Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
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 […]
Mankind and the Animal Kingdom God created people and animals, the Animal Kingdom (Genesis 1:26). At first, everything was great. Then Adan and Eve did what God told them not to do. They sinned. He kicked them out of the Garden of Eden. Things went downhill from there. More people and more sin. A lot […]
Job and His Friends Contend with God Job’s life has crumbled. His wife turned on him. And his friends don’t help. After listening to their back-and-forth dialogue that accomplishes nothing, God interjects. At last he speaks. At one point God says, “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?” (Job 40:2). In this […]
We Need to Learn to Worship God in Silence, Doing Nothing but Standing in Awe of Him The Book of Revelation is an amazing book. However, I fear that many people miss the point of it. The intent of Revelation isn’t to give us a detailed map of the future. Instead, Revelation provides us with […]
We Must Adore the Almighty Regardless of Our Circumstances It’s easy to love God when things go well. When our lives are great and we receive his blessings, we can thank him, praise him, and appreciate his goodness. It’s easy to love him when life is good. However, life isn’t always so good. Sometimes our […]
Word Picture: Vine Another word picture to help us better understand God is that he is the vine and we are the branches. We can view God as a vine, as our vine. In this, God is revealed as the source of nourishment, the giver of life, and the means of support, sustenance, and existence. […]
Discover Ten Reasons Why People Speak Well of Job Job had everything and he lost it all. He can’t figure out what happened or why God seems so distant. Though enduring hard times, he asserts he has done nothing wrong. To reinforce this claim of right behavior, he says that everyone who heard of him […]