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August 10 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
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In today's reading we will begin reading the New Covenant with the Book of Luke, Chapter 1:5-56. We will read about God fulfilling the last prophecy He gave us in the Old Covenant book of Malachi, where He told us that He would send Elijah the prophet, who would restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. In the opening chapter of Luke the angel Gabriel delivered a message to Zechariah that his wife would bear a son who would have the spirit and power of Elijah and would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient ones to the wisdom of the righteous, to make read for the Lord a prepared people. We will see the disbelief of Zechariah contrasted with the belief of Mary, who, when delivered a similar message of miraculous birth, received it with a spirit of acceptance.
In our discussion for daily application we will talk about having faith in God and believing that He can and will do all things He says He will do. Nothing is impossible for God! Abram believed God when he was told that God would send him a child and it was credited to him as righteousness. Elizabeth told Mary that she would be blessed because she trusted there would be fulfillment of the things the angel Gabriel told her would happen. We may not understand everything we read in God's prophecies and writings to us, but it is important that we have faith in everything God tells us and that we obey Him.
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Transcript
Introduction and Bible Reading Commencement
00:00:03
Speaker
Good day, everybody. Today is August 10th. You are here with Robin at In the Family Way Coaching, and we are here for our daily Bible reading through the Day by Day Kids Bible, written by Karen Henley.
00:00:16
Speaker
Thank you for joining me, whether you are here on your podcast or whether you are watching on video. I'm so glad that you are joining me, and I hope you are just as excited as I am to begin
00:00:28
Speaker
The New Testament.
Understanding the New Covenant
00:00:30
Speaker
So if you have that calendar or in your sticker or however you're marking it off, get that out because you're about to hear the Bible today.
00:00:40
Speaker
I am super excited. ah am super excited. Let us start with a little bit of history, a little bit of explanation.
00:00:51
Speaker
We have just finished the Old Testament, what we are what we can also call the Old Covenant, because now God is going to make a new covenant. And this is something that he promised he would do.
00:01:03
Speaker
We had a couple of covenants. He made a covenant with Abraham. He had the Mosaic covenant, which was to obey the laws. And now we are going to be seeing that he is going to be fulfilling his promise to bring us a new covenant.
00:01:20
Speaker
And Jesus is the new covenant where he says that someone will rule on the throne of David forever.
Historical Context and Silent Years
00:01:28
Speaker
And he will rule over all nations and his kingdom will never end.
00:01:34
Speaker
Presenting Jesus.
00:01:40
Speaker
That was a little spontaneous there.
00:01:44
Speaker
ah We should welcome him with a lot of fanfare. ah i am super excited to be beginning this this section. I want to give us a little bit of fill-in time before we begin that.
00:01:56
Speaker
we are We had about 400 years in between our last writing of Malachi and our beginning of of ah ah when Jesus was born.
00:02:10
Speaker
So in that amount of time, it is considered a quiet time where God didn't send any more prophets to send writings and and warnings and stuff like that.
00:02:24
Speaker
And we see that in the book of Malachi, who was, again, the last prophet, when he ended his book, It ended with ah what the Jews would consider a curse because God says that he will bring a curse if ah John, who is coming, does not do as he has been instructed. And we talked about this as well.
00:02:48
Speaker
It says that... Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord, and he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.
00:03:10
Speaker
And you may remember that our version of the Bible did not include that last little bit, but it's definitely in our big version. And we are going to be opening up today in the book of Luke with that very fulfillment.
00:03:26
Speaker
Isn't that exciting? The very thing that God left us hanging with, he's going to bring and show. I was ah just think that is so awesome.
00:03:37
Speaker
So today we are going to be seeing God's perfect timing. In just the right time, God brings about everything that he said that he would do.
00:03:49
Speaker
We saw over and over that God's timing is perfect. He has things planned just so. The rebuilding of the temple. And the people hearing his word, they they finished just in time to be able to learn about the fact that they were supposed to be celebrating the Feast of Tents, the Feast of Booths, or the Feast of Tabernacles, ah however we wish to call it.
