Problem: According to this passage, the evil (“distressing,” nkjv) spirit came upon Saul so that he prophesied in his house, and then tried to kill David with a spear. However, the verse clearly states that the evil spirit was from God. How could a good God send an evil spirit to bring distress to Saul?
Continue reading →
Imagine for a moment that we are in a different time period. We have gone back thousands of years. There are no cars. There are no airplanes. There are no modern conveniences. We are in primitive times.
We take a look around us. There is no Bible. We know nothing about the universe around us. We have no knowledge of God. We don’t know how mankind got here. Then we look again. We see a seed fall from a tree and from the top of the soil, plant itself, tend to its self, raise itself up into a seedling and mature into a tree, only to repeat the cycle all over again. And we wonder. Then we go to the ocean. We study the tides and discover that they are used to clean the waters, making it impossible to support life without them. We look and ask ourselves, “Was this planned?” We look beneath the surface of the water, to the depths below. We find life. Strange creatures! Some which breathe water and some which breathe air like us. Some that spawn eggs.
Problem: This Scripture records the intense love David and Jonathan had for each other. Some see this as an indication that they were homosexual. They infer this from the fact that Jonathan “loved” David (18:3); that Jonathan stripped in David’s presence (18:4); that they “kissed” each other with great emotion (1 Sam. 20:41). They point also to David’s lack of successful relations with women as an indication of his homosexual tendencies. Is this a valid conclusion to draw from these texts?
Problem: In 1 Samuel 16, Saul hired David to play the harp for him, and yet, in chapter 17, after David killed Goliath the giant, Saul did not seem to recognize who he was.
Problem: When David killed Goliath and cut his head off, the city of Jerusalem was still in the hands of the Jebusites. David did not conquer the city until much later (2 Sam. 5:6–9).
Problem: In 1 Samuel 17:50–51, David is said to have cut off the head of Goliath after striking him with the stone from his sling. However, according to 2 Samuel 21:19, it was Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim that killed Goliath. Why does one passage claim that David killed Goliath when the other claims that Elhanan did?
Problem: Although 1 Samuel 16 only names the three oldest brothers of David, verse 10 states that Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel before he brought David out. However, 1 Chronicles 2:13–15 indicates that David was the seventh son of Jesse. How many sons did Jesse have?
Problem: According to 1 Samuel 16:9, the name of David’s brother is “Shammah.” However, in 1 Chronicles 2:13 his name is “Shimea.” Which is the correct spelling?
Problem: Abraham was judged by God for telling the half-truth that Sarah was his sister (she was his half sister) when she was really his wife (see comments under Gen. 12:10–20). However, in this passage God actually encourages Samuel to tell only half of the truth, namely, that he had come to offer a sacrifice, when he had also come to anoint David king as well. Two problems emerge from this. First, did not God encourage deception here? Second, why did God condemn Abraham for the same thing that He commanded Samuel to do?
1 Sam 28:7 Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. 8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.
Acts 16:16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. 18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
Problem: When David killed Goliath and cut his head off, the city of Jerusalem was still in the hands of the Jebusites. David did not conquer the city until much later (2 Sam. 5:6–9).
Problem: In 1 Samuel 17:50–51, David is said to have cut off the head of Goliath after striking him with the stone from his sling. However, according to 2 Samuel 21:19, it was Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim that killed Goliath. Why does one passage claim that David killed Goliath when the other claims that Elhanan did? Continue reading →
Problem: Although 1 Samuel 16 only names the three oldest brothers of David, verse 10 states that Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel before he brought David out. However, 1 Chronicles 2:13–15 indicates that David was the seventh son of Jesse. How many sons did Jesse have?
Problem: According to 1 Samuel 16:9, the name of David’s brother is “Shammah.” However, in 1 Chronicles 2:13 his name is “Shimea.” Which is the correct spelling?
Problem: Abraham was judged by God for telling the half-truth that Sarah was his sister (she was his half sister) when she was really his wife (see comments under Gen. 12:10–20). However, in this passage God actually encourages Samuel to tell only half of the truth, namely, that he had come to offer a sacrifice, when he had also come to anoint David king as well. Two problems emerge from this. First, did not God encourage deception here? Second, why did God condemn Abraham for the same thing that He commanded Samuel to do?