Category: DAB Transcripts

But God does new things when He chooses to do new things. And when we see the ways in which we…we struggle to move forward as God does new things inside of us, or around us, or among us. And we’ll start telling each other our doctrine stories, to explain away what God might be doing when it starts to mess with our little tidy box of theology. And all of the sudden, we become just like the Hebrew people that this was written to. And so, there’s attention, and a disruption exposed there behind the story. So ultimately, we have to learn to hold onto our theology and doctrine loosely and hold onto the Father and the guidance of His Holy Spirit tightly. When we believe, God is beginning to do a new thing.

Prayer:

And that is our prayer, Father. Like our brothers and sisters of old, we struggle, we try to put You in a box, we try to explain you in every way that we can, and we try to make doctrine around it. And these are our best efforts from finite minds and hearts to explain the infinite and Almighty. And yet it is this infinite and Almighty spirit that is within us, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead. And so, we live within that tension and that mystery. And often we’ll hang on to what we think that we know more tightly them we’ll hold onto You. And we’ll trust what we think we know, more than we’ll trust You. And the same invitation given to the Hebrew people in the book of Hebrews at that time, is still given to us, the opportunity to be in a personal, first-hand, first-person relationship with You. And so, what can we do, but what we do most every day, invite You. Come, Holy Spirit, well up with in us, spill out from us, illuminate our path, lead us into all truth. It is not information about You that we seek, it is You, Your heart, Your essence that we seek. And You have sought out the same thing in us from the moment of our birth: union, collaboration, relationship. So, come Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link, it’s on the homepage. If you prefer the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hiddy Ho siblings, it’s me, your little sis, His Little Sharie in Canada. I’m so grateful for everyone who has been praying for me. I happened to be able to listen to the Community Prayer this past week. I often can’t but I did hear a few people praying for me and I wanted to give you a shout out. Tony in Germany, I’m so grateful for your prayers and yes, I believe that Holy Spirit will guide us to the things that will help. And that we should follow the peace. Thank you for that. Panting Deer in Michigan, thank you for praying for me. I pray that your children who are going to the Ukraine with Wywam, will be impowered and protected, in Jesus name. And Junk to Treasure, thank you so much for your prayers for me. I pray for you, that you would be upheld, encouraged, infused with hope and that things would change in your situation. And DABer Drew in the Ozarks, thank you for your prayers for me. I loved how you said that Jesus is bigger than MS. That He will use it for my good. Thank you for that encouragement. I pray that your court case would be kissed by God and that His will would be done, and you would be sustained and helped in and through it. Be Filled Bridgette in New York, thank you for your prayers for me. I pray that your daughter, whose testifying for a second time, would just be guided and strengthened and sustained. And Teal in Ohio, thank you for your message about the MS diet. I’m sorry if I said your name wrong, I didn’t, I couldn’t quite catch it. But I’m very aware of the MS diet. I did follow that protocol for a while. But thank you for passing that along to me. And thank you to everyone who has prayed for me. I love you guys.

This is Alpha Lee Polly on the 5th of November. Just heard about the little girl with down syndrome that had heart surgery, I think yesterday. Bless that sweet little girls heart. In more ways then one. Lord, I just pray that she’ll have a great recovery and she’ll be doing a lot better, Lord. And just heal her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, in Jesus name. Amen.

Hello family, this is Biola from Maryland. I hope ya’ll are doing well. Sitting here early in the morning listening to Daily Audio Bible. Brian and Jill, God bless your ministry, your persistence, your faithfulness. May God reward you abundantly. Noheim, I heard your prayer request and even though I’ve prayed for your daughter just want to call in and pray over the air. Father Lord, we just wanna thank You God for Noheims daughter. Father, Lord of Heaven, You know, oh God Lord Father, this young lady. You created her, You delivered her. And when You deliver Lord, You deliver completely. I remember on God, Mary Magdalene, that man that God rains, oh God. You set them straight, You delivered that ever foul spirit, oh God Lord of anger and narcissism, of self-destruction, oh God, that is still plaguing this young lady. Father, I join my faith with Noheim’s, oh God of heaven, and I bind them in the name of Jesus. I command you to go from this young lady’s life, completely, in the name of Jesus. Oh God, I pray that You will set her free. Because he who the son has set free, is free indeed. Oh Lord of Heaven, I pray oh God for restoration of their marriage. I pray that You will touch the heart of her God fearing husband, oh God, speak to him, Father. Let their reconciliation, oh God of Heave and Jesus name. Brian, I’m praying for Mitchell. Father, Lord of Heaven, I pray for complete deliverance for Mitchell as well. When he does come out, oh God, I pray that You will set him straight, in the name of Jesus. Give him, oh Lord Father, supernatural encounters with You. Father Lord, as he comes out of that mental institution in the name of Jesus. Oh God of heaven, I pray that You will set this young man free. In Jesus name. Heal him completely, oh God. Spirits … in Jesus name we pray. Amen. God bless you all.

