Category: Bible Insights

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

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Bible Insights

John’s Unique Perspective of Jesus

Believe in Jesus

Each of the four biographies of Jesus in the Bible reflect the perspective of its author. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain many similarities, John’s account is the most different.

He offers a unique perspective on the life and teaching of Jesus.

Some refer to the book of John as the gospel of love because he mentions the word twenty times, more than Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

In considering variations of the word, the total is thirty-nine times, more than the other three combined.

In his much shorter letter, called 1 John, love and its variations occur twenty-seven times. John, it seems, is all about love.

However, other keywords are even more prevalent in the book of John. The word know appears sixty-six times in this book, while believe occurs fifty-three times.

It would seem that John’s chief desire is for us to know and believe in Jesus.

That would be a great reason for him to write an account of Jesus’ life.

We can also understand John’s unique perspective by looking at words he uses infrequently. For example, angel only appears three times in John, far less than Matthew’s nineteen times and Luke’s twenty-four times (Mark, five times).

The book of John contains only a few of Jesus’ parables. In fact, the word parable is not found at all in John, compared to sixty-six times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

So John’s purpose in writing his biography of Jesus is so that we would know and believe in Jesus and to then live a life of love.

Angels and parables are not so important to these central themes of knowing, believing, and loving.

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.

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

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
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Did Jesus Have Second Thoughts?

Jesus Have Second Thoughts

Before Jesus is captured and executed, he spends some time praying. At one point in his prayer, Jesus asks God for a reprieve—that he won’t have to die—even though that was the plan all along.

But he’s quick to add an addendum, confirming he’ll do whatever his papa wants.

I wonder if Jesus is thinking about the test God gave Abraham, commanding the patriarch to kill his son Isaac. Just as Abraham is preparing to plunge the knife into his son in total obedience, God says, “Wait.”

Then he provides a different sacrifice, a substitute. Isaac is spared.

I wonder if Jesus pauses, hoping that God will again say, “Wait” and provide a substitute sacrifice or a different solution.

But this time God the Father doesn’t, and Jesus willingly dies as a once-and-for-all way to reunite us with Father God.

When it comes to Jesus dying instead of us and taking our punishment on himself, he doesn’t have second thoughts, but he is open to alternatives.

When John writes about Jesus, he records a different prayer. In this prayer, Jesus admits his anguish about dying, but he knows he can’t ask God to intervene. He acknowledges that dying is why he came to earth.

He will do it—and he does. Jesus dies to make us right with the Father. Though our wrongs separate us from him, Jesus takes our punishment upon himself, thereby making us right with the Father.

[Matthew 26:39-42, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, Genesis 22:1-19, John 12:23-29]

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.

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

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
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​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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What is the Origin of Baptism?

Origin of Baptism

The word baptize is only found in the New Testament of the Bible. Prior to John the Baptist preforming this water ceremony, it is never mentioned. John, by the way, baptizes Jesus.

The Old Testament doesn’t mention baptism and there is no biblical account of its origin. It seems to have just started on its own, beginning with John the Baptist.

Did John invent it? Perhaps God told John to do this new thing, pointing people to a new way—Jesus.

I don’t know the answers to these questions, even though I ponder them a lot. And I can’t find much of a clue in the Bible.

Though some people attempt to connect New Testament baptism with Old Testament uses of water in religious ceremonies and rituals, I think any correlation is weak.

The dictionary describes baptism using the words cleanse, purify, and initiate. This helps some, since the first few books of the Old Testament talk a lot about cleansing and purification.

Yet pulling the ceremony of baptism from them seems a stretch.

However, in a curious passage in Corinthians, Paul talks about the Old Testament Israelites being “baptized into Moses.” Since I can’t find an actual Old Testament account of this happening, I assume it is a figurative baptism, not actual.

None of this, however, gets me any closer to learning the basis for baptism. But what’s important to know is that Jesus tells us to do it.

[Luke 3:21, 1 Corinthians 10:2, Matthew 28:19]

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.

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

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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A Godly Appreciation of Nature

Nature

I enjoy nature and worship God through it, so a verse in Romans gives me pause.

It talks about the error of worshiping created things instead of the Creator. I feel that I can worship God through my appreciation of nature, that I can better appreciate the intangible through the tangible.

Yet this verse seems to say I need to worship God directly, not indirectly through his creation.

It also talks about the error of serving created things rather than the God of creation.

I get that. I can see where a love of nature can cause us to effectively serve nature as we attempt to preserve or promote it. While these intentions are good, they detract us from God.

