Daily Bible Reading Podcast

EZEKIEL 34-35:In Ezekiel yesterday, we heard of how Pharaoh was to be mocked in the world of the dead. Then we heard of God’s justice, which he showed by the illustration of Ezekiel as a watchman for a city. ISAIAH 13:Yesterday’s reading in Isaiah was a psalm of praise including these poetic lines: Is. 12:2b-4b NLT The LORD GOD is my strength and my song;he has given me victory.3 With joy you will drink deeplyfrom the fountain of salvation!…4b Tell the nations what he has done.Let them know how mighty he is! HEBREWS 9:Important conclusions from yesterday’s reading include: Heb. 8:6 NLT But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.   Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Trans

EZEKIEL 32-33:Again, as seen in the messages to Tyre and to Egypt, God was not just speaking to one king or about one kingdom, but was also speaking against the kingdom/city of Man or the world system under the rulership of Satan. ISAIAH 12:In yesterday’s reading we again heard of the righteous Branch, a shoot growing from David’s root. And we heard these famous words: Is. 11:2 NLT And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,the Spirit of counsel and might,the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.3 He will delight in obeying the LORD.He will not judge by appearancenor make a decision based on hearsay.4 He will give justice to the poorand make fair decisions for the exploited.The earth will shake at the force of his word,and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.5 He will wear righteousness like a beltand truth like an undergarment. HEBREWS 8:In yesterday’s reading, the writer of Hebrews showed many similarities between Melchizedek and Christ, includin

EZEKIEL 30-31:As the Lord was pronouncing doom upon the Prince of Tyre in Ezekiel 28, did you notice how the language shifted to talking about things that the human prince could not have done. The spirit-world ruler behind the prince of Tyre is really in mind— that is, Satan. The tirade against the King of Egypt could also be similarly interpreted. ISAIAH 11:Isaiah recorded in yesterday’s portion that Assyria’s army would come to Judah, but that Judah would be different from the other nations that Assyria conquered. And it did indeed happen like that! HEBREWS 7:Yesterday the author of Hebrews reminded us of Abraham and Melchizedek. We ought to have great confidence in our hope, because the God— who cannot lie, has given us both a promise and an oath. The last verse of Hebrews 6 introduces again the topic of Melchizedek: Heb. 6:20 On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us (that is, into the heavenly sanctuary) and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek. NLT Translation not

EZEKIEL 26-27:Yesterday we heard a second word picture of Jerusalem as a cooking pot. This was not good news. Then Ezekiel received word that his treasure— his wife, would die. And he was commanded not to mourn as a sign of what the people would do when they heard about the slaughter in Jerusalem. Then there were messages of punishment for the nations of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. ISAIAH 9:In yesterday’s reading, God gave Isaiah the name of his son (Maher-shalal-hash-baz, meaning “Swift to plunder and quick to carry away.”), which pictures the conquest of Judah by the Assyrian army. Then there was a wonderful and often quoted part that in the New Testament identifies Jesus as the stumbling stone: Is. 8:11-15 NLT11 The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, 12 “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. 13 Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who s

EZEKIEL 23:In yesterday’s reading, we heard the Lord promise that he would refine Israel as purifying silver in a crucible. And then we heard the famous and poignant words: Ez. 23:30 NLT “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. ISAIAH 7:Yesterday we heard the story of Isaiah’s vision of the glory of the Lord in the temple. Isaiah’s lips were purified with a coal from the altar. Then after hearing the Lord’s call, he said the famous words, “Here I am. Send me!” And the Lord revealed that his messages would not be received. In verse 3 of today’s chapter, Isaiah is told to take his son, Shear-Jashub, to go to meet King Ahaz. The name Shear-Jashub means “A remnant will return.” Keep the meaning of that name in mind as we read the last part of chapter 7. Rereading HEBREWS 3:Yesterday we heard the quote from Ps. 95 that forms the basis for this section. It

