Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
What are the Ramifications When We are Kind to the Poor? The book of Proverbs, most of which is written by King Solomon, reels off a list of pithy one-liners. Such is the passage for today’s reading. One that captured my attention is “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,” (Proverbs 19:17). […]
Daniel Reads the Scriptures, Fasts, and Prays, Confessing the Sins of His People When I think of praying, confessing my faults to God is not the first thing that comes to mind. And when I am convicted of the need to admit to an errant act or a missed opportunity, I don’t linger there. I […]
God Sends an Angel to Guard and Guide His People into the Promised Land I’ve read the book of Exodus a dozen or so times, but I never remember reading today’s passage. I’m sure it was there, but it never clicked with me until now. The Israelites have left Egypt. They wander around in the […]
Telling the Truth May Not Be Absolute The descendants of Jacob (Israel) are enslaved in Egypt. They are prolific and their captors fear their growing numbers. To curb their population explosion the king of Egypt commands the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill every baby Hebrew boy as he is born. They do not. They […]
God first comes to Abraham when he is still known as Abram. God tells him to leave all he knows and to go—somewhere—to a place God will later show him. The final destination is apparently on a need-to-know basis and Abram doesn’t need to know. If it were me, I’d want some details. Where are […]
If you’ve been reading along in our New Testament reading plan, you’ve just finished the book of Titus and will wrap up your Bible reading for the year with the short book of Philemon. Congratulations for finishing! (Next year let’s read the entire Bible together. Look for posts here each Tuesday that align with the […]
When Paul writes to his protégé Timothy, he instructs Timothy to warn the people not to quarrel over words. Isn’t that what most theological debate is, people arguing about words? People who claim to follow Jesus end up arguing about the meaning of certain words. They build their own theology around their understanding of these […]
Pursuing the Best in What We Do In Paul’s letter of advice to his young protégé Timothy, he acknowledges the value of physical training. Even better is training to live a godly life. Physical training has some value, but godliness has even more, both in this life and the life to come, in the physical […]
Faith, Hope, and Love When Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica he professes three things he recalls about them. He remembers them and their characteristics before God, presumably as he prays, offering thanksgiving to God for their lives and the examples they provide. Three things stand out as the testimony of the Thessalonian church, […]
When Paul writes to the church in the city of Colossi, he says he always gives God thanks when he prays for them. He doesn’t just give God thanks for them occasionally but always. This is because of their faith in Jesus and their love for all God’s people—not some of them or the ones […]