Hello DAB family, this is Starting Over Sister in Texas. And I think I’ve called before. I fell at a gym on a concrete floor and fractured my elbow in ten pieces in May. And had an elbow replacement. And it’s been really hard and physical therapist was forcing my arm to try and straighten, about a week and a half ago and I don’t know what happened but it is enormously set me back in pain. And inability to use my arm, my hand and I’m so discouraged about it. I want, like prayer for substantial healing so I can be able to use my arm and exercise again. Exercise was one of my few things I really enjoyed in life and it’s kind of been taken away. So, please pray that God helps heal my arm, it’s my elbow and my hand, all the nerves, I guess are really damaged. So, I’m very discouraged right now. Thank you for praying for me.

So, you have to imagine how Hebrew people who had the Mosaic law baked into their culture, trying to live right and devout would have difficulty embracing this because their whole lives they’ve been taught a different way. And now they have to kind of open of their eyes and wake up to something new that God is doing in the world, and realize that they’re the first ones in. So, it’s not like this group mentality where something is over time been brought into culture, like we experience now in our faith. They’re like the first ones. And so, this is a big step of faith forward. So, like if someone came along and started saying okay all of you Gentile believers you now need to practice animal sacrifice. God is doing a new thing and we’re going back to the old way. But it’s a new thing and you need to offer these sacrifices. Right, that would be hard for us to get our minds around. In the same way that it would be difficult for them to make that step forward, even though, even though this was supposed to happen, even though there was precedent for this new thing to come. All kinds of new things are coming down the pipe, just like they are now. And so, we can see the tension in this, that we don’t normally see without context, because this is just a doctrinal statement about our faith, like we…we understand these things. That like that Jesus was the sacrifice once and for all, his blood covers all sins for all time, we no longer need to sacrifice. Like that’s the normal way of thinking. But if it weren’t, right, we’d have to take some time to be able to move in that direction, prayerfully. And yet, the writer of Hebrews is skilled enough to continually look back into the sacred Hebrew Scriptures. So, when we’re talking about Melchizedek, we were talking about Psalm 110. But all throughout there’s these references back to prophetic utterances that are revealing that this is what’s happening and it’s happening right now. So, Psalm 40 is quoted today as a prophetic utterance supporting what they’re saying. Jeremiah chapter 31 is quoted today as a prophetic utterance to show this is what’s happening. And for we who are so far removed from this time, like we can get the book of Romans and we can get the book of Hebrews together and read them and go like, there. There is the complete doctrine of the Christian faith. But what’s really going on historically is that Paul is out moving among the Gentiles, the gospel is spreading like wildfire among the Gentiles. The Jewish people, the Hebrew people are having a much more difficult time embracing this, and for the most part they’re not embracing this, but this letter to the Hebrews is intended to be circulated, and wrestled with, and talked about among those people. This is the document to those people to explain all of this in a very Hebrew centric context. So, it’s not just a book of theological understandings and doctrines. It’s a very missional letter offering language to explain the good news to a people who had rejected Jesus at face value. But because of all that came afterward, we’re considering. So, we have the book of Hebrews as the basis for so much Christian doctrine. But the story that kind of lingers here behind the story is the tension that arises when God begins to do a new thing. So, if we go back to the time when the book of Hebrews was written, God is doing a new thing, and the writer of Hebrews is using the Scriptures to show how that works. And in the process, it’s setting aside old things. In this case, the whole sacrificial system.

Ezekiel 21:1-22:31, Hebrews 10:1-17, Psalm 108:1-13, Proverbs 27:12

Today is the 10th day of November, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today. And both of those things are totally true. I am Brian and it is great to be here with you today, as we take the next step forward in the adventure that we’re on through the Bible this year. And our journey leads us back into the book of Ezekiel, and back into the book of Hebrews when we get to the New Testament. So, first, Ezekiel chapter 21 verse 1, through 22 verse 31. And we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.

Commentary:

Okay, in the book of Hebrews today, things continue to unfold and blossom like a flower before us, as the greater context materializes, the greater story emerges. It’s been emerging all along, but it…it’s like we’re at this vista now and it’s disruptive because it's…it’s a true paradigm shift. And we’ve been talking about it all along but it’s explicit, the old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year-after-year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. On the other hand, Jesus came, and his one sacrifice is for all time and sacrificial offerings are no longer required. We kind of talked about how this is like a paradigm shift, so kind of controversial and troubling on the one hand, but if it were true, what an utter relief it would be. And we talked about this yesterday. And today, we see this is explicitly what’s being said.

