Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
Psalm 202 from Beyond Psalm 150 Another time King Nebuchadnezzar writes an open letter to everyone. He addresses it to all nations and the people of every language who live on earth. Yes, that’s everyone. This letter is a testimony of what happened to him. This time it’s another dream that has perplexed the king, […]
Churches Close for Tangible Problems, But Maybe Some Should Close for Spiritual Reasons In the book of Malachi, God laments about his people. Specifically he’s down on the priests because they show contempt for him. Their worship is so off-track that God wishes one of the priests would just shut the temple doors. This would […]
After Tamar (1) tricks Judah into impregnating her, she gives birth to twins. They are Perez and Zerah. The name Perez means “breaking out,” because he broke out of the womb first before his twin brother. Though we know nothing more about Perez and what he did, future generations esteem him. Several generations later, one […]
Psalm 201 from Beyond Psalm 150 Deported from Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar, the prophet Daniel now lives in exile in Babylon in service to its rulers. Our next three psalms come from the book of Daniel, though he only wrote one of them. Here is the background of the first psalm. King Nebuchadnezzar has a […]
Rebuilt in Only 52 Days Nehemiah was in exile. Though some of his people had been repatriated, he remained in Babylon. Those who returned had rebuilt the temple, but the city walls (their protection from attack) were still in ruins. Nehemiah sought the king’s permission and blessing to return and rebuild the wall. So Nehemiah […]
God has killed Shelah’s older brothers, Er and Onan, for their extreme wickedness. The custom of the people is that Er’s widow, Tamar (1), should be passed to the third brother so he can produce offspring through her for his dead brother. But Shelah isn’t old enough. So Judah sends Tamar home to live with […]
Psalm 200 from Beyond Psalm 150 The book of Habakkuk concludes with a lengthy prayer that reads like a psalm. Yahweh, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, Yahweh.Renew your work in the middle of the years. In the middle of the years make it known. In wrath, you […]
Looking Beyond the Lion’s Den You may know about Daniel, the guy noted for spending the night with a bunch of hungry lions and emerging the next morning unscathed. The bigger story is that as a youth he was captured by an invading army, forcibly relocated to Babylon, stripped of his culture, indoctrinated with new […]
The Old Testament’s Last Prophet The name Malachi occurs only once in the Bible. The reference gives no background information about him. Bible scholars believe he is a contemporary of Joel. Malachi addresses the exiles who have returned to Judah from Babylon. He talks about the many ways God’s people fall short of the Lord’s […]
Psalm 199 from Beyond Psalm 150 After Habakkuk cries out to God, God responds. He says to look, watch, and be amazed. But Habakkuk isn’t amazed. Perhaps he isn’t listening. Or is he too weary to hear? Habakkuk doesn’t respond with a hearty “thank you.” Instead, he continues his plea, which we can read as […]