Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
The Art of Being Patient A reoccurring gag in sitcoms is what I call the “wait for it” bit. It goes like this: Something that is expected to occur, doesn’t. With a knowing look, one character confidently states, “Wait for it.” There is a suitable pause, and then it occurs just as predicted—the audience expresses […]
God’s Expectations May Surprise Us, but They Do Make Sense As Micah wraps up his prophecy to the people of Israel, he slips in a profound thought. In one short sentence he tells what God requires of his people. It’s succinct and simple. It’s startling but profound. Equally astonishing is what Micah doesn’t include in […]
The Four Gospels Each Have a Story of a Woman Who Worships Jesus Each of the four accounts of Jesus’s life—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—give a story about a woman who anoints Jesus with expensive perfume, but the details in each report vary. It may be that this happens on four separate occasions. Or it […]
Live a Life of Obedience and Without Regret to Finish Strong Most people know the story of Jonah: God sends Jonah to help Nineveh. But Jonah gets in a boat headed in the opposite direction. God sends a storm to get Jonah’s attention. Jonah implores the crew to throw him overboard in order to calm […]
Prophecy about Edon The book of Obadiah in the Bible contains a prophecy about the nation of Edom. Among other things, Edom is criticized for their pride. The primary issue, however, is not what they did, but what they didn’t do. Theirs is not an act of commission, but of omission. Specially, the gripe that […]
The prophetic book of Nahum is essentially a sequel to the book of Jonah. Both focus on the people of Nineveh. Jonah proclaims doom and destruction on them. They have a change of heart (repent). And God relents. A century or so later, they have forgotten all about that. This time Nahum proclaims doom and […]
You likely know the story of Jonah: He proclaims, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” Talk about a lousy sermon. Eight concise and direct words. He doesn’t use persuasive language, doesn’t implore the people to act, and doesn’t show any compassion or concern. He is blunt and to the point. Technically, he does […]
Consider These Passages about God’s Provisions for Us Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared verses with my friends through my email newsletter. These passages can encourage us during challenging times. And readers have responded by sending me their verses that they find especially helpful in the world today. Here’s the list of these verses. […]
In the story of Jonah, we see God’s sovereignty at work, with God exercising control over nature. Here’s what God does: Furthermore, God’s sovereignty allows him to show mercy towards the people of Nineveh and not destroy them as he had originally planned. However, God does not exercise control over Jonah, allowing him to do […]
As Followers of Jesus We Must Focus Our Attention Paul encourages the church in Philippi to focus their thoughts (Philippians 4:8). We should do this too. But what should we think about? Fortunately, Paul gives us a list. We are to pursue these ideas. Think about Whatever is True First, we should dwell on the […]