00:04:14
Speaker
It's the same holiday. And it was not a coincidence. God had prepared the people's hearts and he prepares our hearts to receive him. and that is exactly what he was going to be sending John, whom we call John the Baptist, to do.
00:04:31
Speaker
And we will read that he would give him the spirit of Elijah. So John would be the fulfillment of that prophecy that God left the people with at the end of Malachi.
Perfect Timing: Birth of Jesus
00:04:45
Speaker
Now, we may consider that this was a silent time in history, but ah it wasn't so silent in terms of movement in the people's hearts.
00:04:57
Speaker
During this time, sects started to um come about. That's S-E-C-T-S, which means divisions. in ah the the the Jewish people.
00:05:09
Speaker
So this is where we saw the development of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, as well as, ah let's see, who else was it that was there?
00:05:26
Speaker
The Sept and also the Septuagint was an important translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, which came about 200 years before Jesus. So right smack in the middle.
00:05:39
Speaker
Let's see. The Sadducees were a group. ah They were called the righteous ones from the family of the priest to Sadoc. And they became the prevailing priestly aristocracy associated with the temple.
00:05:54
Speaker
And in contrast, we have the Pharisees who ah translates into the separated ones, which focused on the synagogue and the applying of the Torah and tradition to everyday Jewish life.
00:06:05
Speaker
Other groups also developed, hoping hoping to hasten the coming of the Messiah. And the zealots started a resistance movement against the Romans, advocating violent actions to overthrow the oppressive occupiers.
00:06:21
Speaker
The Essenes, who saw the corruption of the temple, saw themselves as pure sons of light and moved to the desert to await the soon coming Messiah.
00:06:33
Speaker
And that was when ah also about 200 years in, we saw the the scriptures translated into ah Hebrew. And let's see, that is also where they, we, they've developed the holiday of Hanukkah, which was the, um, let's see, that was the starts with and the Maccabees where the, the, the Maccabees, uh, were fighting against the, the Roman, um, uh, let's see ah my words. They're drawing a blank.
00:07:11
Speaker
Let's see.
00:07:17
Speaker
the ah Rebellion. There we go. The Maccabees led the rebellion. And so that was where the menorah, God provided oil to last for the seven days.
00:07:33
Speaker
So it was we had we didn't see that that God was not there with them. He just wasn't sending prophets to give messages in the intertestamental period. So there was definitely stuff going on.
00:07:45
Speaker
And all of this was preparing God's people for the arrival of his Messiah.
Annunciations by Angel Gabriel
00:07:53
Speaker
So God's timing was perfect, as it always is.
00:07:57
Speaker
And we are going to begin today with the book of luuke And ah Luke ah records the birth of Jesus. And he was a doctor.
00:08:09
Speaker
So it's he that's why he was very interested potentially in and starting at the very beginning from a physical point of view. ah He wanted to know how did Jesus Jesus come about.
00:08:22
Speaker
And I love that. Isn't that a question? Where did I come from? Where did Jesus come from? And Luke answers that question for us. So we are going to see how God fulfilled his prophecy at the end of Malachi today in the book of Luke.
00:08:39
Speaker
An angel at the altar. Now Herod was the king of Judea, and at that time there was a priest named Zechariah, and he had a wife named Elizabeth.
00:08:52
Speaker
They both obeyed God's laws, and God saw that they were very good people. But they had no children, and they were growing old. And one day, Zechariah was at the worship house.
00:09:06
Speaker
It was his turn to help with the worship. And he left the people worshiping and praying outside, and he went inside. And we'll talk a little bit more about this after we finish our reading.
00:09:20
Speaker
What Zechariah saw there surprised him. He saw an angel. The angel stood at the right side of the altar, and Zechariah was afraid.
00:09:34
Speaker
Don't be afraid, Zechariah, said the angel. God heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will have a baby boy and you will name him John.
