#also he invited me out again but I declined bc I CANNOT remember his name from like April or whatever

[kralmajales]

I HATE NEW YORK.

[dailyaudiobible]

11/01/2018 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 1:1-3:15, Hebrews 3:1-19, Psalms 104:1-23, Proverbs 26:2n.24-26s

Today is the 1st day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I'm Brian. It's great to be here with you today as we walk into this new month together. Month eleven of the year. And if you can believe it, by the time we get out of this month, we will be fully immersed in the Christmas season, which is pretty hard to believe, but this is where we are in our year and this is how far we've come in the Bible. So, we have been reading from the book of Lamentations in our Old Testament reading and we concluded that yesterday, which brings us to a new book of prophecy known as Ezekiel. And this prophet, Ezekiel, appears to have been a well-educated person who was deeply loyal to God and also to the traditions of his people. He came from a priestly family and, like Jeremiah, he was often instructed by God to symbolically act out his prophecies. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were prophesying around the same time. But it's fairly interesting because, whereas Jeremiah prophesied from Jerusalem, Ezekiel was prophesying at around the same time from exile in Babylon. So, two prophets kind of at either end of the equation. So, during this time, the climate of international struggle and upheaval was prevalent. The Assyrian empire had been conquered by the Babylonian empire. Egypt and Babylon clashed within the land of ancient Israel because possessing that land, that little strip of land, allowed whoever ruled that strip of land to control the major trade routes between lands to the north and east and the continent of Africa. And because of this, at one point or another, the Israelites had all been allies of and then subsequently subdued by all of these ancient empires. But Jerusalem had not been destroyed. Rather, Judah would pay tribute and become like a vassal that changed hands. And this all happened during the generational decline in the kings' leadership that we totally read about as we were moving through the books of Kings and Chronicles. And then in 597 BC, the Babylonians subdued Jerusalem and began to deport people and take them into exile. And Ezekiel was among the first to go into exile. And several years later, and we read of this when we were reading the book of Jeremiah, this king that had been put in place named Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, even though Jeremiah was clearly pleading and prophesying not to do that. And then in 588, the Babylonians, they came and they laid siege. And they eventually conquered, and they completely destroyed Jerusalem a few years later. So, Ezekiel had been taken into exile and in those early years, he prophesied of Jerusalem's destruction, even as Jeremiah was prophesying the same thing from Jerusalem if they didn't surrender. And as we know, they didn't. And after the fall of Jerusalem and the temple was completely destroyed, then the prophesies of Ezekiel from exile transform into some of the most hope-filled messages of renewal and restoration that we'll find in the whole Bible. But Ezekiel also contains these descriptions that are almost, like, cinematic, apocalyptic visions that aren't unlike the visions of Daniel or the visions found in the book of Revelation. And because of that, the parallels are often cross-examined in the apocalyptic study of the end times known as eschatology. But these weren't just disembodied visions that Ezekiel had in some kind of weird dream. They had a pretty great impact on him personally. And the same can happen for us as we read them. If we're able to approach the book and the imagery from the perspective of what it speaks to our hearts, we'll be able to engage and enjoy the deep and rich textures allowing to speak to us like a sunrise would rather than how the morning newspaper does. The book of Ezekiel holds a lot of promise for us and it's one of the larger and influential books of prophecy we have in the Bible. And even though we're reading a book that's thousands of years old, it tells of an ultimate hope and a blessing that God has for us when we return to him. And so with that, we're reading from the New Living Translation this week. Ezekiel 1:1-3:15.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for this new threshold that we've walked into into the book of Ezekiel and we invite Your Holy Spirit to speak to us. Everything that we need to hear, everything that we need to feel. We open our hearts to You. And we also make notice of the fact that we have entered into the eleventh month of this year. And once again we take a moment at this line of demarcation to look back and rejoice in Your faithfulness. You have certainly brought us this far, and we have certainly walked through plenty of drama. And yet here we are, and You have been faithful. And, so, we take note of this, we acknowledge this and along with the psalmist we declare, let all that we are praise the Lord. O Lord our God, how great You are. You are robed with honor and majesty. You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens. Father, that You are Almighty God and father to us at the same time is overwhelming. And when it sinks in, when we get this glimpse of the reality, we wonder why we would worry and fret about anything. The Lord of heaven's armies, the creator of all things both seen and unseen, is our father. And, so, we rejoice in You and we worship You, Father. Come, Holy Spirit, we pray. Lead us firmly and rightly and clearly into this next month. We submit ourselves to You. We open ourselves to You completely. Come Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website's, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check in and check it out.

Stay connected as we move into these last couple of months of the year because, from my experience, we'll be in the thick of it before we can even blink twice. And so finishing strong is a decision and that's a decision that needs to be made in advance and one of the ways to make that decision is to stay connected. So, do that. Pray for your brothers and sisters at the prayer wall. Visit the Daily Audio Bible shop for resources. And you can stay connected at any of the social media channels that you're on and we're on at the same time. And those links can be found in the community section of dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the give button in the upper right-hand corner. Or if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, 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.