And then there are a number of examples of this, clarifying that each individual person is personally responsible for the covenantal relationship with God, and each person will reap what they sew. Which leads us to God revealing His heart about all this. Do you think, God said, that I like to see wicked people die, says the sovereign Lord. Of course not. I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. And there it is. There’s God’s posture of heart toward the people that He’s speaking to. And He goes on to say, repent. Turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you. Put all your rebellion behind you. Find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the sovereign Lord. Turn back and live. And of course, we’ve all heard the word repent. Repentance is to change, to change what’s going on inside you, to change the way you’re looking at things, to go a different way. So God is saying look, each of you have this choice and this choice affects your destiny, and I’m telling you flat out, I want you to live and prosper. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for you. But this is a covenant and there are terms, if you want the benefits of the covenant, the benefits of me being your God, then you’ll have to obey the covenant. I’m obeying it. I expect you to be faithful and loyal to it as well. But the choice is yours, and that my friends, echoes its way across history and plops itself squarely in our own laps. You can’t blame God for what you have done. But you can repent and come running home. And the choice is yours.

Prayer:

And so, Father, we allow that to sit in our laps, we sit with that, we invite Your Holy Spirit to reveal the ways that we’re breaking the covenant. That we’re being unfaithful to You. You use the word adultery and adulterer many times in these prophecies in order to explain what it feels like for You and what’s really happening. And so, we don’t want any part of that. It’s leading nowhere but destruction. Come Holy Spirit and show us the places that we’ve compromised ourselves, that we’re stepping out on You, that we’re cheating on you, and then blaming You for the repercussions of it. We’re sorry, we’re sorry that we’ve done this, we’re sorry that we do this. We invite Your Holy Spirit to correct us in this, we choose another way, we repent, we turn around and face You and come running back. Come Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it’s home base. That’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link, it’s on the homepage. Thank you for your partnership. If you prefer the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And of course, as always, if you have a prayer request for comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Prayer and Encouragements:

Brian, it’s Brian from Huber Heights, it’s Spark from Texas. I wanted to let you know I heard your call and your son Mitchell and yourself are going through some changes in life. And I wanted to reach out. It’s ironic. I’m really tired today, I didn’t sleep well last night. And that’s what this app does, it wakes us up and helps us see other…other people, rather than ourselves. And I wanted to, I wanna pray for you and your son. As you know, you might not, I…I had substance problems and jail problems throughout my life and also, in your situation divorce. I’ve been divorced also. So, let’s just go to God real quick. Father God, I ask that You be with Brian and his son Mitchell, whose getting ready to be released. The addiction problem with Mitchell God, has held him down in life. Lord, I ask that You be with Mitchell and even let him hear this. And help him to have another drug. The other drug of happiness of You telling us that we are enough. That You will guide our lives and there’s a feeling of happiness and peace that comes along with You. And it is better than any other drug that ever gave us a minute of satisfaction that made us chase more. God, I ask that You be with Brian also. Help to guide him as he’s going through his divorce. Help him to just take this time to be with You and not see this as a burden but a time to love. Amen.

Hello, my sweet family, this is Manita. I heard Kyle from Pennsylvania asking for prayer for his 3-year-old daughter, Rylee. And she also has down syndrome, I hear. And surgery will be in November, what, 11 I think you said. Kyle, I wanna say a prayer. Father God, in the name of Jesus, You are so wonderful and You are merciful. And You are the God of miracles, Father. And we all come together in one agreement, Father, boldly Father, before Your throne, dear God. In the name of Your son Jesus, lifting up Rylee, to Your throne, dear God. I pray that You put peace, dear God, in his parents, in Kyle’s heart and soul, dear God, and mind Father. I pray, dear God, for that peace that surpasses all understanding. Father, when something we don’t understand and we have questions, Father. We hand it out to You, dear God, and You, Father God, give us that peace, Lord, that will never die, dear God. So, I pray Father, in the name of Jesus, for this little girl, Father. We pray for a miracle in her life, Father God. Lord, that You guide the surgeons, dear Father, every staff that going to be taking care of her, Lord. In Jesus name, I pray. I love you, my brother. And I will continue to pray, okay. Please keep us posted. God bless you. God is strong. God is good. And He does things in the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. We all believe that. He is merciful. And he loves the little children. He even says it, in the word. Let the little children come to me. So, I pray, we’ll be praying for you guys. God bless you. A big hug. Love you.

Good morning DAB. This is Romans 12:2. I wanted to pray this morning for Rylee, the 3-year-old that’s going in for surgery. Father, we just lift up Rylee to You, in the name of Jesus. I just thank You, oh God, that You would go before her. You will go before the surgeons, Lord. Father, that You would be the one in the room, Lord. You said You would never leave us, nor forsake us. So, I stand today with her parents and the other DABers, oh God. Father, that You would make everything straight, Lord. That Father, You would make crooked paths straight. That You would complete the healing that has begun in Rylee’s body, in Jesus name. Father, at three years old, we know the anxiety of the parents and even possibly Rylee, Lord. But we lift that up to You, oh God, and we pray that You calm every fear. Father, we thank You, Lord God, that You will do the surgery Yourself, oh God. That You would guide the hands of the surgeon. Lord, we know nothing is impossible for You. And we thank You, oh God, for the good report. Lord, I also pray for others, oh God. Who are getting different medical procedures done, Lord. Father, the worry, the fear, the anxiety oh God. Lord, I lay it at Your feet, and I pray, oh God, that the joy of the Lord will be our strength. I pray, oh God, that You would help us to lay down every weight, Lord. That’s what the word says. That we should lay down every burden and every weight, Lord. That You care for us. That You will carry it. You are the burden bearer. And You are the heavy load sharer. So, we thank You today, oh God, for what You’re doing. We thank You, oh God, that You would give us the grace Lord, that we will trust You, as it all comes down to faith and trusting You. Help us, oh God, to trust You, oh God, for the impossible. Help us to trust You for situations and circumstances that we don’t see the answer. But You have our best in mind. We thank You and we praise You in the name of Your glorious Son, Jesus. Amen.

