Unfortunately so much of what we hear or read anymore is misinformation or truth that has been distorted with an agenda. A major goal of anyone who is opposed to Christianity is to discredit the Scriptures which form the basis of our faith. If the Scriptures can be discredited, then your faith is in vain and you are either a fool to continue to believe it, or you can justify abandoning it because it has been proven false.
While it’s true that there appear to be many contradictions or discrepancies in the Bible, most of them are not much more than verses that have been taken out of context, and when put back in context and read against the passage in it’s entirety, the discrepancy is no longer there. It is items like these that are easier to clean up. Chapter and verse references have been added to the Bible as an aid to reference and study, but do not, by any means, give license for each verse to stand on it’s own, as so many arguments rely on.
Still, other claims provoke more thought and take more work to unravel. These discrepencies will typically hold more weight and are more apt to go unchallenged. Many commentators will chalk them up as though they just shouldn’t be questioned – but this is never a good answer. At times, scholars will twist things around to show no contradiction. Again, this is unacceptable. Most of the time, a little digging will go a long way and always, in the end, the Word of God comes out, not only unscathed, but a victor in the battle of truth.
The objective here is to present the alleged discrepencies and then work to absolve them from the claims. In the last 150 to 200 years we have discovered a great deal of information regarding Ancient Israel, Jewish customs and traditions as well as overall Jewish history. Opening the Word with this understanding in mind helps to bring the Bible to life. As time goes on and more of these discrepencies can be tackled, we will find that the Bible is so precise and detailed, that most of the supposed contradictions only appear to be such because we aren’t looking at the text in the detail it requires.
Hardline opposition will not be swayed. That really isn’t the point. It would be my hope that a seed of doubt could be planted and that the Spirit would work in anyone who takes a look at the findings. At the same time, may what we find here help to absolve any fear that the only foundation of your faith is blindness. For starters, no book has withstood the test of time amidst more detractors, as the Bible. History has attempted time and time again to destroy it’s existence, and history has had to, time and time again, concede to it’s power. When the Bible itself, records kings attempting to outlaw and destroy all remaining copies of it, and history as we know it has shown this attempt numerous times, by the very people who claim to be believers of the faith, we would do well to recognize first and foremost, we aren’t dealing with any ordinary book.
To the glory of God, we’ll undertake the task of shining a light on the Truth of His Word.
While this is a couple months old, I have been meaning to post this as it is fascinating how the Bible consistently comes out on top.
While the ‘higher critics’ figure they know so much more about the Bible some thousands of years after it was written, they continually end up wrong. That makes these higher critics turn out to be liars. People who really have no grasp of truth on a mission to dethrone the only book that has withstood the test of time.
You have to go where the evidence leads.
*update – 11/18/08* Comments are closed due to spam attempts.
I remembered hearing, probably from a Missler commentary, about some op-ed written a few years ago regarding the state of Europe rolling over when faced with hard realities, in which the author stated “Europe, your family name is Appeasement”. It’s a strong intictment. I just read this article at Slice of Laodicea a few minutes ago and it immediately triggered that statement - only it should now be “America, Thy Name is Appeasement” as our post-modern society likewise chooses to roll over, instead of face the facts about what is going on in our nation. The vast majority listen to what they’re told by the mainstream media instead of going to check it out for themselves, thus ultimately becoming brainwashed by lies such as ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ and so forth. The backward thinking and utter indifference in the US these days is leading us down the road of globalization and society yawns as our freedoms are being chiseled away. Daniel 3 will be coming to life here whether you believe it or not as our Judeo-Christian values become diminished and the justice system becomes overrun by Islamic law. When once Christian churches are becoming mosques, and the supposed ‘Christian’ replacements are bogus circus acts being run by your everyday agnostic/athiest pastor, it should cause us to wake up. Unfortunately, the US seems to be standing next in line.
Paul, a bondslave of HaMoshiach Yeshua, called to be an apostle, set apart for the good news of God
It’s not often you hear the term ’slave’ in any sort of positive light. When we think of slaves, we think of someone being bought and sold against their will, made to serve a master they do not love or care for, someone in an unfortunate circumstance that they would greatly desire to get out of. But has that always been the case? Is that the picture that the Bible actually presents?
