Year: 2010

Bible

Jonah and the Big Fish

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 9, 2010

You likely know the story of Jonah:

He tries to run from God
Spends a 3-day “time out” in a fish
Is given a second chance
Then does what God commands, albeit with a bad attitude

He proclaims, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”

Eight concise and direct words. He doesn’t use persuasive language, doesn’t implore the people to act, and doesn’t show any compassion or concern. He is blunt and to the point. Technically, he does what God tells him to do, but his heart isn’t in it.

Amazingly, the people get his message, are convicted, and repent. So God lovingly relents and calls the whole thing off — and Jonah gets pissed.

Jonah even picks a good seat to watch the destruction take place — and then pouts when God gives Nineveh a reprieve.

Essentially, Jonah reluctantly preaches a bad sermon and then gets mad because it’s successful.

Despite all that, God is able to use him anyway. How encouraging!

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Tags Jonah

Bible

What is Really Important?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 3, 2010

Do you ever ask yourself, “What is really important?”

If we’re not careful, it’s all too easy to end up doing things that, at best, are secondary, and at worst, don’t matter at all. Such was the case of the people of Israel a few millennia ago.

The prophet Amos states that God is critical of their religious gatherings, their offerings, and their music. He uses phrases like “I hate…,” “I despise…,” “I will not accept…,” “I have no regard for…”, and “I will not listen…”.

What did God want instead? Righteousness and justice.

Although it would be an incorrect conclusion to completely jettison our gatherings, our offerings, and our worship music, it might not be a bad idea to give them a bit lower priority. Certainly, the admirable traits of righteousness (“right living”) and justice need to be elevated.

If that’s what God wanted all those years ago, it might just be want he wants now.

[See Amos 5:21-24.]

Tags Amos, justice

Bible

Obadiah on Justice

The book of Obadiah in the Bible contains a prophecy about the nation of Edom.

Among other things, Edom is criticized for their pride. The primary issue, however, is not what they did, but what they didn’t do. Theirs is not an act of commission, but of omission.

Specially, the gripe that God has for them is for violence afflicted on the nation of Judah. Not that Edom actually committed the violence, but that they merely stood by and watched as other nations did it.

For this, they are destined to be “covered with shame” and “destroyed forever.” That is a harsh judgment for doing nothing. There is no forgiveness offered to Edom and no restoration recorded; just punishment.

This shows us God’s heart for us to act justly and his displeasure for those who stand idly by and not helping those in trouble.

When we see someone in need, someone being taken advantage of or being treated unfairly, do we take action to assist or stand aloof like Edom?

[See Obadiah 10-11.]

Tags justice, Obadiah

Bible

Amos Protests and God Relents

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date June 16, 2010

Amos was a shepherd, called by God to be a prophet. His story is found in the book of Amos in the Bible.

Amos says what God tells him, but after a while, the people of Israel — the primary target of his God-given proclamations — get tired of Amos and what he says, telling him to be quiet and go back home.

Interestingly, Peter, the disciple of Jesus, is given a similar warning by the authorities. Both Amos and Peter decline, insisting that they must do what God tells them to do.

At first Amos has no qualms about sharing God’s judgments regarding other nations, but he does eventually object. God shows Amos what will happen and Amos protests — and God relents. (Similar things happen when both Moses and Abraham plead with God.)

God then gives Amos another stinging word. Amos protests and God again relents.

Then God gives Amos a third oracle. This time Amos says nothing.

I wonder if Amos gave up too soon. I wonder if we sometimes make the same mistake.

[Amos 1:1, Amos 7:10-15, Acts 4:18-20, Numbers 14:11-20, Genesis 18:16-33, and Amos 7:1-9.]

Tags Abraham, Amos, Jesus, Moses, Peter

Bible

Joel and the Locust

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date June 7, 2010

The book of Joel is classified as one of the Bible’s prophetic books, as it contains a foretelling of the future.

After multiple reads, however, this short, 3-chapter book begins to emerge more as poetry than prophecy, revealing multiple levels of meaning awaiting the patient reader to unveil and discover.

The name of the book is the same as the prophet who received God’s oracle — Joel. The nemesis of Joel’s story is a swarm of locust.

Joel’s message is one of unprecedented destruction via this army of locust, which eats everything in sight, devastating all plants — and the sustenance they produce.

Both man and animal suffer as a result. However, there is also a grand and glorious redemption that follows, with God promising to restore the years that the locust ate.

Perhaps the most notable mention of locusts in the Bible is as one of the plagues that befall Egypt during Moses’ day. Another is that of locust — along with honey — comprising the unique dietary stylings of John the Baptist.

Aside from the life-nourishment that the locust provide to John, all the other Biblical references of locust relate to plague and destruction — and death — be it literal or figurative.

Regardless, I wouldn’t what them to eat my food or to eat them as food — I’m happy to take my locust as a metaphor.

