Bible Contradictions and Answers
Author: Steve Amato
Description: More questions and answers to alleged bible contradictions
Keywords: bible study,contradiction, question, answer, bible

# Alleged Bible Contradictions
and Answers

Should we kill? Should we tell lies? Should we steal? Shall we keep the sabbath? Shall we make graven images? Are we saved through works? Should good works be seen? Should we own slaves? Does God change his mind? Are we punished for our parents' sins? Is God good or evil? Does God tempt people? Is God peaceable? Was Jesus peaceable? Was Jesus trustworthy? Shall we call people names? Has anyone seen God? | How many Gods are there? Are we all sinners? How old was Ahaziah? Should we swear an oath? When was Jesus crucified? Shall we obey the (civil) law? How many animals on the ark? Were women and men created equal? Were trees created before humans? Did Michal have children? How many stalls did Solomon have? Did Paul's men hear a voice? Is God omnipotent? Does God live in light? Does God accept human sacrifice? Who was Joseph's father?

### Should we kill?

- Exodus 20:13 "Thou shalt not kill."
- Leviticus 24:17 "And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death."

vs.

- Exodus 32:27 "Thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, . . . and slay every man his brother, . . . companion, . . . neighbor."
- I Samuel 6:19 " . . . and the people lamented because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter."
- I Samuel 15:2,3,7,8 "Thus saith the Lord . . . Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. . . . And Saul smote the Amalekites . . . and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword."
- Numbers 15:36 "And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses."
- Hosea 13:16 "they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with children shall be ripped up."

The Bible makes the same distinction as we do in the society between murder, capital punishment, and other forms of killing. The first set is referring to murder. The second set is referring to capital punishment.

### Should we tell lies?

- Exodus 20:16 "Thou shalt not bear false witness."
- Proverbs 12:22 "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord."

vs.

- I Kings 22:23 "The Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee."
- II Thessalonians 2:11 "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."
Also, compare Joshua 2:4-6 with James 2:25.

God doesn't lie. Nor does he want us to lie. But he has allowed Satan to decieve the unbelievers. But it's their own fault that they are decieved. If they followed the Lord they wouldn't be deceived. The second set of cases deal with those who have decided to harden their hearts against the Lord. Romans chapter 1 elaborates on this process. For example it speaks of "God gave them over in the sinful desires" because of their own choice. And "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts." speaking of homosexuality. And "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done." But notice in these cases God's action is like that of a dam holding back the flood. If we keep rebelling, then he lets the dam go and let's us experience the consequences of our sinfulness. The situation described in 1Kings 22 is similar to that of Job and no doubt represents a similiar situation in 2Thess 2. God allows Satan to propagate lies. Those who follow the Lord are not deceived. But those who reject the Lord are subject to deception because they have corrupted their spirit which affects their conscience and intuition such that they cannot discern the truth. But God himself never lied. However, as in the case of Rahab, God's people are imperfect and at times will try to carry out God's will in an inappropriate manner. Rahab should not have lied, but then again she was probably unfamiliar with the 10 commandments.

### Should we steal?

- Exodus 20:15 "Thou shalt not steal."
- Leviticus 19:13 "Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him."

vs.

- Exodus 3:22 "And ye shall spoil the Egyptians."
- Exodus 12:35-36 "And they spoiled [plundered, NRSV] the Egyptians."
- Luke 19:29-34 "[Jesus] sent two of his disciples, Saying, Go ye into the village . . . ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. . . . And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? And they said, The Lord hath need of him."

Exodus 12:35,36
"The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians." I don't think that's considered stealing.

As for the situation with the Lord, the Lord owns everything, including me and you. The question should really be have you asked the Lord's permission to do the things you are doing.

### Shall we keep the sabbath?

- Exodus 20:8 "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy."
- Exodus 31:15 "Whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death."
- Numbers 15:32,36 "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. . . . And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses."

vs.

- Isaiah 1:13 "The new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity."
- John 5:16 "And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day."
- Colossians 2:16 "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days."