One of the usual attacks on Scripture by unbelievers is that it promotes slavery and since we know that slavery is a horrible thing, we should assume that the Bible can’t be trusted. Perhaps having a grounded understanding of what the Bible actually says may shed some light on the misunderstandings above and help you reconcile what most people toss aside as ‘ancient ignorance.’
The Bondslave
In the New Testament, the word slave or servant seems to get thrown around on just about every page. Paul called himself a bondslave (δοῦλος; doulos) of Christ. At the top of this post is Romans 1:1 as a primary example. A lot of our English Bibles will translate this word servant or slave, depending on the context, but in its most literal definition, the term bondslave fits best and is very important as it is an antitype of a strange Old Testament practice that the Israelites were very familiar with.
In Exodus 21:2-11 we see the first laws regarding Hebrew slavery. This word that gets translated as slave or servant in English shows a consistency if we translate it as bondslave (עֶבֶד; ebed) just as in the New Testament. Once we establish that linking, we can start putting together a puzzle of something that seems to parallel a relationship that we, as believers, should have to Christ.
If we outline the passage of Exodus 21, we can get quite a bit of information about this practice from just a few verses, for instance:
· In Exodus 21:2 the bondslave can be bought but can only serve for 6 years. On the seventh year, which is a sabbatical year on the Hebrew calendar, he is to be set free.
· In Exodus 21:3-4 we start dealing with marriage and the process at that point becomes a lifelong commitment. If the slave is given a wife, he leaves his wife with the master if he leaves at the end of the 6 year term. This encourages him to stay with the house for life, married to both his wife and his master. For the slave to leave at that point, he would be divorcing his wife and committing adultery. Marriage will become an idiom even more when dealing with female bondslaves later in this passage.
· But what if the bondslave would wish to stay with his master, regardless of marital status? Exodus 21:5-6 outlines an archaic process where the bondslave makes a personal decision to become a slave to his master for the rest of his life. He has his ear pierced with an awl (an ice-pick type of tool) to the door or doorpost of his master’s house, thus symbolizing the servant as a member and slave to the house of his master for life. We’re going to come back to this soon.
· Exodus 21:7-11 outlines what to do regarding female bondslaves. A female can be sold under a different set of rules. Here her status as bondslave is for life, compared to the 6 years for the male. However, if the master is unhappy with her, he cannot sell her off; instead, she must be redeemed by the family. If the master were to wish the female bondslave out of his house, he is, in a sense, bringing shame on himself as having broken faith with her, something that would be considered adultery. This starts to look more like a marriage than a slave trade. With that line of thinking, the master may even want his own son to marry the female bondslave and now he has taken her to be his own daughter. By doing so, the master must also grant her special privileges as if she were his own. But there’s something else to notice in Exodus 21:11 that can easily be overlooked. The female bondslave must be let free if the master chooses not to provide her with any one of 3 particular items. These items are food, clothing and marital rights. Marital rights are an obligation to the master and if he does not provide them, he is now bringing shame upon his house just as if he were rejecting her as noted above, thus coming full circle to the adultery analogy.
Debts, Payments, Another Chance
The bondslave practice could be done for a number of reasons which are another important factor in understanding the master and slave relationship as outlined in Scripture. In Leviticus 25:39 we see that a person may wish to sell himself to a master because he is poor. In this respect, Leviticus 25:39-42 states that the bondslave should be treated as hired help and not a slave, until the year of the jubilee, at which point all ownership gets reset. God specifies that the bondslaves are His slaves, that He is the true master of these people. In Leviticus 25:43, God instructs the masters that they are not to rule over their slaves ruthlessly, pointing out that they are actually God’s people, not the masters. This also clarifies Leviticus 25:44-46 as only the foreigners can be kept and handed down as property. This is another discussion that we won’t get into here, but should be noted that Gentiles living among the Israelites were to in effect, adapt to the Israelites way of life and not the other way around.
