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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 93 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarizeThe entire discourse of chapter 13 is launched by an anonymous disciple marveling at the wonderful stones and wonderful buildings of the Temple. This temple had been completed about 30 years before, under the direction of Herod Agrippa, and was indeed an architectural marvel, the center of Jewish worship. It was also corrupt, as Jesus highlighted when He drove out the moneychangers, and it was temporary, as He announces here. Notice that the conversation that follows is private, and is in response to the question of Peter, James, and John: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” What follows is shared with the same three who also know what happened up on the mountain in chapter 9. Don’t get so lost trying to parse what’s going on that you miss Jesus closing injunction: “And what I say to you, I say to all: Stay awake!” The narrative returns abruptly at the beginning of chapter 14, when Mark lets you know that the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,” but not during the feast, “…lest there be an uproar from the people.” The pace is brisk: there is an anointing, a betrayal, a Passover meal. After supper, they head to Gethsemane, where Judas and a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders finds Him. Jesus calls out their cowardice and makes Mark’s point for him: “Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.” The scene at the high priest’s house reflects the chaos of this past week. Accusations fly but contradict each other. Nothing sticks in a way that will allow them to legitimately put Jesus to death. Finally, the high priest steps forward, and asks the singular question that Jesus cannot avoid: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Throughout this gospel, Jesus has waited to be asked a direct question to give the direct answer. Here, His succinct response could have come straight out of a burning bush. Our verse for this week is Psalm 138:8: The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Mark chapters 13 and 14. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 102 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarizeToday we enter the eighth book of the Bible, one of the shortest of the Old Testament. I want to remind and encourage you that reading through the Bible is a long journey, testing our intellect, emotions, and stamina. There will be moments when your heart just isn’t in it, and others when you can’t wait to turn the page. Stick with it! After the intensity of Judges, the book of Ruth provides both respite and perspective. Set in the days when the Judges ruled, it tells the story of a family from Bethlehem – Elimelech and Naomi – who seek refuge from famine in the land of Moab. The death of Elimelech, and then of their two married sons, sets in motion a plot around Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth. The tragedy is multilayered. Naomi is widowed, and in this foreign land her only “family” is two Moabite women – neither of whom now have any reason to look after her. She is completely disinherited, and without husbands her daughters-in-law will live, and die, without standing or provision. Naomi returns home, “empty,” but for Ruth, who promises “…where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” The story is too brilliant to talk over, so my comments will be brief. Pay attention throughout to the characters’ awareness of the LORD’s presence and impact. Listen for the descriptions of character, both by the author and through the dialogue. And drink in chapter 2: as the pace slows to recount the day when Ruth’s and Naomi’s fortunes begin to turn. Our verse for this week is John 3:35: The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Ruth 1 and 2. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 45 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarizeThe book of Numbers can sometimes feel like an attic storage space. The Christmas decorations are in one corner; in another, old toys we’re saving for the grandkids; and in another, speakers from the stereo that I’ll never use again. In Numbers, there’s a set of commands, followed by a short narrative, then a jump to an event from the recent past, then another command. There is a logic here, but it can be tough to keep track of. What you’re watching in the first 10 chapters of Numbers is preparations for travel, like the hodgepodge of stuff that gets checked off just before a big trip. The warriors are numbered, the Tabernacle is prepared, the “Unclean” are removed from the camp, and some final instructions are given to Moses regarding the law. Everything is done with an eye toward their future life in the Promised Land. The instructions in chapter 6 concern people who decide to be set apart in a special vow to the LORD. Like with the vows that we saw at the end of Leviticus, the Nazirite vow– which simply means “consecrated” – is voluntary, but must be taken seriously once someone commits to it. As you read the expectations, you’re allowed to wonder what would cause someone to choose to devote themselves even more fully to the LORD. At the end of chapter 6, you’ll trek over the familiar ground of Aaron’s blessing. Listen to how it’s framed: “Thus you shall bless the people of Israel… so shall [you] put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” Chapter 7 recounts the consecration of the Temple – just a few weeks ago – when the heads of each tribe brought their offerings to the LORD. Remember where the Israelites got all this silver. And remember where these tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh came from, who are not sons of Jacob. Our verse for this week is Ephesians 5:2: “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Numbers chapters 6 and 7. