Open Our Bibles Together with MFahring

Today’s studies on the podcast include LOTS AND LOTS of details about God’s plans to create a tabernacle as a place for Him to dwell among His people here on earth. I don’t know about you but this idea of God dwelling with us reminds me of one of my most favorite things about God… Emmanuel, our God with Us.

 

Annnnddd if you have listened for any amount of time at all, you have probably also heard me say quite OFTEN on OOBT, that our Emmanuel is not just a baby in the manger. Actually, we saw God’s desire to dwell with His people all that way back in the beginning… yes… the literal beginning… of creation that is… as found in Genesis… when God dwelled with Adam and Eve in perfect relationship in the Garden of Eden.

 

As we’ve seen throughout our studies, ever since sin entered the world, God has been in the process of rescue and restoration of His relationship with His people. And this tabernacle is just one more step in that direction.

 

We are also going to see in the tabernacle many pointers to Jesus, God’s character, and reminders from the Garden of Eden even. And don’t forget that all these directions are coming through the conversation between God and Moses during those 40 Days and 40 Nights on Mount Sinai. I can just visualize Moses sitting and taking notes as God speaks, can’t you?!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/exodus-25-27/

Law & Order. Anyone who knows me knows that ALL the Law & Order shows are my absolute favorites to watch… most specifically Olivia Benson and Law & Order SVU. 25 seasons and still going strong. So… yes… just in case you are wondering… the play on words in the title of this episode was 100% intentional! LOL!

 

Truthfully, though, it also directly relates to where we are headed in our studies today on OOBT. The 10 Words or 10 Commandments. The Book of the Covenant. So many examples of how God is using His laws to bring order.

 

And about those laws found in the Book of the Covenant… please know that while many of the laws we’re reading don’t sit well or don’t make any sense at all to us, we must remember that they are not written for us today. Instead, they are written for the Israelite culture as they were leaving slavery and the oppression of the Egyptians. The Israelites are newly freed from slavery and in a learning process.

 

 

Throughout this learning process, we see God so graciously not only provide the laws for order but actually give them detailed instructions as found in the Book of the Covenant of what these laws mean in everyday life for them at that time.

 

And please don’t miss out on the touching covenant ceremony between God and the Israelites during which they not only saw God, but they feasted with Him in the wilderness too. Can you even imagine my OOBTers? I can’t wait to study this and so much more with all of you!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/exodus-22-24/

Remember Egypt.

 

These two words seem to adequately sum up the beginning of our studies on today's episode of OOBT as we see God reminding the Israelites to remember their rescue … Oh gosh friends. What rescue or (if we're being honest) RESCUES, would God ask you to remember my OOBTers?

 

We’ve already seen God's rescue, His provision, and His loving relationship with the Israelites being formed WAY before He now prepares to give them rules to live by. Relationship over rules… guessing you have probably heard that saying before and, yep, we talk about that a bit today too.

 

And speaking of those rules, we also dive right on into the 10 Words otherwise known as the 10 Commandments. Well, you may be aware of the term and even one, five, or maybe all of them, but did you know that a survey showed that we are more likely to know the ingredients of a Big Mac than the 10 Commandments?! Ouch. Maybe you know that ad campaign? "Two All Beef Patties, Special Sauce, Lettuce, Cheese, Pickles, Onions on a Sesame Seed Bun."

 

Honestly though, even if that particular one’s not familiar, there are probably 1 million other ad campaigns to choose from that you could recall quickly if asked… Possibly more quickly than the 10 Commandments themselves. Today we lean into the 10 Words, God making His presence known to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, and that touching moment when we realize that Moses has come full circle with the promise God made to him at the burning bush. All that and so very much more in today’s episode. I hope you take a moment to tune in!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to  https://mfahring.com/exodus-19-21-ten-words-for-them-and-us/

Happiest of New Year's to all of you my OOBTers!

 

 I’m so very glad to be back studying with you after a much needed break during the holiday season! However, I can assure you that I am now 100% ready to jump right into our studies as together we take a deeper dive into just who is this I AM referenced 6,519 times in the Old Testament alone. To revisit Moses’ conversation with our Mighty God at the burning bush and be reminded that God often chooses the most ordinary people (like Moses, myself, and possibly even you) to play a significant role in His unfolding story. Annnddd all of this leads us to a whole lot of talk in today’s episode about God’s cross-references as found throughout the Bible.