Hello hello hello, Daily Audio Bible fam. How are you? Checking in, it’s Saturday, November the 4th 2023. This is His Girl Warrior from Alabama. And today I’m grateful for light, specifically the light, the sunlight that was dappling through the really beautiful leaves today as I was hiking. It’s amazing the way it reflects so many colors in the leaves this fall. And that Jesus is the light of the world and that He shines through us and that He’s so gracious to shine through us. And so, I’m gonna lift up the people who are feeling the darkness. And it seems that the darkness is about to overwhelm them. God, we thank You that You are a bullwork and our standard against the darkness and that Your light shines and penetrates all. God, I pray that Your word would be a lamp to their feet, and a light to their path. God, that the word that Brian shares with us, that we would hide that word in our heart that we may not sin against You. God, I pray for all the people who need to see the light. That You would take the scales off their eyes and that they would see it. And God, thank you for all the ways that You show us Your light in the world, out in creation. We love You Jesus. Thank You so much for loving us and for pursuing us. Oh great light of the world, just fill us. Fill us up. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Talk to you guys tomorrow. Bye.

But what we see is that God sends a prophetic voice of warning way in advance. So, like we read the book of Jeremiah just recently, and that…that covered the scope of decades of warnings and patience and trying to rectify the situation, and pleading and inviting back, and all of this. And we have to pay attention to that as we move through these prophecies because not only are they warnings beforehand, they are also promises after-the-fact. So, like you’re breaking the covenant, if you continue to break the covenant, then this is what’s going to happen. This is what you are leading yourself into. But if you’re gonna go ahead and continue that and destroy yourself, then even after-the-fact, I’m not going to forget you. And there will come a day when all will be restored again. And we need to remember this and see this as we move through these books of prophecy. But in today’s reading in the book of Ezekiel, God is highlighting personal culpability and responsibility, which is an important clarification. Because the society is largely made up of tribes, clans and families, and each family has a family leader and it’s an extended family. What we would think of as an extended family, not just like a man and his wife and their kids. It’s usually a multigenerational thing, and they all work together for the common good of the family. So decisions are made and everyone falls in line and they work together as one. So this is where things like arranged, you know, the arrangement for a marriage, or a bride price being paid. All this, comes from that. So like if a woman is going to marry a man, she’s going to join his family and become a part of that family. And so, the family that she’s leaving, her birth family, might be compensated for the loss of her presence and her work in the family. That’s just the tip of the iceberg but just an example to say like here’s what we’re talking about. Which leads us closer to this clarification, this distinction. So, the general way that these prophecies would’ve been read, would’ve been family centric. So, for example, family leader “A” leads his family into Bale worship. The family follows along and begins to worship Bale because their leader made these decisions. And so, everybody worships Bale and they’re culpable before God for idol worship. And they’re all held responsible because of this family leader. So, they all face the same judgment. Kind of like we saw in the book of Jeremiah with the story of Aiken, who did not obey God in the battle of Jericho and made his entire family guilty. Today, God clarifies personal responsibility. So, He says, why do you quote the Proverb concerning the land of Israel that the parents have eaten the sour grapes, but their children’s mouth pucker at the taste. Which is just alluding to what we just talked about. So, in terms of what…what God is saying to the people through Ezekiel, He responds. As surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord, you will not quote this Proverb anymore in Israel. For all people are mine to judge. Both parents and children alike, and this is my rule. The person who sins is the one who will die.

Ezekiel 18:1-19:14, Hebrews 9:1-10, Psalm 106:32-48, Proverbs 27:10

Today is November 8th, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today, around the Global Campfire; this place that we can come in out of the cold and dark, can warm ourselves and illuminate our paths and be together in community. I brought my coffee along like I do every day, it’s right here to the left. And of course, I brought my microphone, or you wouldn’t be hearing me. And let’s dive in to what the Scriptures have for us today. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Today, Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 1 through 19 verse 14.

