NL-Day333 Esther 3-4; Isaiah 41:1-20; 2 Thessalonians 1
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Release Date: 11/29/2022
NL-Day144 1 Samuel 13; Psalm 97; Romans 4
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
1SAMUEL 13:In yesterday's story, God's Spirit came powerfully upon the new king Saul, and he succeeded in mobilizing all of Israel's fighting men. They won a stunning victory over king Nahash and the Ammonites. Afterwards, Samuel led the people in renewing Israel's call to Saul to be king and then Samuel confronted them all about staying true to the Lord. PSALM 97:Even though the psalms (and our translations) may cast a verse in the present tense, the intent of the writer may be about future things. Hebrew is very fuzzy as to verb tense. But also we may consider that all times are present to...
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NL-Day143 1 Samuel 11-12; Psalm 96; Romans 4:1-17
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
1SAMUEL 11-12:Yesterday we heard of the way God arranged for Saul to meet Samuel, and how God revealed amazing details to Samuel about what would happen to Saul in the short term. Saul became king. It is such a shame that Saul fulfilled the earlier prophecy given by Samuel a few chapters back, rather than continuing to be humble like he was at the start of his reign. PSALM 96:EC Olsen’s chapter on this psalm is entitled, “A Psalm which ought to give every living person a thrill!!” He’s right. This psalm is like vitamins for the soul. This is one of the most loved of all psalms. ROMANS...
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NL-Day142 1 Samuel 9-10; Psalm 95; Romans 3:9-31
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
1SAMUEL 9-10:In yesterday's reading, Samuel was formally made a judge, and then he led the people of Israel into victory over the Philistines. But when Samuel was old and after the appointment of his two sons as judges in his place, his sons perverted justice for bribes. So the people asked to have a king. God had already long ago said this would happen, in fact, this idea was in Hannah’s prayer. Samuel was displeased, not for the sake of his sons, but because the people were rejecting God as their king. PSALM 95:This is a gem among the psalms. Note the exuberance of worship in this psalm!...
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NL-Day141 1 Samuel 7-8; Psalm 94; Romans 2:25-3:20
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
1SAMUEL 7-8:Having won the war with Israel, the Philistines thought their idol Dagon had given them victory. The ark of God was put in Dagon's temple. Then God not only proved that He is greater than Dagon by what happened in the temple, but He also struck the Philistines in all five of their territories with plagues of death, tumors, and rats ravaging the land. The Philistine fortune tellers and priests devised a creative plan to test if these disasters had happened on their own, or because of God's hand was against them. In the story it is clear that the Philistine people knew about the...
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NL-Day140 1 Samuel 5-6; Psalm 93; Romans 2:13-29
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
1SAMUEL 5-6:Yesterday we saw the touching way that God revealed to Samuel how to listen for God's voice, and at the same time how He again warned Eli of impending disaster. Eli was incredibly able to recognize the way the Lord works, but at the same time was unconcerned about how God's words applied to him. Let us not be like him! Observe this link to Romans: God's judgment will come to us just as surely as it did to Eli's sons. PSALM 93:Like the Gettysburg Address, sometimes the noblest thoughts are best expressed with brevity. ROMANS 2b:In yesterday's reading, Paul continued to prove that...
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NL-Day139 1 Samuel 3-4; Psalm 92; Romans 1:28-2:16
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
1SAMUEL 3-4:Yesterday we heard Hannah's poetic and prophetic prayer of praise. R Then we heard of the contrast between the boy Samuel serving the Lord, while Eli's sons were scoundrels. Finally a “man of God” (a prophet or perhaps even an angel) gave a long prophetic warning to Eli. Today we will see that prophecy come true. PSALM 92:This is another favorite psalm of praise! ROMANS 2:Yesterday we heard the first part of some bad news which makes the Good News ‘good’. This reminds me of the movie Second Hand Lions. In the movie a main character has a lecture on ‘how to be a man’...
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NL-Day138 1 Samuel 2; Psalm 91; Romans 1:16-32
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
1SAMUEL 2:Yesterday we heard of the wonderful answer to Hannah’s prayer and of her determination to fulfill a very difficult vow to the Lord. Samuel might have only been 3 years old when Hannah gave him up to stay permanently as a Nazarite serving at the Lord’s tabernacle. Hannah is such an example of a Godly woman. No wonder so many girls are named after her! I noticed an interesting detail in yesterday’s reading. Elkanah also had a vow. When Samuel was newly born and Hannah did not go with the family to Shiloh for the yearly sacrifices, the GNT drew my attention saying that Elkanah...
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NL-Day137 1 Samuel 1; Psalm 90; Romans 1:1-17
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
1SAMUEL 1:Yesterday we heard the charming conclusion of the story of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. The words of the town women have prophetic significance: “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family.” (NLT) The words have a double meaning for us today, as we see them looking forward to Jesus our Redeemer. Now if you have been listening closely, you didn’t hear the word ‘redeemer’ in the GNT. That word happens 8 times in Ruth, beginning at 2:20. GNT translated the correct meaning as “a close relative of ours, one of those responsible for taking care of us.” The term...
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NL-Day136 Ruth 3-4; Psalm 89:19-52; 1 Timothy 6
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
RUTH 3-4:In yesterday’s start to the book of Ruth, we saw how Naomi was left all alone, and how one of her two daughters-in-law, Ruth, left her family and idols to accompany Naomi and to follow Naomi’s God. Then it just so happened that Ruth was noticed by a man named Boaz while gathering left-behind grain in his field. PSALM 89b:Ethan, the psalm-writer was very wise in his prayer. He started his prayer with praise and adoration. Then starting in verse 19 he reminded God of his promises to Israel about the everlasting dynasty of David. But this is all building up to the big problem that...
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NL-Day135 Ruth 1-2; Psalm 89:1-29; 1 Timothy 5
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
RUTH 1-2:The incident of the Levite and his concubine at Gibeah resulted in the civil war that we heard about yesterday. About 24,000 men died and many women and children as well. In certain things the army inquired of the Lord, and the Lord gave answers at his sanctuary. In the way they found wives for the decimated tribe of Benjamin, the men of Israel were repeatedly so concerned that they not break their vows. Paradoxically, they did many other things without any concern whatsoever about acting according to God’s revealed will. Let’s consider that story as a warning. Beware of the human...
info_outlineESTHER 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 Gospel? Philemon is in the place of God. Paul is an advocate like Jesus. Picture yourself in the position of a runaway slave. I give a hint here for digging deeper in Philemon: There is a wonderful play of words that happens twice based on the name Onesimus.
I hope that you recall that we read 1st Thessalonians several months ago. 2nd Thessalonians seems to have been written soon after the first letter, around 51 AD. Paul was evidently still at Corinth. And the letter seems to have been written to clarify a very important point about Christ’s second coming. This letter contains some of the clearest teaching about the antichrist— although Paul does not use that term.
Constable’s notes say, “Paul wrote to encourage the Thessalonian believers to continue to persevere in the face of continuing persecution (1:3-10). He also wanted to clarify events preceding the day of the Lord to dispel false teaching (2:1-12). Finally, he instructed the church how to deal with lazy Christians in their midst (3:6-15).” Constable’s notes can be found at Lumina.bible.org.
NLT Translation notes:
2Thes. 1:3 Dear brothers and sisters,c we can’t help but thank God for you, because [you so fully believe in Christ//your faith is flourishing] and your love for one another is growing.
11 So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your [full belief in Christ//faith] prompts you to do.
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.