah whom you murdered in the house of the Lord between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 I tell you: this generation will bear the blood of all that has gone before.

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. You kill the prophets whom God gives you; you stone those God sends you. I have longed to gather your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you refuse to be gathered. 38 Surely you can see that God has already removed His blessing from the house of Israel. 39 I tell you this: you will not see Me again until you say, with the psalmist, “Anyone who comes in the name of the Eternal One will be blessed.”[b]

Footnotes:

  1. 23:14 The earliest manuscripts omit verse 14.
  2. 23:39 Psalm 118:26
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Psalm 28

Psalm 28

A song of David.

Eternal One, I am calling out to You;
You are the foundation of my life. Please, don’t turn Your ear from me.
If You respond to my pleas with silence,
I will lose all hope like those silenced by death’s grave.
Listen to my voice.
You will hear me begging for Your help
With my hands lifted up in prayer,
my body turned toward Your holy home.

This Davidic psalm pleads with God to spare him and repay his enemies. It would be difficult to locate this psalm in any one event. During his life David faced many threats from different enemies; not only were these threats from outside his realm, but some of his most difficult challenges came from inside his own family.

I beg You; don’t punish me with the most heinous men.
They spend their days doing evil.
Even when they engage their neighbors in pleasantness,
they are scheming against them.
Pay them back for their deeds;
hold them accountable for their malice.
Give them what they deserve.
Because these are people who have no respect for You, O Eternal,
they ignore everything You have done.
So He will tear them down with His powerful hands;
never will they be built again.

The Eternal should be honored and revered;
He has heard my cries for help.
The Eternal is the source of my strength and the shield that guards me.
When I learn to rest and truly trust Him,
He sends His help. This is why my heart is singing!
I open my mouth to praise Him, and thankfulness rises as song.

The Eternal gives life and power to all His chosen ones;
to His anointed He is a sturdy fortress.
Rescue Your people, and bring prosperity to Your legacy;
may they know You as a shepherd, carrying them at all times.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Proverbs 7:1-5

My son, live according to what I am telling you;
guard my instructions as you would a treasure deep within you.
Stay true to my directives, and they will serve you well;
make my teachings the lens through which you see life.
Bind cords around your fingers to remind you of them;
meditate on them, and you’ll engrave them upon your heart.
Say to Lady Wisdom, “My sister”;
recognize that understanding is your best friend,
And they will keep you from the arms of another woman—
protect you from the enchantress who entices men into her bed.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

2/2/2023

Exodus 17:8-19:15, Matthew 22:34-23:12, Psalm 27:7-14, Proverbs 6:27-35

Today is the third day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you today. Got my nice steamy cup of wind farm coffee to my left, as is customary and got the Bible right in front of me, that’s not only customary, it’s necessary. So, were locked and loaded and ready to go. It’s great to be here with you around the Global Campfire today as we gather around this winter day to take the next step forward. I know it’s summertime for some of you as you gather on this summer day, depending on where you are the world, as we gather and find our place and just let it all go. Exhale, deep breath in, big exhale out. Oh, that is, that is so refreshing and knowing that these next few minutes, it’s a sacred space, safe space we can go back and face whatever we need to face, however, we need to face it. This is some time to allow our hearts to be bathed in the Scriptures. And so, let’s dive in. We’re moving back into the book of Exodus, which is where we left off yesterday. Children of Israel are in the wilderness, and they are learning that they must utterly trust in the God that delivered them from slavery. They don’t know it, but the wilderness is changing their identity. So, let’s dive in, Exodus chapter 17 verse 8 through 19 verse 15 today.

Commentary:

Okay so, in the book of Exodus today, we find ourselves in the open wilderness. We are in the deep desert. It is barren. It is mostly lifeless. It is not the kind of place that could sustain the lives of a multitude of people wandering around it. So, there are some lessons that have to be learned that the wilderness will be the backdrop and the teacher for. And we talked about that yesterday, how they were learning utter dependence upon God, and we talked about how this story, like this wilderness journey, is kind of a retelling of our own stories. If we will look into it and see how the children of Israel respond and realize we’re reading this and going, why would you guys respond that way, you have a pillar of fire, you have all that you need, God is right with you. How can you respond this way? Then we look at our own lives and our own wilderness journeys and realize, I’m grumbling, I’m murmuring, I’m afraid, I am just like the children of Israel. And so, one of the lessons that I’ve gotta learn is utter dependence upon God. So that’s kind of where we were yesterday. Today, we’re still in the wilderness, we’re still moving forward. But it’s Moses that has a bit of a lesson to learn on his wilderness journey, he hasn’t done this. He didn’t want to be doing any of this. He asked the Lord; he asked God directly. Like, he was having a conversation with the burning bush, he asked God to send somebody else, right to God. So, he didn’t want to be doing this, he has no experience leading like a multitude of people and navigating the wilderness. So, he’s got some lessons to learn, and they come by way of his father-in-law, Jethro, who meets him along with the multitude of the children of Israel and he bring Zipporah, was his wife and his sons back to him, to rejoin the household, as they continue their journey through the wilderness. So, Jethro is watching Moses and just kind of seeing his day-to-day activities. And if they’re not on the move than Moses, every day is morning until night, just kind of seated, being surrounded by people, making judgments on the issues that are arising among the people. It’s a lot of people, on a very, very big camping trip. So…so, there’s going to be some interpersonal conflict, as people jostle around and sort of figure out what they’re doing and…and they have all kinds of reasons to be concerned because they’re worried about food and water and how they’re gonna survive. So, Moses is out among them, and Jethro simply observes, this isn’t sustainable, my son-in-law. Like, this, you will burn out or to quote it directly out of Exodus, “you will surely wear out both you and these people who are with you.” So, in other words, the lesson that Moses is receiving from Jethro is, as you burnout you’re going to also be burning the people out. Everyone is not going to end up healthy here. This isn’t a sustainable way to navigate the season that you are in. And so, Jethro encourages Moses to a point, to appoint leaders among the tribes and to fill those positions, those spots with people who can actually be of help. Not just fill the people, or fill the spots with people who want authority, or fill the spots with people who are not good, do not…do not have good character, but to fill the positions with worthy candidates who can be passionate about the work of the Lord among the people and helping to organize and govern the people. So, Moses is learning that he can’t do it alone. This is…this is important because Moses never fully like, completely learns this lesson, he’s the senior leader and so there’s a ton of pressure on him and the people constantly are coming to him with their griping and complaining. And so, Moses is constantly reminded, like on a daily basis of his utter need for God to sustain him. And he does a remarkable work based on what he had to navigate. But we can see that it is a heavyweight upon his shoulders that he has to work through in the wilderness. So, this becomes a good lesson for us to learn, one of the wilderness lessons, we can’t do this all by ourselves. We were never meant to do this all by ourselves. We actually need each other to do this. But then we move into the 19th chapter of the book of Exodus and we’re…we’re beginning to learn some new things because they are at the mountain of God, in the desert of Sinai and God has invited the people to purify themselves, because a holy convocation is going to happen. God is going to come and meet directly with the people. So far, Moses has been kind of a back and forth speaking the mouthpiece, but God is going to reveal himself to the people and communicate with them directly. And so, Moses is sent to let the people know, three days from now, on the third day they need to be ready, they need to purify themselves. They need to wash their clothes; they need to get changed and cleaned and spiffy. Put on deodorant, I’m making a joke, they didn’t have any of that stuff. But get prepared. Purify yourselves. We will be meeting with God. And so, that is the backdrop for where we leave off today and we will continue the story tomorrow and find out if they do meet with God and if they do. How does that go?

Prayer:

And so, Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for another day, another day around the Global Campfire, another day to be together in community, another day to know that we are not alone, that we are moving through these things together. And that we are wrestling through together, wrestling and gaining deeper understanding in the Scriptures and wrestling through the issues of life as we follow the leading of Your Holy Spirit. So, Holy Spirit, plant what we’ve read in our lives today, lead us into all truth. We ask in the name of Jesus, expecting that You will do just that for us. Thank You, we pray these things in Jesus name. 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.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hello Daily Audio Bible family, my name is Hannah. I’ll go by Grace Over Me. I’m up in northern Canada, I live on the Alaska Highway. And just like to ask prayer for guidance for my family. We are a foster family. And we recently, we took in a little three-year-old boy who was basically described as frail from our coordinator. No one else could handle him. And so, we agreed to take him on an emergency basis. There’s nowhere else for him to go right now. So, he’s with us. And he’s really hard to take care of. He has thrown tantrums where it takes my husband and I to hold him down, so he doesn’t hurt someone or something. And he’s occasionally hurt my other children and tried to hurt us. At the same time, we’re teaching him to communicate with sign language and we see progress. And we pray over him, and we have gotten prayer and a friend of ours has fasted and prayed. And we are seeing strongholds falling and this beautiful boy underneath. But we’re just not wanting to harm our own children in the process of trying to help this boy. And so, we’re faced with a really hard decision about keeping him long term. Or requesting that he move on. So, if you could just pray for us. That would be great. And include my parents at the same time because my mom has severe dementia, and my dad is trying to take care of her, and he has health issues. And she’s refusing any medical help at this time. So, if you guys could keep us in your prayers. A lot of people I love, hurting. Thank you.