Commentary:

Okay, in the book of Ezekiel, we have an important distinction or clarification that further reveals God’s heart through this prophetic book. But let’s quickly work our way toward that. I’ve mentioned this before in other books of prophecy. You know, there’s a lot of discussion about what’s going to happen and what’s going to happen isn’t good. And God is speaking very directly. So, it’s easy for us, you know, page-after-page, day-after-day of impending judgment, to begin to shift our…our hearts toward God as angry, vengeful and without much grace or mercy, which is where this widespread angry God idea comes from. But in all these prophecies the whole thing turns, and God reveals why He feels so strongly about what He’s saying. And it becomes very clear that this isn’t just about Him waking up on the wrong side of the bed and being angry at people on earth and smiting them. He carefully reveals their culpability, which usually boils back to a covenantal relationship that has been broken. And within a covenantal relationship are terms, and they’re spelled out. So, if you enter into the covenant, or contract of marriage or any other business contract or any kind of agreement, there’s going to be terms. They’re the terms that you’re agreeing to, so that it’s spelled out very plainly what will happen if that happens. So, that nobody’s confused. And that’s a lot of what we see.

Ezekiel 14:12-16:41, Hebrews 7:18-28, Psalm 106:1-12, Proverbs 27:4-6

Today is the 6th day of November, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian, it’s great to be here with you today and I’m glad we can take the next step forward in the Scriptures together. And that next step will be in the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament, and the book of Hebrews in the new. And so, let’s dive in, we’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Ezekiel 14 verse 12 through 16 verse 41.

Commentary:

Alright, let’s touch on Hebrews 1st and then move our way backward to Ezekiel. For the last couple of days we’ve just been kinda talking about Melchizedek. Just trying to figure out why this obscure figure from the book of Genesis shows up in the book of Hebrews with a bit of a cameo appearance in Psalm 110. And all of that discussion wasn’t to make a theological statement, it was just to say, who is Melchizedek and what is his significance, how does this obscure figure become a significant a person that gets mentioned again in the New Testament with more information than we had in the old. And we talked a little bit yesterday about Psalm 110 were Melchizedek shows up in verse four, the Lord is taken an oath and will not break his vow, you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. And we talked about Melchizedek being a priestly king that was not from the tribe of Levi. And then we talked about different literature that showed us that Melchizedek was still in the thought of the Hebrew people, right through until Jesus time. And in Jesus time they were really looking for a Messiah. They weren’t necessarily naming or looking for Jesus, in particular, but they were looking for this kind of person to show up. In Psalm 110 was one of those references that they would use that prophetically speaks of such a person. So, in the book of Hebrews today that’s made explicit that the writer of Hebrews is clearly looking at Psalm 110 as a prophetic foreshadowing of the Messiah and then declaring that that Messiah was Jesus. And Hebrews kinda finishes off with that thought today. So, we can see that whether King David when now penning Psalm 110 thought anything different than this was about himself. Over time, it was definitely perceived as a prophetic utterance. And for the writer of Hebrews, in a Hebrew culture writing to Hebrew people, it was apparent that Jesus closed the loop, that he is a priestly king who sacrificed himself once and for all, and now lives as priest forever on behalf of us all. And all of that discussion has a cultural and contextual background. We talked about that. But the larger story or the bigger narrative that’s going on in Hebrews is intended to show how God is doing a new thing. A new thing that they were expecting, but a new thing that they didn’t recognize, and showing the Jesus is this new thing. And so, for devout Jews, you know, the Torah, the law is the thing. But Hebrews is saying there were things going on before there was a law, those things predate the law, they’re not under the law, the law didn’t exist and those things matter. Which is how Melchizedek winds its way into the story and sets precedent for God doing new things, things beyond the Mosaic law. Not because the law is evil of course, but the laws purpose is to expose failings and sin, it’s to show and reveal when we’ve stepped out of bounds. But Jesus appearance in the story changes everything. He fulfills the law and becomes the high priest forever on behalf of us all. Very, very similar to the kinds of things the apostle Paul wrote about, especially in the book of Romans, but all throughout his teachings. So, we can get lost in all kinds of thoughts about Melchizedek, but Melchizedek is a part of a larger point, and that point is that Jesus is the son of God who came to take away the sins of the world, and that the law cannot do it because no one can achieve perfection in it. And so, that’s kind of where we sit in the book of Hebrews.