00:09:47
Speaker
Your son will make you happy, said the angel. In fact, many people will be happy when he is born. God will call him great, but he must never drink wine.
00:10:02
Speaker
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit as soon as he is born. John will help many people turn back to God. He will come before the Lord comes, said the angel.
00:10:16
Speaker
He will have the spirit of Elijah. He will have the power of Elijah. He will help fathers show love to their children.
00:10:27
Speaker
He will help people who disobey, so they will want to obey. Then people will be ready for the Lord.
00:10:37
Speaker
How can I be sure that what you say about a son is true? asked Zechariah. After all, my wife and I are old.
00:10:47
Speaker
My name is Gabriel, said the angel. I come from God. He sent to me to tell you this good news. But you did not believe me, and so now you won't be able to talk.
00:11:02
Speaker
You will be quiet until the day this happens.
00:11:07
Speaker
Now all this time the people were waiting outside for Zechariah to come out, and they began to wonder what was taking so long in there. So at last Zechariah came out, but he couldn't talk.
00:11:18
Speaker
And all he could do was make sign language. And the signs helped the people know that he had seen something special from God. and Soon it was time for Zechariah to go back home.
00:11:30
Speaker
So he went back to Elizabeth. And it wasn't long before the angel's words came true. Elizabeth was going to have baby.
00:11:43
Speaker
God has done this for me, said Elizabeth. God has been kind. i don't feel bad anymore about not having children.
00:11:54
Speaker
a message for Mary? God sent the angel Gabriel with a message again. This time he sent Gabriel to the town of Nazareth. Gabriel went to see a young woman.
00:12:08
Speaker
She had never slept with a man the way a wife would, but she was going to be married to a man named Joseph, and her name was Mary. Hello, said Gabriel to Mary.
00:12:22
Speaker
You are very special. God is with you. Mary was afraid. She was not sure about this. And she wondered what the angel meant.
00:12:35
Speaker
Don't be afraid, said Gabriel. God is happy with you. You are going to have a baby boy. You are to name him Jesus.
00:12:47
Speaker
He will be great. He will be called the son of the most high. And he will rule over God's people. and his kingdom will last for forever.
00:13:01
Speaker
How can this happen? asked Mary. I've never slept with a man the way a wife would, and I'm not even married yet. The Holy Spirit will come to you, said Gabriel.
00:13:14
Speaker
God's power will come over you like a shadow, and so the baby will be special. He will be holy, and he will be God's son.
00:13:25
Speaker
You know Elizabeth who is in your family, said Gabriel. She is going to have a baby too. You know how old she is. People thought she couldn't have a baby.
00:13:36
Speaker
But the baby has been growing inside of her for six months. There is nothing that God can't do.
00:13:46
Speaker
I am God's servant, said Mary, and let this happen just the way you said it would.
Mary and Elizabeth's Encounter
00:13:52
Speaker
Not long after that, Mary went to Elizabeth's house. Elizabeth lived in the hill country.
00:14:00
Speaker
Mary went in to say hello, and right away, the baby growing inside Elizabeth jumped. Then the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth.
00:14:11
Speaker
"'God has been very good to you, Mary,' she said. "'God will bring what is good to your child.'" I don't know what's so special about me.
00:14:23
Speaker
I don't know why my Lord's mother should come to visit me. But I heard your voice, said Elizabeth, and the baby inside me jumped for joy. You have God's riches, and it's all because you believe God will do what he says.
00:14:43
Speaker
How great God is, said Mary. My spirit is happy with God. He saves me. He can tell that I know I'm not important.
00:14:55
Speaker
And now everyone will say that God has been good to me. He has done wonderful, great things for me. His name is special and good.
00:15:06
Speaker
And he is kind to everyone who looks up for him.
00:15:11
Speaker
God has done powerful things for many years, said Mary. He sends proud people away. He brings down rulers. But he lifts up people who know he is the great one.
00:15:27
Speaker
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, and then she went back home.