Hello DAB family. This is Apex Adam from Washington State. I just finished up on the 30th, January 30th podcast. At the end of the prayer requests section, a young lady or a lady was sharing how she had been involved for 17 years with DAB, listening every day, new and fresh. And I’m in the same boat. And her testimony was so powerful for me because it really demonstrated what it means to be consistent in God’s word, amidst failure, amidst being on the journey. It was just so…so real to me and vulnerable. It meant a lot; it really spoke to my spirit. And regards to freedom, freedom from addiction and cycles of sin and behavior and rebellion and just how she processed that. I really loved that; she didn’t give her name. And she shared her testimony of growing up in a household where there was schizophrenia and things like that. And then there was some reflections on that. All that said, it was such a blessing to hear and so real. I oversee a staff of therapists. I’m a pastoral counselor and do some other things within the body of Christ. And I oversee a some staff therapists and we just see this as such an important role to understand what it means to deal with these kinds of psychological issues and give them over to the Lord in healing but also to follow the rules of thumb for medicine as well. So, just so grateful for everything that you stated. I can’t say it enough. Grateful for everyone. I pray for you every day. I’m always listening and considering and thank you for teaching me so much along the way. God Bless you all. I look forward to hearing more prayer requests. This is Apex Adam, Washington State, out.

Hey DAB family, it’s Mike in OIC. And I’d like to ask for prayer for community. I don’t have a Christian community right now. And motivation and just mentorship, I don’t have it and I need it. I just turned 40 a couple months ago, and I feel like I’m just not really being in active in life. Just kind of being more passive, if that makes sense. So yeah, I ask for prayer for motivation for a kick in the butt, and for my obedience to Christ. Cause like the Proverbs say, you know, little more sleep, a little more folding of my hands and poverty comes. And I’ve been sleeping way too much. Yeah thanks, that’s it for now.

Hello DAB family, this is Diana from Florida and I want to pray for Eyes of a Dove. I believe I said that correctly. She is dealing with her mom who has schizophrenia and for many, many years had been medicated and had been doing very well. However, now she has gone off her medication, as a result is having some very manic episodes. I know that can be very, very frustrating and so let me pray for her. Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for this mother, I pray for this daughter, I pray for them because for so many years, there’s been so much trauma and turmoil that has come as a result of this schizophrenia that the mother has had. So, many wounds, so many difficulties. And Dear God, solutions had been drawn with the medication that she was on, but now for whatever reason she has gone off of the medication. I pray in the name of Jesus, that You would encourage her to get back on that medication, dear God. I pray in the name of Jesus, that she would return to that so that she can be in a normal state of mind. I don’t understand, I pray that it would be so, that she would be healed completely and not have to depend on the medications but God, You know more than us, why these things are the way they are. And so, I pray that You would bring the resolution needed, and that she would have the medications needed. And dear God, in this, her daughter would be strengthened, comforted, that she would put appropriate boundaries and, in the end, find Your peace. In Jesus name. Amen.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday February 3, 2023 (NIV)

Exodus 17:8-19:15

While the Israelites were camped at Rephidim, soldiers of Amalek came and attacked them. Moses called for a young leader named Joshua.

Moses (to Joshua): Select some of our best men, and go fight against the soldiers of Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand at the crest of that hill overlooking the battlefield with God’s staff in my hand.

10 Joshua did exactly as Moses had instructed him to do. He gathered the strongest men he could find and fought against the soldiers of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of the hill.

11 It happened that whenever Moses raised his hand, the battle went well for Israel; but whenever he lowered his hand to rest, Amalek began to win. 12 When Moses became too tired to hold his hands up any longer, Aaron and Hur took a stone and sat him down on it. Then both men stood beside Moses, one on each side, holding his hands up and keeping them steady until sunset. 13 In the end, Joshua and the men of Israel defeated Amalek and his soldiers with the sword.

Eternal One (to Moses): 14 Write down what I say on a scroll as a memorial record of these events, and read it aloud so Joshua can hear: “I will erase all traces of the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

15 Then Moses constructed an altar and called it, “The Eternal Is My Battle Flag.”

Moses: 16 Because Amalek raised a defiant hand against the throne of the Eternal, He has promised to wage war against Amalek through future generations.

18 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, the priest of Midian, heard about all that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the Eternal had rescued Israel out of Egypt. 2-3 Now Moses had sent his wife, Zipporah, and her two sons back to Jethro from Egypt, and Jethro had cared for them in his long absence. Moses had named one son Gershom, because as he said, “I have lived as an outsider in an unfamiliar land.”[a] Moses had named the other son Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my helper, and He rescued me from Pharaoh’s sword.” Jethro (Moses’ father-in-law) brought Zipporah and her two sons into the desert to meet Moses when he and the people of Israel were camped near God’s mountain.

This place is special for Moses, for it was here that he first met God in the burning bush.

Jethro sent a servant with a message for Moses.

Jethro (to Moses): I, Jethro, your father-in-law, am coming out to see you and I’m bringing your wife and two sons with me.

So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. When he saw him, he bowed down before Jethro and kissed him. They each asked how the other was doing, and then they went into Moses’ tent.

Moses told Jethro the whole story. He told him everything that the Eternal had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians on behalf of Israel. He told him about all the misery and tribulations they had run into during their long journey. And then he told how the Eternal had rescued them. Jethro was thrilled to hear of all the kindness the Eternal had shown Israel, especially how He rescued them from the powerful hand of the Egyptians.

Jethro: 10 Praise to the Eternal, for He rescued you from the powerful hand of the Egyptians, from the cruel grip of Pharaoh. He has liberated His people from beneath the harsh hand of their Egyptian masters. 11 Now I know with all my heart that the Eternal is greater than all gods because of the way He delivered His people when Egyptians in their arrogance abused them.[b]

12 Jethro then took a burnt offering and sacrifices and presented them to God. Aaron and the rest of the Israelite elders gathered to dedicate a meal to God with Moses’ father-in-law.

13 On the next day, Moses sat and served as judge, settling disputes among the people. Those with grievances surrounded him from sunrise to sundown waiting to present their case. 14 Jethro noticed all Moses was doing for the people.

Jethro: What do you think you are doing? Why are you the only one who is able to judge the disputes of all these people who surround you from sunrise to sundown?

Moses: 15 These people come to me seeking direction from God. 16 When two people are arguing and can’t resolve their differences, they come to me; and I settle the matter between them. This is one way I help God’s people understand His requirements and instructions.

Jethro: 17 What you are doing is not good for you. 18 The responsibility is just too much. You are going to wear yourself out. Not only that, you’re going to wear out the people too. You can’t do it all by yourself. 19 I am going to give you a piece of advice, so listen up and God will be with you. You should represent the people before God, and carry their concerns to Him. 20 Teach them God’s requirements and pass on His laws. Show them the right way to live and the kind of work they should be doing. 21 As for all these other duties you have taken on, choose competent leaders who fear God, love truth, despise dishonesty, and won’t take bribes. After you divide and subdivide all the people into various groups of a thousand, hundred, fifty, and ten, put the men of integrity you selected in charge over the various groups. 22 Let these righteous leaders be ready to judge the people whenever it is necessary. If there is some major problem, they can bring that to you. Otherwise, these select leaders ought to be able to handle the minor problems. This will be much easier for you, and they will help you carry this burden. 23 If you do what I advise and God directs you, then you will be able to handle the pressure. Not only that, but all these people standing around needing help, they will be able to return to their tents at peace.

24 Moses accepted Jethro’s advice and did all that he said. 25 He chose competent leaders and put them in charge of the community of Israel. He divided and subdivided the nation into groups of a thousand, hundred, fifty, and ten, and he appointed a leader over each group. 26 The righteous leaders judged the people whenever disputes or problems arose. Any major quarrel, they brought to Moses for his judgment; but every minor argument, they judged themselves.

27 When it was time for Jethro to return to his own land, Moses sent his father-in-law on his way.

19 The Israelites entered the desert of Sinai on the day the third new moon appeared after the Israelites left Egypt. After departing from Rephidim, they entered into the desert of Sinai and set up camp out in the desert. The entire community of Israel camped right in front of the mountain of God.

Moses climbed the mountain to meet with God, and the Eternal spoke to him from the mountain.

Jethro is more than Moses’ father-in-law; he is also an insightful leader and a skilled counselor. He sees that what Moses is trying to do is counterproductive. Moses is wearing himself down in continual service to the people, and the people are frustrated with the many hours they must wait to have their cases heard by a single arbitrator. Jethro’s counsel advances the best possible solution for all concerned. Moses remains the sole spiritual leader of the emerging nation, the people’s representative to God, and the conduit of God’s wisdom to the people. But now he is to delegate his governing authority to a set of judges.

The legal and administrative system Jethro proposes is much like a military command with the masses of people divided and then subdivided. Those who are honest and capable hear the normal disputes that arise on a daily basis, much as they have observed Moses handling them in the past. The more difficult and unique issues are still dealt with by Moses. In this system, there is no difference between civil disputes and religious inquiries. This is an administration designed to handle all problems, secular or spiritual. Life, after all, doesn’t fall into nice, neat categories.

Eternal One: This is what I want you to say to the house of Jacob—to all the people of Israel: “You are eyewitnesses of all that I did to the Egyptians. You saw how I snatched you from the bonds of slavery and carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now if you will hear My voice, obey what I say, and keep My covenant, then you—out of all the nations of the world—will be My treasured people. After all, the earth belongs to Me. You will be My kingdom of priests, a nation holy and set apart.” Tell the Israelites exactly what I have told to you.

As a kingdom of priests, Israel exists to serve as agents of God’s blessing. The people are to bear witness to God’s character and carry to Him the world’s concerns.

Moses descended from the mountain and assembled the elders of Israel and told them everything the Eternal commanded him to say.

Israelites: We will do everything the Eternal has told us to do!

Moses took what the people said back to the Eternal.

Eternal One (to Moses): I will come to you in a thick cloud so that the people will be able to hear My voice when I speak to you. That way they will trust you forever.

Then Moses told the Eternal all that the people had said.

