Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
God Intended for Us to Take a Day of Rest Each Week The Old Testament talks a lot about the Sabbath. God wants his children to work six days and then rest on the seventh. In fact, he commands that they observe the Sabbath. But lest we think this is an Old Testament thing, God […]
God Perspective Matters More As readers of the book of Job, we are privy to the whole story: Satan torments Job in an effort to prove that Job’s Godly devotion is conditional, that it is dependent on circumstances. Job, however, does not have the luxury of this grand view. All he knows is that his […]
Will We Follow Through When the Pressure’s Off? God’s chosen people toil as slaves in Egypt. He tasks Moses with getting them out. So far things aren’t going so well. God has sent seven plagues to get the Pharaoh’s attention, without achieving the people’s release. Plague number eight is on its way: Locusts. An army […]
After Job’s so-called friends fail so miserably to comfort him in his time of need, after they criticize and malign him, God steps in. God puts them in their place for what they said and affirms that Job has spoken truth. Then God tells the friends to prepare a sacrifice and to ask Job to […]
A Women Takes Extreme Action to Get What Is Due Her Tamar is a victim who takes extreme action to vindicate herself. She’s the daughter-in-law of Judah. She suffers at his hand, responds with guile, and has twins with him. Later she is one of four women mentioned in Jesus’s family tree. Talk about a […]
Job Prays for His Misguided Friends Who Criticize Him, and God Accepts His Prayers The book of Job is dialogue sandwiched between the story’s prelude and epilogue. The prelude, or premise, is that Job will remain devout to God regardless of how Satan might afflict him (Job 1-2). In the epilogue, or conclusion, God repudiates the […]
In the book of Genesis, God gives a new name to three people. In doing so, God is effectively saying, I’m giving you a new identity. You may see yourself according to what your parents called you at birth, but I see you differently. I’m giving you a new name and a new future. The […]
When Job’s Friends Try to Comfort Him, Their Words Only Deepen His Distress The Bible tells the story of Job, how Satan took everything from him: his possessions, his children, and his health. Left in deep pain with an unsupportive wife, four of Job’s friends come to offer comfort, but they fail. They should say […]
Job Professes His Spiritual Practices The words of Job’s friend Eliphaz fail to comfort him. Instead they stir up anger. With a friend who speaks like Eliphaz I’d be angry too. In Job’s reply to his so-called friend, he professes what he has done to align himself with God. He claims his practices prove his […]
If We Claim to Know the Truth, That Implies Every Other Perspective Is Wrong The book of Job is mostly dialogue between Job and his four “friends,” with God having the final word—as he should. The words of Job’s four friends aren’t much help. At one point in Zophar’s monologue he claims that Job said […]