Daily Bible Reading Podcast

ZECHARIAH 10-11: As we have seen before, the Lord loves names and delights to give new names. In Zec. 8 He said, Zec. 8:3 NLT Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will be called the Holy Mountain. In Zec. 9 we read the verse Matthew quotes in chapter 21 about Jesus coming riding on the foal of a donkey. The verse is also alluded to in John 12:15. And we heard this verse about the New Jerusalem: Zec. 9:16 NLT On that day the LORD their God will rescue his people, just as a shepherd rescues his sheep. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. ISAIAH 63: In chapter 62 we read promises like what I shared above about the Lord giving names: Is. 62:4 NLT Never again will you be called “The Forsaken City” or “The Desolate Land.”Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight”and “The Bride of God,”for the LORD delights in you and will claim you as his bride. And similarly at the end of that chapter: Is. 62:11b NLT Look, your Savior is coming. See, h

ZECHARIAH 8-9:I hope that you have noticed [Joshua//Jeshua] the high priest. He was the one that Satan was not allowed to accuse. He was given clean clothes. He is a priest and was given a clean priestly turban. And the gem with seven facets (literally, seven eyes) was set before him. He is a picture of the Messiah, who is called the Lord’s righteous Branch. Then in chapter 6 we read that he was given a crown, and told: Zec. 6:13 NLT Yes, he will build the Temple of the LORD. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne, and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles.’ As far as a normal man can do so, he is a picture of Jesus. And Joshua is a variant of Jeshua— which is the same name the Greeks pronounce ‘Yesu’, which is where we get our pronunciation of Jesus. From our place in history, how easy it is to see what God was picturing. ISAIAH 62:Yesterday we heard another Messianic section of Isaiah— the part that Jesus spoke in hi

ZECHARIAH 6-7: There were so many correspondences to Revelation in the three chapters we read yesterday in Zechariah that I cannot even take time to list them. I single out this one from chapter 3 as especially interesting: Zec. 3:8 NLT “Listen to me, O [Joshua//Jeshua] the high priest, and all you other priests. You are symbols of things to come. Soon I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 Now look at the jewel I have set before Jeshua, a single stone with seven facets. I will engrave an inscription on it, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, and I will remove the sins of this land in a single day. Joshua was called the ‘Branch’, or ‘Rod’, or ‘Shoot’— and in this age we can clearly see that both he and Zerubbabel are pictures of the Messiah. The Branch is also referred to in Jeremiah and Isaiah. Secondly, it is interesting that the stone has seven ‘facets’. The word for facets in Hebrew is literally ‘eyes’. And the Lamb in revelation has seven eyes. This insight given to Zerubbabel in chapter 4 is a prin

ZECHARIAH 3-5:In Zechariah 1-2 we heard how Zechariah’s dreams often included angels talking with him. There were horses and riders, horns and blacksmiths, and the measuring Jerusalem. Jerusalem will not be nearly big enough. God’s people WILL COME out of captivity in Babylon. Note that by Zechariah’s time, this was already happening. His words and those events foreshadow what we read in Revelation about the new Jerusalem. Consider the last verses of Zech. 2: Zech. 2:10-13 NLT The Lord says, “Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you. 11 Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they, too, will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me to you.12 The land of Judah will be the Lord’s special possession in the holy land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem to be his own city.13 Be silent before the Lord, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling. ISAIAH 60: In Isaiah 59 we a

ZECHARIAH 1-2:Yesterday we read both chapters of the little book of Haggai, and heard how Haggai motivated his discouraged audience to return to the task of rebuilding the temple. Haggai certainly must have known and worked with our next author— Zechariah. While there are at least 27 men named Zechariah in the Old Testament, we do know which one was the writer of this book.  The biblestudytools.com site says that Zechariah “was born in Babylonia and was among those who returned to Judah in 538/537 b.c. under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua (his grandfather Iddo is named among the returnees in Ne 12:4). At a later time, when Joiakim was high priest (see note on Ne 12:12-21), Zechariah apparently succeeded Iddo (1:1,7) as head of that priestly family (Ne 12:10-16).”  (See https://www.biblestudytools.com/csb/zechariah/ for a very helpful timeline showing where Zechariah’s prophecies fit in with the book of Ezra and Haggai’s prophecies.) The name Zechariah means ‘Yahweh remembers’, and his name is appro

