Daily GNT Bible Reading Podcast

Phil Fields
Daily GNT Bible Reading Podcast

Join us in reading through the whole Good News Bible (GNT) in 365 24-minute-long podcasts!

  1. FEB 9

    043: Exodus 25-26; Psalm 1; Luke 2:25-52

    EXODUS 25-26: Yesterday we read the commands for the Israelites to be good neighbors and to practice justice. And we heard the requirement for all Israelites to celebrate three festivals, and God gave promises of how He would bring them into the land. Then we read the story of how Moses led the people in accepting the covenant. Note how important the sacrificial blood was in this ceremony. The Israelites promised to obey the covenant. Moses told them to wait for him, then followed God's call to go up to the summit of the mountain, where he stayed for 40 days and nights.   PSALMS 1: Job— as I said before, is a book of sophisticated poetry, one that uses literary devices and makes reference to a well-developed mythology. And we find a book that defies simple analysis. At the conclusion of Job, some of you may be feeling that some basic questions were not really answered. Some of you may be saying, “But I have suffered injustice, and God has not responded to me the way he responded to Job at the end of the book.” To those of you, I say that we can learn several things from Job, and one would be that there are many things God takes into account that we do not know about. And secondly, we can be sure that God is just and fair, and in the final analysis— when we reach heaven, all issues of justice will be resolved. And I also say this: I hope you continue to read the Bible with us this year, because we will find more answers about God’s sovereignty and justice as we go on.    The book of Psalms was the nation of Israel's hymnbook. The poems were compiled over time, with most of the first half by King David. The Psalms fall into these categories: Instruction, Praise, Thanksgiving,  Penitence, Trust, Distress,  Aspiration, History, and Prophecy.   Under the prophecy category, the Psalms talk of Jesus' prophetic office, his priestly office, his kingly office, his sufferings, and his resurrection. (For details, see HC Mears.)   LUKE 2b: Yesterday we read of Jesus' birth, of the angels announcement to the shepherds, and of Jesus being presented in the temple— which is where we pick up the story today.   GNT Translation note: Luk. 2:34 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, [the child’s//his] mother, “This child is chosen by God for the destruction and the salvation of many in Israel. He will be a sign from God which many people will speak against 35 and so reveal their secret thoughts. And sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break your own heart.” NLT Translation notes: Luk. 2:30 [For I have now//I have] seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal [You/God] to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

    21 min
  2. FEB 2

    040: Exodus 19-20; Job 40; Luke 1:1-45

    EXODUS 19-20: Yesterday in Exodus, we heard of God satisfying the thirst of the Israelites by commanding Moses to hit a rock. Israel defeated the Amalekites. And Jethro brought Moses’ wife and sons to him and stayed around long enough to give him good advice.   Note that in Hebrew, God often talks of _Himself_ in what we might term the royal fashion— as ‘The Lord’, and as ‘He’ or ‘His’ (instead of ‘Me’ and ‘My’). Many translations into other languages must use ‘I, the Lord’ and ‘Me/My’, as to speak of oneself in the third person is ungrammatical. To speak that way is highly unusual in English. An example of this happens in today’s reading in Exodus 20:7, in the commandment about not taking the Lord’s name in vain. JOB 40: Yesterday in the book of Job, God continued to challenge Job with questions too hard for humans to answer. In today’s chapter, starting at verse 15, we read about the Behemoth. The GNT footnote tells that some identify this as a hippopotamus. But the description of Behemoth's tail in verse 17 doesn't fit with a hippopotamus. Maybe a sea crocodile would be a better choice, but they don’t eat grass. It is perhaps better to simply say that the Behemoth and Leviathan are legendary or mythical sea creatures. LUKE 1: Yesterday we finished 2nd Peter with his advising us to get ready for the Lord's return. Luke— as we will find out in other NT books, was the physician who was a traveling companion of Paul. His goal was to write a well-researched and ordered account of Jesus' life— as he says in his formal prologue.   Robert Maddox states: “[Luke] writes to reassure the Christians of his day that their faith in Jesus is no aberration, but the authentic goal towards which God’s ancient dealings with Israel were driving.” More Muslims have become followers of Christ through reading Luke’s Gospel than from reading the other three, because of its emphases. Luke is the longest book of the NT, and if we put Luke’s two books together, they form 27% of the NT. Luke wrote to Theophilus, who may have been a Roman dignitary, but since the name means “Lover of God” Luke may have intended his book for all of us who love God. Luke's explanations show that he was writing to the Greeks, and so he appropriately brings out that Christ came for all mankind— Jews, and Gentiles. Luke also highlights the roles played by women. A major example of this is the material in this gospel that clearly from Luke’s interviews with Mary, the mother of Jesus. Luke includes more poetry than the other Gospels, tells more about Jesus praying, and chronicles Jesus' parables and teaching.