Community Prayer and Praise:

hi family, this is __ in St. Louis. I wanted to call in with a few things. Asia, sweet Asia, my heart is broken for you in your loss. I am just…I am just…I have no words and all I can say is that we are all praying for you. We don’t understand why these tragic things happen, but God’s love remains true. And let me tell you, in the middle of your message, hope came to me because you were told you would not have any other children, but you did get pregnant. I know maybe this is too soon for you to hear this because you’re still grieving the loss of this baby but there’s hope in the midst of it. God gives us hope. So, hang onto that hope and when the time is right we will see what blessings God will bring forth from this. Joe the Protector…even…I can imagine just the shock and the disappointment you must feel at the pregnancy of your 15-year-old daughter but in the middle of that I see hope. I see that this child and grandbaby is going to bless your family in ways you never understand, in ways you cannot see right now. Hold on to hope family. Hold onto hope. I’m going through some grieving for some different situations in my life but I’m holding on because God’s love is true and God is faithful even when we go through these times as Brian talked about in Lamentations in today’s message. And Melisa, keep singing for us girl. You have such a beautiful voice and I was so blessed. Love you family. God bless.

Hi DAB family this is Paula the child advocate from the LA area calling. I wanted to leave a message for Joe the Protector. Joe, your call the other day about your 15-year-old daughter really touched me about her pregnancy and I wanted to give you just a few words of hope. I don’t know if you remember that I’ve called in over the years for a little girl named Mel who has been in foster care since she was about, I think five, and I became friends with her when she was seven. And she also got pregnant at the age of 15 and I was very upset about it. And in my heart, I was really hoping she was going to give the baby up for adoption but she chose to keep the baby. And I have to tell you Joe, it was the best thing in the world. This little guy changed her life around. She is the best mother I have seen. He’s in such good hands and has changed her life. She’s finished high school, she’s going to college, she’s become a more responsible, loving person. So, I’m hoping the same for your daughter, that this baby will change her life for the better and I’m sure he will change all your lives for the better. I also wanted to leave a message for Christine who called in and she said she had leukemia. I’ll be praying for you Christine. You just sounded so wonderful on the phone. Your voice sounded so strong and you sounded so hopeful, so I am praying for you. And all my DAB family out there, I’m thinking of you, I listen to all of your prayers, and I keep you all in my heart. Thank you, Brian and Jill and the whole Hardin family. God bless you all. Bye for now.

Hey DAB family this is Byron of Florida. I am calling for __ Confession. It is so good to hear your voice. It has been a long time and you have not left my thoughts. So, I’m glad to hear you again. I remember your testimony. I remember how you had dealt with Asperger’s. I myself have two boys on the spectrum and it can be very frustrating and exasperating to deal with them and I also worry about the future, but when I hear your voice and when I see what God in His faithfulness has done through you, to make you the unbelievably strong person that you are, you have no idea what that means. So, thank you for calling back again and please don’t let it be too long before you call in again. All right family, I love you all. Talk to you later.

Hey DAB family, this is Alex the Seeker from Florida. It’s October 29th and I haven’t checked in for a while but I’m asking for some prayers, please, regarding my son and my ex-wife. My son is still having problems with depression and with just some disturbing thoughts. He’s being evaluated in a psych unit and we’re just hoping for some right medication and some good outcome there, that he’s going to get the help he needs in one way or another. Also, my ex-wife is, I guess, going back and forth between the relationship she has and with putting our family back together. So, I am not sure where this is gonna go and sometimes it brings me down for quite a bit and then I try to remember that it’s God’s plan, that I have to follow it, that I have to do my part in what I know to do, and He will take care of the rest. Needing to trust Him and doing that to the best of my abilities but sometimes it’s just not as easy done and said. Anyway, so, I’m asking for prayers for my son’s mental status and for relationship with my ex-wife and that God’s will be done in those two instances. Alright guys, I appreciate you all. Thank you so much and God bless you all. This is Alex the Seeker. Bye.

Hello DAB family this is Chantee calling from Metro Detroit and I wanted to call in for Asia. I just heard your call and I am so, so sorry to hear what you had to endure, and the emotions, up-and-down emotions, that you had to go through with the loss of your baby. And, if I’m devastated, I just…I can’t imagine what you’re going through and I’m just praying for you and your husband and Aiden to get through this, and to process it, and to…and just for your relationship to grow even stronger with the Lord through this. We don’t know why this would happen, but God knows…and…so…of course, I don’t have the words to say but I just wanted to let you know that I’m praying for you. All right. I will talk to you all later. Love you. Bye-bye.