DBRP_314 DAN.2 ISA.23 2CO.3.12-18 2CO.4

DANIEL 2:
In the first chapter of Daniel, we heard how Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were faithful to God in not wanting to be defiled by the king’s food, and later they were found better than their companions and chosen for service to King Nebuchadnezzar.

ISAIAH 23:
Yesterday we heard two dramatic messages. One was about the failure of Jerusalem to appropriately respond to God’s impending judgment (which was remarkably like Nero fiddling while Rome burned). Then there was the message to Shebna, the palace administrator. Eliakim would take his place and be like a nail firmly driven in a wall, and the holder of the key to David’s house. He can be understood as a figure of Christ.

2CORINTHIANS 3:12—4:
Remember the greater glory of the new covenant at the end of yesterday’s reading:

Translation notes:
3:14 Their minds, indeed, were closed; and to this very day their minds are covered with the same veil as they read the books of the old covenant. The veil is removed only when a person is joined [in union with//to] Christ.
4:12 This means that death is at work in us [apostles], but life is at work in you.
13 The scripture says, “I spoke because I believed.” In the same spirit of [belief//faith] we also speak because we believe.

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DBRP_313 DAN.1 ISA.22 2CO.2.14-17 2CO.3

DANIEL 1:
Yesterday in Ezekiel, the land was divided in horizontal bands across the entire width of Israel. We will see the 12 gates of the New Jerusalem again in Revelation.

We start the little but immensely important book of Daniel today. Daniel wrote this sometime between 540 and 530 BC. As Daniel will relate, he was an exile to Babylon starting from 605 BC. For comparison, Ezekiel tells us that he was deported to Babylonia in 597 (and his location beside the Chebar river might have been 75 miles southeast of Babylon). So Daniel would have come to Babylon only 8 years earlier.

For listeners who are in-step with the 2016 calendar release dates, I realize just today that I uncritically followed GNT’s text and footnotes which identity the Daniel Ezekiel mentioned three times as a Ugaritic mythical figure named Danel, rather than being the prophet Daniel. I apologize that I didn’t dig deeper earlier on this topic! Only today I realize that GNT followed the scholarly opinion that was current in the 1960s to 1970s on the identity of Ezekiel’s Danel/Daniel. And liberal scholarly opinion at that time and even today is dead set against the the prophet Daniel living when he said he did. I agree with the two articles I link to here in the episode notes, and I will go back and correct my recordings of Ezekiel 14 and 28 accordingly. I think it plausible that Daniel’s miraculous deeds (publicized even in the king’s proclamations) would have made him famous in Ezekiel’s day. And the remote Ugaritic figure named Danel was not famed to be either wise or righteous.

Article: Did Ezekiel know Daniel?

Wallace: Who is Ezekiel’s Daniel?

Daniel is a wonderful example of what God can do with someone completely surrendered to the Lord. Note Daniel’s devotional habits and how he and his friends completely trusted in God.

The book has two clear sections. The first narrates history, and contains the famous stories we all love. The second is prophecy and revelation. Again, like Ezekiel, much of Daniel reappears in the book of Revelation. And as for the question if Daniel was a real prophet, note that Jesus thought he was!

Translation note:
2 The Lord let him capture King Jehoiakim and seize some of the Temple treasures. He took some prisoners back with him to the temple of his gods in Babylon, and put the captured treasures in the temple storerooms [there in Babylon].

ISAIAH 22:
Yesterday’s prophecies dealt with Babylon, Edom, and Arabia.

2CORINTHIANS 2:14—3:
I want to emphasize the precious verses from the end of chapter 2, and these verses are important for understanding the beginning of chapter 3.

14 (NLT) But thank God! [God/He] has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.
15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.
16 To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?
17 You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.

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DBRP_312 EZK.48 ISA.21 2CO.1.23-24 2CO.2

EZEKIEL 48:
In the chapters from Ezekiel yesterday, we heard more rules for the prince’s worship and about temple kitchens and a beginning part about the division of the land. Very fascinating in that is the part about the river that comes out from the east side of the temple, including trees that are for healing, bearing fruit every month. We will soon hear about this river and the trees of life in Revelation.

Translation note:
30-34 There are twelve entrances to the city of Jerusalem. Each of the four walls measures 2,520 yards and [each wall has three gates//has three gates in it], each named for one of the tribes. …

ISAIAH 21:
Yesterday’s chapter in Isaiah was only six verses long. It always seems very unfair to me that Isaiah had to go about naked as a sign about two countries that were not even his own. Surely it was a sign for the people of Israel’s benefit as well. I wonder if Isaiah’s being ‘naked’ was really what we call stark naked. In some cultures, if a man is wearing a loin cloth, he is still called naked. Just as the description states, a person in a loin cloth will have their buttocks exposed.

