NL-Day170 2 Samuel 20; Psalm 118:1-16; John 2
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Release Date: 06/15/2025
NL-Day043 Exodus 25-26; Psalm 1; Luke 2:25-52
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
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...
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NL-Day042 Exodus 23-24; Job 42; Luke 2:1-35
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 23-24:Yesterday we heard laws regarding treatment of slaves, cases of personal injury, protection of private property, and social responsibility. Job 42:After three chapters of God confronting Job, Job gives his final response, and we hear of God’s blessings to him. Luke 2a:Yesterday in Luke, Mary visited Elizabeth, and we read Mary's song of praise, and later John's father Zechariah prayed his prophetic prayer. NLT Translation notes:Exo. 23:17 At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before [Me,/0] the Sovereign[, the/0] LORD .25 “You must serve only...
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NL-Day041 Exodus 21-22; Job 41; Luke 1:39-80
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 21-22:Yesterday we read about the awesome and fearful way the Lord revealed himself at Mount Sinai to the Israelites. (Remember that for when we come to Hebrews 13.) And God gave the 10 Commandments. JOB 41:God continues to confront and challenge Job, asking questions revealing God's power compared to human weakness. A note about Leviathan in this chapter. Leviathan can be compared to a sea crocodile. The identification of Leviathan is disputed, ranging from an earthly creature to a mythical sea monster in ancient literature. LUKE 1b:Yesterday, in a very formal prologue, Luke stated his...
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NL-Day040 Exodus 19-20; Job 40; Luke 1:1-45
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 19-20:Yesterday 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 gave him good advice. Note that in most English translations, God often talks of Himself in what we might term the royal fashion— as ‘The LORD’, and then as ‘He’ (instead of ‘I’, and ‘Me’). (The capital letters L O R D indicate that the Hebrew actually has his name, Yahweh.) In many of the world’s languages, it is ungrammatical to speak of oneself in the third person, so...
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NL-Day039 Exodus 17-18; Job 39; 2 Peter 3
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 17-18:Yesterday we heard the wonderful victory song of Moses. Then we heard how the people of Israel grumbled against Moses, Aaron, and most importantly, the Lord. Even about something as simple as gathering manna, the people of Israel disobey repeatedly. They are not called stubborn for nothing.JOB 39:God continues for a second chapter in challenging Job. 2PETER 3:Yesterday it struck me that even in Peter's day, there were greedy false teachers. Peter's descriptions of the false teachers are some of the most colorful in the Bible. NLT Translation notes:Job 39:17 For [I/God] haves...
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NL-Day038 Exodus 15-16; Job 38; 2 Peter 1:19-2:22
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 15-16:Yesterday we heard that because of the Passover plague which killed Egypt's firstborn, God claims 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....
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038: Reader tak note: What most people don't know about Bible translations
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Day 38: What most people don’t know about Bible translations Hi there, and welcome to this bonus podcast! I will be discussing the two main types of Bible translations I recommend for most people. As a Bible translator since 1983, I feel that most Christians in the USA are not given enough information about why Bible translations differ in wording, and which kinds of Bible translations will be better for different kinds of readers. This is an important topic, so I am surprised at myself: I can’t believe that I haven’t released a dedicated podcast about this topic every year since 2014....
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NL-Day037 Exodus 13-14; Job 37; 2 Peter 1
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 13-14:Yesterday we heard of the final plague— including the death of the firstborn and 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:This is the conclusion of Elihu's speech. 2nd PETER 1:Yesterday in James 5, 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...
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NL-Day036 Exodus 11-12; Job 36; James 5
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 11-12:Yesterday we heard of the plague against the livestock, the plague of boils, and the plague of hail. We are not told how much time there was in between each plague. It seems there was enough time for many Egyptians to buy more livestock before they were again decimated by the hail. Then we heard about the plague of locusts followed by the plague of darkness. I hope you noticed Who is doing the hardening of hearts and causing the stubbornness. Paul talks about that in Romans 9. JOB 36:This is Elihu's 5th chapter. JAMES 5:In chapter 4, James preached against the way the world had...
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NL-Day035 Exodus 9-10; Job 35; James 4
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 9-10:The two chapters we read yesterday included the story of Aaron's staff becoming a serpent, and the plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, and flies. Note verse that in our reading today: 9:19 Now give orders for your livestock and everything else you have in the open to be put under shelter. Hail will fall on the people and animals left outside unprotected, and they will all die.’ ” Evidently enough time had passed between the plague against the livestock so that the Egyptians were able to buy livestock, and I am sure the people of Israel profited in that! JOB 35:This is Elihu's 4th...
info_outline2SAMUEL 20:
Yesterday we heard the story of how David sent out his army under three commanders, Joab, Abishai, and Ittai. He gave them orders to deal gently with Absalom. Joab— who was always pragmatic, didn't do this. Along with Absalom, 20,000 men died in the civil war. Joab stopped David’s mourning for his son and ordered him to go out to encourage his troops. And finally the people decided to bring David back as their king.
PSALM 118a:
This is one of the antiphonal psalms. Imagine a leader and all the congregation saying the refrain. One of the most often quoted verses about the Messiah is found in verse 22. And I have quoted verse 24 at the beginning of a number of podcasts.
JOHN 2:
John uses simple words, such as light, word, lamb, and door. But the concepts he deals with are anything but simple. The meaning goes deep— so deep that you could spend a lifetime studying the prologue in chapter one alone and never get to the bottom of it. Note also that John very artistically makes use of double meaning— using a word with two meanings simultaneously.
Note how Jesus (and the writer, John) artfully hint at the story of Jacob. Jesus calls Nathanael a true son of Israel. Israel is one of Jacob’s name, and Jacob’s name means ‘cheater’. And then Jesus paradoxically calls Nathanael a man of complete integrity. Finally Jesus didn’t need to make it obvious to his hearers and John didn’t need to explain to his readers that Jesus was quoting from the Jacob’s Ladder story. Just a few words and the previous hint were plenty to imply this: Jesus is claiming to be the Way/Ladder to the Father. The way, the truth, and the life.
NLT Translation note:
Ps. 118:7 Yes, the LORD is [on my side//for me]; he will help me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
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John 2:24 But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew [all people//human nature].
[I believe that John is telling us something miraculous about Jesus here. He wasn’t just a good student of ‘human nature’! He actually knew everyone, just like he knew the Samaritan woman whom we will hear about. ]
25 No one needed to tell him what [anyone was//mankind is] really like.
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 House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.