Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
To Noah, God said I will destroy the earth. But God had a plan to spare Noah and his family. Building an ark didn’t make sense and required years of hard work, but Noah obeyed God’s instructions and survived the great flood. We applaud Noah for his obedience to God. To Moses, God said I […]
When Moses went up the mountain to get the 10 Commandments (the second time), God said “I will write on [the tablets] the words…“Imagine that, God providing written communication for Moses. But it’s not just Moses, a few centuries later David said, “I have in writing from the hand of the Lord.. God wrote the […]
Just as I have favorite books in the Bible, I also have a few I struggle with. You’ll likely agree with some on my list, but others may surprise. But just because they are not my favorites one, doesn’t mean I don’t read, study, and write about them! My least favorite books of the Bible […]
The Protestant Bible contains 66 books, while the Catholic Bible adds seven more. I’ve read them all, seeing value in each one. But I like some more than others. Here are my top ten books of the Bible: 1. Luke was a doctor and the only non-Jewish author in the New Testament. He writes as […]
Simon Peter Last week we talked about Simon Peter, a guy with two names. Another man with two names is John Mark. Unlike Abraham and Sarah who received new identities from God and Peter who got his second name from Jesus, the origin of John Mar’s two names seems to lack divine origin. Perhaps his […]
One of Jesus’ disciples was Simon, who Jesus renamed Peter. According to the Amplified Bible, Peter means “stone” or “a large piece of rock.” Sometimes the Bible refers to him as Simon (47 times) and other times Simon Peter (33 times) but mostly just Peter (139 times). Peter was the first leader of Jesus’ followers, […]
One of the 10 commandments is “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” Other translations of the Bible state this passage as “do not give false testimony” or more simply, ”do not tell lies about others.” We typically think of this as a command to not perjure ourselves, that is to not give false or misleading […]
In the accounts of Jesus’ life, there’s a curious exchange he has with the religious leaders. Although he has many such interactions, this is perhaps the most perplexing. He tells them healthy people don’t need a doctor. True. Then he makes a parallel assertion that his purpose isn’t to help good people (the “righteous”) but […]
In Matthew’s biography of Jesus, he repeats one phrase three times: “When Jesus had finished saying these things…” From this we can list three responses to Jesus. This phrase signals a transition in the story. Jesus spoke to the people and afterward the people respond: Today people’s reactions to Jesus occur in the same three […]
The Bible says we are to fear God. But what does that really mean? I don’t think it implies God is malevolent or waiting for us to mess up so he can zap us, which would be legitimate reasons to fear him. Instead, God is benevolent and wants good things for us; there is no […]