 

I’m just going to stop right here and say that if you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to go to today’s show notes or my post on socials to see the image of overlapping arc on top of overlapping arc. This graphic depicts the 63,779 cross-references in the Bible (places where what is mentioned in one part is mentioned in another). It is so amazing to see this visual when considering the fact Scripture was written by 40 authors over 1500 years on three different continents and all very much a part of the story…the plan… God is still working out to this very day. Honestly, don’t you think our God who has 63,779 cross references in Scripture is more than able to still be cross-referencing our lives with His plans today even? Let’s choose to trust Him more and more as we move into 2024, shall we?!

 

Oh friends, all this and so much more is found in this first episode of OOBT in this new year…many, many threads to pull and connections to the Christmas story, Exodus, Isaiah and so much more. Please don’t miss out on this one!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/gods-cross-references-and-i-ams-plans/

Merriest ALMOST Christmas to all of you my OOBTers! It’s hard to believe this episode release happens less than one week before Christmas so let’s be sure we spend some time slowing our hearts and minds to lean into that story; to be fully prepared to celebrate that baby in the manger on Christmas Day.

 

With that thought in mind, how about we start our time in this episode in the Christmas story with the Passover and dedication of the firstborn…. Makes perfect sense right?! Well, I certainly hope it does by the end of our time together anyway. LOL! This connection leads us to an often overlooked part of Jesus’ birth story, his first visit to the Temple where Simeon and Anna met him. Oh, that one is such a beautiful example of God as our Promise Keeper. We’ll then move right into a part of the story that took place roughly two years after Jesus’ birth = the visit of the Wise Men, God warning Joseph in a dream to escape to Egypt for safety, King Herod’s massacre of the innocents, and then God later calling them back out of Egypt and to Nazareth where Jesus spent the rest of his growing up years.

 

We are also reminded once again that all of this… the light and the darkness, the hard and the good of the Christmas story, are all part of God’s rescue plan… the plan in existence and in process since that first sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Through it all, we see the threads of redemption and rescue weaved throughout the storyline of Christmas…actually the storyline of the entire Bible. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/advent-out-of-egypt-i-called-my-son/

 

Advent.

 

A time to turn our attention toward preparing our hearts and homes to celebrate Jesus’ birth… prepare Him room so to speak. Today’s episode highlights some Old Testament threads, promises, and prophecies of the Rescuer who came down to the Israelites in Egypt just as our Rescuer came down in the form of the baby in a manger. How amazing it truly is. God Himself would come. God came down to rescue.

 

Yes, the gift of that baby in the manger on Christmas morning is absolutely amazing but even more amazing is the mystery of our Savior’s presence forever with us, wherever we go, through the Holy Spirit. God With Us wasn’t one event on Christmas Day or one lifetime lived in the 33 years that Jesus walked the earth. God With Us is most definitely now AND forevermore too. He was and still is our Emmanuel, our Wonderful Counselor, our Mighty God, our Everlasting Father, and our Prince of Peace.

 

This season unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Jesus is Emmanuel… God With Us; God come down to us; God come down to you; God with you (and me). Amazing… just amazing to take it all in, am I right? Beautiful.

 

Be sure to listen in for all this and so much more my OOBTers!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/advent-rescue-came-down-his-name-is-emmanuel/

I am guessing this will come as no surprise to any of us, but gratitude is not often our default setting. Complaining and grumbling is. Ouch.

 

With that said (and since we are just coming off the grumbling and complaining of the Israelites in the wilderness after their Exodus from Egypt in our studies), I felt this is an ideal time to lean in here a bit more to have us all consider to true antidote to complaining and grumbling…. Yep… you guessed it. Thankfulness and gratitude. While we can all know this at a head level, it is much more difficult to live, am I right my friends?!

 

Be sure you listen in to this EXTENDED BONUS episode covering so many other things too… wilderness seasons of life. joy and pain. hard and good. friendship with God. God’s presence in it all. Emmanuel. God With Us.

 

Annnddd be sure you don’t miss the end where I talk candidly about the one-year anniversary of my Dad’s unexpected death and how I am STILL trying to find a way to fight for thankfulness this Thanksgiving season. One WHOLE YEAR later. To be aggressively grateful for what God has done, is doing, and promised to do in my life… right where I’m at. Right here. Right now. As I grieve the loss of my Dad, and yet, in the same breath, am so truly thankful for the example of a life well lived, one in which he chose to love me and others in a meaningful way. Every day. Clear up to his last day. ❤

 

Truthfully, I am reminded just how much thankfulness and gratitude for my Dad over the course of this last year has been so valuable in the healing process. Once again holding that tension of both blessing and loss together. Oh my still grieving but also still healing heart. Heartbreak and Thankfulness. Joy and Pain. Hard and Good. Both/And. Only God can do this in our lives am I right my friends?!