    24 min
  3. FEB 2

    038: Exodus 15-16; Job 38; 1 Peter 1:19-2:22

    EXODUS 15-16: Yesterday in our reading in Exodus, we heard that because of the Passover plague which killed Egypt's firstborn, God claimed the firstborn of Israel for all time to come. Then we heard of Pharaoh's final hardening of his heart, and the parting of the red sea. JOB 38: In the 6 chapters before this, Elihu has said that God uses multiple means of communication with humans. He maintained that God is just, and said that Job— in his despair, had gone too far in saying it doesn't make any difference if one tries to serve God. He said that God is amazing in His power, and God does notice and punish the wicked. Then it so happened that as Elihu was speaking, a storm was blowing up that showed God's awesome majesty. Then— in today’s chapter, the Lord answers Job, not the last speaker, Elihu. 2PETER 2: Yesterday in 2nd Peter we heard that we can employ God's promises to supply power for godly living. This power can even enable us to share in God's own nature, thereby escaping the world's corruption. For many years I was disappointed in Peter because he did not tell us WHICH promises we need to claim to escape worldly corruption and evil desires. I have concluded that everyone is different, and what works for me may not work for you. But if you are interested in what works for me, I recommend a seven day YouVersion reading plan I made called Buckling the Belt of Truth. There is a stark contrast between chapter 2 of 2nd Peter and the end of chapter 1. So before we start our readings for today, let me remind you what we read at the end of chapter 1.

    28 min
  4. FEB 2

    037: Exodus 13-14; Job 37; 2 Peter 1

    EXODUS 13-14: Yesterday In Exodus we heard of the final plague— the death of the firstborn, which happened at the first Passover. And we heard the rules for the Passover celebrations. Note how Christ is foreshadowed in the Passover lamb, including the detail that not a bone was to be broken. JOB 37: Today we read chapter 37 of Job, which is the conclusion of Elihu's speech. 2nd PETER 1: Yesterday in the last chapter of his letter, James railed against the rich to encourage the poor. He also told us how to be patient in our suffering. The last section teaches about prayer for the sick and finally about repentance. I add a little footnote here. So often I hear the part about praying for the sick quoted by people who do not bother to fulfill all the instructions that James gives. If we are going to claim promises in Scriptures, we need to fulfill the conditions given! The 2nd letter of Peter's was probably written not long before he was martyred in AD 68. Or it could have been written as early as AD 65. A different person with a very different vocabulary served as Peter’s secretary to write this. One of the things that tell me that Peter really was the author is his consistent humility. In 1Peter 5, he spoke of himself as a fellow elder and a fellow in looking forward to the glory that will be revealed to us. And he starts this letter in a similar vein, calling his listeners those ‘who share the same precious [faith/way of believing] we [apostles] have.’ Constable quotes Vernon McGee: “Second Peter is the swan song of Peter, just as 2 Timothy is the swan song of Paul. There are striking similarities between the two books. Both epistles put up a warning sign along the pilgrim pathway the church is traveling to identify the awful apostasy that was on the way at the time and which in our time has now arrived. What was then like a cloud the size of a man’s hand today envelops the sky and produces a storm of hurricane proportions. Peter warns of heresy among teachers; Paul warns of heresy among the laity.”

    23 min

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Join us in reading through the whole Good News Bible (GNT) in 365 24-minute-long podcasts!

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