HAGGAI 1-2:I hope you saw correlations to Revelation in the 3rd chapter of Zephaniah yesterday— in what God plans for the nations and for those who come to the new Jerusalem. And these verses are interesting because of correlations all over scripture: Zephaniah 3:11b NLT I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you.There will be no more haughtiness on my holy mountain.12 Those who are left will be the lowly and humble,for it is they who trust in the name of the Lord. Mears gives a helpful summary about the prophets: Of the 16 prophets, most of them— eleven, prophesied before the exile, just two prophesied during the exile (Ezekiel and Daniel), while three prophesied after the exile. We turn to the first of these now— Haggai. This book (with only two chapters) consists of four prophecies in four months— each dated and all in the second year of King Darius’ reign. In the modern calendar these dates would have been between August 29 and December 18, 520 B.C. This places Haggai’s messages two mont

ZEPHANIAH 3: Today we read the last chapter of Zephaniah. In chapter 2, we heard words that were much like what we heard recently in Isaiah 49 and 55: Zep. 2:2 NLT Gather [together] before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD’s anger begins. 3 Seek the LORD, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you— protect you from his anger on that day of destruction. Note that God repeatedly says, “What you need to do to get right with me, do it NOW. Don’t put it off!” ISAIAH 57: In chapter 56, we heard how God’s plan includes even eunuchs and foreigners— which includes us. The chapter ended with a condemnation of Israel’s leaders which was filled with irony. The people who listened to Jesus when he said that he is the Good Shepherd, would likely have thought back to Isaiah’s words: Is. 56:11 NLT Like greedy dogs, they

NAHUM 3: Yesterday we heard just how Nineveh’s defenses would be breached. The description was detailed and vivid, including the scarlet color of the enemy uniforms and the way chariots would rumble recklessly in the city streets after the river gate was torn open. God justly judged this city for its cruelty to others. ISAIAH 54: In Isaiah 53:10 it says, Is. 53:10 NLT But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Often literal translations give a meaning that can hardly be conceived of— saying that the Lord was ‘pleased’. The pleasure of the Lord means that it was His will or decision— which is why Jesus received a No answer in the garden of Gethsemane. Seeing His Son suffer so much certainly caused great sorrow! Think how Abraham felt when he was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac! Also Isaiah 53 ends with the idea that Jesus ‘intercedes for the rebels’— which is us. This is echoed in Hebrews 7 in the teaching that Jesus is our great High Priest. Heb. 7:24 NLT But because Jesus lives forev

NAHUM 1-2: Micah certainly poured out his heart in chapter 7. Micah 7:7-9 matches the verse I highlighted in Isaiah 50:10. Those are verses that give comfort to people dealing with long-term suffering. Now turning to Nahum: Nahum’s name means ‘compassion’, ‘consolation’, or ‘comfort’. Nothing is known about Nahum except for what we can glean from his book. He must have written between the fall of the Egyptian city of Thebes in 663 B.C. and the fall of the Assyrian city of Nineveh in 612. Nineveh fell to a combined force of Medes, Babylonians, and Scythians. This book is a vivid prediction of the fall of Nineveh— which is the same city that Jonah preached against 150 years earlier. Assyria was an extremely violent and cruel oppressor. Rereading ISAIAH 52:13—53: Note the contrast between verses 8 and 10: Is. 538 NLT Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But just two verses later, we read: 10 But it was the LORD’s good plan t

MICAH 7: The complete quote about the Messiah’s birthplace (Micah 5:2-5) quoted to Herod in Matthew 2:6 mentions Bethlehem, a woman in labor giving birth, and the Lord is pictured as our shepherd who will be ‘highly honored around the world’. Note that Herod would have had cause for concern about his reign if such a leader appeared. If Micah 6:8 sounded familiar, it is because Micah quoted from Deut. 10:12. ISAIAH 52:13—53: In our reading yesterday, Isaiah 52, we heard the passage that Paul quoted in Romans 10. Is. 52:7 NLT How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! All the ends of the earth will see the victory of our God. Note that God gave a special message (in 52:11-12) to those who would carry the temple treasures back to Jerusalem led by Ezra (Ezra 8). Those who carried those ‘sacred objects’ and who prayed and fasted with Ezra beside the river near Babylon had their prayer answered arou

