Year: 2011

Bible

God Talks to Gideon – and Us

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 22, 2011

Another familiar character in the book of Judges is Gideon (with three chapters devoted to him). Gideon is generally a fearful man who is cautious of God’s call, but who does fully obey God.

There are three initial things that God tells Gideon (though an angel):

“The Lord is with you mighty warrior!” Gideon’s response is to change the subject.
“Go in the strength that you have and save Israel.” To this, Gideon in effect says, how? I am nobody!
“I will be with you.” At this point, Gideon asks for proof that the words are really from God.

We can learn two key lessons from this exchange. First, God may see us differently then we see ourselves — and it’s unwise to question God’s perspective.

The second is that often we need to move forward to the extent that our abilities allow (we need to do our part) and God will be with us (making up for what we lack). This is an important balance to maintain.

One error is to not do anything, even what we can do, because of the enormity of the task, while the other extreme is to try to do it all ourselves without God’s help.

Instead, we need to do what we can and trust God to do the rest — just like Gideon.

[Judges 6:12-16]

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 Gideon, judge, Judges

Bible

Samson and Delilah

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 17, 2011

Of all the characters mentioned in the book of Judges, the most familiar is likely Samson. This may be because four of the book’s 21 chapters are devoted to him. Another reason may be his unwise, yet intriguing, dalliance with Delilah.

As a person, Samson did not have much in his favor. He was self-centered, demanding, impetuous, and undisciplined, especially regarding his sexual appetite. Nevertheless, God used Samson to accomplish his purposes and free Israel from foreign domination for 20 years.

However, Samson’s character flaws eventually resulted in his capture and imprisonment, setting the stage for his final act, a suicide mission in which he killed 3,000 of his enemies along with himself.

Despite Samson’s personal issues and bad decisions, God used him for 20 years. This is most encouraging, as we all have issues weighing us down and threatening to hold us back; yet God can use us and work through us anyway.

Still, had Samson made better decisions, his premature death could have been avoided, allowing him to serve God for much longer. This is most motivating, for in the pursuit of right living, we can position ourselves to be used by God even more.

[Judges 13-16, specifically 16:4-30]

Tags judge

Bible

Here Comes the Judge

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 15, 2011

When I think of a judge, I immediately conjure up an image of a person wearing a black robe and presiding over a hearing or trial. Indeed, that is the primary definition of the word “judge.”

However, that understanding is greatly misleading when reading the book of Judges in the Bible. In the biblical context there are no black robes, judicial hearings, or legal proceedings.

The judges in the Bible were unofficial — albeit accepted — rulers, often filling the role of military leader, freeing the nation from foreign tyranny and occupation.

Given this definition, I count 15 people in the book of Judges who could possibly be considered a “judge:”

Othneil (Judges 3:7-11)
Ehud (Judges 3:12-3:30)
Shamgar (Judges 3:31)
Deborah (Judges 4:1 to 5:21)
Gideon (Judges 6:1 to 8:35)
Abimelech (Judges 9:1-57)
Tola (Judges 10:1-2)
Jair (Judges 10:3-5)
Jephthah (Judges 10:6 to 12:7)
Ibzan (Judges 12:8-10)
Elon (Judges 12:11-12)
Abdon (Judges 12:13-15)
Samson (Judges 13:1 to 16:13)
Micah (Judges 17:1 to 18:31)
An unnamed judge simply referred to as “a Levite” (Judges 19:1 to 21:25)

How many of these names are familiar to you?

Tags judge, Judges

Bible

Moses Died — And Then Good Things Happen

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 10, 2011

The book of Joshua opens by confirming the death of Moses, followed by a curious instruction: Now you go into the Promised Land.

Imagine that, an entire nation was put on hold, unable to move — until Moses died. Moses had to die for them to receive what God had promised to give them.

What if Moses had stubbornly clung to life for another month, another year, or even longer, holding on to a vain hope that he would also be allowed to enter the Promised Land?

Then the people would have had to wait even longer. Or what if Moses had died a bit sooner? Perhaps the people could have moved forward a bit sooner.

Though it seems morbid, Moses’ death was a good thing for the people. Though their faithful leader was gone, only then could they receive God’s promised provision. His death was a necessary requirement for their journey.

It’s kind of like receiving an inheritance. The person needs to die for the gift to be given. Their death releases what has been promised.

It’s kind of like Jesus. He, too, had to die for us to receive what God had in store for us. His death was sad and horrific, but it was necessary for what happened next — our salvation.

Tags Jesus, Moses

Bible

Different Versions of the Bible

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 8, 2011

In my post “Translation Confusion,” I pointed out that the Bible has word-for-word translations, thought-for-thought translations, and paraphrases (more technically known as “functional equivalence”).

These all exist on a continuum, so the lines of distinction between them are blurry.

Here is how Ministry Today magazine recently broke them down:

Popular word-for-word translations are the New American Standard Bible (NASB), King James Version (KJV), and the English Standard Version (ESV).

Popular thought-for-thought translations are the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), as well as the New International Version (NIV) and New Living Translation (NLT), though both those are viewed as more of a balance between word-for-word and thought-for-thought (hence the aforementioned continuum).

Popular paraphrases are The Message and The Living Bible.

Not included in their list is the Amplified Bible. It is based on the American Standard Bible, which is a word-for-word translation.

