NL-Day053 Leviticus 3-4; Psalm 11; Luke 8:22-56
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Release Date: 02/16/2025
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
ZECHARIAH 14: Unfortunately, we have not yet seen the fulfillment of this prophecy from the end of Zechariah 12: Zec. 12:10 NLT “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. (The podcast notes for the previous episode contain a translation note on this verse.) However, this part has been fulfilled from the beginning of chapter 13: Zec. 13:1 “On that day a fountain will be...
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ZECHARIAH 12-13:Several times I have noted Zechariah and other prophets who use the figure of shepherding a flock— picturing God’s people. In chapter 11, there were puzzling verses where Zechariah evidently performed an outward demonstration involving two staffs. Other prophets did such demonstrations. In this one, evidently Zechariah stood in for the Messiah. The two staffs were named Favor and Union. Our Messiah, Jesus, came to restore us to God’s favor and give us unity as God’s people— no matter from what race. The 30 pieces of silver is spoken of with irony: “this magnificent...
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ZECHARIAH 10-11: As we have seen before, the Lord loves names and delights to give new names. In Zec. 8 He said, Zec. 8:3 NLT Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will be called the Holy Mountain. In Zec. 9 we read the verse Matthew quotes in chapter 21 about Jesus coming riding on the foal of a donkey. The verse is also alluded to in John 12:15. And we heard this verse about the New Jerusalem: Zec. 9:16 NLT On that day the LORD their God will rescue his people, just as a shepherd rescues his sheep. They will sparkle in his land...
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ZECHARIAH 8-9:I hope that you have noticed [Joshua//Jeshua] the high priest. He was the one that Satan was not allowed to accuse. He was given clean clothes. He is a priest and was given a clean priestly turban. And the gem with seven facets (literally, seven eyes) was set before him. He is a picture of the Messiah, who is called the Lord’s righteous Branch. Then in chapter 6 we read that he was given a crown, and told: Zec. 6:13 NLT Yes, he will build the Temple of the LORD. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne,...
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ZECHARIAH 6-7: There were so many correspondences to Revelation in the three chapters we read yesterday in Zechariah that I cannot even take time to list them. I single out this one from chapter 3 as especially interesting: Zec. 3:8 NLT “Listen to me, O [Joshua//Jeshua] the high priest, and all you other priests. You are symbols of things to come. Soon I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 Now look at the jewel I have set before Jeshua, a single stone with seven facets. I will engrave an inscription on it, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, and I will remove the sins of this land in...
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ZECHARIAH 3-5:In Zechariah 1-2 we heard how Zechariah’s dreams often included angels talking with him. There were horses and riders, horns and blacksmiths, and the measuring Jerusalem. Jerusalem will not be nearly big enough. God’s people WILL COME out of captivity in Babylon. Note that by Zechariah’s time, this was already happening. His words and those events foreshadow what we read in Revelation about the new Jerusalem. Consider the last verses of Zech. 2: Zech. 2:10-13 NLT The Lord says, “Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you. 11 Many nations...
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ZECHARIAH 1-2:Yesterday we read both chapters of the little book of Haggai, and heard how Haggai motivated his discouraged audience to return to the task of rebuilding the temple. Haggai certainly must have known and worked with our next author— Zechariah. While there are at least 27 men named Zechariah in the Old Testament, we do know which one was the writer of this book. The biblestudytools.com site says that Zechariah “was born in Babylonia and was among those who returned to Judah in 538/537 b.c. under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua (his grandfather Iddo is named among...
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HAGGAI 1-2:I hope you saw correlations to Revelation in the 3rd chapter of Zephaniah yesterday— in what God plans for the nations and for those who come to the new Jerusalem. And these verses are interesting because of correlations all over scripture: Zephaniah 3:11b NLT I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you.There will be no more haughtiness on my holy mountain.12 Those who are left will be the lowly and humble,for it is they who trust in the name of the Lord. Mears gives a helpful summary about the prophets: Of the 16 prophets, most of them— eleven, prophesied before...
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ZEPHANIAH 3: Today we read the last chapter of Zephaniah. In chapter 2, we heard words that were much like what we heard recently in Isaiah 49 and 55: Zep. 2:2 NLT Gather [together] before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD’s anger begins. 3 Seek the LORD, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you— protect you from his anger on that day of destruction. Note that God repeatedly says,...
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ZEPHANIAH 1-2: The concluding words of Habakkuk are the most often quoted and memorized, because they are so encouraging. That quote begins like this: Hab. 3:17 NLT Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,and there are no grapes on the vines;even though the olive crop fails,and the fields lie empty and barren;even though the flocks die in the fields,and the cattle barns are empty,18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord!I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength!He makes me as surefooted as a deer,able to tread upon the heights. Constable tells us that...
info_outlineLEVITICUS 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.