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 8 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarizeToday we get to know Abraham’s grandchildren even better and you probably won’t like what you see. Remember how deception was both Abraham’s and Isaac’s Achilles Heel? Today it comes back around in a fury. In the first half of today’s reading Isaac is old and looks like a dupe, but there’s more to it than that. First, he obviously loves his wife and wants to please her. For example, right after Rebekah’s and Jacob’s treachery to get Jacob the birthright, Rebekah then wants to get Jacob safely away from his brother. So, she throws a fit about Esau’s Hittite wives. This gets Isaac to take Jacob aside and recommend that he head back to Haran to find himself a wife. This would be cute in another context – an older couple that has figured out how to get things done. Second, and more important, it is not a failure of character to be deceived. Isaac might look weak, but he’s also being wronged. He would obviously know about the insane jealousy between his twin boys, so perhaps he should have been more cunning, but he wants to be able to trust his family. In the second half of today’s reading, the camera follows Jacob to Haran (which is in modern-day Syria). Here we are reacquainted with Laban, Rebekah’s brother, who is now in charge of the family. If you think the deception has been bad to this point, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The promise that the LORD gives to Jacob on the journey fades into the background once Jacob gets to work in Haran. Now, I’m going to warn you about something: You might not like any of these characters after today’s reading. In fact, you are allowed to not like them. They are characters in God’s story, but the story is not ultimately about them. You might also be bothered by the favor that the LORD pours out on Jacob as he flees, but remember, there were two sons to choose from. And one sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. The author’s commentary on this is that Esau despised his birthright. Heavy words that will haunt both of their futures. And while Jacob seems to get away with his conniving, The LORD is still “The God Who Sees.” Watch how the LORD responds to Leah’s plight at the end of our reading. This week’s verse is Galatians 4:28: Now you brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. Genesis chapters 27 to 29. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 29 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarizeOur reading today begins with episodes of renewed hope. First, the LORD calls Moses back up Mount Sinai. Imagine yourself standing on the mountain as the cloud descends and the voice of the LORD crashes through. Moses begs the LORD to restore Israel, and the LORD responds with a renewed covenant. The purpose of this trip is for the LORD to inscribe His law on a new set of tablets. You’ll remember that Moses had destroyed the first set when he saw Israel worshipping the Golden Calf. These Tablets of Testimony seem to be the thread through this whole account. The author relates that God tells Moses to “cut two tablets of stone,” Moses took them with him up the mountain, he wrote on them what the LORD had told him; and then they were in Moses’ hands when he returned. Obviously, making sure that Israel had a permanent record of His commands was a high priority for the LORD. Once Moses has reinforced, again, the Sabbath regulations with the Israelites, they get to work on building the tabernacle. This begins with a record of how joyfully the people responded to the call for donations. As you read about this outpouring, remember the last night in Egypt, when “The Egyptians were urgent…to send them out of the land…The people of Israel did as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. Once the building materials are in hand, Bezalel and Oholiab oversee the work and teach the others how the craft is to be done. The building account reveals the same painstaking detail that was employed in relating the instructions. I’ll remind you, again, that if God stands behind the Bible, and if the Bible goes to such great detail describing the design and construction of His worship space, then there might be something to learn about Him through this. Our verse for this week is Hebrews 11:24-25: By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Exodus chapters 34 through 36. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 180 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarize“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine…” - Exodus 19:4-5 After Sennacherib took the Assyrian throne around 705 B.C., he spent his first year subduing a revolt in Babylon. Egypt took advantage of this distraction and sent emissaries to Judah, trying to forge an alliance with King Hezekiah. Up to this point, Judah had been under nominal Assyrian control –Hezekiah’s father had asked Sennacherib’s father for help against Israel and Aram – and Sennacherib quickly turned his army westward to deal with them. The LORD is displeased with Hezekiah on multiple fronts: “Ah, stubborn children,” He declares in chapter 30, “Who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, who set out to go to Egypt, without asking for My direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh!” The LORD has at least three charges against Judah. First, obviously, is that Judah did not consult Him regarding this plan. That may sound petty, unless you consider that Judah’s primary covenant was with the LORD; they were His treasured possession, not Assyria’s or Egypt’s. A concurrent charge is that asking Egypt for help was an acknowledgement that the LORD couldn’t protect them. Judah was both unfaithful and faithless. But third, Deuteronomy 17 strictly forbids Israel’s king from causing the people to acquire horses from Egypt, “since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’” Egypt, that land of both refuge and slavery, was a perpetual tease throughout the Exodus and now, 600 years later, sustains its siren call. In the background of these visions listen for the sounds of soldiers and horses, of chariots and siege works, of tumult and fear. It’s into this cacophony that Isaiah promises that “The LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard… The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when He strikes with His rod… Battling with brandished arm, He will fight with them…” Our verse for this week is James 1:22: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Isaiah 28 through 30. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 151 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarizeAt the beginning of today’s reading, when a paralyzed man is placed before Him, Jesus again makes an apparently unnecessary comment during an otherwise ordinary healing. Instead of telling the man to “Rise and walk,” Jesus assures the paralytic, “…Your sins are forgiven.” “Blasphemy,” the Scribes mutter under their breath. This sets up a tension that will drive the rest of the chapter, but there was no immediate need for Jesus to provoke them. Why did He? The answer might be embedded in His response. Matthew 9 seems to be designed to heighten the distinction between regular citizens and the religious leaders. Just listen to how ordinary people approach Jesus: “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” … “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”… “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”…and “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” Now compare that with the dialogue Matthew records from the Scribes and Pharisees: “This man is blaspheming.”