MICAH 5-6: Remember that Isaiah and Micah were contemporaries. Yesterday we read very familiar sounding verses at the beginning of Micah 4 which start like this: Mic. 4:1 NLT In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house will be the highest of all— the most important place on earth. … That was so familiar sounding that I thought the passage must be quoted in the New Testament— but no! There are three verses there in Micah 4 that are almost exactly the same as verses found in Isaiah chapter 2. No wonder they sounded familiar! Note that God, as he speaks in Micah, frequently jumps from one time to another without warning. He can tell the people, “You will be exiled to Babylon” in one verse, but then very quickly, God says, “Rise and crush the nations, Jerusalem.” We just have to accept that this kind of unannounced time-switching is a feature of prophetic writings. ISAIAH 52: The chapter break between Isaiah 50 and 51 breaks up an important connection. For any of us who are “walking in the dark without a r

MICAH 3-4: In Micah 1 yesterday we heard one of the sections of Hebrew poetry which is virtually impossible to translate and capture the same impact as the original. Micah— expressing his deep sorrow at God’s coming judgment, concatenated many place names— using them in a compound figure of speech based on the meanings of the names. For instance, Mic. 1:10b NLT You people in Beth-leaphrah, roll in the dust to show your despair. The name Beth-leaphrah means ‘house of dust’. For those following this plan in the GNT, Micah 1 would be a good place to open the NLT. The NLT footnotes do a good job helping us with the meanings of the names. That holds true until the reader gets to Adullam. No footnote for that one! Say, we’ve heard that name before, haven’t we? Who else hid there? ISAIAH 51: If you have time, go back to review Isaiah 50. God showed the thoughts of our Savior in advance of his coming in verses 4-6. Jesus’ resolve (alluded to in Luke 9:51) is shown in verse 7. And verse 9 might have been Paul’s inspir

MICAH 1-2:The name “Micah” is a shortened form of “Micaiah,” which means, “Who is like Yahweh?” A different Micaiah, the son of Imlah, served as a prophet in the Northern Kingdom during the reign of King Ahab of Israel (874-853 B.C., 1Kings 22:8-28; 2Chron. 18:3-27). Micah prophesied during the reigns of the Judean kings Jotham (750-732 B.C.), Ahaz (732-715 B.C.), and Hezekiah (715-686 B.C.). This makes him a late eighth-century contemporary of Isaiah. While Isaiah was ministering in Jerusalem, perhaps Micah was more of a country prophet. Amos and Hosea were preaching at the same time in the Northern Kingdom. Micah’s message is similar to that of Amos, and Micah spoke at a time when conditions in Judah were much like those in the Northern Kingdom while Amos was preaching. Both prophets denounced social sins and the unfair treatment of the poor by the rich. The Northern Kingdom was taken into captivity during Micah’s lifetime— fulfilling Amos’ prophecies. Micah contains three notable passages about Christ: Be

OBADIAH:At the end of Amos, the clouds of judgment broke and there were wonderful promises about the restoration of Israel. God would shake the nations like a sieve and not a single kernel (child of Israel) would drop through the cracks and be lost. And Israel’s crops would be so rich and fruitful. Then, did you notice?— Isaiah said the same thing in chapter 49. Obadiah’s name means “servant of Yahweh” or “worshipper of Yahweh.”  There are 13 men who have this name in the Old Testament, and it is very possible that the writer of this book is not one of those mentioned. Only two Old Testament prophetic books lack any information about the author: Obadiah and Malachi. Obadiah refers to a time when the Edomites had gloated over a successful invasion of Jerusalem (vv. 10-14, 16), but this does not help much in dating the book, since invasions of the city happened at least seven times in Old Testament history. The Edomites lived in the inaccessible rock fortress of Petra— which is famously seen in Indiana Jones an

ESTHER 9-10:We have heard how Esther’s request was granted, the king and Haman came to the second banquet, where Esther revealed her identity. The eunuch Harbona just happened to have pertinent information about Haman’s plans for Mordecai, and Haman was killed and impaled/hanged on the pole he had planned to use for Mordecai. Mordecai, coming into possession of the king’s signet ring, wrote an edict that allowed for the Jews to organize and defend themselves against their enemies. ISAIAH 43: In Isaiah 42 we heard twice about ‘the servant of the Lord’. The first passage is quoted in the New Testament about Jesus. However in the second, the servant (singular) pictures the people of Israel. Before Christ came, the Jews would have read the first section understanding it also to refer to the people of Israel. This intentional vagueness is one of the ways God used to reveal his message to us in this age and conceal it before the time for revealing had come. 2 Timothy 1: This is Paul’s final letter, and it is also t