 

Oh goodness. You’re really just going to have to listen in as I speak words into the mic to find out more… a message I know I so desperately needed to hear… and maybe you do too right about now my friends?!

 

❤ M

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/once-again-thankful-for-god-with-us-my-dad/

Hello and Welcome to this episode JAM PACKED FULL of ALL SORTs of celebrating OOBT’s 50th episode + 2nd ANNIVERSARY. Eek! Can you believe it!?!

 

For that reason, we promise you are in for a TREAT today on OOBT… and that sure does seem fitting since we are celebrating not one but TWO big milestones am I right?! Anyway, this episode finds me not just talking to the wall by myself but instead sharing the mic with my Podcast Editor + Coach (and great friend), Tammy Munson of Wildfire Creative, for what we lovingly call the Tammy Takeover. LOL! She asks all the questions today and I do my best to give all the answers about things both serious and silly related to me and to OOBT such as –

 

Truthfully though, I am so over the top thrilled to reach this 50th episode + 2-year milestone by the grace of God + alongside each one of you. ANNNDDD I am EVEN MORE excited to see where our studies continue to take us together in the future of OOBT! WOW. Just wow.

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/oobt-50th-episode-2nd-anniversary-celebration/

Grumbling. Complaining. Manna from Heaven. Bread of Life. Water from the Rock. Living Water. Rest. Provision. Moses’ Raised Hands. Victory Over the Amalekites. “The LORD is My Banner.” Jethro’s Visit + Zipporah and Their Sons Return to Moses.

 

((How about I just go ahead and say it right now… the more I read about the grumbling of the Israelites and their many MANY complaints in the book of Exodus, the more I realize that I AM the Israelites. Ouch.))

 

Then there is that advice Jethro gives to Moses… those words found in Exodus 18:17-18 which read… “This is not good! You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.” Oh my. This seems to land somewhere deep in my heart and mind. Don’t go it alone Moses… Don’t go it alone M. Do you feel the weight of that reminder too my OOBTers?!

 

ANNNDDDD… please be sure to listen all the way to the end for an exciting announcement about what is to come on OOBT! It may or may not include some confetti in the air!! 🎉🎉 🎉

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/exodus-16-18/

FIGHT.

 

This one word seems to accurately sum up today’s episode of OOBT. So. Much. Fighting.

 

Pharaoh and his army came for the Israelites. The Israelites fought against Moses about bringing them out into the wilderness to die. God fought for the Israelites when their backs were to the Red Sea. A fight for freedom. A million voices singing praises to Yahweh their warrior and rescuer only for them to end our readings for today fighting against God and Moses by complaining of thirst in the desert.

 

However, even with all this fighting going on today, let’s not overlook the most important takeaway of all OOBTers… God alone fought for them + rescued them, AND more than 1,200 years after this Red Sea miracle, God fought again for His children… this time on a hill called Calvary. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus made a way for each one of us to experience salvation.

 

Like the Israelites at the Red Sea crossing, we did absolutely nothing to help in the fight. Our salvation, just as the Israelites’, was and is a gift from God. End of story friends.

 

Oh, that we would choose to quiet our souls before our Father God and realize that He still fights for us, His children. We may not see it in the moment, but God can make a way… ”The LORD will fight for you, and you only have to be silent” (Exodus 14:14 ESV). Now that’s a GOOD FIGHT worth fighting, am I right?!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/exodus-13-15/

Exodus 10-12 details the last three plagues of the ten plagues that fell upon Egypt because Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let the people of God go. Locusts infesting the entire land and devouring whatever food was left after the hail, total darkness that lasted for three days and could be “felt,” the 10^th and final plague of the death of all the firstborns in Egypt… through all of this, we have a front row seat to see the power and authority of God over all of creation.

 

Then, in the middle of the night, an estimated 2-3 MILLION PEOPLE left Egypt together on foot… AND SO THE EXODUS BEGAN.

 

(Can you even imagine what that looked like? The magnitude of this exodus? How long that took? Somedays trying to get just 7 people out the door of our home feels nearly impossible! LOL!)

 

Oh, my OOBTers… Hopefully, you are beginning to see this truth played out through each and every one of these plagues up to now…. God’s intent in the Exodus story is certainly to show Pharaoh and Egypt who the One true God is, but it is also to write on the hearts of His own people, the Israelites, that He is a faithful and trustworthy Deliverer without whose help no rescue was possible. Our God is a Deliverer + Rescuer. So beautiful.

 

Be sure to listen in to hear about all of this and so much more! For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/exodus-10-12/

Today on OOBT we find the phrase “Let my people go” on repeat. The reason why? Pharaoh’s hardened heart. Full stop.