Eternal One (to Moses): 10-11 Go down to the people and get them ready to meet Me today and tomorrow by purifying themselves and washing their garments. By the third day, they need to be ready, for on that day I will descend from Mount Sinai so that everyone can see. 12 You are to set up boundaries all around the mountain and tell the people, “Be careful that you do not cross the boundaries and go up on the mountain or even touch the edge of it. If anyone so much as touches the mountain, he should be put to death. 13 No one is to touch the person or animal who crosses the boundary; stone them or shoot them with arrows but do not touch them. It doesn’t matter whether it is a human or an animal, it must be put to death.” But when they hear the long blast of the ram’s horn, then they are permitted to make their way up on the mountain.

14 Moses went down the mountain and purified all the people. They washed their clothes. 15 He gave instructions to everyone.

Moses: Be ready for the third day. Do not have sexual relations with your spouse between now and then.

Footnotes:

  1. 18:2–3 Exodus 2:22
  2. 18:11 Meaning of the Hebrew is unclear.
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Matthew 22:34-23:12

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, a group of Pharisees met to consider new questions that might trip up Jesus. 35 A legal expert thought of one that would certainly stump Him.

Pharisees: 36 Teacher, of all the laws, which commandment is the greatest?

Jesus (quoting Scripture): 37 “Love the Eternal One your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.”[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is nearly as important, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 40 The rest of the law, and all the teachings of the prophets, are but variations on these themes.

41 Since the Pharisees were gathered together there, Jesus took the opportunity to pose a question of His own.

Jesus: 42 What do you think about the Anointed One? Whose Son is He?

Pharisees: But, of course, He is the Son of David.

Jesus: 43 Then how is it that David—whose words were surely shaped by the Spirit—calls Him “Lord”? For in his psalms David writes,

44 The Master said to my master
“Sit here at My right hand,
in the place of honor and power,
And I will gather Your enemies together,
lead them in on hands and knees,
and You will rest Your feet on their backs.”[c]

45 How can David call his own Son “Lord”?

46 No one had an answer to Jesus’ question. And from that day forward, no one asked Him anything.

23 Jesus spoke to His disciples and to the crowds that had gathered around.

Jesus with the Pharisees listening uses them as an example of the pious but truly unrighteous. He calls the people to mind the Pharisees’ words, not their examples, because they talk about righteousness and faithfulness, but they are a faithless and unrighteous crew.

Jesus: The Pharisees and the scribes occupy the seat of Moses. So you should do the things they tell you to do—but don’t do the things they do. They heap heavy burdens upon their neighbors’ backs, and they prove unwilling to do anything to help shoulder the load. They are interested, above all, in presentation: they wrap their heads and arms in the accoutrements of prayer, they cloak themselves with flowing tasseled prayer garments, they covet the seats of honor at fine banquets and in the synagogue, and they love it when people recognize them in the marketplace, call them “Teacher,” and beam at them.

But you: do not let anyone call you “Rabbi,” that is, “Teacher.” For you are all brothers, and you have only one teacher, the Anointed One. Indeed, do not call anyone on earth “Father,” for you have only one father, and He is in heaven. 10 Neither let anyone call you “leader,” for you have one leader—the Anointed One. 11 If you are recognized at all, let it be for your service. Delight in the one who calls you servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Psalm 27:7-14

I cannot shout any louder. Eternal One—hear my cry
and respond with Your grace.
The prodding of my heart leads me to chase after You.
I am seeking You, Eternal One—don’t retreat from me.
You have always answered my call.
Don’t hide from me now.

Don’t give up on me in anger at Your servant.
You have always been there for me.
Don’t throw me to the side and forget me,
my God and only salvation.
10 My father and mother have deserted me,
yet the Eternal will take me in.

11 O Eternal, show me Your way,
shine Your light brightly on this path, and make it level for me,
for my enemies are lurking in the recesses and ravines along the way.
12 They are watching—hoping to seize me.
Do not release me to their desires or surrender me to their will!
Liars are standing against me,
breathing out cruel lies hoping that I will die.

13 I will move past my enemies with this one, sure hope:
that with my own eyes, I will see the goodness of the Eternal
in the land of the living.

14 Please answer me: Don’t give up.
Wait for the Eternal in expectation, and be strong.
Again, wait for the Eternal.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Proverbs 6:27-35

27 Can you carry fire right next to your body
and keep your clothes from burning?
28 Can you walk over fiery coals
and keep your feet from blistering?
29 Take another man’s wife, and you will find out—
whoever touches her will be found guilty.
30 People don’t despise a thief
who only steals to fill his hunger;
31 Still if they catch him, he must repay seven times over—
he could end up losing everything he owns!
32 By contrast only a fool would commit adultery
since by his action he loses not only his possessions but also his own life.
33 He will suffer injury and be disgraced;
dishonor will leave a permanent mark on his life.
34 For jealousy sparks a husband’s rage—
when he gets his revenge, he’ll show no mercy.
35 He will not be paid off or appeased;
no bribe or gift will set things right.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

02/02/2023 DAB Transcript

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 am Brian and it is great to be here with you today as we get ourselves acclimated to our brand-new month and get ourselves moved in. And moving forward leads us right to where we left off. The children of Israel have walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptian armies were not so fortunate. And the children of Israel now on the other side of the Red Sea have been singing songs of worship. That’s where we pick up the story with the end of what they are singing. Exodus chapter 15 verse 19 through 17 verse 17 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in the book of Exodus now the children of Israel have crossed the Red Sea and the Egyptians are dealt with and so now they have to deal with the wilderness. And they are not being led the short way toward the promised land. They are being led into the open wilderness. Let’s just let that sink in. They are not being led the short route. It’s not a route that will be good for them. They are not prepared for it. They are being led into the wilderness. As we watch this story begin to unfold before us, we will notice that the wilderness is the backdrop for the story. This is where they are. And we need to understand that it’s not only this historical retelling of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness, but it’s also the backdrop to investigate our own wilderness seasons of life. And we do everything that we can to avoid the wilderness, except embrace it usually, like go through it. But what we’re going to find in the story of the children of Israel is that the wilderness completely transforms their identity. It’s not they don’t have all kinds of struggles and that they didn’t always have all kinds of struggles, but a very important thing has to happen and the wilderness is the place that it happens. And that is that this people who had a promise over them who have flourished have gone centuries in slavery, 430 years. So, they were in slavery for centuries. And, so, no one alive knew anything else but slavery. This was their lot in life. This was their identity. God coming and rescuing them and bringing them into the wilderness is to transform, in part, that identity of slavery and replace it with that of chosen, selected by God for a purpose and a mission, which is to reveal Him to all nations. And, so, there are some practical things that have to be learned in that transformation. While they were in slavery, they were working all the time, certainly, but provisions were being provided. And, so, we see that one of the first lessons that they learn in the wilderness is that there’s no water, there is no food, what do we do? And they begin to grumble. And we even hear them kind of murmuring, wow, you guys, you remember when we could sit around the pots of food when we were slaves in Egypt. It was so awesome to be a slave back then. And, so, they’re…they’re looking back at who they were and longing for the ease of being a slave because it’s hard to be on your own in the wilderness when you don’t know where the provision is going to be coming from. And we watch God teach them these first wilderness lessons. I will supply your needs. I will take care of you, but you are in a place where only I can provide so You will know it is Me that is sustaining you. If we’re going to do this covenant people thing, then your job is to reveal Me, and you will have to do that by actively and openly and utterly trusting in Me and where I lead and direct you. And, so, this is like one of the first things that they learn as they go into the open wilderness, is that they are utterly dependent upon God, and we watch them bucking against that. And we realize, O my goodness, this is my story too. I do the same things. I need to learn the same lessons. And, so, may we embrace all of the wilderness journey that we are going into with Moses and the children of Israel but may we begin to open our hearts to the fact that this story is reading back to us our own story in so many ways and there’s so much for us. And, so, let’s learn these lessons of the wilderness. Nobody likes to be in the wilderness but everybody faces it. And, so, what we do with it? Do we do everything we can to get out of it or do we embrace the fact that it is shaping us and is necessary because some of the things that we have put our trust in need to be shaken loose and in the wilderness, there is no way to survive. I’ve been in that wilderness. We will be in that wilderness in mere days, and you cannot survive out there, not with that many people. And, so, may we learn what’s going on here, that our first wilderness lesson is to understand that our source is God, and we are utterly dependent upon Him, whether we realize it or not. But realizing it sets us free. It frees us up to know like I don’t have to take care…I am on a mission and God is my source.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. We…we all can relate to this. We have all faced challenging hardship and suffering in some way or another. We’ve all gone through what we would call the wilderness and some of us are in the middle of it right now and some of us are heading into it and some of us are heading out of it but it’s all part of our story and there are profound lessons that we discover when we’re walking through the seasons. So, help us as we walk through our own seasons to walk through this with the children of Israel and see what You are doing and how they are responding and how so much, we find ourselves kind of in the same place. Wasn’t it awesome when we were in slavery? We could have all these things. When You are leading us forward and inviting us to grow up and move into something new, something more expansive, something deeper that draws us deeper into relationship with You and into the story that You are telling through us. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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And if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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 fam this is Beloved in Texas and I just want to pray for the mom…I cannot remember what you called yourself…but the mom who called in about anger and yelling at her kids. Girl if there’s a mom out there who hasn’t been there, I’d like to meet her. I understand completely and it is extremely frustrating when you’re trying to…I kind of equate it to like having a handful of helium balloons and each one is a responsibility, and it feels like you are just constantly losing one and running after it and grabbing it and once you’ve got that one another ones floated off out of reach. And I understand. All that to say, I understand. So, Father we just lift up this woman and we also lift up all the other moms who are dealing with this Lord and we just ask that you just bring supernatural peace to our hearts. Help us to have patience with our kids, Father. Give us…allow us to discipline and wisdom and love and not out of anger and frustration. Father, I thank you that you…that Your Holy Spirit can whisper in our ear the steps that we need to take when we feel like we are just overwhelmed, or we’re frustrated by all of the things that have happened in the day. Thank you, Jesus for your Holy Spirit, to lead us and comfort us and guide us in Jesus’ name.