00:15:34
Speaker
And that is the end of our reading today. Isn't that wonderful? coming.
00:15:45
Speaker
Now, I wanted to share with us a little bit in the big Bible because you know how I feel about details. I love details. So in ah Luke chapter one, verse seven, we we are seeing that.
00:16:03
Speaker
Overall, throughout this chapter so far, is that God's timing is perfect. At just the right time, he sends things to happen.
00:16:16
Speaker
Not only that, but we're going to see that we we saw the contrast between belief in knowing what God says will happen and disbelief.
00:16:28
Speaker
in not believing in what God says will happen. So when God sent his angel, Gabriel, to Zechariah, Zechariah wanted to know how he could know that this was actually going to happen.
00:16:41
Speaker
And he had a consequence for that. He was not able to speak until he named the child what God said the child was to be named. But Mary, on the other hand, she believed what God said was going to happen.
00:16:56
Speaker
She didn't question it. She said, may it be, as you say, it has it will happen. And even Mary, or Elizabeth rather, acknowledged that she was blessed because she believed that God would do what he said he would do.
00:17:12
Speaker
And as Gabriel said, nothing is too hard for God. Nothing is impossible for God. We have so many good daily applications for us today.
00:17:25
Speaker
One, to remember that God's timing is perfect. He brings everything about. So we may be wanting something to happen right now. I know I can think of a few things I'd like to have happen right now.
00:17:40
Speaker
But things happen in God's timing. We don't understand that timing because we don't have that great big picture like he does. But we are expected to trust in him.
00:17:51
Speaker
And God honors our trust in him. That is called faith. That is ah what God wants most of all is for us to trust in him. He is trustworthy.
00:18:01
Speaker
He wants us to believe. We may not understand everything, but we are expected to trust him with it. We are going to be reading later on the book of Revelation, and that's a very difficult book to understand.
God's Grand Plan and Human Understanding
00:18:15
Speaker
And while we may may not understand everything exactly the way it will happen, much in the same way that when people believed in the Messiah coming, they thought that the Messiah was going to be a military leader, an actual physical king who would sit as as a ruler over the nation.
00:18:37
Speaker
But God, he doesn't do things in small ways. Whatever it is we think he will do, it will be even bigger and greater than anything we could imagine. And instead of just being a temporary ruler who would sit on the throne of David and rule over just the country of Israel or rule over the entire world from sitting there, Jesus will do that, but not until later.
00:19:03
Speaker
In the meantime, he was to come and rule over everybody from heaven. Right now, Jesus is in heaven with God sitting at his right hand.
00:19:14
Speaker
And he has been glorified. And this is greater than anything we could have thought. So while the people were looking for ah ah somebody to come in as a military leader, they didn't realize that God was sending someone to do something even greater.
00:19:33
Speaker
And so it's the same thing. God doesn't expect us to understand everything. He does, however, expect us to trust him. And that's what we see with Mary today.
00:19:45
Speaker
As contrast to Zechariah, who did not, who had doubts, who he didn't quite believe, say, how am I going to know this is actually going to happen? Kind of like, ah does that sound familiar?
00:19:57
Speaker
Do you remember when, and
00:20:02
Speaker
oh gosh,
00:20:08
Speaker
Does that sound familiar? Like with Abraham, when the angels came and spoke to Abraham and said that at but about this time next year, sarah or Sarah would have a baby and she laughed and The angel said, why did you laugh?
00:20:27
Speaker
And she said, I didn't laugh. And he said, yes, you did.
00:20:33
Speaker
she had doubts. she She thought, well, I am so old. old How can I possibly have a baby? and so here we see the reversal here. We see instead of, uh, the woman believing, and disbelieving, we see, uh, the woman Mary believed and that,
00:20:53
Speaker
um And
00:20:59
Speaker
so I just, I thought that was a great parallel in the same way. God waits until his perfect timing. Isaac was born to Abraham when they were very old.
00:21:10
Speaker
And in the same way, John was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth when they were old. And so God, it may seem that they waited and waited and for so long, and but God's timing was still perfect.