That's just a dispensational difference between the old and new covenants. Though Christians infer applications from the Law, the commands given to the Jews under the Mosaic Law were specific to them. Paul's writings in Romans and Galatians clarify some of these distinctions. The Old Testament is like a shadow of the New. And there are differences between shadows and reality. But such differences are not considered contradictions.

### Shall we make graven images?

- Exodus 20:4 "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven . . . earth . . . water."
- Leviticus 26:1 "Ye shall make ye no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone."
- Deuteronomy 27:15 "Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image."

vs.

- Exodus 25:18 "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them."
- I Kings 7:15,16,23,25 "For he [Solomon] cast two pillars of brass . . . and two chapiters of molten brass . . . And he made a molten sea . . . it stood upon twelve oxen . . . [and so on]"

The spirit of the Law is not to make graven images for the purpose of worshipping them. A statue or picture is not the same as an idol. A good example of this distinction is in Numbers 21 when God told Moses to make a bronze serpent on a rod (which today is even a medical symbol on the back of ambulances). Jesus alluded to that event when he talked with a Jewish teacher in John 3. The people of Israel were complaining against God so God sent venemous snakes to kill them. But they repented and so God had Moses erect the bronze snake. He promise that whoever had been bitten and looked upon the bronze snake would live. Jesus used that as an allegory for his death on the cross, which would become the object of faith for eternal salvation. But then we read in 2Kings 18:4 that many years later the people of Israel began to worship the bronze snake and so the king appropriately had it destroyed. So also with religious symbols. They should be removed if they become objects of faith.

### Are we saved through works?

- Ephesians 2:8,9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith . . . not of works."
- Romans 3:20,28 "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight."
- Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ."

vs.

- James 2:24 "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."
- Matthew 19:16-21 "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he [Jesus] said unto him . . . keep the commandments. . . . The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven."

The common defense here is that "we are saved by faith and works." But Paul said "not of works."

The correct formula is that we are saved by a faith that works. It is an application oriented faith which saves. But a faith in works does not save. Paul was objecting to the legalism of those who put faith in works. And while James was objecting to those who have a non-application oriented faith, he went too far in making works a condition for justification. (See James Intro) These are not contradictory. They are dealing with different aspects of saving faith.

However in the Matthew 19 passage Jesus is not speaking of salvation through faith. He's dealing with a person who lacks conviction of sin. For such people he challenges them with a righteousness which is of the Law. (If you don't do anything wrong, then God certainly can't condemn you). That is another way to obtain righteousness. Paul speaks of that righteous in the first three chapters of Romans, but concludes:

> "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Rom 3:19-24

The problem with the righteousness which is of the Law is that it is unattainable. But this is not to say that it has no use. For Paul uses it in Romans 2 and 3 and Jesus uses it in Matthew 19 for the same purpose - to bring conviction of sin which can lead one to the righteousness which is of faith.

### Should good works be seen?

- Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works."
- I Peter 2:12 "Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that . . . they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."

vs.

- Matthew 6:1-4 "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them . . . that thine alms may be in secret."
- Matthew 23:3,5 "Do not ye after their [Pharisees'] works. . . . all their works they do for to be seen of men."

Just as with the idolatry issues mentioned previously, the issue here is one of motivation. We should not parade around our good works so as to vainly get glory for ourselves. And because of the innate sinful nature it's best to keep a lid on it. However what the first passages are referring to is that our lifestyle should be so filled with good works that it is inevitable they will be revealed to others. The emphasis is on glorifying God. 1st Peter speaks of the return of Christ. For even if our works are not revealed now, they will be revealed in the future on judgement day.

### Should we own slaves?

- Leviticus 25:45-46 "Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, . . . and they shall be your possession . . . they shall be your bondmen forever."
- Genesis 9:25 "And he [Noah] said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."
- Exodus 21:2,7 "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. . . . And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the manservants do."
- Joel 3:8 "And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it."
- Luke 12:47,48 [Jesus speaking] "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes."
- Colossians 3:22 "Servants, obey in all things your masters."

vs.