In the book of Ezekiel, God has been telling what’s coming. He’s been telling people what’s about to descend upon them, and none of it is good. And in the narrative we can see what seems to be frustration on God’s part, like how He’s exasperated, and how He has tried. And then we reached a portion of Scripture that I find to be one of the most riveting portions of Scripture in the Bible, and I encourage you to take some time to reread it yourself. It’s Ezekiel chapter 16 verses 3 through 34 where God is very, very descriptive about the story as he sees it with His people. And he describes an orphaned and tossed away beauty, left to die in a field just after birth, covered in blood and no one cared for this little girl. She was left to die. She was unloved. When God came along and found her and nourished her and cared for her, and raised her, watched her grow and watched her become beautiful, entered into a covenant of marriage with her and offspring were born, and it was beautiful. Except that she began to notice her own beauty and flaunt her own beauty and overtime to give herself to others. In other words, to break the covenant. And then the trajectory just spins out of control. She’s not only giving herself a way to other gods and idols, she’s giving herself away to other nations and she’s destroying God’s children by sacrificing them to other idols. And basically, this has to stop. That’s essentially what God is saying, this has to stop and I’m going to stop it and you’re not gonna like it, but this has to stop, if you’re ever going to turn around and return to me. I find it heartbreaking because of the imagery that God chose to use because it’s imagery of betrayal and heartbreak and jealousy, and loss and all of the angst and unrest the comes when a relationship disintegrates through betrayal and adultery. And so, many of us could read that passage and see ourselves there, know those emotions and whether you’ve been betrayed or not, you can still understand what that would be like. And so, what we’re seeing is less of a vengeful, angry, irritated tyrannical God and more the heart of a lovesick broken-hearted God. And it starts to make sense because we can see that we would feel the same way. And it gives us a lot to think about in our own relationship, because so often we think our relationship with God, the only emotion in any of it is our own. God doesn’t feel anything, He doesn’t really care. He’s just quick to forgive and that’s that. Doesn’t matter what we do and He’s just always on, he’s always available to us to turn to but we only really turn to Him when we need Him to do something. And we can imagine what that feels like, and we have to imagine what it feels like for God for us to really enter into this relationship with Him. So, going back through that passage of Scripture would be helpful and healthy, as we contemplate our relationships with God.

Prayer:

And Father, we see in this imagery Your heart toward us. We see why You are a jealous God, we just rarely can bring ourselves to the level of value that You do. We don’t value ourselves the way You do. We don’t see ourselves as the treasure that You do. And so, sometimes we can even imagine that You could feel this way about us and yet, we’re reading it right off the page. The Scriptures, You spoke this thousands of years ago and things haven’t changed. You are smitten with us, why is beyond our comprehension, but You created us, and I guess that matters a lot. You know everything about us, every cell that makes us who we are, every hair on our head. Every experience that we’ve had. All of the choices that we’ve made, and You still loved us. And put in these terms, found in the book of Ezekiel, we are stopped in our tracks as we realize what our behavior does to Your heart. So, come Holy Spirit, wash us clean, restore us, make us new again. We run back into Your arms. There is no other hope, but You and we thank You for Your patience, kindness, long-suffering and love for us. Amen.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Good morning family, this is John calling in from Texas for my amazing wife. Praying again for complete recovery and healing from tinnitus. I know that there’s nothing that God can’t or won’t do for His people. And so, I come today, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth and declare that disease and sickness is broke in His name. That healing is in His wings. And that every sickness, disease and affliction that’s in my wife’s body and the many members in this family that are struggling with sickness, are healed, delivered and set-free today. And we thank You for these things. We ask them in Jesus name. Amen.

Good morning DABers, this is Beloved in Arizona. And first of all, I just want to thank Brian for creating this community and the wonderful vibe of the Global Campfire. And of course, to God for writing the Bible for us. I’m calling for prayer for my physical health and my emotional/mental health. Physically I just got diagnosed with bronchitis and I have been sick for like a couple weeks. And took an entire week off work. And now, I finally got the diagnosis and the medicine and work is getting kind of cranky with me because I’ve been gone too much. And so, I can’t take any days off for the move and I don’t have very much physical strength to even, even put stuff in boxes. So, prayer for that, please.

Good morning DABers, this is QD in PA. I’m calling in on November 2nd. I just finished listening to November 1st and I wanted to reach out to Desperately Seeking Jesus also known as Desperately Connected to Jesus. And I just wanted to share my encouragement to you sister. I’ve been where you’re at, 2016 was a very hard year. I too, had lost a job, I’d lost loved ones, I lost material things. And but, with that, God was so faithful, and I really saw Him for the first time. And if He’s reaching out to you through your circumstances and if the word that you’re hearing is humble, surrender. Just surrender. Cause I’m telling you it is so, it so painful, I’m not gonna lie. But He brings you through it and He’s so faithful and He’s so kind and He’s so gentle. So, fast forward to today, you know, I’ve been working steadily since 2017. And He has blessed me beyond belief, in so many ways. But the most valuable thing that I got out of it was just seeing Him and knowing Him for, as the God that He is. And Him being so real to me. Because he brought me so low, but He has been so faithful in bringing me so much higher. So, I just leave with you that sister. Stay encouraged, stay in the word. God is faithful, He loves you, and He’s looking after you. Peace, love you all. Thank you.

Hello, this is Cameron aka Zephaniah 3:17 from the DC area. And I’m calling, first of all thank you all DABers. I’ve been a part of this community for a couple of months now. I don’t call in much, but I do enjoy listening to everyone’s prayers. I’m praying for everyone. I am praying for every believer to live … for holiness. Specifically sexual purity, in that arena. And I’m also asking for myself and all the believers that I know, both single and married. That we could live in complete 100% sexual purity. Love you DABers. I just pray for you all. Stay strong in the midst of this, sometimes hostile world, hostile culture, that holiness would be, and purity would be our passion. God that You would just instill in us a desire and hunger and thirst for righteousness, fulfill that desire and that hunger and thirst for righteousness in all of us. In Jesus name. Zephaniah 3:17 signing out.