[See Joel 1:2, Joel 1:4, Joel 2:1, Joel 2:25, Exodus 10:1-20, Matthew 3:4, and Mark 1:6.]

Tags Egypt, Joel, John the Baptist, Moses

Bible

Hosea Shows Us God’s Unconditional Love

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 27, 2010

In the Bible, many of the prophets are instructed by God to do some strange and bizarre things. Isaiah is a case in point. Perhaps the most extreme, however, is Hosea.

In short, God tells him to marry a prostitute so that his life can become an object lesson.

Imagine young Hosea coming home one day and telling his parents: “Guess what? God called me to go into the ministry!” His parents beam with pride until a bombshell is dropped on them,” …and he told me to hook up with a whore.”

That seems so inappropriate, ill-advised, and ungodly, yet that is what God says to do — and Hosea obeys.

The strangeness doesn’t stop there, however. When his hooker-wife gets pregnant, God tells Hosea to give the kids some unbecoming names. His daughter is given a name that means “not loved” and his second son, a name that means “not my people.”

This suggests that Hosea has reason to question who actually fathered his wife’s children.

Next, his wayward spouse splits, returning to her former way of life. So, God tells Hosea to go find her and take her back!

Although this chain of events was a horrific ordeal for Hosea, it is a profound object lesson for us: regardless of what we do, how badly we act, or how far we stray, God loves us unconditionally and pursues us relentlessly.

Tags Hosea, love

Bible

How Do You Read the Bible?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 24, 2010

How do you read the Bible?

Some people read the Bible like a text book — to amass knowledge.

Other people read the Bible like a book of law — looking for precedent and loopholes to justify themselves, ideas, and behavior.

Still, others read the Bible like a “how-to” book — noting the things that they should do and the things that they shouldn’t.

However, all of these approaches miss the point. The people in Bible-times understood and appreciated it as narrative. That has how it was written and is its best use — for them, and for us.

Not only should we pursue the Bible as narrative, but also with the knowledge that the narrative is best comprehended when it is experienced in community.

Although personal Bible study and reflection is helpful and enlightening, it is also ego-centric and intellectually narcissistic. It is through the lens of community dialogue that a deeper and fuller understanding can best be discovered.

So, the Bible is best read as narrative and — whenever possible — in a group environment.

Tags read the Bible

Bible

What’s the Deal with Evil Spirits?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 1, 2010

When reading the gospels (the stories about Jesus) in the Bible, it doesn’t take long to run across the phrase “evil spirit.” (Some translations use “unclean spirit” or a “corrupting spirit.”)

What is an “evil spirit” anyway?

As a teenager, I thought that an evil spirit was merely ancient man’s way of understanding mental illness.
As a young adult, my perspective flipped and I thought that mental illness was merely modern man’s way of explaining evil spirits.
Later on, I began to consider that both mental illness and evil spirits existed, but as separate, disparate phenomenons.
More recently, I’ve been thinking that they may just be two different ways of looking at the same thing, two sides of the same coin.

Although contemplating the meaning of an evil spirit may be intellectually inviting, the central point is to remember that regardless of what it was, Jesus healed people who had evil spirits — and he gave his followers the authority to do the same.

Now, that’s something to think about.

[See Matthew 10:1.]

Tags Jesus

Bible

God’s Sovereignty Allows Him to be Benevolent

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 22, 2010

God is sovereign; it is one of his characteristics. To be sovereign means to have supreme rank, power, and authority.

The word sovereign appears hundreds of times in the Bible (mostly in the Old Testament) and is usually used as a title for God or in addressing him, as in “Sovereign Lord.”

Many people object to the idea that God is sovereign; it offends them or causes fear. That may be because of a tendency to see sovereignty from a human perspective.

They assume that God’s sovereignty allows him to be malevolent; that is, he is just waiting for us to mess up and then he will do us harm — or give us grief just because he can. But that is not his nature.

God is good and just. His sovereignty actually allows him to be benevolent. He wants to do good to us, to offer us good things we don’t deserve (grace) and to withhold punishment that we do deserve (mercy).

God’s sovereignty allows for benevolence; his love prohibits malevolence.

Tags grace, love, mercy, sovereign

Bible

The Implications of Omniscience

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 21, 2010

The entry “Omni God” mentioned that God is “omniscient.” This means that he has total knowledge, knowing everything.

This is a huge and all-encompassing thought that God knows everything about everything everywhere. It is grand and a bit overwhelming.

Embedded in this idea that God knows all things, is the reality that he also knows me — and he knows you. He knows all there is to know about us, including the things we keep to ourselves and even the things about us that we are unaware of. He knows us individually, in every detail, totally and completely.

It is true that God’s omniscience is huge and all-encompassing, but it also means that he knows us fully and intimately.

God may know all, but he also knows me — and you!

[Also see The Implications of Omnipresence and The Implications of Omnipotence.]

Tags God