Year: 2011

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Bible

A Frustrating Verse

There’s a verse in the Bible that frustrates me — not for what it says, but for what it doesn’t say.  Here’s the background:

Jesus dies and rises from the dead, but his followers are slow to catch on.  Two of them are on a road trip and Jesus begins walking with them, but they don’t recognize him.  As they walk, he begins to remind them what the Bible says about the coming savior.  Here’s how Luke tells it:

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).

That’s the verse that frustrates me.  It’s good to know that Jesus explained this, but I want to know exactly what he said.

True, there are a finite number of verses in the Old Testament that point to Jesus, so we could study them and reasonably guess at which ones he picked.  But speculating about this leaves me wanting more.  I want to know what verses Jesus used and to hear him explain it.

Anything short of that leaves me wanting more.  And that’s why this verse frustrates me.

[See Luke 24:13-32.]

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.

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Bible

Song Lyrics: Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)

In reading the book of Ecclesiastes there is one section that may be very familiar.  It was used as song lyrics and set to music, which the Byrds recorded in 1965.

Compare Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 with the lyrics to Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season).

Songwriter Pete Seeger only added six words to complete the lyric portion of the song.  They are the song’s last six words: “…I swear it’s not too late.”

In considering both the passage these words are taken from, as well as the theme of the entire book of Ecclesiastes, these six words are an appropriate encouragement to not become bogged down with the issues of life, but to take action…because “it’s not too late.”

Who says rock and roll and the Bible don’t mix?

The song, by the way, became a hit, arguably making it the number one hit song with the oldest lyrics.

Thank you King Solomon. You rock!

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.

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Bible

…and Then You Die

A few years ago there was a popular, yet pessimistic saying: “Life’s a bitch; then you die.”

Although that may be shocking or even offensive to some, I think King Solomon was the originator of this depressing thought.  It permeates his writing in Ecclesiastes and it exudes from the text.  In fact, an apt and concise summary of Ecclesiastes may well be: “Life’s a bitch; then you die.”

After ranting and whining for 12 chapters about the struggle of life and finality of death, it is easy to miss Solomon’s succinct conclusion nestled in the book’s concluding verses. 

At this point in the reading, one is often so overwhelmed with negativity that there’s a tendency to skim to the end, or perhaps to even skip to the end.

Nevertheless, his one gem of useful truth is simply this: fear and obey God.

Perhaps Solomon was on to something after all.

[See Ecclesiastes 12:13.]

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.

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Bible

A Wise Guy

God told King Solomon to ask for anything and it would be given to him.  (I think this is the closest thing we see in the Bible to God granting wishes like a genie.)

Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge.  And God gave it to him — along with wealth and power as a bonus.  The Bible later says that Solomon was wiser than anyone else who ever lived.

It is from this man — the wisest one who ever lived — that we get the book of Ecclesiastes.  Go figure.  If Solomon’s writing in Ecclesiastes is a showcase of wisdom and the result of knowledge, then I’ll pass.

However, we also know that Solomon was distracted by the beliefs of his many wives.  They turned his attention away from God and towards other things.

So, despite being wise, Solomon became unwise and strayed from God.  I wonder if the book of Ecclesiastes is a reflection of that.

[See 2 Chronicles 1:7-12, 1 Kings 10:23, 2 Chronicles 9:22, 1 Kings 4:30-31, and 1 Kings 11:1-13.]

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.

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Bible

The Book of Ecclesiastes

I am confounded by the book of Ecclesiastes.  As mentioned in the post “…and Then You Die,” Ecclesiastes is a depressing read.  It is pessimistic and its main point to put God first is easy to miss.

Ecclesiastes abounds with negativity and hyperbole, yet it also contains some wise thoughts and astute observations.  Separating the two takes effort and focus.  Yet doing so means to discount some parts of this book as foolishness and to embrace other parts as sound. 

This is unwise, because to do so we must apply our own biases and perceptions of what to accept (such as, obey God) and what to reject (such as, death is better than life).  Reading Solomon’s words in this manner merely reinforces what we already know and teaches us nothing new.

What I do know is that given Solomon’s proclivity towards hyperbole in Ecclesiastes, using his words by themselves as a basis for understanding God is not warranted.  It is imperative to make sure any conclusions made are also supported elsewhere in biblical texts.

So if Ecclesiastes is not much use for direct instruction, then what good is it?

If I read Ecclesiastes strictly as a story, then I do see one lesson emerge: smart people can be pretty whacked out and morose in their thinking.  Is that the point?

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.

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Bible

Hananiah, Shelemiah, Zadok, Pedaiah, and Hanan

You’ve heard about Hananiah, right?  How about Shelemiah?  Zadok?  Perhaps Pedaiah?  Or Hanan?

