Judges 4:1-5:31, Luke 22:35-53, Psalms 94:1-23, Proverbs 14:3-4
Today is the 25th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we gather again around the Global Campfire and move forward on our journey through the year and through the Bible together. We have just recently gotten ourselves moved into the book of Judges. We’ve talk about that plenty, that…that there are several centuries passing in the book of Judges and the judges, the story isn’t about judgment per se. It’s about the judges that led Israel between the time of Joshua and the time that they established their first king. So, they didn’t have kings. They had judges that would just rise up as the Lord answered the cries of the people and lead them out of trouble, which they would just walk right back into. Nevertheless, today we are going to learn something interesting. Israel had a female judge. Her name was Deborah, and we’ll learn about her today. So, we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Judges, chapters 4 and 5.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the book of Judges today we met the only female judge during the time of the judges. Her name was Deborah and we learned of her leadership. We even learned of her prophetic words to Barak about being set free from their oppressors. And Barak is like, yeah, I will go if you will go. If you don’t go I won’t go. And she’s like, okay. And then the battle is coming to a woman. And that is what happens. And we also met another woman named Jael who finished off Sisera the general of king Jabin of a…a Canaanite king, who reigned in Hazor. Hazor, the ruins of Hazor still exist today, at least in part, and the entire cities kind of been identified even though it’s below the ground. And it was a big dominant city. So anyway, Sisera’s army was defeated. Sisera goes on the run and he runs to Jael and to her tent and she covers them over like she’s going to give them shelter and then she drives a tent peg through his head. Wow! Let’s just say that. Wow! That and the battle. Israel was victorious and had peace for 40 years. That is quite a bold act for Jael. Had she been unsuccessful she would’ve been dead. She risked her life. We see valiant women in this story today.
Then we flip over into the gospel of Luke, and we have entered the time of Jesus passion. So, we saw Jesus arrested today. And as we embrace the story, a place for us to consider and meditate upon and allow the Scriptures to penetrate into our lives would be the scene when the mob came, right? So, Jesus is in anguish. And that’s what the Bible tells us. He’s in anguish and he’s crying out to the Father asking if the cup could pass but yet surrendering His will to the will of God regardless. And He’s sweating as…like big drops of sweat like drops of blood fall…like this is a person under a lot of stress. So, let's…let’s center ourselves there. Jesus is about to take a step that there is no stepping back away from. Once He’s captured then there’s no going back. And there’s a mob coming with His friend leading them. And he comes to Jesus to kiss Him. A kiss is an intimate thing. You don’t just kiss anybody. I mean if you try that you’re probably gonna get a slap in the face, maybe even arrested like Jesus. We give a kiss to somebody with whom we have an intimate relationship. And it doesn’t have to be like a passionate romantic kiss. We just…we kiss people that we love and that…that love us, like that we have an intimate relationship with. Not necessarily a sexual relationship, an intimate relationship with. We are known and known by that person and are close enough that we can give each other a kiss. Judas knows Jesus that well and he’s using that intimacy to betray Him. God was betrayed by humanity by a kiss, an intimate act. And it’s so easy to just look at this devil Judas, this awful person who would betray the Son of the living God, this awful person. And we know that he ends up in grief and…and…and hanging himself once the gravity and the weight of what had happened descends upon him. It’s easy to just…just make Judas the villain, but we have to think about our own lives and the ways that we betray the intimacy that God has bestowed upon us, that He has come to rescue us and make us whole and we take advantage and betray that, which is so much of the story that we are reading in the Bible. If we’re looking into the Old Testament we see that the children of Israel are continually betraying the intimacy that they have, the covenant, the covenantal intimacy that they have with God by giving themselves to other gods, to other things, letting their hearts leap in worship toward other things. For Judas there was an exchange of money, a blood price of 30 pieces of silver. That was the value of God. But we also can betray this covenantal intimacy offered to us by God, that we have accepted and entered into a covenantal relationship with God. We can betray that in the same ways that we see depicted in the Bible for a lot less than 30 pieces of silver. Something for us to think about today, meditate upon, invite the Holy Spirit into.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, come. We invite You into this. We realize that it can become cheap to us. So, we’re trying to pay close attention, immerse ourselves in the story of our salvation and this sacrifice of love on our behalf. May we not betray that for anything. And we invite Your Holy Spirit to lead us to the places where…where we do. Come. Guide us into repentance, we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hello DAB family. Good morning. Today’s April 18th. I am calling to pray for the couple who tried IVF and it did not take. I ask Yahweh, that You in Your infinite wisdom and power would wrap Your loving arms around them. I ask O dear Lord God almighty for comfort for them. I ask O dear Lord God that Your Holy Spirit will lead them in the path in which they ought to take, and I ask O dear Lord God that where Your spirit is there is freedom there is liberty. I ask O God almighty that Your spirit would abide with them, that they would not feel alone, they would not feel lost, that in this…in this loss they would cling to You, the author and finisher of their faith. Help them O dear Lord God. I also want to pray for the lady who called regarding a friend who committed suicide, the lady who helps take care of cats. Adonai, I ask O dear Lord God for comfort for every single person this individual left behind. I pray O dear Lord God almighty that You would surround them in Your embrace, You will breathe Your name over them, You will speak peace into them. And I pray that the void that she has left will be filled by Your Holy Spirit, that You will give them strength we are needed O God and You would reassure them in every way possible. Thank You, God. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Love you, DABbers.