Though I will not abandon my appreciation of the world God created and my desire to treat it with respect, I will be careful not to let this good thing get in the way of something better: the God of all creation.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Romans 1-4, and today’s post is on Romans 1:25.]

[I rarely dip into Bible commentaries as I study the Bible, but I did for this verse. They offered no help.]

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.

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

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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Five Angels in the Bible With Names

five angels with names

Most of the time when angels are mentioned in the Bible, their names are not given. Apparently, their names aren’t important; their message is what matters.

However, the names of four angels are mentioned:

Michael

The only archangel in the Bible is Michael. Jude reveals Michael argued with Satan about the body of Moses (Jude 1:9). Later, in Revelation, Michael leads his army of angels in a battle against the dragon (Revelation 12:7).

Michael is also mentioned in the book of Daniel, although here he is not called an angel, but “one of the chief princes” (Daniel 10:13), “your prince” (Daniel 10:21), and “the great prince” (Daniel 12:1).

In these instances in Daniel, Michael is referred to by another supernatural being, who may or may not be an angel.

Gabriel

Also appearing in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, Gabriel arrives with messages for Daniel (Daniel 8:16 and Daniel 9:21), Zechariah (Luke 1:19), and Mary (Luke 1:26). He is only mentioned these four times.

Raphael

Raphael makes his appearance in the book of Tobit, which is one of the apocryphal books of the Bible. He is mentioned twenty-nine times, in this one book. Raphael appears to Tobias in the form of a man.

Whereas most angels merely communicate God’s message, Raphael accompanies Tobias on his quest, offering advice and encouragement, perhaps even being an instrument of healing for Tobias’s father, Tobit, and Tobias’s wife, Sarah.

Uriel

Another apocryphal angel is Uriel. He is mentioned by name only three times in the book of 2 Esdras (2 Esdras 4:1, 2 Esdras 5:20, and 2 Esdras 10:28).

He comes to the prophet Ezra with messages from God. At one point he holds Ezra’s hand and comforts him.

In addition to the above, these four angels (and many more) appear in a single verse in Enoch 9:1: “Then Michael and Gabriel, Raphael, Suryal, and Uriel, looked down from heaven, and saw the quantity of blood which was shed on earth.”

In Enoch chapter 10, God gives each one of them an assignment in the pre-flood world. Notably, Uriel is sent to give Noah a message of the coming flood, Enoch 10:2.

Many other angels are also named in the book of Enoch.

Jeremiel

In 2 Esdras, another book of the apocrypha, we learn of another archangel, Jeremiel (2 Esdras 4:36).

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.

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

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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Do Angels Have Wings?

Angels

God’s Messengers

I’m not sure if I assumed it or someone taught me, but I always thought seraphim and cherubim were two special classes of angels.

Though seraphim and cherubim aren’t mentioned often in the Bible (2 and 69 verses respectively), angels make a much more frequent appearance, in some 290 places.

In none of those passages does the Bible call angels seraphim or cherubim. (The dictionary labels all three as “celestial beings.”) Although seraphim and cherubim have wings, no verses say that angels do.

Do Angels Fly?

The Bible never says angels fly, though there are some hints they are occasionally airborne, but as supernatural beings, they don’t need wings to go vertical.

Angels are mentioned more times in the New Testament (182 times) than in the Old (108 times), with Revelation giving them the most coverage (77 times), followed by Luke (24 times) and Acts (22 times).

We don’t know if angels have genders or not, but one verse (Judges 13:21) implies that particular angel is masculine, so I refer to angels as “him” rather then “it.”

While we see seraphim as worshiping God and cherubim as hanging out with God in heaven and attesting to his glory, angels serve as God’s messengers to us. They show up unexpectedly, suddenly appearing and then disappearing.

Do Not Be Afraid

Apparently either their arrival or their form is frightening, because they often say, “Do not be afraid.”

If an angel ever visited me, I wonder if I’d shrink back in fear. I’d like to say I wouldn’t, but I suspect I would.

Regardless of how I react, I will want to listen carefully to what the angel tells me, receiving it as a word from God.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Judges 13-15 and today’s post is on Judges 13:21. See 290 verses that mention angels.]

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.

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

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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Are Cherubim Angels?

Cherubim

Last week we asked if seraphim are the same as angels? We discovered there is no biblical evidence to suggest they are. Now we ask the same question about cherubim.

The Bible mentions cherubim much more than seraphim. In fact, there are 69 verses (in the NIV) with either cherubim (the plural form) or cherub (the singular form).

All but one of these mentions are in the Old Testament, many relating to the construction of the tabernacle and temple.