- Isaiah 58:6 "Undo the heavy burdens . . . let the oppressed go free, . . . break every yoke."
- Matthew 23:10 "Neither be ye called Masters: for one is your Master, even Christ."

(Pro-slavery bible verses were cited by many churches in the South during the Civil War, and were used by some theologians in the Dutch Reformed Church to justify apartheid in South Africa. There are more pro-slavery verses than cited here.)

But there are many different kinds of slaves. For example Paul writes, "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." Rom 6:16-18 And Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." John 8:34 So everyone's a slave to something. But in another sense today you could even call employees slaves. It's just a matter of the degree of personal rights and freedoms. For example I recently heard from a guy that feels like he's a slave simply because he's not allowed to run around naked in the streets! The Bible speaks of servants. A servant is a person who serves. For example those in the military serve their country, and thus they are servants. In Matt 23 Jesus is speaking by way of hyperbole is referring to the Par Excellence figure of speech. He also says "and do not call anyone on earth 'father'"but there are plenty of places where Jesus makes reference to earthly fathers. What he is objecting to is, for example, the catholic practice of calling priests "father" or the like in an absolute sense. And though earthly authorities can carry a title, yet it must also be acknowledged that they are all under God. As for a Christian perspective on slavery I would recommend the book of Philemon in which Paul advises a Christian runaway slave to return to his Christian master. But he also writes the Christian master to reckon the slave as a son and not a slave. And he also writes in 1Cor 7 "Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you-- although if you can gain your freedom, do so.For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men."

### Does God change his mind?

- Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord; I change not."
- Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent."
- Ezekiel 24:14 "I the Lord have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent."

vs.

- Exodus 32:14 "And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people."
- Genesis 6:6,7 "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth . . . And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth . . . for it repenteth me that I have made him."
- Jonah 3:10 ". . . and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."

See also II Kings 20:1-7, Numbers 16:20-35, Numbers 16:44-50.
See Genesis 18:23-33, where Abraham gets God to change his mind about the minimum number of righteous people in Sodom required to avoid destruction, bargaining down from fifty to ten. (An omniscient God must have known that he was playing with Abraham's hopes for mercy--he destroyed the city anyway.)

In respect to his essence, his attributes, his moral character, and his inflexible determination to punish sin and reward virtue, God is without variableness or shadow of turning. Many of his judgement are conditional so as to be consistent with these unchangeable attributes of God. When he told Jonah to declare judgement against Ninevah, even the Ninevites realize this and repented and were saved. For it is inherent in his character to forgive the contrite of heart. Thus for example when you read his judgments these are to be understood in the sense "if you continue on this this way - then such and such will happen". This is somewhat clarified in Jeremiah 18:7-10 "If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it."

As for his discussion with Abraham, he was simply allowing Abraham to interceed, as Moses had on Israel's behalf. And this is another unchanging principle of God. He listens to the intercessory prayers of the godly.

###

Are we punished for our parents' sins?

- Exodus 20:5 "For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." (Repeated in Deuteronomy 5:9)
- Exodus 34:6-7 " . . . The Lord God, merciful and gracious, . . . that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."
- I Corinthians 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, . . ."

vs.

- Ezekiel 18:20 "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father."
- Deuteronomy 24:16 "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

What is implied in the first set is that the statement is conditioned upon children behaving as their parents, which is quite common. Exodus 20:6 says, "but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." Thus he is clearly contrasting individual behavior. As for Adam, all die in Adam when they follow his example by sinning. Thus the responsibility is reckoned individually but can be described corporally.

### Is God good or evil?

- Psalm 145:9 "The Lord is good to all."
- Deuteronomy 32:4 "a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."

vs.

- Isaiah 45:7 "I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things." See "Out of Context" for more on Isaiah 45:7.
- Lamentations 3:38 "Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?"
- Jeremiah 18:11 "Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you."
- Ezekiel 20:25,26 "I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live. And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord."

These are simply using different connotations of the same word. Here are a few connotations of "evil" from the dictionary

> 1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
> 2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
> 3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.