This is Living by Grace, and I just heard some prayer request on January 24th’s podcast. And just two women who…O…the brokenness that they’ve had in their life and what they are experiencing just broke my heart. And I’m praying with both of you. One was a lady who had an eye injury and found the DAB because she wanted to read her Bible but can’t right now and lost her son to an overdose and she’s now lost all of her children and I can’t even imagine the pain that comes with that. And, so, God I just pray You lift her up Lord that You’d bring healing to her body as she has heart issues and this eye issue Lord and that through these struggles and this deep pain that she has Lord that You would hold her up and draw her near to You. And I pray for her as she has had a burden on her heart to minister to others who are grieving Lord and that You would bind up her broken heart and that she can offer comfort to others. And then there was another lady who called in and I don’t remember her name, but she is just broken and bitter and compared to herself to Naomi who came back and said call me Mara because I’m no longer happy and blessed I’m bitter. And I just pray Lord the enemy is fighting against her and her soul and I pray in the name of Jesus Lord that You would break through that bitterness that hardness that hatred in her heart and that You would make her new Lord that You restore joy to her soul and her heart. God You could do that. Only You could do that, and I pray that that would be so. I thank You that she’s found the DAB Lord. I thank You that she called in and that she asked for prayer Lord. That shows that her heart is still for You. She wants to grow in You, she wants to have this bitterness taken away. And God I pray You’d do that. I pray in the name of Jesus. I plead Your blood over both of these women.

Good morning, DABbers it is Monday January 30th I am in Southwest Florida so the weather’s gorgeous right now. It’s perfect this time of year. I hope this day finds you all well. I am calling in to ask for prayer for my daughter Sarah. Sarah is someone who does believe that God exists, but she doesn’t really have a relationship with Him. She doesn’t really know Jesus and really doesn’t like the fact that I’m a born again Christian, so we’ve been sort of estranged from one another for lack of a better word since 2009 when I embraced Jesus. I just need some prayer for her. My daughter is 34, lives alone, works from home, has become quite isolated and depressed and anxious and suffering panic attacks. And all of a sudden realizing how lonely she is and just a whole laundry list of things that every mother dreads to hear. I kind of knew this would happen eventually. I just wasn’t expecting it. I guess we never really are, but I went and spent five days with her while she had her nervous breakdown I guess for lack of a better explanation. I don’t know what else to call it. Not sleeping, not eating, racing thoughts, nausea, gagging, puking dry heaving, you name it. All of those things associated with high anxiety. So, please just pray for Sarah. Please pray that she can begin to heal now that we spent five days together purging and crying and talking and laughing and joking and cleaning and organizing. Please just pray for Sarah. Thank you all so much. I love this community. Blessings on this Monday.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible DABbers my name is Comfort and I’m calling from the United Kingdom today is the 30th of January and I just so happened to __. I’m just calling to say a big thank you to…this podcast has really helped me over the years since I’ve been a listener and I’m just so grateful for all of the prayers that I hear. You know, I pray along as well and I’m just so thankful for the word itself and how Brian, how you really digest the word, and you break it down into a way that is easy to understand. I just want you guys to just continue to pray that God would excel and grow this ministry even further. And if you would like to pray for me as well, please do. Thank you so much. Take care everyone. Have a lovely, lovely day. Bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Olivia from Michigan. This is my 4th year listening and my first time ever calling in. I’m just calling today to ask for prayers for my dad. He’s been in horrible pain for so many years now and been to so many doctors and nobody can figure out what’s wrong with him and it’s just really hard to watch him in so much pain. I…I really believe that the only person that can heal him is God. So, I just wanted to call and ask for prayers. Please keep him in your thoughts and just hope he gets better. Thanks.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday February 2, 2023 (NIV)

Exodus 15:19-17:7

19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot-drivers drove into the sea, the Eternal caused the waters to collapse upon them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

20 The prophetess, Miriam (Aaron’s sister), picked up a tambourine, and all the rest of the women followed her with tambourines and joyful dancing.

21 Miriam: Sing to the Eternal One, for He has won a great victory;
He has thrown the horse and its chariot into the sea.

22 Then Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea, and they entered the desert of Shur. They traveled for three days in the desert before they found water.

23 When they came to the place where they did find water, they could not drink it because it was so bitter. So they called the place Marah, or bitter. 24 Because they were very thirsty, the people complained to Moses.

Israelites: What are we supposed to drink?

25 Moses then asked the Eternal for help, and the Eternal showed him a log. Moses threw the log into the bitter water, and the water became sweet. At Marah the Eternal established an important principle and set a standard for His people so that He could test them.

Eternal One: 26 If you will listen closely to My voice—the voice of your God—and do what is right in My eyes, pay attention to My instructions, and keep all of My laws; then I will not bring on you any of the plagues that I did on the Egyptians, for I am the Eternal, your Healer.

27 Then they traveled on to an oasis called Elim, where there were 12 freshwater springs and 70 palm trees with dates. They set up camp there next to the waters.

16 Then the entire community of Israel departed from Elim and entered the desert of Sin, which is located between Elim and Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from Egypt.

The covenant people leave the pleasant, coastal area around Elim to begin the long journey through the wilderness. It will take longer than anyone expects.

As soon as they got to the desert of Sin, the entire community of Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron.

Israelites: It would have been better if we had died by the hand of the Eternal in Egypt. At least we had plenty to eat and drink, for our pots were stuffed with meat and we had as much bread as we wanted. But now you have brought the entire community out to the desert to starve us to death.

Eternal One (to Moses): Look! I will cause bread to rain down from heaven for you,[a] and the people will go out and gather a helping of it each day. I will test them to see if they are willing to live by My instructions. On the sixth day, they will gather the usual amount; but when they go to prepare it, it will end up being twice what they usually gather.

Moses and Aaron (to the Israelites): When evening falls, you will know that the Eternal has led you out of the land of Egypt. In the morning your eyes will see His glory because He takes your complaints against us as complaints against Him. Who are we, that you direct your complaints to us?

Moses (continuing): This will take place when the Eternal One provides you with meat in the evening and plenty of bread in the morning because He hears all your grumbling and complaining against Him. Why do you complain to us? Your complaints are not against us, but against Him.

(to Aaron) Tell the entire community of Israelites, “Draw near to the Eternal. He has heard your complaints.”

10 While Aaron was speaking to the entire community of the Israelites, they all looked out toward the desert, and the radiant glory of the Eternal could be seen in the cloud. 11 The Eternal spoke to Moses.

Eternal One (to Moses): 12 Rest assured, I have heard the constant complaining of the Israelites. Tell them, “In the evening, you will have meat to eat; and in the morning, you will have enough bread to satisfy your gnawing hunger. Then you will know that I am the Eternal your God.”

13 That evening, quail flew in and covered the camp; and when morning arrived, what seemed to be ordinary dew was all around the camp.

14 But when the dew evaporated, it left behind a thin, mysterious, flaky substance that looked like frost on top of the dry desert ground. 15 The people of Israel went out to examine it. They had never seen anything quite like it.

Israelites (to one another): What is it?

The people didn’t have a clue what this strange substance was.

Moses: It is the bread which the Eternal has given you to eat. 16 Here are His instructions: “Gather only as much of it as you should eat by yourself. Pick up two quarts[b] of bread for each person who lives in your tent.”

17 The Israelites did as they were told. Some people gathered a lot, others gathered less. 18 When they used a two-quart jar to measure it, the one who had gathered a lot didn’t have more than he needed; and the one who gathered less had just what he needed.[c] Miraculously, each person and each family—regardless of how much they gathered—had exactly what they needed.

Moses (continuing God’s instructions): 19 Don’t try to keep any of it until the morning. Either eat it all, or throw it away.

20 But some people ignored Moses and tried to keep some of it until the next morning. Overnight it became wormy and started to have a dreadful smell. Moses became furious with them because they had disobeyed God’s instructions.

21 Every morning the people went out and gathered it—each family took only what it needed. By the time the sun became hot, it had melted away. 22 On the sixth day the people went out and gathered, but they came back with twice as much as usual—four quarts per person. All the leaders of the community thought they needed to tell Moses what had happened.

Moses (to the leaders): 23 Listen to what the Eternal commanded: Tomorrow, the seventh day, is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath dedicated to Him. Bake or boil whatever you need for today’s meals. Whatever is left over, keep it to eat tomorrow. It won’t spoil.

God wants His people to keep the Sabbath as a special day and to depend on Him—not their own efforts—to supply all they need.

24 So the people stored some of it until the next morning, just as Moses had instructed. None of it spoiled, nor did it have any worms.

Moses: 25 Eat what is left over today, because today is a Sabbath to the Eternal, a day of rest. You will not find any of it in the field today. 26 You are to gather it for six days, but on the seventh day (the Sabbath), none of it will be on the ground.

27 When the seventh day arrived, some of the people ignored Moses and went out to gather it anyway; but there was none to gather.

Eternal One (to Moses): 28 How much longer are you going to disobey My commands and instructions? 29 Look! I have given you the Sabbath as a day of rest. That is why I give you an extra portion of food on the sixth day. Everyone should stay where they are and not go out to work on the seventh day.