Just as with seraphim, none of these 69 verses says that cherubim are angels. The dictionary defines them as “celestial beings,” just as it does for seraphim.

Cherubim have wings and fly, but they also have hands. Their wings make a loud sound and can be heard from far away. Some are in heaven, around the throne of God. David even writes about God riding them.

Although cherubim are not angels, they are some amazing supernatural beings.

Next we’ll look at what the Bible teaches us about angels and then archangels.

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.

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

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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Worship God as Holy, Holy, Holy

Worship God as holy

Give God Our Adoration

The Bible says God is holy, holy, holy, repeating it three times for emphasis to make sure we get the point. God is not merely holy—that is, virtuous—nor is he holy times two, but he is holy times three. He is holy, holy, holy.

When referring to God as holy, holy, holy it is to worship him. This occurs two times in the Bible, appropriately enough once in the Old Testament (Isaiah 6:2-3) and once in the New Testament (Revelations 4:8).

Therefore, both the old covenant and the new covenant view God as holy, holy, holy; it’s not just an Old Testament thing or just a New Testament thing. Furthermore, in Revelation, they say this over and over, never stopping.

The interesting thing is who is worshiping God by calling him “holy, holy, holy.” It is not people but spiritual beings. They are six winged creatures, which Isaiah calls seraphim.

Emerging from the spiritual realm, these beings, who surely know God better than we do, revere him as holy, holy, holy. They acknowledge him as holy, holy, holy. They praise him as holy, holy, holy.

May we do the same.

Read more about the book of Isaiah in For Unto Us: 40 Prophetic Insights About Jesus, Justice, and Gentiles from the Prophet Isaiah available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Read more in Peter’s devotional Bible study, A New Heaven and a New Earth: 40 Practical Insights from John’s Book of Revelation.

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.

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

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Bible Insights

Three Versions of the Last Supper

Last Supper

The final time Jesus ate a meal with his disciples before he was executed is commonly called the Last Supper; he celebrated Passover with them. Today, we continue this tradition in memory of him.

Though people use different names for this, such as Communion, Holy Communion, The Lord’s Supper, The Eucharist, and Holy Eucharist, among others, the intent is the same: remembering what Jesus did for us.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this event in their biographies of Jesus. However, each of them presents it differently.

Matthew’s version is the one I’m most familiar with, having heard it read hundreds of times in church as part of a Communion service (Matthew 26:26-29).

Mark’s version is similar, which I’ve also heard when partaking of the Lord’s Supper (Mark 14:22-25).

However, Luke’s version is different, with a pre-dinner sacrament for the wine and bread, along with a post dinner salute with wine. At the beginning of the meal, he gives thanks and reminds them to share the wine with one another.

Then he breaks the bread, referencing his body, which is about to be broken for their benefit.

However, it’s not until the second use of wine, after the meal, when Jesus refers to the cup as a new covenant signified by his death (his spilt blood), which is for them.

With Luke’s version, we can’t miss the fact that an actual meal occurs between the two acts with the wine. I think that’s what most of us miss today in the Eucharist.

The celebration of communion isn’t so much about a tiny cracker and sip of wine, it’s a meal shared in the community—all in the name of Jesus.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 22-24, and today’s post is on Luke 22:17-20.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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.

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

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Bible Insights

Ten Reasons Why the Bible is Important

importance of bible

Celebrate Scripture

On an almost daily basis, I’ve spent my life reading and studying the Bible.

However, I don’t see the Bible as a rulebook for righteous living or a manual for the faithful to follow, but as a spiritual narrative to illuminate my journey with God through life.

Here are ten reasons why the Bible is important:

  1. The Bible points us to God.
  2. The Bible keeps us anchored in ageless truth.
  3. The Bible is the foundation of our faith.
  4. The Bible connects us with our past and points us to our future.
  5. The Bible informs our practices, directs our actions, and guides our life.
  6. The Bible protects us from wrong teaching.
  7. The Bible is God’s written word to us, complementing God’s spoken word through the Holy Spirit.
  8. The Bible keeps us from trying to create God in our own image.
  9. The Bible protects us from turning faith into whatever we want it to be.
  10. Reading and studying the Bible is an act of worship.

Without question, the Bible is fundamental to my faith and indispensable for my life. Without the Bible by my side, I would waffle in spiritual uncertainty over every feel-good fad and be distracted by every passing religious whim.

The Bible keeps me grounded in God and shielded from mankind’s misguided detours. The Bible is more than important to me.

The Bible is essential.

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.

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

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.