 

Over and over again we see God sending Moses and Aaron back to request Pharaoh let the Israelites go AND over and over again we hear Pharaoh refuse… just as God said he would. We also see on repeat the disaster and devastation Pharaoh’s hard heart brought upon Egypt. UNBELIEVABLE… especially when you consider what living through these plagues was like for the people… all the people… including Moses and Aaron.

 

The Nile turned to blood. Frogs. Gnats. Flies. Death of Livestock. Boils. Hail. Whew! What a traumatic set of events! Unfortunately, there is even more devastation to come in our next episode, but we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, should we?!

 

Oh, and be sure you don’t miss the run-through M shares near the end today to hear about all of those Egyptian gods OUR GOD was defeating… one plague… one miracle… at a time.

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/exodus-7-9/

In today’s episode of OOBT, we pick up with more conversation between God and Moses at that burning bush. Truthfully, the verses covered in Exodus 4 were the literal mic drop moment in the creation of this podcast (and yep… the mic pun was definitely intended there! LOL!).

 

These words are now forever etched in M’s mind as confirmation that God has called her to serve as a Bible Study Podcast Host for His glory and the good of others. Really though friends… when God says who made a human’s mouth? How does one even begin to argue with that?

 

All of this is a very tender realization as we are now 45 episodes into the podcast God so lovingly placed on M’s heart in the pages of her then study in the book of Exodus. She had been working through many things since January of that year BUT this study M started in April 2021 was the clincher to the eventual launch of the Open Our Bibles Together with MFahring podcast in early November of 2021. Amazing. Just amazing.

 

 

We also dive into the truth that Moses’ doubt and questioning would not stop God from fulfilling His promises to His people. The same God who spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was now speaking to the Israelites through Moses, AND He’s now speaking of those promises in the past tense. As in, these were a done deal already in God’s eyes. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew God as a Promise Maker, but Moses experiences Yahweh as the one who fulfills promises. Promise Keeper. ALWAYS.

 

All this and so much more… please don’t miss out on any of it friends! For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/exodus-4-6/

Hello and Welcome to the book of Exodus OOBTers!

 

Listen in as M helps us with the framework of what is for us only a flip of the page from Genesis to Exodus but actually represents many years of hard living and struggle for the Israelites in Egypt. There is so much happening in the “in-between” of the continuation of that storyline. Genesis begins at creation and concludes with the events leading up to the Israelites’ time in the land of Egypt just prior to their slavery there. As we begin in Exodus in today’s episode, we are going to hear God’s plans to rescue the Israelites from Egyptian oppression. Annnnndd what a plan it is friends!!

 

M also leans in to process this thought with us… “The exodus is the defining moment in the Old Testament for the Hebrews as 9-11 is for us today or Jesus’ death and resurrection is for the New Testament.” Amazing to consider!

 

Be sure to listen in to hear more about Moses’ timeline + how Old Faithful and the faithfulness of God are seemingly unrelated but actually VERY related after all. Whew! All this and so much more in this first episode release after an OOBT summer break in the month of July… truly quite a blessing to spend time with family (and in Orange Beach, AL even!) BUT NOW, M is back and VERY ready to dive into our studies in the beginning chapters of the book of Exodus together!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/exodus-1-3/

Welcome back OOBTers!

 

This episode is both a BONUS and a PREQUEL to our upcoming studies in the book of Exodus. As M has been digging in to prep for this time together, she’s found so many things to share with you to help us transition from Genesis to Exodus. Truthfully, there are so many valuable things for us to hear … so many things discovered that M decided we would just make time for them in a BONUS + PREQUEL episode in an effort to help set us up for what is to come.

 

The Big Picture. 400/430 years. Waiting. Slavery in Egypt. Suffering. God hears. God sees. God remembered. God provides. Promise Keeper. God knew. God knows. Oh goodness. Truly there’s so much to share in this one!

 

PLUS, spoiler alert here, near the end of today’s episode, M will be sharing some information about an upcoming summer break for OOBT. Given that pause, she wanted to set us up to be ready to dive right into Exodus chapters 1-3 when the podcast returns from this break in early August.

 

Pretty sure that’s most certainly one of the benefits of being the podcast host, right?! Deciding when and how we move on as we journey through these books of the Bible. LOL!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/bonus-prequel-to-exodus/

 

Welcome to Summer 2023 OOBTers! In today's episode, we are going to go all the way back to the beginning of OOBT as a refresher for many of us as well as maybe even a first-time listen for all of our new friends who have joined us along the way!