He’s saying, he is giving every excuse and his main excuses is, I don’t know how to speak. Like, I’m not a public speaker, I don’t know how to do this. And God’s telling him, you really don’t have to do anything but just obey me. Like, I’ll put the words in your mouth. It’s all good. You don’t have to worry about this, and finally Moses is like, send someone else. Please send somebody else. Which for me, is one of the, it’s a very sad scene in the Bible, because of how much it imitates our own lives. But in the end God relents and sends Moses brother Aaron to be the mouthpiece. This is where we see sort of like this dual role, a priestly role and a governor or kingly role. Moses and Aaron make up the two pieces but that is more like the plan “B”. Right, so the plan “A” was that Moses would be empowered by God to lead his people and would be the mouthpiece of God to those people. In other words, a priestly governor, a priestly ruler, a priestly king. So, in other words, Melchizedek was a priestly king of the most high God. Moses would’ve been invited into that. But didn’t enter into it, but then God invites David into that role, once kings are introduced into the story of Israel. And that is where I’m going to stop for today. We’re gonna read about Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews extensively tomorrow and we’ll pick this up then. We have a little bit more New Testament context to the story.

Prayer:

And so, Father, we thank You for the beauty of Your word and as we apply our minds and hearts to all of its nuances and intricacy, we invite Your Holy Spirit among us. We thank You for this gift. We love You Father and worship You. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudioible.com is the website, it’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here. If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Then as I say, often…often, I can’t thank you enough, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. Or if you prefer the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hi Daily Audio Bible family. This is Kyle in Pennsylvania. And I’m calling in to ask for prayer for my daughter, her name is Rylie, and she is 3 years old. And she has down syndrome and some heart conditions. And on November 14th she’s gonna get her second heart surgery and this is a pretty big one. Basically, one side of her heart is not functioning and filling the way it should. And so, they’re hoping that they can kind of build a little bit of a wall and let that side start to function the way it should. And that they would be able to rebuild her heart then to a fully functioning heart. And this would be the best outcome because other options just usually aren’t as ideal for children with down syndrome. So, this is kind of what we’ve been hoping and praying for all along. But it is, you know, a pretty big heart surgery and she’s 3, a little over 3 and a half years old. So, it’s hard to see her go in for that. And so, if you could just keep her and us in your prayers. That God would be with the surgeons and guide them. And that God would be with her and her body and help keep her strong and that this surgery would go well. And that we’d get the results that we’re hoping for. And that she would just come out strong and healthy on the other side. Thank you.

Good morning my darling family. It’s Susan from Canada, God’s Yellow Flower calling. I love you all so much. I pray, Lord God, over Searching for Beauty as she is going through so much right now. I pray your strength be with her. Your healing touch be with her. That your peace be with her, Lord God, as she goes through these cancer treatments. I also pray for her daughter, dear Lord God, that You would just open their eyes and so they may see your beauty. They may see Your love for them. They may see Your peace and want that for themselves. In dwell those girls, dear God, indwell them with the power of Your Holy Spirit, that they may seek You with all their heart and find You, dear Lord. And find what You want to do with their life. Help them to walk in obedience to You Lord, every moment of every day of their life. We just lift these three ladies up to You, dear God, and ask You, won’t you bless them mightily with Your righteous right hand. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Good morning my fam, it’s Susan from Canada, God’s Yellow Flower calling. I want to pray for Francise, he’s having such a hard time with this ulcer in her leg and arthritis. So, Lord God, we just lift up Francise to You and her wonderful son. We ask that You bless them both, Lord God, with a love that surpasses all understanding. The peace that surpasses all understanding. Knowing that You are the giver of life, You are the giver of love and peace. And Lord God, we pray for healing over Francise. That this ulcer would be healed, and that this arthritis would just be taken away from her. We pray, dear Heavenly Father, that she will leap unto the bed and dance for joy, giving praise to Your holy name. We pray this all in the blessed and most wonderful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Salutations. Oh Father God, You see the emotions, You see the questions, You see the fear. This man, he called in at two hours and 21 minutes and he’s asking us to lift up his wife, who just got this diagnosis of cancer, and they’ve missed it for so long. God, I’ve been there. And I lift them up to You, Lord. And I ask that You would call the Downs, that You would pour Your oil upon them Father. Bless them with Your joy, Your discernment Father. Calm their fears, Lord. Hold them in Your hands and let them know that it’s not too far gone. They told me the same thing. I was diagnosed stage 4 and I’m still here over 12 years later. So, Lord, I’m asking if You would do the same kind of miracle for her that You did for me. In Jesus name I pray, and I thank You because I know You can do it. In Jesus name. Amen.

