Commuter Bible OT

Saul starts to crack under pressure and becomes increasingly paranoid, imagining that David could strike at any moment. He accuses his men of not caring about him and conspiring against. Doeg the Edomite speaks up, remembering that he had seen David get supplies from Ahimelech. In a rage, Saul visits Ahimelech, accuses him of treason, and assigns Doeg the task of slaughtering an entire city of pri...

In our last episode, King Saul’s jealousy and hatred for David began to grow as David successfully conquered the Philistines in battle time after time. Saul began plotting David’s demise, but his plans to see him killed were all foiled. Today, Saul’s rage becomes clear to everyone. Saul instructs his son Jonathan and all of his men to kill David. Jonathan and David are close companions, however, a...

When the subject of a historical account like this one tells you the reason why he will be victorious before he achieves his victory, we should probably pay attention to that right? So often when someone references David & Goliath, they frame it as if it’s about a big guy versus small fry, and the underdog wins the day because of his ingenuity. Let’s just make this clear: you and I are not David a...

The Lord sends Samuel to tell King Saul that he is to wipe out the Amalekites completely, because they opposed Israel when God brought them out of Egypt. King Saul decides that he will wipe out everyone and everything, except for King Agag of the Amalekites, and, you know, all the good stuff. You can’t destroy the good stuff, right? Because of this disobedience, the Lord tells Samuel that he regre...

Israel is at war with the Philistines, and when our last reading ended, we were informed that a garrison of Philistines had taken control of the pass at Michmash. Up until this point, the Israelites had no blacksmiths and had been taking their weapons and tools to the Philistines to have them sharpened. This meant that only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons of war. Jonathan sneaks away from th...

In our last episode, Saul had just been anointed as king by Samuel the prophet and priest of Israel. In today’s episode, he is appointed as king in Gilgal to a fuller degree, complete with sacrifices and rejoicing. Samuel gives Saul instructions to wait for him there, but when the newly minted king feels like he is pressed for time he assumes that it will be best to make the burnt offering himself...

In today’s reading, Israel asks an aging Samuel to appoint a king over them before his death. Samuel warns them about what a king would demand from them, but the people urge him all the more. Ultimately, the concern is not so much that they want a king, but that they are looking to have a human king as a source of strength, protection, and provision. All throughout their history, God has been thei...

Today, Israel goes to battle against the Philistines. They assume that if they bring out the ark of the covenant to the battlefield, that it’s presence would either oblige God to win the battle for them or that the object itself has some kind of mystical power. They are sorely mistaken, and the Philistines promptly defeat them and capture the ark. Assuming that their victory is a victory over Isra...

The instructions that the Lord has given to his people concerning justice, holiness, and priesthood have all been shattered in the time of the judges. It seems like all is lost for Israel, but even here we can see foreshadows of the Christ who has yet to come. There is a woman incapable of having children who is faithful to the Lord. In His providence, kindness and mercy, the Lord raises a prophet...

Ruth 1 - 1:01 .  Ruth 2 - 5:19 .  Ruth 3 - 10:56 .  Ruth 4 - 14:19 .  ::: Christian Standard Bible translation. All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross. Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible. facebook.com/commuterbible instagram.com/commuter_bible twitter.com/CommuterPod patreon.com/commuterbible admin@commuterbible.org

At this point in the narrative of Judges, the Lord is noticeably absent from the life of Israel. It seems like nobody knows how any of this covenant stuff works, even in the slightest. It becomes so bad that a Levite is involved in a scenario almost identical to that of Sodom & Gomorrah, only this time, those who are intent on sexually assaulting the town’s visitors are successful because the Levi...

Today, we’ll conclude the account of Samson, one of Israel’s judges. As you may recall from the last episode, Samson was supposed to be dedicated to the Lord as a Nazirite from birth, and yet he did very little to keep that vow. We pick up his story with the account of his interactions with a Philistine woman named Delilah, a woman of the very nation that Israel had been tasked with destroying for...

