Category: Bible Insights

Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.

The Bible’s Most Questionable Judge

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 29, 2022

An Unnamed Levite Goes Wild

If Judge Deborah is the reluctant hero and Micah is the anti-hero, then the final character listed in the book of Judges might be viewed as a questionable hero.

This judge, a Levite whose name is not given, has a dubious set of morals and a morose method of getting attention. He’s a most questionable judge.

Consider his story:

The Levite had a concubine who ran away from him. He waited four months, before looking for her.
Upon their trip home, the men of Gibeah, with their unrestrained sexual appetites, desire the Levite. His response is to offer them his concubine as an alternative.
After abusing and misusing her all night, she crawls to the house and dies.
The Levite then cuts her body up and sends the pieces around the country.

His countrymen, sufficiently riled up, go on a rampage against the men of Gibeah, who are aided by surrounding cities from the tribe of Benjamin.

This effective “civil” war results in tens of thousands of people being killed and the tribe of Benjamin being essentially annihilated.

While all the other judges in the book of Judges went after other nations, this quasi judge went after his own people. Yes, evil was confronted, but at a high cost and over an event that could have been avoided.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Judges 19-21, and today’s post is on Judges 19:1-3.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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Tags Judges

Bible Insights

Discover How to Treat One Another

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 16, 2022

Consider How the Bible Teaches Us to Treat One Another

The Bible gives us many “one another” commands that instruct us how to treat one another.

Things to Do

Love one another (John 13:34, John 13:35, Romans 13:8, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 John 3:11, 1 John 3:23, 1 John 4:7, 1 John 4:11, 1 John 4:12, 2 John 1:5).

Accept one another (Romans 15:7).

Instruct one another (Romans 15:14).

Submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21).

Forgive one another (Colossians 3:13).

Teach one another (Jeremiah 9:20).

Teach and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16).

Encourage one another (Judges 20:22, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:25).

Agree with one another (1 Corinthians 1:10).

Fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7).

Give to one another (Esther 9:22).

Live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16, 1 Peter 3:8).

Be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32)

Serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).

Bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2).

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Romans 12:10).

Honor one another above yourselves (Romans 12:10).

Greet one another with a kiss of love (1 Peter 5:14).

Greet one another with a holy kiss (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12).

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19).

Spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling (1 Peter 4:9).

Administer justice, show mercy and compassion to one another (Zechariah 7:9).

Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5).

Things Not to Do

Do not deceive one another (Leviticus 19:11).

Do not break faith with one another (Malachi 2:10).

Do not degrade your bodies with one another (Romans 1:24).

Do not lust for one another (Romans 1:27).

Stop judging one another (Romans 14:13).

Do not hate one another (Titus 3:3).

Do not slander one another (James 4:11).

When we follow these one-another commands from the Bible, we will begin to treat others the way God intended.

Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags faith, justice, love, mercy

Bible Insights

What Matters Most?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 15, 2022

May Our Actions Show Our Righteousness

We discussed the faith of Abraham demonstrated through his willingness to act. This is understandable; we uphold Abraham as a great example of faith.

Yet after James talks about Abraham’s great faith in action (James 2:25), he immediately adds Rahab as another example. Rahab, you may recall, was a prostitute who risked her life to protect two Jewish spies—and she wasn’t even Jewish.

By one brave act, she showed her faith—her righteousness—and she was spared from death as a result.

Rahab gives me hope. She was a woman in a male-dominated society, worked in a reviled profession, and didn’t have the right heritage. She was the quintessential outsider, yet that didn’t matter.

Our past and our circumstances don’t matter to God, but the things we do now. That’s what matters. That’s righteousness.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Joshua 1-3 and today’s post is on Joshua 2:1-21.]

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Tags righteousness

Bible Insights

Give Generously and Not Begrudgingly

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 8, 2022

We Must Take Care of the Poor Among Us

As we read through the law of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy, we come across a command that says that we are to “give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart” (Deuteronomy 15:10).

We might have the inclination to dismiss this command as part of the old covenant, which Jesus came to fulfill, but remember that he modeled and taught generosity.

For example, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to give to those who ask and don’t ignore those who want to borrow (Matthew 5:42).

This Old Testament command says to give generously to “them.” But who does them refer to? The context in Deuteronomy is other Israelites.

We can extend this concept to us today and apply it by saying that it means those in our church or other followers of Jesus.