30 So the people did as God directed and rested on the seventh day.

31 The community of Israel decided to name this mysterious substance “manna” (which means, “What is it?”). It was white like a coriander seed, and it tasted sweet like honey wafers.

Moses: 32 This is the instruction of the Eternal: “Preserve two quarts of the manna so that future generations can see the bread I provided for you in the desert when I led you out of the land of Egypt.”

33 (to Aaron) Go, find a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Put it in a special place before the Eternal to preserve it for future generations to see.

“The Eternal Provides.” That could well be the theme for the entire exodus adventure. When there is no water, He provides. When there is no bread, He provides. When there is no meat, He provides. These provisions are clearly God’s gift to His people. They do not depend upon the cleverness, skill, or hard work of the Israelites. It must be difficult for these former slaves—whose lives have been all about work—to stop, to rest, and to truly believe their lives and futures depend upon God and not upon themselves.

34 Aaron did as the Eternal commanded. He stored the jar before the covenant to keep it safe.

This is an interesting statement. Aaron is directed to place the jar with the special breadlike substance that God provides “before the covenant,” which is either a reference to the directives God will provide (chapter 20) or to the special container—the covenant chest—God directs Aaron to build (chapter 25) to preserve some of Israel’s most precious treasures from the exodus and their time in the wilderness. Neither of these items exists at this point in time.

35 For 40 years, the Israelites were sustained by the manna God supplied. They ate it until they arrived at the borderlands of Canaan, the edge of the land they would one day inhabit. (36 And their omer was a two-quart measurement and in turn was one-tenth of an ephah.)[d]

17 The entire community of Israel traveled in stages out of the desert of Sin, just as the Eternal instructed. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there to quench their thirst. Once again the people complained to Moses.

Israelites: Give us water to drink! We’re thirsty.

Moses: Why do you aim your complaints at me? Why are you testing the Eternal One?

But the people were so thirsty for water, they complained to Moses and leveled accusations against him.

Israelites: Why did you lead us out of Egypt? Was it to kill all of us—our children and livestock included—with this thirst?

Moses had had enough of their complaints, so he cried out to the Eternal One.

Moses: What am I supposed to do with these people and their relentless complaining? They are on the verge of stoning me.

Eternal One (to Moses): Here’s what I want you to do: go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Also, be sure to bring your shepherd’s staff—the one with which you struck the Nile. I will be there when you arrive standing at the rock of Horeb. I want you to strike the rock with your staff; and when you do, water will flow out of it so that everyone will have enough to drink.

The elders of Israel accompanied Moses and watched as he did what the Eternal directed.

Moses named the place Massah[e] and Meribah,[f] because the Israelites complained and tested the Eternal, saying, “Is He standing with us or not?”

Footnotes:

  1. 16:4 John 6:31
  2. 16:16 Hebrew measurement is omer.
  3. 16:18 2 Corinthians 8:15
  4. 16:36 An ephah was about 21 quarts or seven-tenths of a bushel.
  5. 17:7 Literally, “testing”
  6. 17:7 Literally, “complaining”
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Matthew 22:1-33

22 Jesus went on speaking in parables.

Jesus: The kingdom of heaven is like a king whose son was getting married. The king organized a great feast, a huge wedding banquet. He invited everyone he knew. The day of the wedding arrived, and the king sent his servants into town to track down his guests—but when the servants approached them with the king’s message, they refused to come. So the king sent out another batch of servants.

King: Tell those people I’ve invited to come to the wedding banquet! Tell them I have prepared a great feast! Everything is ready! The oxen and fattened cattle have all been butchered, the wine is decanted, and the table is laid out just so.

And off the servants went, and they carried the king’s message to the errant guests—who still paid not a whit of attention. One guest headed into his field to work; another sat at his desk to attend to his accounts. The rest of the guests actually turned on the servants, brutalizing them and killing them. When he learned of this, the king was furious. He sent his army to kill the murderers and burn their towns. But there was, of course, still a wedding to celebrate.

King (to his remaining servants): The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited didn’t rise to the occasion. So go into the streets and invite anyone you see; invite everyone you meet.

10 And the servants did just that—they went into the streets and invited everyone they met, rich and poor, good and bad, high and low, sick and well. Everyone who was invited came, and the wedding hall practically burst with guests.

11 The king looked around the wedding party with glee, but he spotted one man who was not dressed appropriately. In fact, he was dressed rather plainly, in clothes not at all fitting for a fine nuptial feast.

King: 12 Kind sir, how did you get in here without a proper suit of wedding clothes?

The man was speechless. He had been invited in off the street, after all! 13 Getting no response, the king told his servants,

King: Tie him up, and throw him out into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and grinding of teeth.

14 For many are invited, but few are chosen.

15 At that, the Pharisees left. They determined to trap this Jesus with His own words—hang Him by His own rope, you might say. 16 They sent a batch of students to Him, along with a group that was loyal to Herod.

Students: Teacher, we know You are a man of integrity and You tell the truth about the way of God. We know You don’t cotton to public opinion. 17 And that is why we trust You and want You to settle something for us: should we, God’s chosen people, pay taxes to Caesar or not?

18 Jesus knew these men were out to trap Him.

Jesus: You hypocrites! Why do you show up here with such a transparent trick? 19 Bring Me a coin you would use to pay tax.

Someone handed Him a denarius.[a] 20 Jesus fingered the coin.

Jesus: Of whom is this a portrait, and who owns this inscription?

Students: 21 Caesar.

Jesus: Well then, render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

22 And those who had come hoping to trick Jesus were confounded and amazed. And they left Him and went away.

23 That same day, a band of Sadducees—a sect of Jewish aristocrats who, among other things, did not expect a resurrection or anticipate any sort of future life at all—put their own question to Jesus.

Sadducees: 24 Teacher, the law of Moses teaches that if a married man dies with no children, then his brother must marry the widow and father children in his brother’s name. 25 Now we knew a family of seven brothers. The eldest brother married and died, and since he had no children, the next brother married his widow. 26 And shortly thereafter, that second brother died and the next until there were seven marriages with the same woman. 27 Eventually the wife died. 28 So now, Teacher, whose wife will she be at the resurrection? Will she have seven husbands, since they were each married to her?

According to Deuteronomy 25:5–6, a family member is supposed to marry a relative’s widow to carry on the deceased’s family name. Each man in this story dies, having fathered no children; that poor widow keeps marrying these brothers, and they keep dying. So in heaven, who is the husband?

Jesus: 29 You know neither God’s Scriptures nor God’s power—and so your assumptions are all wrong. 30 At the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. They will be like the messengers of heaven.

In heaven all will be devoting themselves to praise. It will not be a simple continuation of life on earth.

31 A key to this resurrected life can be found in the words of Moses, which you do claim to read: 32 “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”[b] Our God is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living.

33 And again the crowd was amazed. They were astonished at His teaching.

Footnotes:

  1. 22:19 A Roman coin, equivalent to a day’s wage
  2. 22:32 Exodus 3:6
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Psalm 27:1-6

Psalm 27

A song of David.

The Eternal is my light amidst my darkness
and my rescue in times of trouble.
So whom shall I fear?
He surrounds me with a fortress of protection.
So nothing should cause me alarm.

The psalms provide us with a way to think about and pray through the various threats we face. Our enemies today may not be the same as in biblical times, but they are no less real. Consider the threats on the horizon. Some may be national. Others may be more personal. Still they come to surround us and destroy us if they could only get the chance. The reality is there are times when our enemies appear to have the upper hand and our cause is lost. But wait and listen to the psalm! All is not lost because, ultimately, God is our light and salvation. The darkness will lift, and our Savior will come. He will settle all scores, and we will live in the beauty of His presence.

When my enemies advanced
to devour me alive,
They tripped and fell flat on their faces into the soil.

When the armies of the enemy surround me,
I will not be afraid.
When death calls for me in the midst of war,
my soul is confident and unmoved.

I am pleading with the Eternal for this one thing,
my soul’s desire:
To live with Him all of my days—
in the shadow of His temple,
To behold His beauty and ponder His ways
in the company of His people.

His house is my shelter and secret retreat.
It is there I find peace in the midst of storm and turmoil.
Safety sits with me in the hiding place of God.
He will set me on a rock, high above the fray.

God lifts me high above those with thoughts
of death and deceit that call for my life.
I will enter His presence, offering sacrifices and praise.
In His house, I am overcome with joy
As I sing, yes, and play music for the Eternal alone.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Proverbs 6:20-26

20 So, my son, follow your father’s direction,
and don’t forget what your mother taught you—
21 Keep their teachings close to your heart;
engrave them on a pendant, and hang it around your neck.
22 Their instruction will guide you along your journey,
guard you when you sleep,
and address you when you wake in the morning.
23 For their direction is a lamp; their instruction will light your path,
and their discipline will correct your missteps,
sending you down the right path of life.
24 They will keep you far from the corrupted woman,
away from the smooth talk of a seductive woman.
25 Do not lose yourself in desire for her beauty
or let her win you over with her painted eyes,
26 For you can buy a harlot with a loaf of bread,
but sex with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

2/1/2023 DAB Transcript

Exodus 13:17-15:18, Matthew 21:23-46, Psalm 26:1-12, Proverbs 6:16-19

Today is the first day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is awesome to be here with you today, as we greet this new month on day 32 of our brand-new sparkly, shiny year. We have made it. We have navigated through a month together, well done. We can do this, like that’s the thing, we’ve made it through a month and look at all that has happened in the Scriptures in a month. Look at all the different things we’ve been able to talk about, all of the different things we’ve been able to consider in our own lives through the Scriptures in a month. And we’re just gonna keep going, we get 11 more of these in front of us and that’s exciting. We can gather together each and every day around the Global Campfire and take another step forward. So, here we are, brand-new month. Hang out until the end if you can, I have this brand-new resource that I want to announce at the end today, in commemoration of this brand-new month. But for now, let’s dive in, take the next step forward and step into this month together by picking up where we left off, which leads us back into the book of Exodus. The children of Israel have just been delivered from Egypt and they have navigated their way out of Egypt, moved into and toward the wilderness. And as the Bible told us 600,000 men so, and their dependents, their households. So, a moving city, a huge amount of people, moving out into the wilderness, and this is where we pick up the story. Exodus chapter 13 verse 17 through 15 verse 18.

