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You Can Read the Bible Bible Only Podcast
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Read Through the Bible
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Day 68 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarizeToday you will finish reading not only Deuteronomy, but also the Pentateuch, what is elsewhere called the Books of the Law, the Books of Moses – the Torah. The stories, laws and covenant herein lie beneath everything else in the Bible. Think about the great book series you’ve read, and imagine what it would have been like to start in book five or six, having no idea what happened before. Or take movie series – even if a sequel makes sense on its own, it’s still a sequel, filled with inside knowledge and connections to dots that have a beginning. This is the gift of walking through these “Books of Moses,” of taking them on their own. You’ve allowed them to tell their own story, to prepare you, as the author intends, for everything that comes after. And you’ve made it to the finish line. Chapter 32 picks up with a song introduced at the end of yesterday’s reading: “Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:” As when he recounted their escape from Egypt in Exodus 15, here Moses employs verse to remind Israel of the importance of remembering the LORD’s goodness to them and of observing His law. Listen in this song to how Moses refers to Israel as Jeshurun, an obscure word that could mean “Upright Child.” When the LORD tells Moses that his moments on earth are dwindling, Moses gives a final blessing to the nation and to its tribes. Notice that Simeon, curiously, is not mentioned. Notice also that his blessing is much kinder, and hopeful, than that of Jacob’s at the end of Genesis. And then the end comes. We’ve been prepared for this, known about it for some 50 chapters, yet it still moves me and I read Deuteronomy 34 slowly each time. Moses is a unique and profound character, “none like him for all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt…” His life ends on Mount Nebo, looking out over all the land “as far as the western sea,” at the intersection of all he had seen and done and all that lay before, just beyond his reach, his eye undimmed, and his vigor unabated. Our verse for this week is Galatians 3:29: And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. Deuteronomy 32 through 34. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 175 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarizeSo Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 2 Kings 16:17 It’s important to remember that prophecy is launched in a time and a place, with an original author and hearer and situation into which the prophet speaks. Ahaz, grandson of Uzziah, is now on the throne in Jerusalem and is threatened by an alliance between Syria and Israel. Isaiah is sent out to counsel him to trust that these two kingdoms will not stand. The sign of a child that the LORD promises – which Ahaz resisted – will be fulfilled more than once. This is one of the few narratives in Isaiah, and you’ll notice that it flips between first- and third-person accounts. The underlying themes are fear and faith. When the northern threat emerges, the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. When the LORD promises Ahaz that Ephraim and Syria will not stand, he warns “If you are not firm in the faith, you will not be firm at all.” Later, when speaking to Isaiah alone, the LORD likewise cautions him, “Do not fear what [the people] fear…But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.” As we read earlier from Kings, Ahaz did not head this counsel. Indeed, within a decade, the kingdom of Israel itself will be washed away. And Isaiah, in chapter 8, is given the sign that Ahaz forfeited. But Assyria will not be satisfied with Samaria and Damascus, for the Lord will allow the “River of Assyria” to rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah… Chapter 9 is devoted to the LORD’s anger and judgment against the Northern Kingdom. In fact, just so there is no misunderstanding, in one sequence all the synonymous titles for the Northern Kingdom – Jacob, Israel, Ephraim, and Samaria – come in brisk succession. You’ll remember from the book of Kings that this is not simply because they have risen against Judah, but because they had abandoned the LORD from the very beginning. But embedded in this is a message of hope for the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, for in the latter time [the LORD] has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations… For the child will be born as promised, and of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. Our verse for this week is James 1:22: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Isaiah 7 through 9. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 75 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarizeAt the beginning of yesterday’s reading, the author duplicated his effort to call attention to Joshua’s advanced age. He held up Moses’ arms against Amalek, spied out the land, replaced Moses as Israel’s representative before the LORD, and led Israel through the years of conquest. He has served longer, harder, and more faithfully than anyone alive. Keep this in mind as he faces new challenges today. Our reading begins with Joseph’s inheritance, going all the way back to Genesis when Jacob doubles Joseph’s blessing between his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. There’s an inset about Zelophehad’s daughters, a situation that Moses resolved in Number 27, reminding us of the detailed promise-keeping that Joshua maintained. Chapters 18 and 19 are bookended by the affirmation that the rest of the land was allotted at Shiloh, “at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” After Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh are settled, the remaining tribes are asked by Joshua, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?” Survey crews are sent out, lots are cast, and the remaining land is divided among these seven tribes. And finally, once everyone else is accounted for, “the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.” This would be one big celebration if not for two caveats. The first is emphasized in chapter 16: “However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.” While forced labor might sound better than annihilation (a tradeoff the Gibeonites were willing to make), remember God’s commands regarding the Canaanites, and pray that Israel’s present contentment doesn’t compromise their future. A second storm on the horizon appears in the middle of chapter 17, when Ephraim and Manasseh take issue with their allotment: “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the Lord has blessed me?” Joshua fires right back: “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves…” We’ll see if this tension between the sons of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah is revisited in the future. One final note: there are plenty of good maps of the tribal divisions online. A simple search of “Israel tribe map” can really help you visualize these chapters. Our verse for this week is Hebrews 11:30: By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. Joshua chapters 16 through 19. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 121 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarizeSo much has happened recently that bears significance for David, for Israel, and for the rest of the Old Testament, that it’s a good day to catch our breath. We first met David as the youngest son of a shepherding family in Judah. He was a fierce and skilled soldier, first in his father’s service and later in King Saul’s. His battlefield prowess drew the admiration of the people and respect of foreign rulers. Not only was the Spirit of the LORD upon him, but David seemed aware of this – in a way that Gideon, Jephthah, Samson and Saul did not. In chapter 7 David’s relationship with the LORD reaches a zenith. The LORD makes three promises. First, He promises that He “will make for [David] a great name, like the name of the great ones on earth.” Only Abraham has been given such a pledge before. Second, the LORD assures Israel that He “will appoint a place for [His] people Israel and will plant them…” giving them “…rest from their enemies.” This promise of security and permanence had been made to the wilderness generation, but never has a convergence of leadership, resolve, and political opportunity brought it this close to fulfillment. These two blessings intersect when the LORD makes His third and final promise: “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” The LORD has no interest in David mimicking the kings of other nations and building a capital temple to his favorite God. Rather, the LORD will build David a house – a more permanent house than can be built with cedar. The LORD “will be to him a father, and he shall by my son.” More importantly, “…My steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul...” Let those words sink in: a house, a throne, a kingdom, forever. Israel’s security and David’s name would now be forever linked. So the events you’ll read today of David’s continued conquests might seem a foregone conclusion. Moab, Syria and even the mighty Philistines are subdued. Garrisons are established in Edom – Esau now under Jacob’s feet – bringing previously unknown peace and prosperity to Israel. Most importantly, by administering justice and equity to all his people, David is fulfilling the centuries-old hope that Israel should have a king who “may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. Our verse for this week is John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 2 Samuel chapter 8. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 65 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarizeToday we reach the end of the command section of the Deuteronomy covenant. We’re listening to the longest of Moses’ three speeches at the border of the Promised Land, just before he dies. This is how the children of Israel are to give thanks for the gift they’ve been given and set themselves apart as the LORD’s holy people. The instructions in chapter 24 about granting a woman a divorce need to be considered in the context of everything else we’ve read about marriage. Remember Genesis 2: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This gets upended in Genesis 3, and through all of our stories thus far, this ideal never materializes. It’s an indication of how far things have fallen that God would here give instructions about divorce protections. The remainder of chapters 24 and 25 have to do with justice. Listen, again, to the repetition of sojourners, widows and orphans. This is again connected to Israel’s story: they too were sojourners in Egypt. Even the passage about providing offspring for a deceased brother’s wife is about economics. Listen to the scenario: if two brothers live together, and one dies, who gets the estate? If the deceased has children, then they do. If he does not, then his brother does. As strange as this practice might seem to us, this passage is a defense against greed. Chapter 26 is all about promise and gratitude. “When you come into the land the LORD your God is giving you…you shall make a response before the LORD your God.” And that response is not only an offering of first fruits but a canned speech. Since the LORD doesn’t need to be reminded of His mighty deeds, this is about aligning the heart of the giver, affirming (as in chapters 8 and 9) that it was not by their strength or their righteousness that they inherited the land. Our verse for this week is Matthew 22:39: And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Deuteronomy chapters 24 to 26. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 67 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarizeWe’re nearing the end of Moses’ speeches that fill the book of Deuteronomy, and once again all Israel is called together to reaffirm the LORD’s covenant with them. We’ve seen this many times, and there is no variation in the pattern today. Israel is reminded of the LORD’s faithfulness to them, called to fidelity, and reminded of what would happen should they succeed or fail. Most contracts, or covenants, require some sort of witness, someone who will vouch for your ability to follow through on the agreement. Many of you have probably signed for a loan that required a cosigner – someone who was actually taking financial responsibility for your ability to fulfill your commitment. This is what’s going on at the end of chapter 30 when Moses calls “…heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life...” Should Israel fail in its obligations – and the end of chapter 31 shows that God is sure of it – nature itself will rise up against it. You’ve heard this language often and here it’s codified: heaven and earth are not slaves to Israel, but will rebel against her when she turns away from the Creator. Pay attention to the commissioning of Joshua in chapter 31. Moses’ concerns are beyond the question of succession. He knows better than anyone that leading Israel is not about personal charisma or physical might, but about trust in, and faithfulness to, the LORD. His words to both the people and their next leader will echo forward as they cross the Jordan: “Be strong and courageous…It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Our verse for this week is Galatians 3:29: And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. Deuteronomy 29 through 31. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 317 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarizeThe focus on David’s warriors and leaders continues as the king, at the beginning of chapter 13, turns to all the assembly of Israel and asks, “If it seems good to you and from the LORD our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities and the pastureland, that they may be gathered to us. Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” Notice how the author presents King David: he seeks the counsel of his subjects, is concerned for the favor of the LORD, and wants to make his coronation a celebration of Israel finally being “at rest.” With Jerusalem conquered and the Philistines subdued, Joshua’s mission is finally accomplished. And the proper, first task of a land at rest is to grant the Ark of the Covenant a place of rest as well. The theme of national unity is prominent today, but notice that this unity is around David. And the affirmation is warranted, for David is shown worshipping the LORD, fearing the LORD, and inquiring of the LORD before battle. Furthermore, the LORD speaks to David and grants him victory in battle. David’s response, of gratitude and celebration, reflects the best intentions of Deuteronomy 17, which outlines fearing the LORD and remaining grounded with the flock as among the primary tasks for Israel’s shepherd. Yesterday I highlighted some of the ways that Chronicles differs from Samuel and Kings, with so much material lifted from those earlier works. Indeed, today’s accounts of moving the Ark, fighting the Philistines, David dancing, and his wife’s response, are pretty much taken directly out of 2 Samuel. However, we’re going to avoid the temptation to simply compare the different works. Let’s assume that there are reasons inherent in Chronicles itself that merit its inclusion in the Bible. The author has a unique story to tell, and we’re going to grant it the integrity it deserves. Our verse for this week is Matthew 5:16: In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 1 Chronicles 13 through 15. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 320 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarizeYou may have noticed some familiar lines and locations in yesterday’s reading. You may have read about the siege of Rabbah and thought you’d heard about that before. Maybe you recognized lines like “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle…” or “…But David remained at Jerusalem” and thought, “that sounds too familiar.” You’re right! These accounts also appear in 2 Samuel and some of the lines are quoted verbatim from that text. There are details present in the Samuel narrative that are absent here – one very large and consequential detail, in fact, about the time when David remained in Jerusalem – and there are details in Chronicles that don’t appear in Samuel. You’re right to notice these differences, but they need not be translated as inconsistencies or errors. Each author has a story to tell, a narrative whose themes are important enough to warrant writing in the first place. The fact that certain lines appear verbatim in both works makes it highly likely that the Chronicler used Samuel as a source. We can accept that the author might well have known of other elements, but had his own reasons for excluding them, just as the author of Samuel had his own reasons for including them. Our goal is to honor both authors and try to understand their purposes, before trying to synchronize the accounts to get a more complete historical picture. The census story ended yesterday with David offering sacrifices at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, for the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon… It was hinted at in chapter 16, and is made explicit here, that the Tabernacle did not accompany the Ark to Jerusalem. That’s a problem that David hopes to address, and it launches our reading today. Whereas the LORD was noticeably absent from the Ammonite accounts, the census story marks a shift and today’s text is all about David’s concern for the LORD’s Temple. Notice the worship in his commission to the leaders of Israel: "Is not the LORD your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the LORD and his people. Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the LORD God…” Our verse for this week is Psalm 119:11: I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You. 1 Chronicles 22 through 24. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 211 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarizeThe author of Lamentations – quite possibly Jeremiah, or maybe Baruch – is under no illusions about why this calamity has befallen them, for “Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore, she became filthy.” Therefore, “The LORD has done what He purposed.” Yet the author pours forth lament. This is not contradictory: sit at the author’s feet and let him teach us of repentance and grief. In the original Hebrew, chapters 3 and 4 are again acrostic poems. In chapter 3, the lines are in series of three: the first three lines begin with aleph, the second three begin with bet, etc., for a total of 66 lines, or 22 sets of 3. In chapter 4 each line begins with the next letter in the alphabet. Chapter 5 is simply a 22-line oracle that culminates with a plea: “Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days of old – unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us. But I want to highlight the very center of the book, where the author’s own steadfast faith is revealed. Consider when and where and how this is written: Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” Our verse for this week is Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. Lamentations 3 through 5. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 271 Bible Only Podcast
5d agoTap to summarize“I hear censure that insults me, and out of my understanding a spirit answers me…” - Job 20:3 Zophar has some sharp words for Job at the opening of today’s reading, in response to Job’s complaints that everyone – his relatives, his friends, and God – has failed him. Try to picture Zophar’s posture, as you would an actor on stage, when he tells Job, “You’ve insulted me…” Job’s response pushes in a deeper, darker direction, and his burgeoning argument hits a crescendo in chapter 23. Giving full voice to the lament within him, he asks: “Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them.” Furthermore, “They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways…’” Feel Job’s torment in these chapters. He is no longer concerned with justifying himself to his friends, asking rhetorically, “is my complaint against man?” ‘No,’ we hear. It is against God; it is against the injustice that Job has witnessed from both directions – he suffers, while the wicked prosper. This is what Job wants his friends to wrap their heads around – and so we’re forced to wrestle with it, too. At this point, it might feel like we’ve walked far enough into the dark woods and now it’s time to turn back. For some time we’ve come upon no fresh water, no clearing has materialized, and the crest of each hill just presents even darker valleys. The forest is getting thicker, and the hour is getting late. It feels like if we go much further, we will not be able to find our way back to the safety of camp. But we can, and should, keep walking with Job, for he cannot turn back. The story drives further, relentlessly, toward an unknown destination. Our trust is that the payoff, whatever it is, will be worth it. Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Job 20 through 24. Now let’s read it!
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