This is an ideal place to start, but Jesus’s command to give doesn’t limit us to our own congregation or spiritual community. The context of the passage in Matthew seems to include everyone.

Applying Moses is teaching in Deuteronomy to Jesus’s call to give, adds the stipulation to not do so begrudgingly, that is, without a grudging heart. To give generously with the wrong attitude is disobedience.

There’s one more item from Moses’s teaching. He promises a reward for those who give generously and not grudgingly. He promises God’s blessings to those who give. The blessings apply to their work and everything they do.

But Jesus doesn’t promise a blessing when we give. He just says to do it. This should be enough. If we receive a blessing for our generosity, that’s a bonus.

May we give generously to those in need without thought to a reward, because Jesus says to—and it’s the right thing to do.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Deuteronomy 13-15 and today’s post is on Deuteronomy 15:7-10.]

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Tags generosity, give, Jesus, Law of Moses, Moses, poor

Bible Insights

When You Make a Vow to God

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 1, 2022

Be Sure to Follow Through on What You Promise to Do

Have you ever promised God that you’d do something for him? Sometimes these occur from the Holy Spirit’s stirring within our souls.

Yet other times, these come at a traumatic moment in a person’s life when they’re in the middle of a crisis.

They bargain with the Almighty. They make a conditional vow to God: “If you get me out of this jam, then I will do ______ for you.”

What goes in the blank varies. It may be an act of service, to give money, or to change a behavior, either to start doing something good or to stop doing something they shouldn’t be doing.

Regardless of the promise they make and the fact that it contains a stipulation for God to act first, the result is they are making a vow to God.

I’m not sure how God views these provisional pledges. On one hand it seems a bit manipulative by the person making the promise.

Yet there is the potential for good to come out of it, providing the person making the pledge keeps their vow to God.

Lest there be any doubt about it, God expects us to follow through and keep our vow.

In the book of Numbers, Moses writes that when we make a vow to God or promise to do something we must keep our word and not break our pledge (Numbers 30:2).

Though the Bible doesn’t require us to make a vow to God, it does clearly state that if we choose to do so, we must follow through and do all that we promised.

Moses later writes an additional command on the subject. He adds that when we make a vow to God, we must not be slow in fulfilling that promise. To procrastinate is a sin (Deuteronomy 23:21). A delayed obedience is disobedience.

Jesus repeats this instruction in his Sermon on the Mount. Then he adds a wise addendum, telling the crowd that the better solution is to not make a promise in God’s name (Matthew 5:33-34).

This last part is wise advice for us to follow. Don’t make a rash vow to God. Instead, live a life where we don’t feel we have to.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Numbers 28-30 and today’s post is on Numbers 30:2.]

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Tags God, Jesus, Law of Moses, Moses

Bible Insights

We Need to Take God’s Instructions Seriously

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 22, 2022

Understanding the Background behind the Death of Uzzah

The book of Numbers contains details that are easy to gloss over or dismiss as irrelevant, even boring. Yet they’re in the Bible for a reason, and we can learn something from each one of these verses, no matter how trivial they may seem.

Such is the case with Numbers 7:9. It includes one of God’s instructions that they shouldn’t have dismissed.

The Ark of the Covenant

This passage details what Moses does after he sets up the tabernacle, according to God’s instructions. Since the people are nomadic at this time, everything must be portable.

Easy transportation is key. To accommodate this Moses accepts gifts of carts and oxen from the tribes so that the Levites can move the items they’re responsible for.

The Levites have three clans: the Gershonites, the Merarites, and the Kohathites, each with specific duties. Moses gives two carts with four oxen to the Gershonites and four carts with eight oxen to the Merarites.

But the Kohathites receive none. This doesn’t seem fair. Why not give each clan two carts and four oxen? This would keep everything even.

But Moses has a good reason. The Kohathites are supposed to carry the holy things they’re responsible for on their shoulders. This means no carts drawn by oxen.

One of the holy things they’re responsible for transporting is the ark of the covenant (the ark of God).

God had already specified the ark of the covenant was to be carried by two poles (Exodus 25:14). This means no carts and no oxen. God’s instructions are clear.

The Death of Uzzah

Fast-forward about four centuries. The people have settled in the promised land, and David is their king. He wants to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.

