Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
In ancient times, names were given to people for a reason, no matter how trivial. The meaning of the names of Jacob’s twelve sons gives great insight into the competitive struggle between his two wives, the sisters, Leah and Rachel: Reuben means “See, a son!” (Leah said, “The Lord has seen my humiliation and affliction; […]
So, we know that Jacob’s twelve sons had four mothers: Leah was the spurned wife; Rachel was the favorite wife; Bilhah was Rachel’s maid and Zilpah was Leah’s maid. Here is their birth order and how it all breaks down: 1. Reuben, his mom was Leah2. Simeon, his mom was Leah3. Levi, his mom was Leah4. Judah, […]
God is the personification of love—and he loves us. God’s love is perfect. Some people look at their life, the good things they do and the bad things they don’t do, thinking that they are good and therefore worthy of God’s love. Others consider their life, the bad things that they do and the good […]
Was, and Is, and Is to Come In the apocalyptic account in the book of Revelation, it talks about the “beast,” saying that from the point of the end times, he “once was and now is not.” Compare that to the characterization of God, which states that he “was, and is, and is to come.” […]
Six Men Each Have a Different Experience When They Encounter an Elephant Consider the fable of six blind men encountering an elephant for the first time.They have no comprehension of what an elephant is, forming their own understanding based on touch: Yes, an elephant is like a wall, a tree, a spear, a rope, a […]
Key Metaphors that Help Us Better Understand God In recent reflections, we have considered eight word pictures to give us insight into our relationship with God. While none provides a complete picture, each does offer a glimpse into one facet of who God is. We looked at: Putting all of these together, we can begin […]
We Are the Bride of Christ The final word picture to help us better understand God, is perhaps the most startling and difficult to comprehend, even shocking. In this word picture, we consider him as the groom (the Bible often uses the word “bridegroom”) and us as his bride (Isaiah 62:5, Jeremiah 2:2, Revelation 19:7, […]
In the next word picture for God, we can consider God as our friend. As our relationship with God grows and progresses, there is an opportunity for us to become friends, perhaps analogous to a parent and their adult child. As friends, we (that is, God and us) spend time together. We communicate with each […]
We Are His Servants The next word picture for God, is him as the master and we as his servants. With God as our master we see him as being in charge. He is the boss and directs our activities (1 Samuel 3:10, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 10:24, and Matthew 25:21). Extending this image to us, […]
This Makes Us His Sheep In the fourth word picture for God, we consider the common image of God as the good shepherd and we as his sheep. We can read about this and discover more in Psalm 119:176, Isaiah 53:6, Ezekiel 34:11, Matthew 9:36, John 10:3, John 10:15, John 10:27, and 1 Peter 2:25. […]