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NL-Day053 Leviticus 3-4; Psalm 11; Luke 8:22-56

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

Release Date: 02/16/2025

NL-Day334 Esther 5-6; Isaiah 41:8-29; 2 Thessalonians 2 show art NL-Day334 Esther 5-6; Isaiah 41:8-29; 2 Thessalonians 2

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

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...

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NL-Day333 Esther 3-4; Isaiah 41:1-20; 2 Thessalonians 1 show art NL-Day333 Esther 3-4; Isaiah 41:1-20; 2 Thessalonians 1

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

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...

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NL-Day332 Esther 1-2; Isaiah 40:15-31; Philemon 1 show art NL-Day332 Esther 1-2; Isaiah 40:15-31; Philemon 1

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

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...

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NL-Day331 Nehemiah 12-13; Isaiah 40:1-17; Colossians 4 show art NL-Day331 Nehemiah 12-13; Isaiah 40:1-17; Colossians 4

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

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...

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NL-Day330 Nehemiah 10-11; Isaiah 39; Colossians 2:13-3:25 show art NL-Day330 Nehemiah 10-11; Isaiah 39; Colossians 2:13-3:25

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

NEHEMIAH 10-11: The returned exiles showed how sincere they were in following the Lord! They gathered together for the express purpose of hearing the Law. By this time their language had changed so much that they needed 13 Levites to explain what was said in the readings. The people wept because they realized how far they were from obeying the Law of Moses, and also for joy in hearing it. One month later, the leaders gathered to explore the Law in more detail, and they found that Israel had always neglected celebrating the Festival of Shelters. They did that for the prescribed week with great...

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NL-Day329 Nehemiah 8-9; Isaiah 38; Colossians 2 show art NL-Day329 Nehemiah 8-9; Isaiah 38; Colossians 2

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

NEHEMIAH 8-9: Nehemiah 7 dealt with listing the various families and temple workers who came back after exile. The last phrase of verse 73 in that chapter is the transition to the next events in chapter 8.   7:73 NLT  So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Temple servants, and some of the common people settled near Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned to their own towns throughout Israel. Ezra Reads the Law In October, when the Israelites had settled in their towns,  8:1  all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just...

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NL-Day328 Nehemiah 7; Isaiah 37; Colossians 1 show art NL-Day328 Nehemiah 7; Isaiah 37; Colossians 1

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

NEHEMIAH 7:Yesterday we read how Nehemiah stood up for all the common people in their financial difficulty. The nobles were rich, but everyone else was suffering— some even having no option but to sell their own children into slavery. Amazingly, he succeeded in convincing the nobles to forgive debts, and forced them take a solemn oath about that. The wall was finished in just 52 days, but Nehemiah was getting more and more threats from Sanballat and his cronies. ISAIAH 37: We heard the challenge and mocking of the Assyrian chief of staff— who brought the Assyrian King’s message to...

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NL-Day327 Nehemiah 5-6; Isaiah 36; Philippians 4 show art NL-Day327 Nehemiah 5-6; Isaiah 36; Philippians 4

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

NEHEMIAH 5-6: Yesterday Nehemiah gave a listing of the people who rebuilt the wall. This included Shallum and his daughters, and two named goldsmiths, merchants, priests and Levites. The residents of the land opposed to the construction were threatening violence, so the people armed themselves and had men on guard at all times. Nehemiah and his men stayed fully armed at all times, and in the last verse of chapter 4 NLT says ‘even when they went for water’— which I take as a euphemism for going potty. That little phrase is very obscure in Hebrew, and GNT translates it in a different way....

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NL-Day326 Nehemiah 3-4; Isaiah 35; Philippians 3 show art NL-Day326 Nehemiah 3-4; Isaiah 35; Philippians 3

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

NEHEMIAH 3-4:After Nehemiah’s wonderful prayer for Jerusalem, more than three months went by before the king noticed him looking sad. He says he had never before looked sad, so he must have waited. God must have been in the timing, because the king wonderfully agreed to help Nehemiah in every way. And the leaders in Jerusalem also were enthusiastic in their acceptance of his proposal to rebuild the walls. ISAIAH 35:Yesterday we heard that the land of Edom would become an eternal wasteland and a home for owls and other creatures. The land of Edom is in modern-day Jordan, and GoogleMaps shows...

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NL-Day325 Nehemiah 1-2; Isaiah 34; Philippians 2 show art NL-Day325 Nehemiah 1-2; Isaiah 34; Philippians 2

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

NEHEMIAH 1:Yesterday we heard how the returned exiles responded to Ezra’s shock and demonstration of his sorrow, and his prayer of repentance. The book ended with the names of those who were found guilty of forbidden marriages. Note that these are not just names of the guilty, but names of those who repented and sacrificed to God. They are the names of the forgiven. In some ways— and not all, this shows the kind of seriousness with which church discipline spoken of in the New Testament should be conducted. (Matthew 18, 1 & 2 Corinthians) As I said just a few days ago, the book of...

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LEVITICUS 3-4:
Yesterday we heard about burnt offerings and grain offerings.

Andrew Bonar states about Leviticus:
“There is no book in the whole compass of that inspired Volume which the Holy Spirit has given us, that contains more of the very words of God than Leviticus. It is God that is the direct speaker in almost every page; His gracious words are recorded in the form wherein they were uttered.”

Note this in our reading in Leviticus today: By and large, the sacrificial system was set up to forgive unintentional sins. (Some small exceptions will be noted in tomorrow’s reading in Leviticus.) It is good to draw a distinction— as the book of Hebrews does, between unintentional and intentional sins. Each of us should feel uncomfortable, because each of us can look back and remember sins we committed intentionally. Let us make the firm commitment to never trample upon our Savior’s kindness by sinning intentionally. But we can praise the Lord for this verse spoken by Paul in Acts 13:38-39:

“Therefore let it be known to you, brothers [and sisters//0], that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you.” (NET)

PSALM 11:
This is a song of trust in the Lord.

LUKE 8b:
Yesterday we read the parable of the sower, or different kinds of soil. Jesus taught about the importance of hearing and doing what is in God's Word, and that was echoed again when his mother and brothers came to see him.

NLT Translation notes:
Luk. 8:7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up [with the tender young plants and choked them out.//it and choked out the tender plants.] 8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, [“You people have ears to hear with, don't you?! Well then, listen and understand!”//Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.]
[Seed is a collective noun, therefore plural!]
9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets a of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled [where God said//0]:
‘When they look, they won’t really see.
When they hear, they won’t understand.’
25 Then he asked them, “[Whatever happened to the idea of your believing in Me?!”//Where is your faith?]
The disciples were terrified and amazed. “[What kind of man is this?!//Who is this man?]” they asked each other.
“When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”
30 Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”
[Batalion/Legion],” he replied, for he was filled with many demons.
32 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs.
[0/So] Jesus gave them permission.
[The Greek ‘kai’ (and) is frequently left untranslated on purpose. I definitely don't like the addition of a 'So' logical connector here.]
34 When the herdsmen saw [what happened//it], they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran.
35 People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they [all became afraid//were afraid].
48 “[0//Daughter],” he said to her, “[You are now healed because you believe fully in Me.//your faith has made you well.] Go in peace.”
[Jesus does call her 'daughter' in Greek. But people can often get the wrong impression from that. One common wrong implication would be that this woman was younger than Jesus. If the translator changes to something like 'woman', then there are other problems with wrong implications. Other options I have thought of sound unnatural. For naturalness sake, it sounds best and most natural to me to just leave the word out.]
50 But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. [Just keep believing fully in Me//Just have faith], and she will be healed.”

 

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.