2CORINTHIANS 2:
At the beginning of chapter 2, Paul is still telling about his change of plans and showing why he doesn’t want to be misunderstood in his motives concerning that. I will read 23 in the NLT and 24 in the PET:

23 (NLT) Now I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I didn’t return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke.
24 (PET) My purpose and that of the other apostles of Christ isn’t to command how each of you in the Corinthian church live out your beliefs. We are certain that each of you will keep standing firm in your belief. We just want to work with you so that your joy keeps on increasing because of living according to your beliefs.

Translation note:
4 I wrote you with a greatly troubled and distressed heart and with many tears; my purpose was not to make you sad, but to make you realize how much I love [all of you//you all].

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DBRP_311 EZK.46 EZK.47 ISA.20 2CO.1

EZEKIEL 46-47:
Yesterday we heard regulations for the priests and Levites, about foreigners, and about the prince of Israel. Also there was the fascinating detail about the eastern gate, which must remain shut.

ISAIAH 20:
Yesterday we heard the prophecy against Egypt, but again it ends with a note of hope for Egypt.

2 CORINTHIANS 1:
Yesterday we finished the book of Hebrews. I would encourage anyone to camp out for a longer time in the 12th and 13th chapters. There is deep insight hidden there.

Here at the end of the year, we will be touring through some of the deepest writing of the New Testament— like what we experienced in Hebrews. 2nd Corinthians is such a letter. It is actually called “Paul’s hard letter.” And from a Bible translator’s experience, it is the hardest book in the New Testament to translate. This is because Paul shares his feelings deeply and in doing so he often draws fine distinctions— not wanting to be misunderstood. It is those fine shades of feelings that are so hard to translate.

2nd Corinthians is a book where Paul shares in an intensely personal way. First he shares about ministry setbacks and discouragement. In sharing these things, Paul also gives us golden keys to unlock comfort and encouragement in our lives. Then Paul shares several personal stories because he feels forced to. That is, because of comparisons drawn between him and false teachers, the Corinthian church needs to know information about Paul’s apostleship and relationship with Christ that Paul would prefer not to boast about.

Paul also urges the Corinthian church to complete their desire to minister financially to the needy fellow believers in Jerusalem. In teaching about ministering with Christian kindness, Paul gives valuable examples to us about the proper motivation for Christian charitable work and appropriate fund raising.

Translation note:
21 It is God himself who makes us, together with you, sure of our life in union with Christ; it is God himself who has [anointed us (with his Spirit to make us capable to serve Him),//set us apart,]
24 We are not trying to dictate to you what you must believe; we know that you stand firm in [our true beliefs//the faith]. Instead, we are working with you for your own happiness.

 

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JoySightigs_037 The Philosopher's Stone, and The Pins

Two parables of Safed the Sage (William E. Barton):

The Philosopher's Stone,

and The Pins

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DBRP_310 EZK.44 EZK.45 ISA.19 HEB.13

EZEKIEL 44-45:
In the vision of the ideal temple yesterday, we heard of the buildings of rooms for the priests and offerings, the altar, the glory of God coming to this temple, and the reason for this vision.

ISAIAH 19:
Yesterday in Isaiah we heard the prophecy about the defeat of the Ethiopians, and at the end of that message, there was a note of hope for that nation.

HEBREWS 13:
Yesterday (and even the day before) we returned to the place of rest which was the theme of chapters 3-4. Did you notice?! Compare the last verse of chapter 4 with the place where we ‘have come’ to in 10:22-24.

Translation notes:
1 Keep on loving one another as [brothers and sisters in the Lord//Christians].
7 Remember your former leaders, who spoke God's message to you. Think back on how they lived and died, and imitate [the way they lived out their beliefs//their faith].
8 [Christ Jesus//Jesus Christ] is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
[The correct order is ‘title’ then ‘name’ in English. We always say words like ‘president’, ‘senator’, and ‘doctor’ before a person’s name in that role. Greek can do the order either way. This is important because there are people in the world that think that ‘Christ’ is Jesus’ last name. The order is reversed in v.21 also.]
9 Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you from the right way. It is good to receive inner strength from [appreciating God’s gracious kindness//God's grace], and not by obeying rules about foods; those who obey these rules have not been helped by them.

 

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DBRP_309 EZK.42 EZK.43 ISA.18 HEB.12

EZEKIEL 42-43:
In yesterday’s tour of the ideal temple we viewed the sanctuary and Most Holy Place.

ISAIAH 18:
Yesterday we heard of Damascus and Syria and Israel.

HEBREWS 12:
After recounting the more victorious heroes of faithful believing, the author spoke about all those unnamed people who victoriously suffered because of fully believing. The Faith Chapter ends with this:

39 All these people earned a good reputation because of their [fully believing//faith], yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40 For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.

Translation note:
2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our [believing//faith] depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne.

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