… “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” and “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” There is a clear fracture between Jesus and the religious leaders, but there seems to be an even greater one between these leaders and the common people. Listen as Matthew observes Jesus’ compassion on them: because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus’ prayer at the end of chapter 9 marks a transition from public to private space. After praying for “the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest,” notice as twelve are called to Him as disciples and a few words later are sent out as apostles. This is no slip of the pen, but a commissioning: those who sat at Jesus feet were being sent out to the lost sheep of Israel. And they were not emptyhanded: to these twelve Jesus gave authority over unclean spirits…and to heal every disease and every affliction. They were also sent with Jesus’ foundational message: “…the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand…” and with a solemn warning about how the world would receive them. “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves”… “you will be flogged before governors and kings for my sake… For I have not come to bring peace, but a sword…” Our verse for this week is Psalm 19:4: Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. Matthew 9 and 10. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 197 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarizeYou’ve already seen how personal the book of Jeremiah is. The LORD, and the author, provide a vivid picture of the judgment descending on Judah. Furthermore, like Noah before, Jeremiah is instructed to act as though he’s confident that destruction is nigh. Today’s reading opens with instructions about how Jeremiah should not waste his time: “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons and daughters in this place…” also, “Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them…” Jeremiah’s words, actions, and inactions will convey the LORD’s intentions and perspective. In the middle of today’s reading comes a message of hope. “If you listen to Me…” declares the LORD, and “keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David… And this city shall be established forever.” This presents a tension that will go unresolved: has the LORD changed His mind about the promised destruction? Is He making a final offer of restoration? Or does He know His offer will go unheeded, and this only serves to confirm His judgment against them? In chapter 18 the LORD might be addressing these very questions. He reminds Judah that “If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation…turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.” However, their response so astounds Him that He challenges them to “Ask among the nations, Who has heard the likes of this?” Our verse for this week is Lamentations 3:22-23: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Jeremiah 16 through 18. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 242 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarizeThrough Zerubbabel and Nehemiah we see the tenuous nature of life in the province Beyond the River. Both of them had received royal decrees allowing them to undertake their work – Zerubbabel rebuilding the temple and Nehemiah the city walls. But the royal army was far away, the inhabitants of the region that Assyria had settled there had a two-century head start on establishing order, and they did have a point about Jerusalem’s history of rebellion against foreign kings. Remember in Ezra 4, that from Artaxerxes’ letter we learn that his concern wasn’t peace in the region or prosperity for its residents; his concern was tribute for the royal treasury. This was typical: neither Assyria, nor Babylon, nor Persia cared about local affairs, so long as problems didn’t foment rebellion or invite foreign invasion. This is why Jerusalem’s walls were needed in the first place. Cities were a place of refuge against raiding parties that the Persian army wasn’t going to do anything about. They were also a mark of pride, of identity, for their inhabitants. Ezra served an important role for the Jews, but he also served the king’s purposes: if Ezra keeps the peace, the king won’t have to. The favor granted to Nehemiah was much more substantial: he simply wanted to provide safety and security for his kinsman. But as we saw yesterday, “the good hand of [his] God” was upon him. Today’s reading follows this good hand of God through substantial trials. In chapter 4, Sanballat and Tobiah discourage and threaten the work, and in chapter 6 they attempt to remove the head. In between, Nehemiah takes up the cause of those who are being enslaved and exploited by their Jewish brothers. And through all this movement, a wall is being built, and a detailed record is being kept. Listen for Nehemiah’s observations, as well as a revelation of his greater concern. Our verse for this week is Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Nehemiah 4 through 6. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →Day 300 Bible Only Podcast
4d agoTap to summarizeAnd Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before You in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward You. And You have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this Your great people?” - 1 Kings 3:6-9 The book of Proverbs is by no means biographical, but since almost the entire collection is attributed to King Solomon, it’s fitting to remember that the wisdom compiled here was done in a place, in a time, and by a king whose heart was, initially at least, attuned to the LORD. Solomon’s father had secured the kingdom and subdued the nations around Israel, but this endowment could not guarantee his son’s success. Solomon’s desire for wisdom, and his understanding of its origin, would allow tribute and honor to flow toward Jerusalem in ways his father couldn’t have dreamed. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. This is the end of the introduction to chapter 1, and it may well be used as a conclusion to this book as well. Later on in the first chapter Solomon personifies wisdom, which “cries aloud in the street…” If one listens to this cry, he affirms in chapter 2, then wisdom will act as both guide and shield: “Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path… discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech…” Pay attention to this observation in the middle of chapter 3: The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. That clause “by wisdom” at the beginning of this thrusts the quest for wisdom beyond individual gain and protection, beyond simple advice: it is to connect with the means through which the universe was created. Our verse for this week is James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Proverbs 1 through 3. Now let’s read it!
Transcribe →