A given context may be referring to one of these connotations while not referring to another. Thus the Lord does not create morally bad things, but he does create misfortune, ruin and pain at times.

### Does God tempt people?

- James 1:13 "Let no man say . . . I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."

vs.

- Genesis 22:1 "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham."

Again these are different connotations of the same word. In old English the word "tempt" often means simply to test. Gen 22:1 in modern English is "Some time later God tested Abraham." (NIV) Today we tend to distinguish between "tempt" and "test" (or "prove"). These are different concepts.

### Is God peaceable?

- Romans 15:33 "The God of peace."
- Isaiah 2:4 ". . . and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

vs.

- Exodus 15:3 "The Lord is a man of war."
- Joel 3:9-10 "Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong."

There is peace inside of God's kingdom. And he desires his enemies to be reconciled with him. But if they won't, then they are subject to his judgment. The Joel passage is referring to the judgement day. Notice verse 12 "Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side." But Isaiah is referring to the Millenial Kingdom. (And believing that there is both a Heaven and a Hell is no contradiction)

### Was Jesus peaceable?

- John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you."
- Acts 10:36 "The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ."
- Luke 2:14 " . . . on earth peace, good will toward men."

vs.

- Matthew 10:34 "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household."
- Luke 22:36 "Then said he unto them, . . . he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."

Jesus brought peace between God and those who put their faith in him. But this also resulted in such believers being persecuted by the unbelievers. Even Jesus himself was put to death. Thus he brought both war and peace.

### Was Jesus trustworthy?

- John 8:14 "Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true."

vs.

- John 5:31 "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true."

"Record" and "witness" in the above verses are the same Greek word (martyria).

In John 5 he is simply stating the law that you are not supposed to rely in a legal sense on the witness of one person alone And he goes on to speak of other witnesses for him. But in John 8 he is saying that his testimony alone is valid, not in a human legal sense, but in an absolute sense. For example, if you conclude that Jesus is in fact the Son of God, then you need not question his teachings, since they have such an authoritative basis.

### Shall we call people names?

- Matthew 5:22 "Whosoever shall say Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire." [Jesus speaking]

vs.

- Matthew 23:17 "Ye fools and blind." [Jesus speaking]
- Psalm 14:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."

The term used in Matt 5:22 is "moros" and is much more severe than the corresponding terms in the other places. While reckoning fools as fools, we are forbidden to do so in the spirit of malevolent contempt.

### Has anyone seen God?

- John 1:18 "No man hath seen God at any time."
- Exodus 33:20 "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live."
- John 6:46 "Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God [Jesus], he hath seen the Father."
- I John 4:12 "No man hath seen God at any time."

vs.

- Genesis 32:30 "For I have seen God face to face."
- Exodus 33:11 "And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."
- Isaiah 6:1 "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple."
- Job 42:5 "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee."

The Old Testament verses are simply using figures of speech. "Face to face" there is simply referring to friendship as Exodus 33:11 indicates. The Isaiah passage is referring to a vision, not seeing God literally. And Job also didn't literally see God but was confronted by God directly.

### How many Gods are there?

- Deuteronomy 6:4 "The Lord our God is one Lord."

vs.

- Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image."
- Genesis 3:22 "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil."
- I John 5:7 "And there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."

These are resolved in the concept of the Trinity. (See Understanding the Trinity)

### Are we all sinners?

- Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
- Romans 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one."
- Psalm 14:3 "There is none that doeth good, no, not one."

vs.

- Job 1:1 "There was a man . . . who name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright."
- Genesis 7:1 "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."
- Luke 1:6 "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."

The first are speaking in an absolute sense. The second are speaking in a sense relative to the society.

### How old was Ahaziah?

- II Kings 8:26 "Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign."

vs.

- II Chronicles 22:2 "Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign."

The simplest explanation was made by Genenius who pointed out that it may be a simply transliteration error in 2Chron. For the Hebrew letter for 20 and 40 are quite similar.