EZEKIEL 22:Yesterday we heard of the sword of the Lord, which was to come to Jerusalem, actually in the form of the army of the king of Babylon. And there would be punishment also for the Ammonites. ISAIAH 6:In yesterday’s reading, we heard one of the famous chapters that relate to Israel as the Lord’s vine. This would have been in the minds of those who listened to Jesus when he gave his teaching about the vine bearing fruit in John 15. God said yesterday, “They will go into exile because they do not know me.” HEBREWS 3:In Hebrews 2 we heard the first of the writer’s warnings. The writer’s increasingly strong warnings are a persistent theme in this book. And for the first time we heard that Jesus is our perfect High Priest. Jesus is perfect for that position because he fully shared our human existence, and he suffered and defeated the devil’s power over death. NLT Translation note:Heb.3:19 So we see that [they were unable to enter his rest because they refused to believe him.// because of their unbelief they

EZEKIEL 21:Yesterday we saw that the Lord was quite offended when unrighteous leaders of Israel came to ask for a message from the Lord! And Ezekiel begged to not have to give a highly figurative message because the people complained that he was always speaking in riddles. ISAIAH 5:Yesterday there was a temporary break in the clouds in Isaiah, and we heard the first hint about the Righteous Branch who was to come. HEBREWS 2:Yesterday we heard the amazing prologue in the first chapter of Hebrews. Angels are nowhere approaching the majesty of Jesus. And Jesus was given many glorious promises. GNT/NLT Translation notes:[Heb. 2:5 is one of the most frequently misunderstood verses in this book! (To show the misunderstanding, I quote the NLT below. The GNT fixes the problem for both readers and listeners.) People are so used to understanding the title ‘the Son of Man’ as referring to Jesus, that they they don’t realize that that is NOT the meaning here! I believe that this is the only place in the New Testament whe

EZEKIEL 20:In yesterday’s reading in Ezekiel, the Lord refuted the saying that the Israelite’s were using, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.” And then Ezekiel conveyed two poems about the kings of Judah, spoken of symbolically as two lion cubs and like a vine. ISAIAH 3:24—4:Isaiah, like Ezekiel, also spoke of Israel like a vine, and in yesterday’s reading the Lord and Isaiah characterized Israel as a pampered, vain, and spoiled woman. HEBREWS 1:In heaven, I hope to find out who it was who wrote the book of Hebrews. The book doesn’t show signs of Pauline authorship. Important in this, there is no salutation like in all of Paul’s letters. Also, the writer does not claim to have been an eyewitness of Christ (2:3), as Paul claimed. The letter was probably written somewhat before AD 70, because even though the author talks much of the temple, he never mentions its destruction. Mears points out that the word ‘better’ occurs 10 times, signalling a theme that Christ

EZEKIEL 18-19:Yesterday in Ezekiel we read the riddle of the two eagles, portraying Israel’s king breaking his sworn covenant with Babylon. There is a lesson here for us. Normally Babylon would be considered the enemy, and getting free from the enemy would be considered a good thing. But NOT SO if the country has made a promise of loyalty sealed by a vow taken in God’s name! Faithfulness to oaths and promises in God’s name take precedence over ‘business as usual’. ISAIAH 3:These famous words from yesterday’s chapter in Isaiah bear repeating today: Isaiah 2:2-4 NLT 2 In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house     will be the highest of all—     the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills,     and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. 3 People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,     to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways,     and we will walk in his paths.” For the Lord’s teachin

EZEKIEL 17:Yesterday’s chapter graphically portrayed how God considers idolatry like the adultery of a faithless wife. Jerusalem (as Judah’s capital) was compared— in a very unflattering way, to her two sister cities, Samaria and Sodom. ISAIAH 2:In the first chapter of Isaiah, we heard the Lord compare Israel to Sodom and Gomorrah. And we heard how the Lord hates false religious rituals, including the sacrifices that were specified in the Law. If these are done without a corresponding attempt to live in God’s will, they are a stench to Him. MATTHEW 28:Yesterday’s reading ended with Jesus’s body wrapped in a shroud and laid in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb. The tomb was sealed and Roman soldiers were standing guard. NLT Translation notes:Mat. 28:1 Early  on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary [from the village of] Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.15 So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tel

