Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
NUMBERS 33:Yesterday we heard how the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh promised to go ahead of their fellow Israelites into battle on the west side of the Jordan, because they were receiving land on the east side of the Jordan. In hindsight, I must say this was not a great idea. Because of how often all the men were required to go to Jerusalem for the holy assemblies, it must have been very easy to not attend those events and grow increasingly far from the Lord. PSALM 46:This was the inspiration for the hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. The word translated by the GNT as...
info_outline NL-Day088 Numbers 32; Psalm 45; Acts 5:1-21Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
NUMBERS 32:Yesterday we heard of the conquest of the Midianite people. That story is an example of how hard it is for us humans to follow God's instructions. PSALM 45:This psalm may have originally been intended as a wedding song for King Solomon, but from our vantage point we can see that it is really a song of praise to our King, the Messiah, and we— the people of God, are the bride. ACTS 5a:Yesterday we heard of the fearless praying of the believers after being commanded to no longer teach about Jesus. And we heard of the wonderful unity of spirit among them. Unless otherwise...
info_outline NL-Day087 Numbers 31; Psalm 44; Acts 4:19-37Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
NUMBERS 31:Yesterday the listing of sacrifices continued with those for the Festival of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the 8 day Festival of Shelters. Then in Numbers 30 we heard laws concerning the annulment of rash vows. These laws show how seriously God takes any vows made to Him! PSALM 44:This is a psalm with extreme contrast between part one and part two. Part one has a tone of praise— reciting the wonderful way God helped Israel. But part two accuses God of abandoning Israel. This psalm can be a pattern for us in how to plead with God to fulfill his promises or to again act as He...
info_outline NL-Day086 Numbers 29-30; Psalm 43; Acts 4:1-22Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
NUMBERS 29-30:Yesterday we heard about the request of the daughters of Zelophehad, and the Lord told Moses that it was time for him to die. Joshua was appointed to lead in Moses' place. And we were given the list of sacrificial offerings to be given every day in the morning and evening, those given each Sabbath, and those offered on the first day of the month, at the festival of unleavened bread, and the harvest festival. More of the same starts our reading today. PSALM 43:This psalm is a companion to Psalm 42, containing the same refrain at the end. Both Psalms seem to be the prayers of...
info_outline NL-Day085 Numbers 27-28; Psalm 42; Acts 3Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
NUMBERS 27-28:Yesterday we heard of the second registration of Israel's troops. PSALM 42:This Psalm contains words we often sing. It is a song about renewing hope in the Lord after discouragement. ACTS 3:Yesterday we heard the conclusion of Peter's first sermon. 3,000 believed in Christ that day and were baptized. And the believers devoted themselves totally to the apostles' teaching. NLT/GNT Translation notes:Num. 27:1 Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah were the daughters of Zelophehad[. Zelophehad traced his genealogy as the] son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of...
info_outline NL-Day084 Numbers 26; Psalm 41; Acts 2:16-47Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
NUMBERS 26:Yesterday we heard Balaam's final prophecies. Even though he was a shaman and a charlatan, God chose to speak through him on that occasion, giving a small glimpse of God's redemptive plan. PSALM 41:God hears us when we are down and cry out for his help. ACTS 2b:Yesterday we heard how the Holy Spirit came with tongues of fire and a loud noise, and the beginning part of Peter's first famous sermon. 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...
info_outline 083: Reader, take NOTE! Pointers for understanding parablesDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Today I would like to give pointers for understanding Jesus’ parables. I consider the parable to be one of the greatest of all teaching devices, and a legacy of the Greatest Teacher. I will end this episode by sharing a non-Biblical parable. One little detail to understand is that the word ‘parable’ (Greek paraboles) had a wider meaning than we normally think of in English, and you may see this sometimes in the New Testament. In English, we normally think of a parable as a story that points to some deeper meaning. However, as an example, the word ‘parable’ is used for a one-sentence...
info_outline NL-Day083 Numbers 24-25; Psalm 40; Acts 2:1-24Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
NUMBERS 24-25:Yesterday we heard how Balak sent for the shaman Balaam to curse Israel, and we heard that God instead moved him to bless Israel two times. And a third sacrifice of 7 bulls and 7 rams was made. PSALM 40:This is a psalm that is quoted in the New Testament. It is a great psalm of praise which conveys many New Testament concepts. (Some of you will perceive some differences in the NT quote. This is because the NT quote was taken from the Septuagint— the ancient translation of the OT into Greek.) ACTS 2a:Yesterday we heard about Jesus' followers who were waiting in Jerusalem for the...
