Category: Bible

Posts from The Bible Blog, by Peter DeHaan

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Bible

The Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven?

The phrase “the Kingdom of God” is synonymous with “the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Some writers in the Bible simply prefer one over the other; it is not meant to designate two different concepts or kingdoms. (Mark and Luke used “Kingdom of God,” whereas Matthew used “Kingdom of heaven.”)

These phrases can perhaps be best understood by considering that Jesus desires to brings heaven’s rule to earth. Under his rule, there are benefits and responsibilities to his subjects—the church.

Jesus explains about the Kingdom of God/Heaven through parables:

How do these parables change your view of God and our relationship to him?

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

Quoting from the Bible

When you pray, be careful what you pray—I’m serious, be very careful.

In the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples (also called “The Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father”), one part says:

“Forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.”

Some translations use the word “sins” or “transgressions” in place of debts, but the intent is the same.

The request is that God will forgive us…to the degree we forgive others.

That is, if we forgive fully, we are asking God to forgive us fully. However, if we only forgive partially—keeping grudges, holding on to ill-feelings, or harboring hate—then we are asking God to only forgive us partially.

Our lack of forgiveness towards others could limit the amount of forgiveness we receive. Ouch!

So when I pray that prayer, I do so carefully and with some trepidation; some days, I even want to skip that part!

However, skipping it is not the answer. A better solution is to be steadfast and diligent in forgiving others—then we can likewise expect the same from God.

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

An Example of Obedience in the Life of Joseph

Four times, Joseph received instructions from God:

An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to go ahead and marry Mary (Matthew 1:20).

Later, an angel spoke to Joseph in a dream, warning him of the threat on Jesus’ life and instructing him to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-14).
       
A third time, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him it was safe to return from Egypt (Matthew 2:19-20).

Lastly, Joseph received additional instruction in a dream to go to Galilee and not Judea (Matthew 2:22).

Each of the times God spoke to Joseph, he obeyed without question or delay:

  1. He married Mary, as instructed,
  2. he got up and left for Egypt in the middle of the night,
  3. he later returned to Israel, and
  4. he settled in Galilee.

God can speak to us in various ways: by a dream, vision, or even angels, through the Bible or others, or the Holy Spirit. However we may hear from God, there is but one acceptable response: to obey without question or delay, just as Joseph did.

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

Are You an Alien—Or Do You Belong Here?

The Bible sometimes calls the followers of Jesus, aliens. This seems like a strange and insulting label. An alien is someone who doesn’t belong, an outsider. In common usage, an alien is from another country, but jumping to the world of sci-fi, an alien is from another world or alternate existence.

Is this starting to come into focus? If we follow Jesus, we don’t belong here; we are just passing through to the home that awaits us in heaven.

We are indeed aliens—but do we act like it? Acting like aliens means we have a different focus, different goals, and different priorities. It means we are different and people should see that difference.

Are you an alien—or do you belong here?

[See Ephesians 2:19, Hebrews 11:13, and 1 Peter 2:11. Instead of aliens, some translations use words like exiles, migrants, strangers, and temporary residents. The Message uses the phrase, “this world is not your home.”]

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

Jesus was Jewish

Jesus was a Jew.

That statement catches many Christians (that is, followers of Jesus) off guard. It is easy to label Jesus, since he is the impetus for Christianity, as a Christian, even though his time spent on earth was as a Jew.

Indeed, he was born a Jew, into a Jewish culture, and had a clear Jewish lineage. He was raised and educated in Jewish beliefs and traditions. 

His ministry was primarily to Jewish people (though he certainly ministered to non-Jews and made it clear that his message was for all people, his focus was the Jews). Plus, most of his disciples were Jews, as presumably were most of his followers. 

In fact, initially Christianity was viewed as a sect of Judaism. [Acts 28:22]

Yes, Jesus was Jewish.

As such, there is much that his followers owe to and can learn from Jewish traditions and beliefs. This is one important reason to study the Old Testament and to embrace our common ground with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

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

Are You a Wise Guy?

Are you wise? Do you possess wisdom?

According to The Free Dictionary, Wisdom is “The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight; common sense; good judgment”

However, according to the Bible, Wisdom—that comes from God (James 3:17) is:

  • peace loving
  • always gentle
  • willing to yield to others
  • full of mercy
  • full of good deeds
  • doesn’t show favoritism
  • is always sincere

That sounds a lot different, doesn’t it?

By this standard, are you wise?

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 Curtain in the Temple was Torn in Two

The “Holy of Holies” (also called “the Most Holy Place” or “the Holiest of all”) was the innermost part of the tabernacle and later, the temple.  It was so sacred that only the high priest could enter it and then only once a year.

When Jesus died, the veil (which was very thick, more akin to a wall) in the temple around the Holy of Holies was torn in two, from top to bottom.  This is significant for two reasons:

First, being torn from the top down signifies that it was God’s doing.  Since it was 30 feet high, a person would only be able to tear it from the bottom up.  In effect, God was saying, I’m changing the old way of doing things.

More importantly, this opened up the Holy of Holies, showing that everyone could now approach God, at any time—not just the high priest once a year.

Jesus changed things indeed, making it possible for all us to directly approach God.

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

Sarah Laughs at God

In Genesis 18:10-15 we read the amazing story of Sarah being promised a son in her old age. When she hears this, she laughs—I would to; it seems preposterous (but for an all-powerful God, nothing is impossible). 

In fact, God rhetorically asks Abraham (Sarah’s even older husband) “Is anything too hard for [me]?”

Sarah’s laughter at God’s promise may have been delight, but more probable, it was doubt. Even so, God did as he promised and Isaac was born to Sarah and Abraham within the year.

Despite Sarah’s laughter over what was humanly impossible, God later commends her for having faith, Hebrews 11:11. Although she doubted, she apparently had enough belief so that God would later esteem her for her faith.

We may not have immense faith, but a little faith, even with some doubt sprinkled in, is enough for God.

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

Does God Give Love or Justice?

Most people correctly understand that God is love.  They then reason that out of love, he will unquestionably accept them as they are, welcoming them into heaven when they die.  This is an oversimplification of his love.

God is also just.  His just nature requires that there be a punishment for the wrong things that we do.

If, out of love, God didn’t require punishment for wrongdoing, that would make him unjust.  Lacking justice and being unfair is unloving.  Therefore, he must punish wrong living.  That punishment was taken on by Jesus (if we accept it); otherwise we must face the punishment ourselves.

So God’s just nature requires punishment, but his loving nature covers that punishment through Jesus.

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

Do You Bless God?

I often say the word “bless.”  In prayer, I frequently ask for God’s blessing on myself and others.  In essence, I am asking for God’s divine favor or grace to be imparted.

Other times I have seen one person bless another by “conveying well-being or prosperity” to them.  Sometimes this is done in the context of prayer, a commissioning ceremony, or a benediction.

Both of these examples make sense to me and are readily understandable — because in both instances a “person” of authority or power is blessing someone of lessor standing (Hebrews 7:7.)

However, I recently heard someone “bless” God.  Initially, I assumed that he misspoke.  When he said it again, I thought he had it backward.  After all, it seems a bit arrogant to bless God in the same way that we ask him to bless us.

Then I began stumbling on this in the Bible.  Some translations of Psalms 26:12 and 34:1, for example, talk about blessing God.  Other versions instead use the words “praise” or “extol.”

Fortunately, the dictionary provides some help in understanding this seeming dichotomy.  One of the definitions of “bless” is to “To honor as holy; glorify: Bless the Lord.”

So in expanding my understanding of “bless” to include honor and glorify, then, yes, I bless God!  Do you?

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.