Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
In my post “Omni God,” I mentioned that, among other things, God is “omnipotent.” This means that God possesses unlimited strength and has universal power and authority. God’s Omnipotence The word omnipotent occurs in Amplified Bible, but most translations use “almighty” instead, often in the form of a proper name, as in the Almighty, God […]
In my prior post, I made a couple of tweaks to the prayer of Jabez. The original text reads: “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, ‘Because I bore him in pain.’ “And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me […]
God Takes Away Our Pain When I study the Bible, I use multiple versions (translations), depending on my mood and goals. One version that I seldom use, however, is the New King James Version (NKJV). There’s no particular reason, it’s just how things have worked out. There is only one passage that I have memorized […]
In one of the blogs I read, someone posted a comment. The message only somewhat tied in with the topic and the backlink was to an unrelated website. I dislike the idea of giving the author’s rant any more exposure by repeating it, but once I set aside the invective nature of the post, I […]
Cain and his younger brother Abel both gave offerings to God. This was well before the life of Moses and the laws that God gave to him, therefore, there was no requirement to give an offering. In fact, there was not even a precedent for doing so. Cain and Abel’s offerings were the first ones recorded […]
In Jude’s brief exposition of ungodly people in the church, he evokes three Old Testament characters: Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Cain, we know to be a murderer; Balaam, greedy; and Korah, rebellious. However, it is simplistic to see them merely as evil men, for they also had an air of godliness to them, seeking God or […]
Jude writes his short letter to those who are called—that’s you and me. In it, he often writes in triads, listing three items or offering three examples. He does this with such regularity that when he deviates from this in verse 12, I thought I had misread the text. Consider Jude’s triplets (and a couple […]
As covered a few weeks ago, the book of Jude contains three cryptic references to ancient non-biblical texts. In addition, Jude also includes references to biblical accounts. The first is in verse 6, where Jude mentions angels who abandoned their role and their home. This is likely a nod to Genesis 6:1-4, which talks about […]
In the post, “Who is Jude?,” I speculated that Jude might be Jesus’ brother. Aside from that, we only know one other thing about him. Jude views himself simply as “a servant of Jesus.” Today, in a time when religious people parade their titles and promote their education as if they were badges of godly […]
John the Baptist sits in jail, about to be executed. In a dark moment, his faith begins to waiver. Seeking assurance, he sends his followers to Jesus, with the simple question, “Are you the one?” This question reminds me of the movie The Matrix where people keep asking Neo, “Are you the one?” Some think […]