ESTHER 7-8: In Esther 5 Haman planned to impale Mordecai on a pole in the NLT, or just hanged in the GNT. (Given the period of time, I think that the impaling method is more likely to be right.) But on the same night that Haman planned for that murder, God caused the king to have a sleepless night and read in the annals of the kingdom about Mordecai. Haman came before the king at just the right time to get assigned the task of honoring Mordecai. ISAIAH 42: In Isaiah 41 we again heard God predict the future, and challenge Israel’s idols to prophesy or do anything at all. 2THESSALONIANS 3: The Thessalonians must have wondered how they would hear of Jesus’ return— given that Jesus would touch down so far from them at Jerusalem. We will be able to anticipate Jesus’ return by whether the ‘man of lawlessness’ has appeared, has drawn away many people by working powerful miracles, and has usurped God’s position in the temple. Note that God has not given us the order or timing of these events in relation to what was f

ESTHER 5-6: In Esther 3-4 Haman cast lots (purim) to find out that March 7 was the lucky date to exterminate the Jews. Mordecai requested that Esther intercede directly to the king. And since she hadn’t been called for, the only way to do that would endanger Esther herself, since no one was allowed to approach the king in the inner court uninvited. ISAIAH 41b: Did you notice in yesterday’s reading, we heard a description of a king that sounded similar to one described in the book of Daniel? Isaiah 41:2-4 NLT: 2 “Who has stirred up this king from the east, rightly calling him to God’s service? Who gives this man victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot? With his sword, he reduces armies to dust. With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind. 3 He chases them away and goes on safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground. 4 Who has done such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation from the beginning of time? It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last. I alo

ESTHER 3-4: Yesterday we heard how Esther became the queen, and how she continued to keep her Jewish background a secret. We also heard how Mordecai, her uncle, was promoted to a palace official after uncovering a plot to assassinate king Xerxes. Today we are introduced to the villain of the story— Haman. The Jews always read the book of Esther in the celebration of Purim. Whenever Haman’s name is read they boo and shake rattles or noisemakers to drown out his name. ISAIAH 41a: The shift to such beautiful poetry that occurs in chapter 40 of Isaiah is one of the things that has made people think the last part of this book was authored by someone else. But that is the silly. As I have pointed out as we have gone along, Isaiah has written beautiful and memorize-able verses from the beginning of this book. And Isaiah’s amazing predictions about the Messiah are not just found in chapter 53, as we heard again yesterday. 2 THESSALONIANS 1:Did you notice yesterday that the little book of Philemon is a picture of the

ESTHER 1-2:In the final two chapters of Nehemiah, we heard of the culmination of Nehemiah’s work— the ceremony for the dedication of the wall. The people proved that the wall could stand up to more than just a fox walking on it. Then Nehemiah went back to Babylon. When he came back to Jerusalem, he needed to right several wrongs, as the people had allowed a deterioration in the temple worship. We now turn to the book of Esther, which may have been written by Mordecai (a major character in the book), or by Ezra or Nehemiah, who would have known this story. The king Xerxes was defeated in a famous naval battle against Greece. From the historian Herodotus we find that the feast mentioned in the first chapter of Esther was the occasion for planning that battle. Esther has been compared to Joseph and David. She also started out as just an ordinary person, but God planned something great for her. ISAIAH 40b: The three memorable musical compositions in Handel’s Messiah that quote from this chapter are taken from jus

NEHEMIAH 12-13 In yesterday’s chapters in Nehemiah, we heard the names of the various religious and civil leaders who signed the statement of commitment to follow Moses’ Law, which was almost certainly penned by Ezra. Then there was a listing of the various leaders and clans that volunteered or were chosen by lot to live in Jerusalem. ISAIAH 40a: I am always very disappointed with Hezekiah when he does not pray and ask the Lord to not allow Jerusalem to be conquered by Babylon and not to allow his sons to become eunuchs in Babylon’s palace. God had already responded amazingly to him in answering his prayers. The New Testament teaches us to be alert in prayer, and I think that includes being alert to what to pray for. Today we start the glorious final section of Isaiah, with favorite words set to music in Handel’s Messiah. COLOSSIANS 4:Our resurrection to a new life because of being one with Christ, is not just being raised from death to live again on this earth. We get raised right to heaven. Our true spiritu