With great fanfare they put the ark on a cart. As the processional makes its way to Jerusalem, one of the oxen stumbles. One man, Uzzah, reaches out to steady the ark.

I’d have had the same reaction. I’m quite sure he did this without thinking, desiring to keep God’s ark safe.

God sees things differently. Uzzah shouldn’t have touched the ark, and God strikes him dead. Uzzah dies on the spot (2 Samuel 6:6).

David’s angry at God. Frankly, I’m a bit dismayed as well.

Yet the ark shouldn’t have been on a cart. Levites should have carried it using poles, just as God had instructed. And Uzzah shouldn’t have been nearby.

Uzzah’s death was unnecessary and could have been avoided had David and his people followed God’s instructions.

This is a solemn reminder for us to never dismiss what God says.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Numbers 7-9 and today’s post is on Numbers 7:9.]

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Tags death, King David, Moses, obey God

Bible Insights

Should We Separate From or Include Those Who Are Different?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 15, 2022

Leviticus Warns Against Everything Unclean, but Jesus Has a Different Response

I’ve never met anyone who likes the book of Leviticus, and many admit to skimming it when it comes up in their Bible reading plan, yet a thoughtful read of this often-tedious book reveals startling insights.

Today’s section talks about the unclean: unclean people, unclean actions, and unclean things. That is, those who are different. God gives instructions for dealing with the unclean (Leviticus 13:4).

He wants to keep his people away from such things so they remain both healthy and pure.

Leprosy, an often-fatal condition, is a grave consideration in that day. If carries both a threat to others and a stigma in society. Physical separation is the only solution in confirmed cases.

No one would touch a leper, who would live the rest of his or her life without the comforting pat of another human being.

Those Who Are Different from Us

Jesus, who comes to fulfill the Old Testament Law (Matthew 5:17), has a different idea. When encountering a leper he does the unthinkable; he reaches out and touches the man (Matthew 8:3). Then he helps the inflicted person by healing him.

Jesus, not the book of Leviticus, provides our example for dealing with those who society won’t touch, the unclean in our world.

We accept them. We help them. They are not unclean. They are part of God’s creation, just like us. We love them just like Jesus.

Consider how we might treat others who society essenitially views as unclean? Look for ways to touch those who others ignore, those who are different from us.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Leviticus 13-15, and today’s post is on Leviticus 13:4.]

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Tags heal, Jesus, love

Bible Insights

The Sabbath Day

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 8, 2022

Sunday Should Not Be a Day of Restriction but a Day of Freedom and Celebration

In the book of Exodus, God and Moses have a face-to-face meeting. That is significant. How cool would it be to have a direct conversation with the Almighty?

Certainly, we’d remember what he told us and be careful to follow it completely.

One of the things God tells Moses is to only work for six days and then take a break. Many people today view this as an outdated command.

They think God is trying to restrict what they do, limit their freedom, and force them to be bored for twenty-four hours.

That isn’t God’s intent at all. In fact, God wants to give them—and us—a break from our routine. Remember, these people are coming out of enslavement.

They never had a day off. Every day was the same: work, work, work. From sunup to sundown and probably even more.

One day would blur in to the other, doing the same old same old thing day after day.

The Gift of the Sabbath Day

By telling them to rest on the seventh day, the Sabbath day, God was giving them a mini vacation from their labors. And what better thing to do on that day of rest then to focus on God and thank him for this amazing gift of a break.

If this idea of resting on the seventh day seems a bit familiar, go back to the creation account. God takes six days to form the reality in which we live and then he takes a break from his labors to consider the results.

He did something amazing and then takes time to rest from his work and marvel at what he has done (Genesis 2:2–3). In this he gives us an example to follow, and later, through Moses, insists we do so.

In case we miss this idea of the seventh day being a gift from God, Jesus reminds us. He says, “The Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

In this he confirms we aren’t beholden to the Sabbath Day, held captive by it, or restricted in any way. Instead, the Sabbath is for us to enjoy.

This means we must shove aside legalistic ideas of what we may and may not do on Sunday, which we adopted to be our Sabbath day. Instead we must embrace our seventh day for the freedom it gives us.

How we do so is left for us to determine.

Viewing the Sabbath as a gift from God to us should change everything.

Learn more:

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Exodus 32-34, and today’s post is on Exodus 34:21.]

