Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
Isaiah Talks about Peace More Than Any Other Book in the Bible Isaiah talks a lot about peace, mentioning it more than any other book in Scripture. One-tenth of the Bible’s references to peace occur in this one book. That’s a lot of peace in one place. And God is the source of this peace, […]
God Wants Us to Celebrate Him and What He’s Done for Us As Isaiah moves forward in his sweeping prophecy, he devotes a section to the city of Tyre. Tyre is a city of prominence, a center of trade and commerce. God doesn’t like their self-sufficiency and that they take pride in what they have […]
God Uses His People to Heal the Hurting Elisha dies, but his influence lives on. Yes, Elisha continues to teach us today, thousands of years after his death, through the words recorded about him in the Bible. However, he also has a practical effect on someone postmortem. It’s one example of God’s amazing healing power […]
Choose Advisors with Care When king Solomon dies, his son Rehoboam assumes the throne over all of Israel, following his father, Solomon, and grandfather David. A delegation comes to him and asks him to lighten their load, to decrease the burden placed on them by his father. Rehoboam doesn’t answer them right away. Instead, he […]
Discover More about the Remarkable Woman of Proverbs 31 The book of Proverbs ends with a poem about a woman of noble character. People often call her the Proverbs 31 Woman. Though she may be a real person, this passage reads more like an idealized ode to a wife of mythical proportions. One Busy Lady […]
Don’t Be Too Quick to Say No The word sluggard occurs 14 times in Proverbs, but is nowhere to be found in the other 65 books of the Bible. This is curious. First, what is a sluggard? It’s a slothful person; an idler; a person who is habitually lazy. Consider then, Proverbs’ 14 mentions of […]
Jesus Must Return to Heaven before the Holy Spirit Can Come Ascension Day occurs forty days after Resurrection Sunday (more commonly called Easter). Here is some background. Jesus comes to earth as a man to save us. He dies on the cross as a sacrificial sin offering, dying in our place. On Easter Jesus rises […]
We Should Praise God for the Many Ways He Loves Us Love is a recurring theme in Scripture (686 verses). It shows up in most every book of the Bible (60 out of 66). The word is most common in Psalms (157 verses). Psalm 136 leads the way with 26 mentions of love, all in […]
Some Psalms Ask God to Punish Our Enemies and Those Who Do Evil Many people enjoy reading the Psalms. They appreciate the poetic nature of its words. They find encouragement to persevere and inspiration to strengthen their faith. Many Psalms also lead us into our worship of God. These are some of the best. However, […]
Keeping Our Heart Pure Is Hard, Especially When God Offers Us Grace and Mercy There are at least twelve psalms in the Bible written by Asaph. Psalm 73 is one of them. Asaph’s having a bad day. He’s going through a difficult time. It’s a rough season for him. He’s discouraged and pours out his […]