If you owed a debt to someone, you could work for it. This is a part of being a bondslave. The 6 year term was considered sufficient to pay for any debt, and becoming a bondslave didn’t change your social or personal status. Once the term was completed, the slave was free to go back to his own house.1 Likewise, in Exodus 22:3, if a thief was caught, he could make restitution by becoming a bondslave to the house he stole from. Regardless of the circumstance, the bondslave was to be treated well and fed from his masters own flock. He was to be freed at the end of his term and not sent away empty handed. We can see in Deuteronomy 15:12-15 that they were to be freed and redeemed this way because God had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt. In Deuteronomy 15:18, God instructs the masters to not consider it a hardship to let the bondslave go, but instead be grateful for his hired hand and if they are, then God will bless the master in return.
But that brings us to Deuteronomy 15:16-17. Here is another issue where the slave may not want to leave his master at the appointed time. Why would they want to remain a slave? One thing you’ll notice is that it’s completely up to the bondslave to decide to stay. It’s quite possible that he may not have anything to return to. His master may have been exceedingly kind to him, giving him a home, food, water, clothing and possibly even a wife and family. We’ve already seen that the masters were instructed by God to care for their servants and not take advantage of them. Some bondslaves could even climb to high positions in the family much like with Abraham and his servant Eliezer. Joseph is another example in Genesis 39. The point is that the masters were to treat their help well, as though they were hired, and the help was to submit to the masters as hired servants.
An Eternal Commitment
As mentioned in the outline of Exodus 21:2-11, and now Deuteronomy 15:16-17, the slave may very well wish to serve his master for life. In such an event, his ear is to be pierced to the door of the house for which he will serve. This symbolizes his commitment and servitude to the house and makes it everlasting. There will be no turning back, no sabbatical year to clear his name. If he desires to do this, it is a lifelong commitment. The pierced ear will from now on be a constant reminder that the individual is a slave to his master, that he has a responsibility to please his master and his status as such will be known to everyone he comes in contact with.
We often read Scripture pretty casually, without giving much thought and diligent study to the details of the passages. We’ve seen in just a few verses of Exodus and Deuteronomy just how much can be contained in these ancient practices. But even getting into the details can often leave them dark and without meaning, seemingly interesting but still pointless in our modern day thinking. That is, until we come across something that might catch our eye, buried in another verse, some 500 pages away. Certainly, if we hadn’t studied the bondslave in the Torah, the 5 books of Moses, we’d of passed by it without a second thought, but now when we come to Psalm 40:6 and read ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced’ there’s something that stands out. The Hebrew word translated ‘pierced’ would most literally be translated ‘digged’ or ‘dug out’. If we investigate Psalm 40 a little deeper, we might glean quite a bit more that had been missed until now. In verse 7 it reads ‘Here I am, I have come, it is written of me in the scroll.’ And further yet it reads ‘I delight to do Your will, O God…I have told the glad news of deliverance…I have not restrained my lips…I have told of your faithfulness and your salvation’. It sounds a lot like Christ speaking here. Speaking of Christ, in Philippians 2:7, Paul states that Christ made himself nothing, taking the form of a doulos, being made in human likeness. Christ was a bondslave to His Father. We don’t often think of Him as a slave, but Hebrews 3:1 notes that He was an apostle, literally, someone who was sent. Furthermore, as we see the idiom of marriage in Scripture and tie in the role of the doulos we have a twofold literary type. We are bondslaves of Christ, having given ourselves to Him for life as our Savior. He is our Master and primary example, our affection and strength, our utmost desire and as His bondslaves we are to submit to His authority as the head of the House (Ephesians 6:5-9). You’ll remember also, that as parts of the bondslave idiom seemed to paint a picture of marriage, we are the bride of Christ and as the bride of Christ, we are to submit to Him as the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the assembly, His body.
Christ Is Our Master, We Are His Bondslaves
Our ear, pierced to the door of the house, of which Christ is the Master. Hebrews 3:1-6 helps to tie it all together:
1Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Yeshua the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Paul wasn’t ashamed of labeling himself a bondslave of Christ. He knew whom he served and that his servitude was not in vain. Paul lived as though he were running a race and it was all for the glory of his Master. When we think of slavery in Scripture, we should not be ashamed as it paints a gorgeous picture of our relationship with Christ, proving again that the Scriptures are completely prophetic and truly, the volume of the book is written of Him.