Commentary:

Okay so, as we begin this brand-new month, we have some pretty monumental things taking place in both Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, the children of Israel have made their way to the Red Sea, and they’ve camped along the banks. And so, there are mountains before them and the sea behind them, or vice versa, depending on which way they’re standing. They’re kind of hemmed in by mountains and…and sea. And I was thinking about this because man, we will be leaving for the land of the Bible in just a few days, on Sunday, and making our way over and since, like next we’ll actually be standing by the Red Sea and seeing the mountains and things in, and the banks of the shore, kind of seeing this visually and being able to kind of visit this visually. The children of Israel are camped by the sea and the mountains are hemming them in and then all of a sudden, they hear the rumblings of something coming and, in the distance, they can see the dust flying and then they can realize what is coming and it’s the Egyptian army coming against them. They are hemmed in by the ocean and by the mountains, kind of sitting ducks. And here comes the enemy down upon them and they’re terrified. And if we look into our lives, we can find times that we’ve had that sensation, maybe not literally standing by an ocean, hemmed in by a mountain and some marauding warriors are coming down against us. But in our lives where it feels like we’re hemmed in, there’s nowhere to go and an enemy is descending upon us and there’s no way out and we do not have the resources we need to defend ourselves, and it looks pretty clearly like we’re going to get destroyed. That’s the position that the children of Israel are in, as they enter the wilderness. And Moses says to the people, and we should all hear this, we should all hear this and take this to heart and apply this and look back at the times that we’ve been hemmed in, or that we feel that way, and remember Moses’s words. Do not fear, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord that He will provide for you today. For the Egyptians that you see today you will never ever see again, the Lord will fight for you, you can be still.

Then we turn over into the book of Matthew, Jesus is in Jerusalem. So, as we’re in the Old Testament in the book of Exodus, like there’s no Jerusalem, yet there is no nation of Israel. There is no king, there is no kingdom. There’s just people moving through the Red Sea and being delivered by God, as God destroys their enemies, but when we go into Matthew we’re moving well forward in the story. And so, Jerusalem is the established Holy City, the city of God, the place where God dwells and meets and speaks with man. And so, there is a whole order of clergy, there is a whole order of ministry, the Levitical ministry. There’s a whole group of priests and scholars and rabbis and people who wrestle and debate about what God wants, and they lead the people spiritually. Jesus is in Jerusalem. He won’t get out alive. And we see some of his provocation today. Some of the things that had them plotting to get Him killed. But when we look deeper, we realize some of the same things are still going on. So, Jesus is in the temple courts, a very commonplace for Rabbi to be teaching while in Jerusalem. The chief priests and the elders of the people came to Jesus as He’s teaching and interrupted and said, who told you, You could do this stuff? Right, by what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority? So, there’s the shot across the bow. There is the challenge. Who do You think You are? Did You get a permit from us to go around healing people? Like, who told You, You could do this stuff? And Jesus knows exactly what’s going on here. And as Jesus is prone to do, He asks a question, and the question reveals the motive behind what’s really going on. And so, He says, I’ll ask you. And He asks them about John the Baptist, who, who gave him his authority? Did his baptism come from heaven or was it invented by mankind, because their answer to that question is the same answer by which Jesus got His authority. So, if they say John was clearly from God and that is where he got his authority, then Jesus can say I’m working in the same direction. My authority comes from God. But Jesus then asks them the question that reveals what’s really going on and they can’t answer that. If they say John was sent from heaven, then Jesus will say, then why were you not on board? Why were you fighting against God? And why are you asking me was authority I’m doing what I’m doing under? But if they say he was from man, then people believe that John was a prophet and their hearts of turn toward God. And so, so they’re gonna be in trouble with the people. And so, they can only say that they don’t know. And so, Jesus is like fine, I’m not playing this game with you. And He goes on to tell two parables. A man had two sons and if we remember as we’ve gone through these parables, so often they start with a man did this or a man went out to do this, and this so often represents God and that’s the case here. Man had two sons. He went to the first son, go work in the vineyard the boy answered, I’m not gonna, I won’t, I will not. But then later he changes his mind. He has a change of heart, that is repentance. Later, he repented. So, the father goes to the first son and says come work in the vineyard, come work toward the harvest, come, the vineyard being the kingdom here, come, work doing the work that we do together. And the boy answered, I will not but then later repented and obeyed. The father went to the other son and said the same thing and the boy said sure, I’ll obey you. And then didn’t. Which of the two did his father’s will is the question Jesus asked. And they said the first, the one who said no but then repented and obeyed. So, they could answer correctly but they couldn’t be self-reflective enough to know that they were doing the latter, they were saying we will obey the Lord, but they don’t. And so, then Jesus says, I’m telling you the truth, tax collectors and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God. That’s provocative. Like, that was the scum, right. Like, that was the marginalized, that was the people that jokes were made up about and slanderous things were said, and these are the people pushed to the margins and dehumanized so that they’re a group of people that can be hated, as opposed to actual human beings, with beating hearts and feelings. Tax collectors and prostitutes, we could expand that any marginalized, persecuted people. They believed and according to Jesus would enter the kingdom before the pious, religious, educated leaders because those people were saying the right things but not obeying at all. Then He tells another parable. A landowner planted a vineyard again, landowner, God, vineyard, kingdom. He put a fence around it, dug it, like made it nice. Built a watchtower, leased it to tenant farmers. These tenant farmers then in this, in this story are the religious leaders. So, he put it in their care and went on a journey and was expecting to reap a harvest. And when harvest time came, he sent servants to collect his portion of the crop and the tenants beat the ones that were sent. Beat one, killed another, stoned another. These are the prophetic voices that God had sent to speak on His behalf, and they were beaten and killed and thrown out. And then He sent other servants, more prophetic voices, more than the first and they treated in the same way. Finally, He sent His son, right, the Son of Man, Jesus here. Finally, He sent His son, saying they’ll respect my son. I’m gonna send my son down to my people, the people of covenant, to the religious leaders to turn their hearts so that they can turn the people’s hearts toward God. I’m gonna go. They have not respected generationally, the prophetic voices that I have sent, I will send my own Son, He will go. Surely, they will respect Him. But when the tenants saw the Son, they said to themselves, this is the heir, let’s kill him and get his inheritance. In other words, let’s take what does not belong to us and let’s take it over. And what Jesus is talking about, is God’s kingdom. And so, it’s a very provocative that what he is saying to them is, God has come to you so many times, in so many ways and He is here before you write now and your giving lip service, you’re saying the right things but it’s not true and you are leading people into deception. You are the blind leading the blind. And Jesus is revealing just how blind they were. Because this is not getting through to them. Their response to this is to make plans to kill Jesus. And so, Jesus says, as we closed our reading today, for this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. And I’m quoting from the gospel of Matthew. “When the chief priests,” right, “the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they realized that He was speaking about them.” They did not, they did not repent. Like, they did not open their eyes to see, instead and I quote from the gospel of Matthew, “they wanted to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowds because the crowds regarded Him as a prophet.” And so, we see that Jesus is in a pretty sticky, prickly situation. We probably all know how this story goes, so we know that Jesus ends up on a cross, from this point. So, the people that He is calling out and calling up aren’t listening, and they’re going to do away with Him exactly as His parables are describing. It’s kind of prickly because anyone who has any sort of spiritual authority needs to be paying really close attention to what’s going on here. Because what’s going on here is that people who are devoted to God and the ways of God and are teaching and leading people in the ways of God, have gotten things so twisted and upside down over time and through tradition and because of the situation that they find themselves in trying to protect themselves as a people under Roman authority, that they are completely blinded to what God is actually doing. I mean, we’re going to be witnessing a story here that is so twisted that the people of God kill God who has come to rescue them, because they believe it has to happen a certain way, because they’re expecting a certain thing, because they’re expecting a Messiah, a military figure, somebody who can lead them into war against their enemies. They missed the fact that their rescuer came for them, and they did away with Him. We have to be sensitive about our labeling system, the way that we label people groups, marginalized people and dehumanize them into ways that…that make them easy to be against. When Jesus came to rescue them and anyone who believes. Like, man, it’s so provocative. Jesus is telling these people that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom before you and the kingdom will be taken away from you. That’s provocative stuff, that still has application. And so, may we examine ourselves, especially those of us who are leaders, may we examine ourselves and be convicted as these parables are supposed to do. Like, this is what’s supposed to happen, is that we are shaken, and we consider and we wrestle, so that we can expose what’s really going on in our motives, so that what is broken can be put back together, so that what is within us is the same as what we are presenting, so that we are true.