00:21:27
Speaker
And so we're going to look at the the Big Bible and read um some of the words that they use in the details there. So in verse seven, it says, they were childless because Elizabeth was barren and both of them were elderly.
00:21:44
Speaker
doesn't just say that they were growing old. It says that they were elderly. and here's also god's timing in verse eight it says now it happened to be zechariah's time to serve as priest before the lord in the order of his division and according to the custom of the priestly office it became his lot It was his his turn.
00:22:08
Speaker
they they would like They would roll the dice type of a thing to enter the holy place of the Lord to burn incense. So the point was to allow God to choose who would be the the the priest to serve him.
00:22:23
Speaker
So was it just by chance that it was his turn? No, it was God's timing. Was it just by chance that he threw the lot and his name came up to be the priest to serve?
00:22:37
Speaker
No, that was God's perfect timing. God works everything together. God is in the details. And there are so many things, even in our own lives, that come together at just their time.
00:22:52
Speaker
And it's not just for amazing big events like what we see here today. God is in all of our small details. He orchestrates everything in our lives.
00:23:04
Speaker
And it's just, it's so wonderful that God is so intimately involved in our everyday lives. Like Mary said, ah or like Elizabeth said, she said, I don't know what makes me so special that the mother of my Lord would come to see me, but I don't know.
00:23:22
Speaker
God loves us so much. We are special to him. What is it? Who are we that God would be so intimately involved in our everyday lives? But yet he is.
00:23:34
Speaker
He is. God loves us. He is the God who sees us, just like he saw Hagar when she was leaving because Sarah was treating her poorly. And God came to her and said, where are you going?
00:23:49
Speaker
And she said she was leaving because she was being mistreated. And God said, go back, continue to serve her. I will make your child into a great nation as well. And so she obeyed and she said, you are the God who sees me.
00:24:04
Speaker
Our God is the God who sees us. And he not only sees us, he now lives within us with his Holy Spirit.
00:24:16
Speaker
So let's go ahead and and scoot down to ah verse 15, because as he as ah Gabriel is speaking to Zechariah, he is describing John.
00:24:32
Speaker
He says that he says you will have joy and gladness, starting in verse 14, and many will rejoice at his birth. He will be great before the Lord, and he should not drink wine and intoxicating beverage, but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit just out of his mother's womb.
00:24:51
Speaker
So he was not yet filled with the Holy Spirit within her womb. But when Mary came to visit Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth. Isn't that interesting?
00:25:02
Speaker
And it says in verse 17, He will go before him. says many of the children of Israel will turn to the Lord their God. And he being John will go before him, meaning Jesus, in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to the children and the disobedient ones to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready for Adonai a prepared people.
00:25:31
Speaker
So God wasn't just sending John for no reason. He was sending him to prepare the people. He was preparing them, prepare the way for the Lord.
00:25:43
Speaker
God was preparing his people to receive him. So while there were 400 years in between the old covenant and the new covenant between the last prophet Malachi and this time, God was not Resting.
00:26:01
Speaker
He was preparing his people. Isn't that wonderful? We may think God is doing nothing, but God is always doing something, even though we cannot see it.
Faith and Trust in God's Promises
00:26:17
Speaker
Zechariah said to the angel, "'How will I know this for certain? "'I'm an old man, and my wife is well advanced in age.'" Boy, don't you love that ah description of of ah of his wife? My wife is well advanced in years. so
00:26:35
Speaker
Shame on him.
00:26:39
Speaker
She's still 21. Aren't we all just still 21?
00:26:43
Speaker
Does he not know we don't get older? We only get younger. love that.
00:26:48
Speaker
i love that And the angel says, i am Gabriel, the one standing in God's presence. I was commissioned to tell you and proclaim you to you this good news.
00:27:03
Speaker
So look, you will be silent and powerless to speak until the day these things happen. Since you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.
