Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
Help Me versus Make Me As I read the Psalms in the Amplified Bible this week, a curious phrase jumped out. The writer says to God, “Make me understand the way of your precepts.” Notice, he didn’t ask for assistance by saying, “Help me.” He was direct; he implored God to “Make me.” The NIV […]
Jesus says nobody knows when the world will end. Later on Paul confirms no one knows when Jesus will return (therefore signaling the start of the end). It will happen unexpectedly, like a “thief in the night.” So if the Bible says no one knows, why do some preachers make their audacious predictions anyway? Adding […]
A Metaphor of God’s Provision Last weekend, my wife and I attended a wedding. The minister reminded us of when Jesus was at a wedding too. In his first recorded miracle, Jesus doesn’t address a big need, such as healing someone of a life-threatening illness or debilitating condition; he just turns some water into wine. […]
Many churches have a time of greeting at some point in their service. This can range from awkward to inviting. At some of these churches people merely shake hands and mumble a rote greeting. Folks at other congregations actually make eye contact and smile as they greet one another. And at a few places, a […]
There’s much about God we don’t know. For a society that craves knowledge and desires to fully understand things, what we don’t know about God can cause frustration. This keeps many people from embracing God. They want all their questions answered before they say “Yes” to Jesus and follow him. But that’s not faith. That’s […]
Last week we talked about Moses’ mistake of hitting the rock instead of speaking to it. He did this in disobedience to what God told him to do. The Bible calls this sin. As a result of Moses’ mistake, that is his sin, he was only permitted to see the land God promised to give […]
For four decades Moses led the people as they wandered in the dessert. Once when they were thirsty, God told Moses to hit a certain rock with his walking stick. He did and water gushed out. Later on, the people again clamored for water. This time God told Moses to speak to a rock, but […]
Reading through the book of Judges, a cycle quickly emerges: the people turn away from God, he sends a leader to rescue them, and then they return to him. This pattern continues, albeit to a lesser extent, in the books of Kings and Chronicles. With endless patience, God offers them second chances. This abruptly changes […]
We live in a society of blame. People shun taking responsibility for their mistakes and shortcomings. Instead they blame someone else: “It’s how I was raised,” “He talked me into it,” “It’s her fault not mine,” “If only I had a better education,” “I had no choice,” and so forth. In doing so, they fail […]
The Bible says that Jesus is God’s one and only son. However, God also calls the church his children. How can we be God’s children if he has only one son? Although the Bible is full of paradoxes—which are hard for modern people to accept but not so difficult for post-modern people and certainly not […]