### Should we swear an oath?

- Numbers 30:2 "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath . . . he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth."
- Genesis 21:22-24,31 " . . . swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me . . . And Abraham said, I will swear. . . . Wherefore he called that place Beersheba ["well of the oath"]; because there they sware both of them."
- Hebrews 6:13-17 "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself . . . for men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath."
See also Genesis 22:15-19, Genesis 31:53, and Judges 11:30-39.

vs.

- Matthew 5:34-37 "But I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven . . . nor by the earth . . . . Neither shalt thou swear by thy head . . . . But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."
- James 5:12 ". . . swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation."

In the first set a number of those verses have to do simply with swearing unto the Lord. The issue the second set deals with is the issue of swearing by something. It is vain to swear by something you have no control over. The only legitimate application would be to swear by our own integrity. But that is already implied when we swear an oath. God swears by Himself because he has control over Himself. But to swear on our mother's grave or such is simply vain. It's doesn't mean anything, and such a person would be falsely implying that they have control over such things, which is where the sin comes into play.

### When was Jesus crucified?

- Mark 15:25 "And it was the third hour, and they crucified him."

vs.

- John 19:14-15 "And about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out . . . crucify him."

There are a couple of leading explanations of this case.
1. That that the two evangelists give the extreme limits of time, - Mark referring to the beginning of the preparations, and John pointing to the completion of the dreadful tragedy. The words of the former, "It was the third hour," may denote indefinitely that the third hour was past; while the phraseology in John "about the sixth hour", may meaning simply that it was approaching the sixth hour.
2. John, writing in Asia Minor, may have used the Roman official mode of computation, reckoning from midnight, so that the "sixth hour" would be 6 A.M. to 9 AM (the "third hour," according to Jewish reckoning) was occupied by the preliminaries, and by the passage of the procession forth to Golgotha.

### Shall we obey the law?

- I Peter 2:13 "Submit yourself to every ordinance of man . . . to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors."
- Matthew 22:21 "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's." See also Romans 13:1,7 and Titus 3:1.

vs.

- Acts 5:29 "We ought to obey God rather then men."

Both of these are consistent with the idea of obeying legitimate human authority to the degree that are acting within their legitimate God-given realm of authority

### How many animals on the ark?

- Genesis 6:19 "And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark."
- Genesis 7:8-9 "Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah."
- Genesis 7:15 "And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life."

vs.

- Genesis 7:2 "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female."

Gen 6:19 was the general command given 120 years before building the ark. The Gen 7:8+ is more specific. Concerning the clean animals Noah was commanded to take 7 pairs. They entered the ark in pairs - male and female.

### Were women and men created equal?

- Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

vs.

- Genesis 2:18,23 "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. . . . And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

I assume by "equal" you mean "in the same manner". Genesis 1:27 just records the fact of creation without reference to how He went about it. But more relevant to this general question is 1Cor 11:7-9"A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man." The difference of equality here is one of role but not of substance or value. But such "inequalities" are true of many other role relationships such as between parents and children, government and citizen, employer and employee, etc.

### Were trees created before humans?

- Genesis 1:12-31 "And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: . . . And the evening and the morning were the third day. . . . And God said, Let us make man in our image . . . And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

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- Genesis 2:5-9 "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. .Ê.ÊAnd the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground . . . And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food."

Genesis 2:5 is referring to the garden of Eden in particular. The word "earth" simply means "land", which also resolves alot of other paradoxical issues in Genesis. (See Genesis Interpretation)

### Did Michal have children?

- II Samuel 6:23 "Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death."

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- II Samuel 21:8 "But the king took the two sons of Rizpah . . . and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul."

The King James of 2Sam 6:23 has a transliteration error. Saul had two daughters, Michal and Merab, which names are quite similar in Hebrew. The modern translations read correctly saying: "But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah's daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite." IISamuel 21:8 (NIV) Thus it was referring to Merab, the older daughter, and not Michal, the younger. Notice the her husband was "Adriel" not David. It was Merab who was married to Adriel. "So when the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah." 1Sa 18:19 (Even the King James says that) Michal was married to David.

### How many stalls did Solomon have?

- I Kings 4:26 "And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen."