Prayer:

And so, Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. Some days You come to us with such comfort and just such words that we need to lift us up and then some days You come to us with things that we really need to consider, because You are calling us up and forward and we need to mature, we need to grow up, we need to be capable sons and daughters of Your kingdom, fully loyal, fully committed, fully surrendered. Come, Jesus, we pray, in your mighty name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

Okay, so I mentioned at the beginning we had a new resource to announce today, on this first day of the second month of the year. And we do. We’ve been shopping around for a while looking for much, much better hats than we’ve had in the past, for Daily Audio Bible. And we’ve had them over the years, but we’ve been just searching for quality things that will last, things that will look good and can continue to be used, five, ten years from now. So, Christian went on a search and found us what we were looking for. So, in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, we now have brand-new snapback hats, like the ballcap style of hats, as well as Daily Audio Bible beanies, as we’re moving through the wintertime and like to put those on our heads and keep our ears warm in the winter. So, what he found was a leatherworking company, that works with Horween leather that gets sourced in from Illinois and then it’s fashioned in Wyoming and everything is made in the United States. And so, these leather discs are then hand stamped with our logo and affixed, the leather is affixed to the cap, and it looks great. It looks super classy. So, the ballcap, there’s the round logo on the front, with the beanie it’s a little patch right on the very, very edge, with the Daily Audio Bible logo stamped into the leather and then applied to the garment and then sent to us from our friends at Range Leather in Wyoming, to you, all over the world. So, we have selected to ballcaps and two beanies, all-black and gray and white. And you can see them in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. Just go into the lifestyle section and you’ll find them, they’re brand-new. By far the best hat that we’ve had, we have them in limited quantities right now, just to kind of try them. Although, I’m pretty excited about them, they look great. They are now available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, while the supplies last. And so, jump over to the shop, jump over in the Lifestyle Section and get yourself a little, little, tiny piece of, of the story, the ongoing story of the Daily Audio Bible, step-by-step, day-by-day. But our brand-new snapback hats and beanies are available right now. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, humbly, thank you, we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t a community, if we didn’t show up around the Global Campfire every day, if we weren’t in this together, we wouldn’t be here at all. And so, thank you, humbly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that’s little red button up at the top, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Good morning DABers, this is Jerry from Wyoming. It’s 5 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday morning. It’s the 27th or the 28th, I’m not sure. But I just wake up and wanna run to listen to my DABers and listen to what the Bible has to say for today. Just praise God for that. I’m in the midst of major snowstorm and I’ve got these two cats and a dog who just cuddle up next to me when I’m ready to listen to Daily Audio Bible. And I just wanted to praise God for all of you out there and pray for all of you out there, all your needs and wants and desires. And I ask blessings and healing and comfort to all of you out there. I ask that the Lord just shines upon us all. And my heart is so warm to be able to, even though I’m here by myself with my two dogs, or, with my two cats and one dog. And sitting here with my cup of coffee and kind of my loneliness but it’s okay. I’ve got you all out there and it makes me happy. And I thank God for ya’ll. And I pray for you all and I’m thankful for you all. And that I have this place to go and sit here in my comfort. Though it’s crazy snowy. I love it, I love it, the comfort of it all. Love you guys.

Hello, my wonderful DAB family. This is Rosie, aka Great to be Free in Jesus. I’m calling in with a prayer request for my granddaughter Anisa. I’ve told you about her before. She was married and as soon as she had their first child her husband decided that he didn’t no longer wanted to be in the relationship with her. So, he left and then he came back and they reconciled and now she’s got a daughter. Damari is 2 and a half and he’s been diagnosed with Autism. And Malani is a year and a half and she’s doing well. My granddaughter is doing all this by herself and she’s really exhausted and I want to help her but I’m not physically able to and it just breaks my heart that I can’t help her. Please pray for her that God will send her the help that she needs and that God would heal Damari of this Autism. And I love you my wonderful DAB family. God Bless you.

Lonely DABers, this is God’s Chosen from Georgia. And I just want to say a short prayer over all of us. Dear Jesus, we come before You this morning to thank You for the work You are doing in each of our lives. We’re grateful for every new opportunity that this day bring our way. We thank You for Your grace that is so amazing. As we grow stronger, may our faith in You continue to grow deeper, so that we will continue to remain thankful. We know that the plans You have for our lives will slowly unfold with each new day. We’ll be patient as change comes because we know that You are in absolute control. Help us Lord, to help others today. We pray for all those who are hurt in our community. We pray, Lord Jesus, that as You continue to lead in their mystery You will continue to help and strengthen them. We pray for those who’s lives have been impacted by the disastrous addiction. We pray, Lord Jesus, for all the families that are torn apart, especially for the children left behind to wonder and grieve. God, we pray that You will give them peace and You will guide them gently through the next hour. We pray, Lord Jesus, and thank You for giving us roof over our head and giving us a bed that we can sleep in. For putting shoes on our feet. Forgive us when we ever start to complain and forget about all the great blessings that You have given to us. We pray for all those that are sick in our community, all with diagnoses, different situations, life changing situations. We pray for your peace and invite You, Jesus, to come and be our comforter. Thank You for all You do, we love You and we appreciate You. We pray this prayer in Jesus name. Amen.

This is Laquita from Vinita. I just wanted to say thank you Brian for what you were talking about on January the 27th about how Moses didn’t want to go to Egypt because he knew it was gonna be a hard task. And my mom died of COVID last year and I’m having to take care of my dad which is 89-years-old. And he has a lot of problems and I don’t complain but everyday I think, uhhggg, I’ve gotta go over there and take care of him and it’s gonna take all my day. I could be doing all these wonderful, great things for the world. And whine, whine, whine and why me. And I realized today that when we look at ministry, sometimes we look at ministry in the church, helping the people on the street, ministering to the hungry and doing all those things. And in taking care of my dad, that’s what I’m doing. I’m ministering to someone who is alone, who needs meals, taking care of him, who needs companionship. And I just want to repent of my hardness that I have. And thank the Lord that I have a dad that I can touch and minister to. Thank you Brian, I needed so badly to hear that.

This is Stephanie from North Carolina. I was originally from Maryland and I went on the pilgrimage with Brian some years ago. And I’d like to pray for each of you on the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. May He cover you and your household under the shadow of His wings. May your flights to Israel and back home, will be smooth and safe, including all your luggage will arrive. May your bodies adjust well to the time zone difference. As you walk where Jesus brought the Gospel, I pray you will have a deep revelation and understanding of the love of the most High God. May the Lord, Most High, be with you at every stop. I pray for strength and wisdom for Brian and his team. Empower them with discernment. In Jesus name. Have a marvelous pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday February 1, 2023 (NIV)

Exodus 13:17-15:18

17 After Pharaoh sent the people out, God did not take them by the coastal road that runs through the land of the Philistines, even though that was the nearest and easiest route. Instead, God said, “For if they see battle with those contentious Philistines, they might regret their decision and then return to Egypt.” 18 So God chose a different, longer path that led the community of His people through the desert toward the Red Sea. The Israelites marched out of the land of Egypt like an army ready for battle.

19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath, “God will certainly come and rescue you. Carry my bones with you when you leave this place.”[a]

20 The people of Israel departed from Succoth and set up camp in Etham at the edge of the desert. 21 The Eternal went on ahead to guide them during the day in a cloud shaped like a pillar; at night He appeared to them in a fire shaped like a pillar to light their way. So they were able to travel by day and by night. 22 The Eternal did not remove the cloud pillar or the fire pillar; by day and by night it continued to go ahead of the people.

Often clouds and fire signify the presence of God in Scripture; that is especially true here in the Book of Exodus.

14 Eternal One (to Moses): 1-2 Speak to the Israelites and tell them to go back and set up camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon. Camp there next to the sea. Pharaoh will talk about the Israelites, saying, “They are wandering around in circles. The desert has closed them in on all sides.” Then I will harden Pharaoh’s stubborn heart even more, and he will pursue the Israelites. Honor will come to Me through the actions of Pharaoh and his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Eternal One.

And so they did exactly as the Eternal instructed.

When Egypt’s king received the news that the Israelites had run away, the attitude of Pharaoh and his servants changed. They began talking among themselves.

Pharaoh’s Servants: What have we done? We have released the Israelites from serving us and lost our labor force!

Pharaoh prepared his chariot and called out his army. He took a select group of the 600 best chariots in the land plus all the other chariots in Egypt with drivers commanding all of them.

The Eternal hardened the stubborn heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he chased after the Israelites just as they were marching out of the land with victorious hands held high.

The Egyptians pursued the Israelites. All of Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot-drivers and army caught up with the Israelites as they were camping by the sea not far from Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.

10 Pharaoh approached the Israelites’ camp, and the Israelites saw the Egyptian army closing in on them. The Israelites were trapped and feared for their lives, so they cried out to the Eternal.

Israelites (to Moses): 11 Were there not enough graves in Egypt? Is that why you brought us out here to die in the desert? Why have you done this to us? Why have you made us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you in Egypt, “Stop pestering us so that we can get on with our lives and serve the Egyptians”? It would have been better for us to live as slaves to the Egyptians than to die out here in the desert.

Moses (to the people): 13 Don’t be afraid! Stand your ground and witness how the Eternal will rescue you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians, for after today you will never see them again. 14 The Eternal will fight on your behalf while you watch in silence.

Eternal One (to Moses): 15 Why do you call for Me? Instruct the Israelites to break camp and keep moving. 16 Raise your staff and reach out over the sea to divide it. The Israelites will be able to walk straight through the sea on dry ground. 17-18 I am going to harden the stubborn hearts of the Egyptians, and in their arrogance they will continue to chase the Israelites. My honor will be on display when I defeat Pharaoh, his army, his chariots, and his chariot-drivers. The Egyptians will know that I am the Eternal when I display my glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot-drivers.