Tags translation

Bible

Let’s Go Back

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 3, 2011

After spending 430 years in Egypt, the Israelites were finally freed — and one of the first things they did was complain and ask to go back to Egypt.

Then they spent 40 years in the desert. When they finally crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land, one of the first things they did was become discouraged and pine for the desert.

It is human nature to want to stick with what we know and remain in the familiar. But that is not how we grow and not the way of progress.

God often asks us to do the uncomfortable, to take risks, and do what we would rather not do. But it is when we leave behind what is known that real growth can occur; it is when we are outside our comfort zone, depending on God, that our relationship with him deepens.

Yes, we can remain in our own Egypt or own desert, but staying where we don’t belong is being stuck in something less than God’s best plan for us.

When God says to go, do it — and don’t think about going back.

[Numbers 14:3 and Joshua 7:5, 7]

Tags desert, Egypt, promised land

Bible

Let’s go to Egypt

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 1, 2011

In earlier posts, I noted that after the Israelites left Egypt, they spent 40 years in the desert before entering the land God promised for them. I also observed that Moses waited 40 years before leading them out of Egypt. This makes for an unnecessary delay of 80 years.

However, why were they in Egypt in the first place?

God told Abram (later called Abraham) to “go to the land I will show you,” which he promised to give to Abram’s offspring. Abram went. His son Isaac and grandson Jacob were born there. Jacob had 12 sons.

Joseph, his favorite, ended up in Egypt in a position of power. When a severe famine hit the entire region, Joseph invited his whole family to Egypt, where he had stockpiled plenty of food.

The famine lasted seven years. After which you would think that Jacob’s family would go home. But instead, they stayed in Egypt for 430 years — which God likely did not intend — eventually becoming slaves and suffering greatly.

This all could have been avoided had Jacob remembered God’s promise to Abraham and returned to the place God intended them to be.

Instead, they spent 430 years as slaves in Egypt, when they could have been in the Promised Land the whole time.

[Genesis 12:1, 7, Joshua 24:4, and Exodus 12:40]

Tags desert, Egypt, promised land

Bible

Forty Years – Times Two

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 27, 2011

The Israelites left Egypt for what should have been an eleven-day trek across the desert to the “promised land.” However, because of their disobedience, God gave them a 40-year timeout in the desert.

This, however, may not have been the first delay. Prior to that, Moses sensed that his place was to rescue his people, but when initial opposition occurred to his leadership, he high-tailed it out of there, only to spend 40 years hiding in the desert.

Imagine that. Moses spent a total of 80 years of his life in the desert.

Now Moses’ initial 40-year desert retreat could have been a needed time of preparation, but I think not. God could have worked through him at any time — then or later.

I think Moses shirked his initial call. He needed 40 years of alone time, tending to his sheep, before he would be ready to hear God and obey.

So, had Moses not procrastinated for 40 years and had the people of Israel not been disobedient, earning another 40-year delay, they could have arrived in the land God promised them 80 years sooner.

[Numbers 14:33 and Acts 7:30]

Tags desert, Egypt, Moses, promised land

Bible

Bookends to the Desert Experience

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 25, 2011

After the Israelites left Egypt, God gave them a 40-year timeout in the desert. This was because of their lack of trust in his pledge to provide for them as they entered into the land he promised.

This meant that what should have been an eleven day journey, ended up being a 40-year desert experience — which for most, literally lasted a lifetime.

While their desert sojourn was marked by complaining and disobedience, there were a couple of significant bookend events to their time of waiting.

First, they celebrated Passover for the first time just before they left Egypt to head to the desert. Then they celebrate it again, 40 years later after they leave the desert.

The first Passover was marked by God’s provision for them to leave Egypt, while the subsequent ones were intended as a reminder of the first.

Second, two miracles occurred, allowing them to enter and later leave the desert. After leaving Egypt, and being pursued by its army, God parted the sea so they could escape attack and enter into the desert.

Forty years later, when it was time to leave the desert, God parted the Jordan River — at flood stage — allowing them to leave.

So their desert experience began with Passover and the parting of the sea; it ended with the parting of another body of water and another Passover celebration.

[Leviticus 23, Joshua 5:10, Exodus 14:21 and Joshua 4:18]

Tags desert, Egypt, Passover

Bible

A Matter of Perception

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 20, 2011

When God told Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses objected. He said, “I have never been eloquent… I am slow of speech and tongue.”

Moses’ self-perception was that he was not able to do the job God asked of him, that he lacked the essential qualifications needed for success. While Moses’ self-assessment may have been correct—which would allow God to work through him despite his deficiencies—that may not have been the case.

We get a glimpse of how God viewed Moses through Stephen in a powerful speech he gave hundreds of years later. Speaking under the power of the Holy Spirit, Stephen proclaims that Moses was “no ordinary child,” that he was “powerful in speech and action.”

It seems that God’s perception of Moses was in sharp contrast to Moses’ self-perception.

When we are called to do a difficult task, it could be that:

God will use us for his glory even though we aren’t qualified
God will grow us and help us become qualified
God sees things differently and we actually are qualified

Regardless of our self-perception, we shouldn’t let that limit God. One way or another, he will work things out to accomplish what he calls us to do.

[Exodus 3:10, Exodus 4:10, and Acts 7:20-22]

Tags Egypt, Moses