Today, we’ll begin to look at the life of Samson, a man who kept the Nazirite vow from his birth, until he didn’t, and violated it several times over. In short, Samson is a picture of Israel in one person. Meant to be set apart and holy, he instead takes his vows and his God lightly, defiling himself over and over. A Nazirite was supposed avoid dead bodies, yet he eats honey from a lion’s carcass...

Two judges of Israel follow the death of Abimelech, and we know little about them, except that they each judged Israel for over 20 years with no ruckus to speak of. When Israel turns to idols yet again, they suffer under the Philistines & the Ammonites. They cry out to the Lord, but he rejects their pleas. When they confess sin and burn their idols, God begins to become weary of their misery. Late...

When we last left Gideon and his army, he had attacked the forces of Midian with 300 hundred men. Though he and his small band had already killed 120,000 men, there are still 15,000 left. We begin with a discussion between Gideon and the men of Ephraim who have just killed the two princes of Midian as Gideon’s men routed them from battle. They’re upset that they weren’t called to fight, but Gideon...

Our reading today begins by wrapping up the account of Deborah and Barak after Sisera’s defeat. It’s not long, however, before Israel turns, once again, to worship idols. The false gods of Baal and Asherah were meant to bring fertile crops and prosperity, but they only bring despair and a fractured relationship with the One True God. During a period of oppression by the Midianites, the Lord speaks...

Under the rule of Joshua, Israel was doing well and was off to a good start in obeying the Lord’s commands. Not long afterward, however, they begin to intermarry with the Canaanites, signaling, not only an apathy toward God’s commands, but an acceptance of the gods that the Canaanites worshiped. God declares that he will no longer drive out the Canaanites before Israel, and he leaves them in the l...

::: Christian Standard Bible translation. All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross. Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible. facebook.com/commuterbible instagram.com/commuter_bible twitter.com/CommuterPod patreon.com/commuterbible admin@commuterbible.org

The clans and families of Israel are settling into their apportioned lands and beginning to find rest when a report spreads across the lands that the tribes on the other side of the Jordan are rebelling against God. It has been told that a replica of the Lord’s altar has been made across the river where the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh reside. The other tribes ready themselv...

Now that the majority of the Promised Land has been conquered, the land is being divided by lot and by size according to the number of people in each tribe. Today’s reading is the last section of text detailing the division of the land, and as a reminder from the last episode, consider the excitement and the joy that Israel experienced as each family learned where they would live and work and thri...

The work of conquering the Promised Land, in large part, has come to a close. Now it’s time to divide the land between the clans of Israel as Moses had instructed. To our modern ears, much of what we’ll hear today may not seem important or relevant, but to Israel, it sounded like real estate. If you and your family had been given large sums of land and houses by the work of God’s mighty hand, woul...

In our last episode, a coalition of nations conspired to fight against Israel, but they are no match for those with whom the Lord has covenanted, and God sends a natural disaster that lays waste to more men than the Israelites slay by the sword. Today, another set of kings sets their sites on extinguishing Israel. The northern cities and their kings will soon be defeated, included those men called...

In our last episode, Joshua and his troops defeated Jericho, but one man chose to reject God’s command to set apart everything for destruction, which led to a heartbreaking defeat at Ai and a difficult task for Joshua. After the guilty party is stoned, the Lord turns from his burning anger and Joshua leads the people to victory. The nations hear of Israel’s conquests and plan to form a coalition a...

Joshua and the nation of Israel have crossed the Jordan and are now in the land that the Lord swore to give to his people. As you may recall, this is a new generation of Israelites; the former generation has passed away except for Joshua and Caleb. This generation has yet to be circumcised, and so the Lord instructs Joshua to have them circumcised. Outside of Jericho, they observe the Passover, af...

Moses has died, leaving Israel with a new legacy, a new Law, and a new leader. Before Moses’ death, the Lord appointed Joshua to lead and blessed Him. Today, Joshua takes charge over Israel and leads them over the Jordan and into the land of promise. You may recall that Joshua has seen the land already, as Moses sent him with other men to spy out the land, and that he and Caleb were the only two s...