 

If finishing the book of Genesis has taught us anything, for sure it has shown us the importance of the beginnings of all things. With that in mind, let's revisit together just how this Bible study podcast even came to be. Join M as she discusses the why and who behind the creation of the Open Our Bible Together with MFahring podcast. You may be surprised to learn it has a whole lot to do with Moses’ conversation with God at the burning bush + a hard good that needed a surrendered yes.

 

ANNNDDD... be sure to check out the NEWLY UPDATED show notes with many MANY more additional resources than were found in the first time release of this episode + a link to another "beginning" episode (this time from the beginning of 2023!) that further develops both Moses' story and our own obedience to both the big and the small callings God places on each one of our lives. All this Moses talk is also the PERFECT setup for our upcoming studies in the book of Exodus! Sounds like a win-win right?!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/why-a-bible-study-podcast-2023-re-air/

:::: THAT’S A WRAP MY OOBTers!! ::::

 

WELL…. WITH THE BOOK OF GENESIS ANYWAY! 🎉🎉🎉

 

Two books down (Genesis and Job) with only 64 more to go! We got this right?! LOL!

 

So we FINISH the book of Genesis today AND up next we’ll BEGIN Exodus. In the meantime, though, please tuck this truth in the back of your mind… We cannot cut the ties between the books of Genesis and Exodus. (More on that later… I promise!)

 

God Meant It for GOOD.

 

Joseph spoke these hard-earned words to be a guide for us in the hard times of life as well. In our own Hard Good stories. Life in those moments may not feel good, but we can stand in the truth and in the courage of heart, after reading Joseph’s story, that good is there. It doesn’t have to feel good to be good. Where God is, good is being worked. In our lives, in the lives of those around us, or all of the above even. We don’t have to see it. We can choose to believe it because we believe in God. Oh my.

 

How about you just listen in to hear more about our good God in the hard good found in our lives as well as the ways we must remember that flipping the page from the book of Genesis to Exodus is merely a continuation (400 years later) of the storyline we’ve been studying in Genesis. This is so so good my OOBTers!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/genesis-49-50/

Hello there and welcome to the Open Our Bibles Together podcast! I am so happy you are here and joining me today as we once again continue our studies in the book of Genesis. BUUTTT can we just pause to take a moment to celebrate the big 4-O?? Well, OOBT’s 40^th episode anyway! LOL!

 

I am super humbled and oh so very excited to still be studying alongside each one of you … now 40 episodes later… so so good! OK, enough of that…how about we set down our confetti to now return our attention to Joseph and his father Jacob.

 

We start off our studies today with Jacob responding to God’s calling with these words…. “Here I am.” Wow. How touching that God chooses to lean in at this very moment to speak reassurances to Jacob as he is packing up + setting out with his family and belongings to make the 450-mile journey to Egypt. The God With Jacob is the same God With Us today. Beautiful. Just beautiful my friends.

Hey there!

 

M here checking in with all of my absolute favorite Bible study partners as we take a deep dive together into Genesis 43-45 in this episode release of the OOBT podcast.

 

Truthfully, where should we even begin as there is so much found in these three chapters tucked near the middle of Joseph’s story… With that in mind, how about we start by considering some of the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of these brothers on that trip back to Egypt and even on the way to Joseph’s palace. There is so much depth, and humanness lying beneath the surface of these stories found on the pages of our Bibles.

 

And then there is this statement of truth… with God, there is always a meanwhile.

 

Let’s repeat that to ourselves one more time to make sure we settle these words in the depths of our souls…. God is ALWAYS working… in the meanwhile.

 

God’s hand of faithfulness and goodness was there even when Joseph couldn’t understand it. No matter the situations we face in life, if there is one thing that Joseph’s story seems to be showing us on repeat is that God is always up to something in the meanwhile moments of our lives. Now that is most certainly something to be grateful for in praise and worship to God – in the good times + in our suffering.  

 

Thank You, God, for Your Meanwhile.

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/genesis-43-45/

Today’s OOBT can best be summed up with these words you’ll hear in this episode, “When you are facing a setback, the beginning of a Joseph-like attitude is to acknowledge that God is with you. There is nothing like His presence to shed new light on a dark situation.” Oh my. Yet another example of our Emmanuel - God With Us, right?! And nope, that is absolutely not just a title of God and Jesus that we should only leave in the Christmas story… here we see it alluded to in the story of Joseph as well. Let’s hold tight to that truth, shall we?! So important for each of us to remember our hard good/good hard stories.

 

Be sure to listen to today’s episode to hear this and so much more related to the life of Joseph (plus his connections to Jesus’ story here on earth) as found in the book of Genesis!

 

For the full episode show notes, please go to https://mfahring.com/genesis-40-42/