So, we have to first acknowledge that a lot of things happen between Abraham and King David writing Psalms. Right, so, Abraham has Isaac. Isaac then sires Jacob and Esau. Jacob’s name changes to Israel. He has kids they become the children of Israel. They are enslaved in Egypt, they’re freed from Egypt. They wander in the wilderness, the come into the promised land that is the conquest. We go through generation after generation after generation of Judges and then kingship is introduced into the culture with King Saul, and then comes David. So, a lot happens between the two times Melchizedek is named in the Old Testament. And even though a lot has happened, a lot of ground has been covered in a lot of years have passed, Melchizedek doesn’t disappear from their thoughts. Even though he’s only mentioned two times in the Old Testament far apart in history, he’s still being referred to. Why would that be? Why would this obscure event in Abraham’s life that refers to an ancient Canaanite king who happen to the be a priest of the most high God, continue forward in the culture extra biblically throughout all the generations all the way down to King David writing a song. So there could be all kinds of explanations but from a scholarship perspective, I think this is what holds the most water. Melchizedek is the first priest named in the Bible and he is a priest of the most high God, King of Salem. In David’s time, priests could only come from the tribe of Levi as mandated by the Mosaic law. And yet, Melchizedek was most certainly not a Levite, because Levi hadn’t been born yet in Abraham’s time, when this incident happened. So, in Abraham’s time, there is no Mosaic law because Moses hasn’t been born and there are no Levites, because Levi hasn’t been born. And yet, Melchizedek is a priest of the most high God. But most definitely not a Levite. But the Bible makes it clear that he’s a king. So, Melchizedek is a priest of the most high God, who is also a king. So, when David writes, Psalm 110 and he pens this song and writes these lyrics under the inspiration of God. A statement is being made. David is to be a priestly king in the order of Melchizedek. So, like Melchizedek was. And it so happens that David is king in Jerusalem, the same city. So, David is a king who is aligned with the priesthood. So, maybe not occupying the office and the function of the Levitical priesthood but nevertheless, the priesthood before God. And this is a bit of a big deal from a theological and from a cultural perspective in David’s time because they do have the Torah, they have the Mosaic law and it’s the underpinning of their entire society, and priests can only be Levites. And yet, David is to be a priestly king and the way that this can work is that David is being set aside by God, like Melchizedek, in the order of Melchizedek to serve in that role, even though he’s from the tribe of Judah and not the tribe of Levi. Okay, so I have to take a small bunny trail that applies directly to this. So, probably the most compelling theological understanding would place us back in the life of Moses. So, we know the story of Moses and you know, his childhood and him being placed in the river in a wicker basket and being raised by Pharaoh’s daughter and ending up killing an Egyptian and having to flee for his life and all of this. And the next thing you know, Moses is before a burning bush and God is calling him to set his people free from slavery in Egypt. God is telling him to go, and Moses is resisting.

Okay, so before we can point out the distinction, we just have to understand what’s going on here. Abram has met God, God has invited Abram into a land that he would be shown, and he’s following God’s directions. Understand Abraham’s not following Scriptures, he’s not referring to prophecies, he’s, none of that has happened yet. So, the Bible that we are reading hasn’t happened yet at all. But Abram knows who he’s following and that his entire destiny is based upon that relationship, because he’s left behind his home and all of the resources and culture that he’s used to navigating and he’s away from all of that, and he’s pursuing the direction of the God who introduced himself to him. So, he’s clear that his life is in God’s hands. So, we have the king of Salem who is a priest of the most high God, who’s coming out and blesses Abram. Of course, Abram in rescuing his kin, Lot, also saves the necks of several bunch of kings, one of them, the king of Sodom, who expects that he will have to reward Abram for what he’s done and is trying to negotiate that deal. Abram makes a distinction, he gives a tithe, a 10th to Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God. But tells the king of Sodom he won’t take anything; he’s not taking anything from anyone in terms of plunder because in no way is he leaving the door open that later someone will be able to say that they made Abram. Right, they made Abraham who he is. Abram is acknowledging God alone. So, we can say that we can say that solidly and that’s our first introduction to Melchizedek. Abraham makes a distinction between the king of Salem, priest of the most high God, and the other kings. So, who is this guy, and does his name mean something? According to the Scriptures, Melchizedek is the king of Salem or Salem, also known Jarut-Salem, or Yarusalem or Yarushalime. So, Melchizedek is a Canaanite king who rules the region and city of Jerusalem, also known as Salem. And the majority of biblical scholars would agree on that. What does his name mean? So, Melchi-Zedek, that the king of righteousness or maybe more literally, my king is righteous, or maybe even more literally my king is right and that’s it. Melchizedek only shows up one other time in the Old Testament by name and that is found in the Psalms, Psalm 110 verse 3, which reads the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And thoughts about this begin to spray off into all kinds of different directions from there. And I mean, you can see how the order of Melchizedek, what is that? I mean, that sounds like the title to a thriller, does it not? I mean what is the order of Melchizedek and how does one get into the club?