- Negev, A. (1996, c1990). The Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land (3rd ed.). New York: Prentice Hall Press. [↩]
Part of what made the US unique was the freedom of religion, a restraint on government control of religious practices. This was an important freedom due to the history of the medieval church united with the ruling powers. It was this unity that caused the persecution of true Bible believing Christians and eventually led to what we now call the Reformation period. So it’s not surprising that when the founding fathers of this nation were deciding on the chains that would bind the beast of the federal government, the ability to REGULATE religion had to be removed.
Unfortunately most of our ruling powers here in the US need a history lesson followed by a good teaching of our countries constitution. Freedom of religion has nothing to do with public servants being able to lead in prayer with or without that horribly offensive ‘Love your neighbor as yourself… love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ Jesus. It has EVERYTHING to do with maintaining that ability. I suggest the new class should start with VA State Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty as pupil since he clearly doesn’t get it.
Update: Christian Newswire is reporting on this issue as well. It looks like Governor Tim Kaine needs to be in the front row of that classroom along with the Col. I’m not sure how people who still need to be in diapers are so easily elected into office. Oh right, it’s because they’re voted into office by people raised in public schools.
Here in the US, we tend to think we’re invincible from this sort of thing, but we should face the fact head on that Islam is creeping into our country and has been for awhile. It’s bailing out our businesses and setting up mosques in the most unlikely of places. It’s quietly taking over.
Compass Direct News has this story regarding a new penal code in Iran that calls for a mandatory death sentence for not just those who decide to leave Islam, but anyone who would be called an ‘apostate’ (falling away from the faith). Read apostate as ‘Bad Muslim’. The real shocker is that the vote is 196-7 in favor.
Granted, Iran is an extreme state. But let’s not forget that Islam has slowly taken over most of Europe, holding even their own court systems. World Net Daily reports that there are at least a few members of Congress trying to prevent such things from happening here. That’s good news, especially if it passes. But will it hold weight when we are no longer a sovereign nation?
The Works of H. A. Ironside are on Pre-Pub for Logos. This will be a great asset to any digital library. Ironside was a great speaker and many of his books are notes from his sermons. They are easy to read, digest and don’t consume a ton of time to get points across. Most of his books aren’t very long yet pack quite a punch. I’ve enjoyed his commentaries in the past and having them added to the searchable library will be great for future study.
H. A. Ironside
Having entire collections made available like this is wonderful for those who do any intensive studies that rely heavily on commentaries from past scholars. A. W. Tozer was recently released, and when you couple packages like these with the Ariel Ministries or A. W. Pink collections, you really get a well rounded view and perspective from the greats all at once.
Needless to say, I’ve pre-ordered it and hope it garners enough interest quickly. I’ve utilized Ironside’s work quite a bit and this will only aid that process. I’d also like to petition for a Donald Grey Barnhouse collection among others. But all in due time I suppose.
If your serious about Bible Study, Logos is definitely the way to go. I use it daily even for the simple stuff. There are a lot of great Bible software packages out there, some of them free and are more than enough for the average layperson. But if you do any sort of intense study, not to mention school work for those in seminary – this is the one you want. It’s pricey at times, but well worth it.
What did Christ mean when He said ‘Let this cup pass from me’ in fervent prayer to the father that He sweat drops of blood? Paul Washer exlains it better than I ever could.
The Gospel message, a full study of it, cannot leave out the wrath of God. Without God’s wrath, His love makes no sense. It’s all the attributes of God that make up the amazing brilliance of our Creator whom cannot be compared. His perfect plan of Salvation is baffling… foolishness to unbelievers, inexhaustable to those who are saved.
Praise God this was posted on the Rapture Ready boards. This is a great 35 minute Gospel presentation and lesson done by Chris Quintana of Calvary Chapel Cypress. It looks like this will eventually be a part of a DVD series so the link may go bad at some point, but until then, I urge you to give this a listen whether you are a believer or not, and most definitely if not.
The Gospel has baffled mankind for thousands of years. It’s so simple and yet infinitely deep. This is a good introduction and refresher of the Gospel message.