EZEKIEL 14-15:The title that the Lord calls Ezekiel is ‘son of man’, which the Lord is using in the normal sense, meaning ‘ordinary human’. The title for Jesus— ‘Son of Man’, is a special usage. For that, check out Daniel 7.  Note in yesterday’s reading when Ezekiel acted out how King Zedekiah would go into exile, Ezekiel covered his eyes. It was revealed to Ezekiel that Zedekiah would go to Babylon but not see it. This was fulfilled since Zedekiah had his eyes blinded after watching his sons’ deaths. This also fulfilled the prophecy against his sons. SONG OF SOLOMON 8:Yesterday we heard more passionate expressions of love, and today is the final chapter of Solomon’s Song. MATTHEW 27a:I imagine that as the high priest tore his clothes and shouted ‘blasphemy’, the expression on his face would not have been one of grief, but of triumph. And Peter recognized that Jesus was to be sentenced to death when he denied Christ.   Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Liv

EZEKIEL 12-13:In yesterday’s reading, the vision of the glory of the Lord left the temple. Then God disagreed with what the leaders of the Israelites were saying, that they were safe in the ‘pot’ of Jerusalem. SONG OF SOLOMON 7:As we heard yesterday, the bride is captivating in beauty, and so radiant that she is compared to the sun and moon. MATTHEW 26b:In yesterday’s reading we heard about these events: the plot to kill Jesus, Jesus being anointed at Bethany, the Last Supper, and Peter vowing that he would never deny Jesus. NLT Translation notes:Ez. 12:11 [Then] Explain [to them] that your actions are a sign to show what will soon happen to them, for they will be driven into exile as captives.====SS. [In the NLT, the chapter break comes at an inconvenient place. GNT interprets the last verse as the woman’s words.]   Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale

EZEKIEL 10-11:Yesterday in chapters 8-9 we heard the story of Ezekiel’s being transported to Jerusalem and his awesome vision of our glorious God revealing the idolatry of Israel happening right at the temple. Some of the locations shown are literal, and some are to be taken figuratively. One clearly sees that God has every right to be highly offended. Note that the people sharing God’s grief at this idolatrous situation received a mark on their foreheads. SONG OF SOLOMON 6:Yesterday in chapter 5, we heard the young woman relating her dream. MATTHEW 26a:Yesterday we heard Jesus’ direct and clear teaching about the final judgment. This was no parable. And note the words, “eternal punishment.” NLT Translation note:Mat. 26:14 Then Judas [, from the village of Kariot//Iscariot], one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests 15 and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.   Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the

EZEKIEL 8-9:Terrible destruction is prophesied against Judah and Jerusalem. The trumpet will sound the battle call, but no one will get ready, because they are under God’s wrath. SONG OF SOLOMON 5:Yesterday the young man extolled the perfection of his bride. MATTHEW 25b: Yesterday in Matthew 25, we heard two parables that speak about being ready for Christ’s return. Something that is repeated in the parables on this topic is that, “outside there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus is by those words teaching an important idea: That the punishment in hell will be conscious punishment (shown by the weeping), and it will be painful (as shown by the gnashing of teeth). NLT Translation notes:Mat. 25:14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted [them to do business with//0] his money [0//to them] while he was gone. 21 “The  master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good andfaithful servant. You have been faithf

EZEKIEL 1:Yesterday in the last chapter of 2nd Chronicles, we heard of the quick succession of the kings of Judah at the very end before the exile to Babylon: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. And after the fall of Jerusalem, chapter 36 also told of the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy about Cyrus, who gave the decree to rebuild the Temple of God. While Jeremiah prophesied about the fall of Babylon and specified the 70 year duration of the exile, it was Isaiah who mentioned King Cyrus by name— one of the most stunning of all prophecies. Ezekiel was not only a prophet, but also a priest. When he was 25 years old, he was carried into exile in Babylon along with the upper class of people in 597 BC. Ezekiel was no doubt a pupil of Jeremiah before Ezekiel was taken into exile. The 48 chapters of this book are divided right in the middle. *1-24 Pre-siege, prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem. *The second half can also be divided into two parts: Chapters 25-32 talk about after the fall of Jer