Hello Chichi from Colorado this is God’s Smile here and I just listened to your call in for your young John who’s 14 years old an orphan in Haiti where you’re working with these orphans, and he’s been taken to hospital with seizures. And you’ve spoken to the doctors about intubation. And then there’s the war that’s taking over beheading people and trying to get access to the food and your food supplies are not coming in by boat. And Father God, this just stopped me, Lord. First of all, I would just like to ask for protection by Your Holy Spirit in every area of this orphanage in Haiti Lord. Protect the people Father from these evil men. Father, I felt stuck. I didn’t know what else to pray and all this week I’ve been thinking about the Lord’s prayer and Your will, what Your heart beats Lord for this Young lad and for Carol Lord in her heart, I pray Your kingdom come and Your will be done on this earth as it is in heaven Lord Jesus. Holy Spirit would You do something beautiful here, something mighty? Bring us Your love through him and protect this orphanage Lord and the people. O Father God silence these evil men. Bind them up in Jesus’ mighty name. Carol, our hearts are with you, and we love you and we’re praying for you and holding you and time is ticking away. Kiss kiss Carol. Love God’s Smile.
Hi, blessed family I just want to say thank you so much Brian for everything and specifically the reading on the 17th of April where in the gospel we looked at blind Bartimaeus who wanted to receive sight and he was crying out, “Son of David have mercy on me”. The way you emphasize that in your exposition really touched me because I think that I’ve been in this season where I just felt like I’d drawn away from God and I couldn’t see Him really anymore. I couldn’t see where He was in my day-to-day life and outside of, you know, just intense devotional moments and really really trying to press in and even still struggling and only just barely catching a glimpse of that light. I was just so guided in what to pray by that scripture, to actually pray God have mercy on me because I knew that I was the one that had pulled away, had drawn away through irreverence, disinterest, and sin. So, thank you so much because since I prayed that prayer, I just feel like I’ve been encouraged. I’ve come back and the Lord is as present as He was before and…but I just didn’t realize. So, I thank you so much and I just encourage anybody else who is kind of in a similar position where they feel like they’ve fallen away just to pray that prayer, have mercy on me. God bless you all.
Hi, my name is Darlene and I…my husband and I listen to Daily Bible every…every day we sit together, and we pray and we’re so thankful. So, thank you first of all for this platform that we’re able to enjoy every day. And today I’ve been…we’ve been listening for a couple of years and I've…I wanted to call in but I’m a little shy and even now I had to google how…how to call because I just couldn't…well I’m very distressed right now. So, that’s why I called. I just got a phone call from my daughter, and she said my granddaughter’s in the hospital with anorexia and that her heart rate is low. And we knew she had a problem. We didn’t know what. She’s 14 years old and she just moved from Virginia to California. So, we know there’s some adjustments there. But she’s a very bright girl, wonderful granddaughter. And, so, I am just reaching out for prayer for her because I don’t know what to do. I’m not even near the hospital where…where she’s at. So…so, I’m praying and I’m reaching out to you my family to join me in prayer for not only for Sophia who is my granddaughter but for all these young girls that have so much potential. And God’s hand is on them and yet they get thwarted by the enemy. And I’m so distressed by that because these girls, these young people who have so much potential are being sideswiped so to speak by the enemy. And, so, lord we lift up not only Sophia but all the young…young ladies that are struggling with anorexia, that you will come into their lives and you will tear away all the…
This is Doctor John from Illinois. This is a message for Libby of Queensland. Sister, I just heard your cry, and you said something’s preventing you from crying out, something’s preventing you from asking for help. Well, we just heard you ask for help and there are millions of DAB family right now listening to you and praying for you. And most important we have a Redeemer that listens, and we have a Redeemer that’s faithful and He’s listening right now and He’s beckoning you to seek His face. The word says that if you seek Me…you will find Me if you seek Me with all your heart. Christ said if you hunger and thirst for righteousness you will be filled. He said ask and you receive, seek and you’ll find, knock and the door will be opened. Over and over and over He repeated those things, and He constantly wants the love and attention of His believers. And I know sister there’s been a lot of times that I thought I could handle a situation in my own life, and I have friends and patients and brothers and sisters that rallied around me but not until I asked for help. So, I’m saying to you now, we hear you and post important you have a Redeemer, you have a Savior that hears you. And the enemy is coming to get you. Those dreams that you’re getting, that’s probably what that is more than anything else. It’s just an attack. But he knows that you have help and you have strength in your Redeemer. So, where with your sister. God bless you. We’re gonna pray for complete healing for you for your mind and your heart in Jesus’ name.