Category: Bible Insights

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

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Bible Insights

One Degree of Separation Between Adam and Noah

Separation Between Adam and Noah

In the book of Genesis, chapter 5, Adam’s family tree is listed, including the ages of him and his descendants, with many recorded life spans hovering around 900 years, plus or minus a few decades.

While some doubt the veracity of these records, I’m willing to accept these ages as presented. (In Genesis 6:3, after the great flood, God decrees that from this point forward, people will live no more than 120 years.)

In considering the ages given, Adam (who lived 930 years) would have still been alive (albeit, 874 years old) when his great, great, great, great, great, great, grandson Lamech was born.

Lamech was Noah’s father, the one and same Noah who built the ark in preparation for the aforementioned flood. That makes one degree of separation between Adam and Noah.

Also noteworthy is Methuselah, the oldest recorded person in the Bible, living 969 years; he was Noah’s grandpa. Lamech, and likely Methuselah, would have died just prior to the flood.

In the generations after the flood, life spans steadily decreased (see Genesis 10) towards this 120 mark.

Even though we can only hope to approach the maximum age of 120, it is interesting to contemplate what we might do and how we might plan if there was an expectation of living for many centuries and seeing the our next several generations of descendants.

However, since living to be 900 is not going to happen, we need to make the most of the relative few decades we have.

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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Bible Insights

Don’t Worry or Be Anxious

Don't Worry or Be Anxious

The news has been bad lately—and there is seemingly little hope in sight.

The global economy is bad, there is a credit crisis, the US automotive industry is in trouble, unemployment is increasing, many of those with jobs are concerned, and a turnaround seems a long ways off.

But in the big picture, this has happened before and will happen again.

The news has been bad lately—and there is seemingly little hope in sight.

I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.

Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.

But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Luke 12:22, 23, 31

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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Bible Insights

What’s Next After We Die?

What's Next After We Die

When We Die, What’s Next?

Paul, who diligently and ardently followed Jesus, was quite sure of the answer. He wrote, “The time of my spirit’s release from the body is at hand and I will soon go free” (2 Timothy 2:4, The Amplified version).

We need to realize that we are more than a body—and that life is more than existing in the physical realm. It has been astutely said, “We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:23).

So, once our body dies, our spirit and soul continues on; for Paul that meant freedom.

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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Bible Insights

Is God Your Copilot?

Is God Your Copilot.

A friend asked for prayer, that she would allow God to be her copilot. This is a good step for her, but it misses the point of what God truly desires.

You see, a copilot is there to help the pilot should unforeseen circumstances occur or the pilot become incapacitated. The pilot is still in charge and is the one flying the plane; the copilot is there in a secondary support role.

God doesn’t want to be our copilot; he wants to be in charge and for us to depend on him to take us where he wants us to go.

That is hard to do, especially in a world that tells us that we need to always be in control and remain independent.

Relegating God to copilot status maintains our control, doing things our own way, yet keeps God close enough to rescue us if we get in a jam.

Having God be our copilot is certainly better than us flying solo, but what he really wants is to pilot our plane, taking us where he wants us to go.

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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Bible Insights

Five Trustworthy Sayings From the Apostle Paul

Five-Trustworthy-Sayings-From-the-Apostle-Paul

The phrase “trustworthy sayings” occurs five times in the Bible. It likely refers to phrases that were commonly used and accepted by the early church.

Paul’s inclusion of these phrases in his letters affirms them as reliable truth.

Here are the five trustworthy sayings that Paul recorded:

1. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).

2. If someone aspires to be an elder, he desires an honorable position (1 Timothy 3:1).

3. Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come (1 Timothy 4:8-9).

4. If we die with him, we will also live with him. That is, if we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. And if we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is (2 Timothy 2:11).

5. When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior (Titus 3:5-8).

Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

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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Bible Insights

Investments You Can Bank On

investment

In these times of economic concern and faltering financial markets, it is easy to worry about the future. Interestingly, the Bible has much to say on this topic:

“Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow.

Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous.

“If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.” [1 Timothy 6:17-19, The Message]

So, we are to trust God, not money. God will give us what we need. We are to use what money we do have for good, thereby putting our “savings” into lasting things.

With the stock market going down, this is certainly something to think about.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Timothy 4-6 and today’s post is on 1 Timothy 6:17-19.]

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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Bible Insights

Training for the Best

Training for the Best

Training for the Best

In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he contrasts physical training (which is good) to spiritual training (which is better).

I wonder, how often do we pursue things that are good, while pushing aside God’s things that are better?

That’s something to think about next time we’re working out or pursuing some leisure time activity.

After all, I don’t want to live a good life, but the best life possible.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Timothy 4-6, and today’s post is on 1 Timothy 4:8.]

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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Bible Insights

The Allure of Mystery

mystery.

The Allure of Mystery

There are things about God, Jesus, and salvation that the Bible simply describes as “mystery,” that is, hidden truth or a mystic secret.

This drives some people crazy. They want to understand all and be able to fully explain everything. Anything less causes frustration and angst.

For me, I relish the realization that some things of God are but a mystery.  That draws me to him; it is an allure. Daily, I strive to unravel his mystery and know him more fully.  This is as it should be.

To explore this mystery motif more fully, consider the following verses that evoke the mystery explanation:

The word mystery is used in other contexts in Daniel 2:18-47, 4:9, 1 Corinthians 13:2, 14:2, and Revelation 1:20, 17:5, 7.

May we embrace the mystery of God.

[Discover more about the Bible at ABibleADay.com: Bible FAQs, Bible Dictionary, Books of the Bible Overview, and Bible Reading Plans.]

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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Bible Insights

Living in the Prophetic

Living in the Prophetic.

Living in the Prophetic

In Paul’s letter to Timothy he talks about a prophecy that he made regarding Timothy. (A prophecy is a God-inspired foretelling of the future.)

Often we think of a prophecy as being about some grand, distantly future event—like the end of the world or major catastrophe—but that is not always the case.

A prophecy can also be given for a specific person that will occur in the near future. So it was when God gave prophetic words to Paul for Timothy.

What is interesting is that Paul says the prophecy is to inspire Timothy and aid him.

This seems to suggest that we shouldn’t just passively accept a prophetic word that may be given for us, but need to intentionally move in that direction.

That doesn’t mean that by our own efforts we accomplish what was predicted, but merely that we expectantly allow God to do in us, or for us, what he said.

That, too, is living in the prophetic.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Timothy 1-3, and today’s post is on Timothy 1:18.]

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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Bible Insights

Would You Dare Tell Someone “Imitate Me?”

imitate

Discover Why Paul Says This

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul tells readers to follow his example and to the Corinthians he writes, “imitate me” (Philippians 3:17 and 1 Corinthians 4:16). This strikes me as bold and audacious, arrogant and presumptuous.

This seemingly brash statement, however, is illuminated when he later instructs readers to imitate him as he imitates Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1).

I’m certainly more comfortable with that. After all, Jesus provides us with the ultimate example, which we are wise to follow.

To take this line of thinking one more step, Jesus asserts that he “can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing” (John 5:19). Therefore, he is imitating God the Father.

So, when we encounter the command in Ephesians 5:1 to “be imitators of God”—who we have never seen—we are not taken aback. Paul imitates Jesus, Jesus imitates God, and there are ample examples about the both of them in the Bible.

Note that Paul can’t expect the Corinthian church to imitate Jesus, because they have never seen Jesus. Therefore they don’t know how to imitate him. But Paul does know Jesus and imitates him.

This means that has the people imitate Paul—as he imitates Jesus—the people are in effect, imitating Jesus, and thereby imitating God.

So through Jesus and Paul, we know God’s character and are thus able to imitate him.

This begs the question, is our life lived as one worthy of being imitated by others?

Read more in Peter’s book, Love is Patient (book 7 in the Dear Theophilus series).

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.