2CHRONICLES 36:Josiah’s Passover celebration showed wonderful ability to get everyone to work together and great organizational talent. It is the capstone of the revival that he led. Unfortunately, he was stubborn about going to war with Pharaoh Neco, which cost him both his own life and his son’s life. ECCLESIASTES 12:Yesterday’s short chapter recorded proverbial advice to young and old, and that theme continues in today’s reading. MATTHEW 23a:In yesterday’s reading Jesus roundly defeated the Sadducees, telling them that they did not know the Scriptures or the power of God. He answered the question about the most important Law, and he asked the question no one could answer. NLT Translation notes:[For Ecc. 12:1-6, I prefer the 1996 first edition NLT. That version drops the obscure figures of speech and zeros right in on the meaning. Keeping obscure figures of speech and adding the meaning, in this case, adds an element of strangeness and lessens the impact. HOWEVER, beginning with the 2022 podcast, I read the

2CHRONICLES 35:It is simply amazing that we have books like Deuteronomy, since we see that it (or perhaps Leviticus) was almost lost. And it shows how far Judah had slipped that they didn’t know of any copies. Josiah sincerely repented after hearing God’s Word. ECCLESIASTES 11:Yesterday’s chapter of Ecclesiastes was mainly separate proverbs. As an example I quote verse 3, which I like in the NLT: 3 You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street! MATTHEW 22b:Jesus told a pointed parable yesterday in the one about the King’s wedding feast for his son. And the people sent by the Pharisees with friends of King Herod failed miserably to trap Jesus. And why did the man at the wedding feast get thrown out for not wearing wedding clothes? If you don’t know the answer, there’s a golden treasure there waiting for you to find it. NLT Translation note:Mat. 22:45 Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah [just] be his son?”   Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are ta

2CHRONICLES 34:We are definitely in the back-and-forth pendulum period of Judah. After one fantastic king, the next two were terrible. And now Josiah is again like David. ECCLESIASTES 10:Here is a highlight from yesterday’s reading: Ecc. 9:11 NLT I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time. MATTHEW 22a:With the parable of the two sons and the parable of the evil farmers, we are in the portion of Jesus’ teaching where he both warns and confronts his enemies, showing divine wisdom that none can refute.   Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale

2CHRONICLES 33:The account in 2 Chronicles of Hezekiah’s victory through prayer over the vast Assyrian army is summarized. It is much more dramatically related in 2nd Kings. Hezekiah’s experience with the envoys from Babylon can also be used as a spiritual parable for us. We need to be careful what we just accept as fate, without asking God for something better. ECCLESIASTES 9:A nugget of exceptional wisdom from Solomon was in yesterday’s reading, and it brings with it a problem in translation. I like how GNT made the overall pessimistic meaning clear by including quote marks in 12-13. NLT does not interpret that part as an argumentative quote and casts the meaning in an optimistic light. Ecc. 8:11 GNT Why do people commit crimes so readily? Because crime is not punished quickly enough.12 A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and still live. Oh yes, I know what they say: “If you obey God, everything will be all right, 13 but it will not go well for the wicked. Their life is like a shadow and they will die youn

2CHRONICLES 32:Following that special Passover, the people went home and destroyed all the pagan shrines. And a good summary of chapter 31 is the last verse: 2Chron. 31:21 NLT In all that he did in the service of the Temple of God and in his efforts to follow God’s laws and commands, Hezekiah sought his God wholeheartedly. As a result, he was very successful. ECCLESIASTES 8:Yesterday’s chapter of Ecclesiastes included quite a variety of Solomon’s proverbs, including: Ecc. 7:5 NLT Better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool. 20 Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins. MATTHEW 21a:The first will be last, the last first. I think we will be amazed at the justice of God’s rewards. And in some sense, we all will receive “a fair day’s pay.” The meaning of that parable was matched and furthered by the story of the mother of James and John and what Jesus said to them. NLT Translation notes:Mat. 21:21 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you [fully believe//have f