Although these men are all mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, don’t feel bad if they’re not familiar to you.  They did not accomplish great feats, rule a kingdom, lead an army, spark a revival, or do anything seemingly notable.

They appear to be a mere footnote in the pages of history.

Even so, they are remarkable for one thing — a most important trait — their character.

Hananiah was asked to be a leader because he was a man of integrity.

Shelemiah, Zadok, Pedaiah, and Hanan were given responsibility because they were trustworthy.

Integrity and trustworthiness are two traits that seem to be in short supply nowadays, but they are characteristics that produce promotion and responsibility — perhaps not in grand and glorious ways, but subtly and humbly.

These are the kind of leaders, I think, that God delights in.

[See Nehemiah 7:2 and Nehemiah 13:13.]

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.

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Bible

How Soon They Forget

So, Moses receives ten commandments from God and teaches them to the people.  God gives other directions and instructions, too, which Moses also passes on.

But the people begin to disregard and then forget what God told them to do.  This displeases him, so eventually he sends a series of wake-up calls, first in the form of judges and later through prophets.  Sometimes a foreign power is used to get their attention. 

(There’s nothing like a crisis to send us scurrying back to God.)

This happens gradually, over time, right?  Not necessarily.

Several hundred years after Moses, Nehemiah comes along and reinstates the “festival of booths” — which had not been practiced since the days of Joshua, Moses’ immediate successor. 

(It is unclear if it is disregarded fully or partially or if it happens during Joshua’s watch or after, but either way, Joshua drops the ball for not perpetuating it.)

It didn’t take hundreds of years for the festival to be dismissed, but less than one generation.

In only one generation, a people can turn away from God — or turn towards him.

Which way do you want to turn?

[See Nehemiah 8:14-17.]

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.

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Bible

Nehemiah’s Omission

In Nehemiah and the Wall, we saw Nehemiah’s great leadership at work, stirring up a passive and floundering people to act, quickly accomplishing what had long been languishing.  He also ushered in numerous reforms and ignited a spiritual revival.

Yet he lacked one thing.  He did not train a replacement.

After leading his people for 12 years, Nehemiah returned to Babylon.  The people quickly forgot all he had taught them and reverted to their old ways.  Specifically:

  • They allowed foreigners access to the temple
  • The Levites were not receiving their assigned portions of food and provision, so they left Jerusalem (effectively, they quit their job)
  • The people were working and trading on the Sabbath
  • The men married foreign wives

These were all prohibited by the Law of Moses, which under Nehemiah’s leadership, the people had agreed to follow.  But he left and they forget.

Although they still enjoyed the physical protection of the city wall that they had rebuilt, they retained little else.  Nehemiah needed to return and straighten them out – again.  Even then, there is no mention that he trained a successor.

Sometimes, even the best of people fail to learn from their mistakes.

[See Nehemiah 13.]

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.

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Bible

Opposition to Nehemiah

Under Nehemiah’s leadership, the walls of the city of Jerusalem were rebuild in only 52 days.

That seems quick and it sounds like it would have been easy, but it was not.  Nehemiah faced severe opposition, in multiple ways, that threatened progress and could have easily derailed the project.

This opposition took various forms, from ridicule to political, bad advice to prophetic subterfuge, and well-sounding distractions to a strategy of physical attack.

In response to the plan to attack and kill the workers, Nehemiah prayed first and then took tangible action to protect themselves.

Too often, when faced with adversity, we take action first and then pray as an afterthought, if at all.

That is not what wise leadership does — and its not what we should do.  We need to seek God first — and then take reasonable precautions.

[See Nehemiah 4:9.]

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.

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Bible

Nehemiah and the Wall

Nehemiah was in exile.  Though some of his people had been repatriated, he remained in Babylon.  Those who returned, had rebuilt the temple, but the city walls (their protection from attack) were still in ruins.  Nehemiah sought the king’s permission and blessing to return and rebuild the wall.

So Nehemiah goes home, surveys the situation, and tells the people the self-obvious: The walls are in shambles; we are in danger.  Let’s rebuild the walls.

The people readily agree and begin working.  Fifty-two days later, they finish.

They had lived there for years, but without walls and they were vulnerable as a result.  Yet in 52 days, less than two months, the walls were rebuilt and they were much safer.

Why did is take so long to act?  Quite simply, there was a lack of leadership.  The need was there, the solution was there, the resources were there, but leadership was not.  It took Nehemiah’s leadership to make it happen.

The next time you hear, “Someone should do something about that,” recognize that as a lack of leadership.  Might you be that leader?

[See Nehemiah 2:17-18 and Nehemiah 6:15.]

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.