19 God’s messenger, who had been out front leading the people of Israel, moved to protect the rear of the company; the cloud pillar moved with him from the front to the back of them. 20 The cloud pillar took its position between Egypt’s and Israel’s camps. The cloud cast darkness by day yet it lit up the sky by night. As a result, the Egyptians never got close to the Israelites the entire night. 21 Moses then took his staff and reached out over the sea. The Eternal parted the sea with a strong east wind, which blew all night and turned the floor of the sea into dry ground between the divided waters. 22 The Israelites broke camp and traveled on dry ground through the parted waters, and the sea stood like a solid wall on their right and on their left.

23 The Egyptians were undaunted. They continued their pursuit; all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot-drivers followed the Israelites into the middle of the sea.

24 Before daybreak the Eternal peered down upon the Egyptian army through the fire pillar and the cloud pillar and threw them all into confusion. 25 He caused the wheels of their chariots to break down so that it was nearly impossible for the drivers to control them. The Egyptians knew something was wrong.

Egyptians: Let’s go and get away from these Israelites. Their God, the Eternal One, is fighting for them against us.

26 After all the Israelites had reached the other side of the sea, the Eternal spoke to Moses.

Eternal One (to Moses): Now take your staff and reach out over the sea. The waters which I parted will crash upon the Egyptians and cover their chariots and chariot-drivers.

27 So Moses raised his hand and reached out over the sea, and the walls of water collapsed. As dawn gave way to morning, the sea returned to normal and the Eternal swept the retreating Egyptian army into the sea. 28 The waters rushed and covered all the chariots and their drivers, swallowing up all of Pharaoh’s army that had pursued Israel into the sea. Not one Egyptian survived.

29 But the Israelites had walked safely through the parted waters on dry ground, and the sea stood like a solid wall on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Eternal rescued Israel from the powerful grip of the Egyptians, and Israel watched the corpses of the Egyptians wash up on the shore. 31 When Israel witnessed the incredible power that the Eternal used to defeat the Egyptians, the people were struck with fear of Him, and they trusted in Him and also in Moses, His servant.

Throughout this redemption story, it is clear that the Lord has protected Israel while He has judged and frustrated Egypt. After the many wonders before the Passover and the miraculous guidance by the cloud and the pillar of fire, God destroyed the Egyptian army in the midst of the sea. For centuries people have sought to explain this great miracle and make sense of it. Was it a volcanic eruption and a tsunami that parted the waters? Was it a shallow lake that drowned Pharaoh’s army? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Only God knows. But reason cannot grasp all that took place that day. When God’s covenant people were on the verge of extinction, God stepped in to fight for them. No one survived that day except by the miraculous grace of God.

15 Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Eternal One.

Moses and the Israelites: I will sing to the Eternal, for He has won a great victory;
He has thrown the chariot into the sea: horse and rider.
The Eternal is my strength and my song,
and He has come to save me;
He is my God, and I will praise Him.
He is the God of my father, and I will exalt Him.
The Eternal is a warrior;
the Eternal is His name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has thrown into the sea.
And his high-ranking officers are drowned in the Red Sea.
The deep waters covered them;
they sank to the muddy depths like a stone.
Your right hand, Eternal One, is magnificent in power.
Your right hand, Eternal, vanquishes the enemy.
In Your majestic greatness You conquer those who rise against You;
You unleash Your burning anger, and it consumes them like straw.
With a blast of Your anger the waters piled high,
the waves stood up like a wall;
in the heart of the sea, deep waters turned solid.
The enemy said, “I will go after them, chase them down, and divide the spoils;
my desire will be spent on them.
I will draw my sword; my powerful hand will take possession of them once again.”
10 But You blew Your breath-wind, and the sea covered them;
they sank like lead down into the mighty waters.
11 Who compares to You among the gods, O Eternal?
Who compares to You—great in holiness,
awesome in praises, performing marvels and wonders?
12 You raised Your right hand,
and the earth swallowed Your enemies.
13 With Your loyal love, You have led the people You have redeemed;
with Your great strength, You have guided them to Your sacred dwelling.
14 Already people have heard and they tremble;
those who inhabit Philistia are gripped by fear.
15 Even now the chiefs of Edom are deeply disturbed;
Moab’s leaders cannot stop trembling;
all who live in Canaan are deeply distressed and wasting away.
16 Horror and fear overwhelm them.
Faced with the greatness of Your power,
people are afraid to move; they fall as silent as stone,
Until Your people pass by, Eternal One,
until the people whom You purchased pass by.
17 You will bring them and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—
the place, Eternal, that You have designated to be Your dwelling,
the sanctuary, Lord, that Your hands founded and made ready.
18 The Eternal will reign as King forever and always.

Footnotes:

  1. 13:19 Genesis 50:25
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Matthew 21:23-46

23 Jesus returned to the temple and began to teach. The chief priests and elders came to Him and wanted to know who had given Him permission to disturb the temple precincts and to teach His crazy notions in this most sacred of spots.

Chief Priests and Elders: Who gave You the authority to do these things?

Jesus: 24 I will answer your question if first you answer one of Mine: 25 You saw John ritually cleansing people through baptism[a] for the redemption of their sins. Did John’s cleansing come from heaven, or was he simply washing people of his own whim?

The elders knew that this question was tricky; there was no simple answer. If they acknowledged that John’s ritual cleansing was from heaven, Jesus would ask why they had not accepted John’s authority. 26 But if they said he had dipped people simply by his own accord, they would outrage the people who believed John was a prophet.

Chief Priests and Elders: 27 We don’t know.

Jesus: Then neither will I tell you about the authority under which I am working. 28 But I will tell you a story, and you can tell Me what you make of it: There was a man who had two sons. He said to his first son,

Father: Go and work in the vineyard today.

First Son: 29 No, I will not.

But later the first son changed his mind and went. 30 Then the father went to his second son.

Father: Go and work in the vineyard today.

Second Son: Of course, Father.

But then he did not go. 31 So which of the sons did what the father wanted?

Chief Priests and Elders (answering at once): The first.

Jesus: I tell you this: the tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 John came to show you the straight path, the path to righteousness. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. Even as you saw the prostitutes and the tax collectors forgiven and washed clean, finding their footing on the straight path to righteousness, still you did not change your ways and believe.

33 Here is another story: A landowner planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, fitted it with a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard and left town. 34 When harvesttime came, the landowner sent his servants to collect rent—in the form of grapes—from his tenants. 35 The tenants attacked these rent-collecting servants. They killed one, stoned another, and beat a third. 36 The dismayed landowner sent another band of servants to try to collect his due, a larger group of servants this time, but the tenants did the same thing—capturing, beating, killing. 37 Finally the landowner sent his son to the tenants, thinking, “They will at least respect my son.” 38 But the tenants knew the son was the best way to get to the landowner, so when they saw the son approaching they said,

Tenants: This is the landowner’s heir apparent! Let’s kill him and take his inheritance.

39 And so they did; they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 What do you think the landowner will do when he comes and sees those tenants?

Chief Priests and Elders: 41 He will eviscerate them, to be sure! Then he will rent the vineyard to other tenants who will pay him at harvesttime.

Jesus: 42 I wonder if any of you has ever opened your own psalter:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very stone that holds together the entire foundation.
This is the work of the Eternal One,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.[b]

43 Therefore, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who will tend its sweet fruit and who will give the Creator His due. [44 He who falls on the stone will be broken to pieces, and he on whom the stone falls will be crushed.][c]

Jesus has just confronted the spiritual leaders of the land with hard reality. They have two choices: they can believe Him and repent, or they can disbelieve Him and call His stories rabble-rousing and craziness. In their minds, the cost of believing is just too high. Everything they have—their positions and standings in the community, their worldviews, their own images of themselves—is at stake. But they can’t openly condemn this popular teacher of the people.

45 And so the chief priests and the Pharisees, the teachers and the elders, knew that when Jesus told these stories He was speaking about them. 46 Not believing, they looked for a way to arrest Him—a stealthy way, though. They were afraid to make too bold a move against Him because all the people believed He was a prophet.

Footnotes:

  1. 21:25 Literally, immersing, an act of repentance
  2. 21:42 Psalm 118:22–23
  3. 21:44 Some manuscripts omit verse 44.
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Psalm 26

Psalm 26

A song of David.

Declare my innocence, O Eternal One!
I have walked blamelessly down this path.
I placed my trust in the Eternal and have yet to stumble.
Put me on trial and examine me, O Eternal One!
Search me through and through—from my deepest longings to every thought that crosses my mind.
Your unfailing love is always before me;
I have journeyed down Your path of truth.

A great theme throughout the psalms is the experience of coming before God. This Davidic psalm affirms the integrity of the worshiper before the Lord even while pleading for God’s mercy.

My life is not wasted among liars;
my days are not spent among cheaters.
I despise every crowd intent on evil;
I do not commune with the wicked.

I wash my hands in the fountain of innocence
so that I might join the gathering that surrounds Your altar, O Eternal One.
From my soul, I will join the songs of thanksgiving;
I will sing and proclaim Your wonder and mystery.

Your house, home to Your glory, O Eternal One, radiates its light.
I am fixed on this place and long to be nowhere else.
When Your wrath pursues those who oppose You,
those swift to sin and thirsty for blood,
spare my soul and grant me life.
10 These men hold deceit in their left hands,
and in their right hands, bribery and lies.

11 But God, I have walked blamelessly down this path,
and this is my plea for redemption.
This is my cry for Your mercy.
12 Here I stand secure and confident
before all the people; I will praise the Eternal.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Proverbs 6:16-19

16 Take note, there are six things the Eternal hates;
no, make it seven He abhors:
17 Eyes that look down on others, a tongue that can’t be trusted,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that conceives evil plans,
feet that sprint toward evil,
19 A false witness who breathes out lies,
and anyone who stirs up trouble among the faithful.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.