info_outline NL-Day082 Numbers 22-23; Psalm 39; Acts 1Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
NUMBERS 22-23:In Numbers 21, the Lord gave victory to the Israelites over the Amorites, and then over King Sihon. And because of Israel’s grumbling, the Lord sent poisonous snakes among them. When the people cried out to Moses, the Lord told him to make a snake and set it up on a pole. This is an unannounced picture of Christ. PSALM 39:This is a prayer for relief by David when he felt he was under the discipline of the Lord. ACTS 1:We follow up Luke's first report to Theophilus with his second to the same man. (Or perhaps Luke meant this account to be for any 'lover of God'.) The book covers...
info_outline NL-Day081 Numbers 21; Psalm 38; Luke 24:30-53Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
NUMBERS 21:Yesterday we heard about the water of purification, which involved the burnt offering of a red heifer and following very exacting requirements. Then we heard the story of Moses and Aaron's failure to display God's holiness in the issue of speaking to— rather than striking the rock. It is no wonder Moses was exasperated by the people. And following that incident, not being able to pass through the land of Edom, they turned back to Mount Hor, where Aaron died. PSALM 38:This is a beautiful song of repentance and a cry for deliverance from enemies. LUKE 24b:Yesterday we heard the...
info_outlineHey there! Welcome to this day number 1 in the NLT series for the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan. These podcasts are hosted at dailybiblereading.info. Today in this episode number 1 we read Genesis 1-2, Job 1, and the first half of Mark 1.
It’s great that you're starting TODAY on a life-transforming journey through the Bible! The Digging Deeper Daily plan will help you be successful in your commitment to read the whole Bible in a year. The unique order of the readings— together with the brief devotional notes, will help you see the various threads that unify the message of the Old and the New Testaments. I hope that my notes will help you remember what you have read the day before, and hint at the deep and incredibly rich treasures in God’s Word. But the most satisfying treasures that you find this year will be the ones you dig to discover for yourself! Please check out the How-to pages that are linked in the banner of dailybiblereading.info. When you are curious about a Bible verse, I recommend the collection of ‘Shovels’ I have collected to aid you in digging deeper in your study. See the Shovels page under ‘About’ menu entry in the How-to pages. The How-to pages also give good suggestions for podcast listening apps and Bible reading apps.
If you hear mistakes, have questions, or would like to comment, please feel free to contact me via the contact link at dailybiblereading.info.
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Tyndale House Foundation for the permission to record the whole NLT Bible in these podcasts. The full copyright notice is found on the front page of dailybiblereading.info and at the end of each day’s episode notes.
GENESIS 1-2:
The first five books of the Bible are the Jewish Torah, and the Bible refers to them collectively as ‘the Law’. Many other books in the Bible attribute the authorship of these five books to Moses. Genesis is the foundational book of the whole Bible. When we were in our first Bible translation project among the Orya in Papua, Indonesia, I witnessed how getting a little detail of the foundation wrong (such as, how the first sin happened) can wreck the whole building that is being constructed. The result can be misery. This book of Genesis tells us what God wants us to know about the beginning of our world, the beginning of sin, mankind’s rebellion against God, and who God and Satan are.
JOB 1:
The story of Job is set in the period of the patriarch Abraham, and it takes place in the land of the East. What I did not realize until recently is that signs indicate that this book was written at a later time and almost certainly by an Israelite. By the author writing that Job was “the richest man in the East”, it places the author in the West, in the land of Israel. The author frequently uses the name of ‘Yahweh’, which I think would not have been done in Abraham’s time— which was long before God’s name was revealed to Moses at the burning bush. The author was a highly educated man. All of the book— except the first two chapters, are in exquisite poetry. The author displays an in-depth knowledge of mythology, the constellations, and the then current wisdom concerning the world— including the underworld and traits of exotic animals. I might as well say it: The philosophy of this book is worthy of Solomon.
Whoever he is, the author displays incredible wisdom. One would expect an ancient book that is didactic in nature to end with a neat answer that sums up the author’s opinion. Or one would expect an ancient author to create a debate where the hero is totally right and the other speakers are clearly wrong. Instead, all the human speakers in the book of Job mix truth and error. It is a mark of inspired wisdom that in the end, the book of Job leaves us still pondering and searching for some answers.
MARK 1a:
Mark does not specifically identify himself as the author of this Gospel, but the church fathers unanimously say that the John Mark mentioned several times in the New Testament was the one who wrote it. Mark was a companion of Peter, and the eyewitness content in this book is that of Peter. I will give more introductory information about Mark’s Gospel in tomorrow’s podcast.
NLT Translation notes:
Gen. 1:3Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the [end of the] first day. … And evening passed and morning came, marking
the [end of the] second day.
…and so forth.
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Mrk. 1:1 This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began 2 just as the prophet Isaiah had written, … [quoting what God said to his son:]
6 [John reminded people of the prophet Elijah,] because his clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. And he ate food such as locusts and wild honey.
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.