00:27:19
Speaker
which will be fulfilled in their time. God's timing is perfect. Zechariah didn't need to know when it was going to happen. He just needed to have faith.
00:27:31
Speaker
Faith that God would do as he would said. And if he sends an angel to bring a message, whew, that's, I think if God sent me an angel to have a message, I don't think my response would be, how is this going to be possible?
00:27:46
Speaker
and Mary asked, how will this be possible because of this? But she did not have doubts. She simply wanted to know, how was God going to accomplish this? Versus, how do I know I can trust you?
00:28:00
Speaker
there's That's a totally different attitude.
00:28:04
Speaker
And it says in verse 24, After these days, when his service was complete, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant.
00:28:15
Speaker
So in that time, so God was not slow in fulfilling. he He would not have had to wait long. And we see even for Mary, she didn't have to wait long either because she immediately went to go see her cousin and all very soon thereafter.
00:28:32
Speaker
And because ah Mary was told that Elizabeth was in her sixth month. And she stayed for three months and Elizabeth was still pregnant. So she came very soon as, as we look at the timeframe for which Mary went to go see Elizabeth.
00:28:49
Speaker
It says then in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by the Lord into Nazareth. And, um, we see that when Mary asks the angel, how can this be since I am not intimate with a man?
00:29:07
Speaker
The angel responds that how it will happen. The angel says that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of God will overshadow you.
00:29:18
Speaker
And therefore the Holy one will be born. who will be called son of God. So it's very interesting that we have these explanations because of Mary's curiosity.
00:29:31
Speaker
And the angel gave her a very complete answer. So it it just goes to show that we can ask God questions and he will provide answers for us.
00:29:45
Speaker
We just need to trust in him.
00:29:49
Speaker
And the angel tells her, he said she says, behold, even your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age. And the one who is called barren is six months pregnant.
00:30:01
Speaker
For nothing will be impossible with God.
00:30:06
Speaker
So Miriam said, behold, the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word. And the angel left her.
00:30:18
Speaker
Then when Mary went to go see Elizabeth, Mary Elizabeth told her, blessed is she who trusted that there would be a fulfillment of those spoken to her, those things spoken to her by the Lord.
00:30:33
Speaker
May we also be blessed as we trust in God to fulfill his good word, what he says he will do, the good works that God has begun in us, he will complete.
00:30:45
Speaker
We know that everything God says he will do is true and he will do them. We don't know when Jesus will return. But we need to remember that what everything God says he will do, he will do.
00:30:58
Speaker
And trust that he will come back in the right time. And that he is not slow in coming, but he is preparing his people. During this time, we have had thousands of years since the time of this writing that we are reading about today.
00:31:17
Speaker
And today. That doesn't mean that God is not coming again. It means that he is preparing his people. So let us do our part to help spread the word about reading God's word, to spread the good news about the salvation that Jesus will bring us when we believe in him as being the son of God, in the same way that Mary believed that these things would happen to her.
Conclusion and Encouragement
00:31:45
Speaker
Believe that God will fill us when we believe with his Holy Spirit and that he will accomplish things through us, that he has good works prepared for us to do, that we need to be brave and bold to do the good works that God has prepared for us to do, to read his word, which is useful for instruction, correction, restoration, so that we are capable and able to and enable to do those good works that God has given us to do.
00:32:16
Speaker
And part of that is to click that light button when we're done watching or listening so that we can help spread that word about all of these things. So thank you for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed our very first day of reading the New Covenant.
00:32:31
Speaker
I hope you're just as excited as I am to continue and to finish this year out. I am so happy every day doing these readings with you. It is my great joy and my great privilege to be doing these readings with you.
00:32:45
Speaker
And i want to thank you all for joining me here as we read through God's word every day and learn about our daily applications. So I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day today, August 10th, whatever it is you may be doing.
00:32:58
Speaker
I hope you have a fantastic day and that God opens your eyes to see the work that he has given you to do. and that you go about it joyfully. I will be here for everyone again tomorrow.