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Tags Sabbath rest, Sunday, thank God

Bible Insights

What If God Sent a Pillar of Fire to Guide You?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 1, 2022

For Forty Years the Israelites Had Two Signs from God to Guide Them

After spending four-hundred years in Egypt, the repressed children of God finally get a chance to leave. This comes under the leadership of Moses.

We know of Moses’s meetings with Pharaoh to negotiate the Israelites’ release, of ten plagues, and the people’s escape through the Dead Sea—as if walking on dry land. Their Egyptian captors, in hot pursuit, don’t fare so well.

Now God’s people are free!

What should they do? Where should they go? They know their destination resides in the Promised Land, the area Jacob left four centuries before when he sought food in Egypt.

But instead of heading there on their own, they seek God’s direction.

Pillar of Fire

God sends them a pillar of smoke to guide them by day and a pillar of fire to guide them by night. When the pillars move, the people follow. When the pillars stay put, so do they. They do this for forty years.

I must give them credit. They were content to follow God’s direction for four decades, when they could have reached their destination, the Promised Land, in less than a week.

For all the times his people messed up when they were in the desert, I admire them for being patient and willing to follow God’s leading, even though it didn’t make sense and was taking way too long.

Wouldn’t it be great if God showed us where to go today? If only he would give us a cloud to follow during the day and a fire to blaze our path at night. Then it would be easy to follow him, right?

Yet, God does lead us today. In the Bible he promises to give us his Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit fire (Luke 3:16 and Matthew 3:11). And when the Holy Spirit arrives, what is the visual sign? Fire. Yep, tongues of fire (Acts 2:3).

Yes, God still leads us today. He gives his Holy Spirit fire to blaze our path. All we need to do is listen—and obey.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Exodus 11-13, and today’s post is on Exodus 13:21-22.]

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Tags Egypt, Holy Spirit, Moses

Bible Insights

With God’s Help Joseph Can Interpret Dreams

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 25, 2022

God Reveals the Meaning of Dreams to Joseph

Joseph (son of Jacob, in the Old Testament) is in a world of hurt. His life has spiraled downward. The favorite son of his father, his jealous brothers stoop to selling him as a slave to some passing traders.

Joseph ends up in Egypt, a slave to Potiphar, the captain of the guard.

Despite his dire circumstances, Joseph works hard, and his master prospers because of Joseph’s diligence. Potiphar’s wife, however, has eyes for Joseph. She solicits him, but he rejects her overtures.

Embarrassed and angry, she one day pays him back for his integrity. He pulls away from her, again rejecting her advances. In doing so his cloak falls off as he runs to safety. She accuses him of attempted rape, and Joseph ends up in jail.

Again, Joseph makes the best of his situation in prison. Soon the warden puts him in charge of the other prisoners. Joseph succeeds in his assignment, even though he’s still a prisoner.

Joseph Can Interpret Dreams

One night two of Joseph’s fellow prisoners have dreams. Joseph interprets both dreams.

A few days later his explanations occur just as he predicted: one prisoner is executed, and the other is reinstated to his former position with the Pharaoh.

Though Joseph asked the released prisoner to lobby for his release, the man forgets. Joseph languishes in prison for two more years.

Pharaoh Has a Disturbing Dream

Then Pharaoh has a dream. A troubling one. A dream no one can interpret. Then the forgetful man remembers Joseph and recommends him to Pharaoh as someone who can explain the meaning of dreams.

When asked if he can interpret dreams, Joseph says that he can’t. However, he asserts that God will provide the dream’s meaning to him. This is a bold statement to make.

If Joseph doesn’t discern the meaning from God, Joseph’s situation could become even worse.

He risks facing summary execution for further upsetting the Pharaoh.

Yet not only does Joseph explained the meaning of the Pharaoh’s disturbing dream, Joseph also recommends what actions the Pharaoh can take. Pharaoh likes what he hears, releases Joseph from prison, and puts him in charge of everything.

Joseph goes from favorite son, to slave, to prisoner, to the second in command in Egypt. This all happens because he continues to trust God and put him first despite suffering as a slave and then languishing in prison for several years.

In the end God rescues Joseph, putting him in a place of authority to later save his entire family from poverty and starvation.

All this happens because Joseph can interpret dreams—through God’s revelation.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Genesis 39-41, and today’s post is on Genesis 41:14-16.]

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Tags Egypt, hear God, Joseph