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- II Chronicles 9:25 "And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen."

Just a transliteration error as the two words look quite similar in Hebrew. And there are a number of these kinds of errors because of the subtleties of the written Hebrew.

### Did Paul's men hear a voice?

- Acts 9:7 "And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man."

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- Acts 22:9 "And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me."

They heard something but they could make out what it was. Similarly in John 12:28,29 "Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

### Is God omnipotent?

- Jeremiah 32:27 "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?
- Matthew 19:26 "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."

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- Judges 1:19 "And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron."

The "he" in Judges 1:19 is not referring to the Lord but to Joshua. The Lord allowed him limited success. The Lord says in Exodus "I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee." Ex 23:29

### Does God live in light?

- I Timothy 6:15-16 " . . . the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach . . ."
- James 1:17 " . . . the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
- John 12:35 "Then Jesus saith unto them, . . . he that walketh in darkness knoweth not wither he goeth."
- Job 18:18 "He [the wicked] shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world."
- Daniel 2:22 "He [God] knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him." See also Psalm 143:3, II Corinthians 6:14, and Hebrews 12:18-22.

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- I Kings 8:12 "Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness." (Repeated in II Chronicles 6:1)
- II Samuel 22:12 "And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies."
- Psalm 18:11 "He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies."
- Psalm 97:1-2 "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice . . . clouds and darkness are round about him."

The first set is referring to God being the source of truth. The second set is referring to God's secretive nature in that much of God's truth is hidden. But much is revealed in the New Testament through Jesus Christ. 1Cor 2:7 "We speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." Rom 11:33 "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!"

### Does God accept human sacrifice?

- Deuteronomy 12:31 "Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods."

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- Genesis 22:2 "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."
- Exodus 22:29 "For thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors; the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me."
- Judges 11:30-39 "And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hand, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon . . . and the Lord delivered them into his hands. . . . And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: . . . And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed."
- II Samuel 21:8-14 "But the king [David] took the two sons of Rizpah . . . and the five sons of Michal . . . and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest . . . And after that God was intreated for the land."
- Hebrews 10:10-12 " . . . we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ . . . But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God."
- I Corinthians 5:7 " . . . For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us."

Genesis 22:2 Isaac was not sacrificed. God was simply testing the limits of Abraham's obedience. God did not seek the slaying of Isaac in facto, but only the implicit surrender of the lad in mind and heart.
Exodus 22:29 is not referring to human sacrifice but to dedication.
Judges 11:30-39 Jephthah made a stupid sinful vow and was wrong. Some however view the vow simply to referring to his daughter's virginity and not to her physical life. "After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. From this comes the Israelite custom" Judges 11:39
2Sam 21 is referring not to sacrifice but to capital punishment.
Heb 10 and 1Cor is very significantly referring to the death of our Lord as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. But this does not apply to the Genesis passage for the ones killing the Lord were not doing so out of a sense of human sacrifice to God but were simply applying capital punishment in an unjust manner. And the sacrifice God made of his son may be likened more to sending one's son on a suicide mission to save others, which is quite different than God himself killing his son directly. Notice in Acts 7:52 that the one's crucifying Christ were reckoned not priests carrying out a legitimate sacrifice, but murderers. Thus though God foreknew what would happen, he did not control these murderers in puppetlike fashion to force them to crucify his Son. In view of who he was, the value of Christ's selfless act was enough to pay the penalty of all human sin. But such is not the case for anyone else. The Old Testament animal sacrifices were allegorical of Christ's atoning work on the cross. But in fulfilling the allegory, Christ was not literally sacrificed in the same sense. The book of Hebrews elaborates on the allegorical connection between the two but views Christ as both the high priest doing the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself.

### Who was Joseph's father?

- Matthew 1:16 "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus."

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- Luke 3:23 "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli."

Both. But Heli was more literally Joseph's father in law. (The talmudic writers - unbelieving Jews - clarify that Heli was Mary's father). But if Mary had no brothers then according to Jewish law Joseph would be reckoned his son.

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources