Month: April 2023

Problem: We read about this command in Deuteronomy 21:18-21:

If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. 20 They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear.

We can make a number of observations about this passage:
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Problem: Deuteronomy records several instructions for women who had been taken over in war. We read, “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive, 11 and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself, 12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. 13 She shall also remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and mourn her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 It shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes; but you shall certainly not sell her for money, you shall not mistreat her, because you have humbled her” (Deut. 21:10-14). Critics assert that this passage sanction military rape and conquest. Is this the case?
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Problem: The Quran claims that Muhammad was predicted in the Hebrew Bible (Surah 7:157). Thus Muslim apologists argue that this passage is predicting Muhammad as the future prophet that would come after Moses.
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Problem: Moses writes, “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses” (Deut. 17:14-15). Moses speaks of the monarchy here, but this wouldn’t occur for another 400 years. Critics use this passage to support a late date of the Pentateuch. Is this the case?
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Problem: Don’t sacrifice an animal with a blemish because the sacrifices represented the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, which had to be perfect and pure.
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Problem: Deuteronomy records, “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God” (Deut. 13:5). Atheist Christopher Hitchens objects to this, when he writes, “This was, for centuries, the warrant for the Christian torture and burning of women who did not conform.”[1] Why is this such an extreme punishment?
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Problem: Deuteronomy records, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut. 6:4) This passage—often called the Shema—is recited daily by Orthodox Jewish believers as a reminder of the uniqueness and exclusivity of God. Orthodox Jewish interpreters often argue that this passage claims that God is “one” in essence and “one” in person—thus contradicting the NT doctrine of the Trinity. Is this the case?
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Problem: In one area of Scripture, it appears that a son will bear the sins of his father, yet in other areas, it seems that that is not the case. So which is it? The answer lies, as always, in examining the context of the statements. Ultimately, the Bible has no internal contradiction. It just takes looking and reading to figure things out.
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Problem: The context of the “Thou shall not make a graven image” passages is dealing with the worship of false things. Exodus 20:4 states that no one is to make an image of what is in heaven, so that you may not worship them or bow down to them (20:5). This is reiterated in Leviticus 26:1. The Deuteronomy passages, contextually, are dealing with the same thing: an admonition against worshipping a false image. God does not want people bowing down before idols and worshiping false gods.
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Problem: Moses writes, “What god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?” (Deut. 3:24) Critical scholars note that this passage seems to support henotheism: the notion that there is one infinite-personal God who is in control of other gods. This is sort of a mix between monotheism and polytheism. Is this the case?

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Problem: The command by God to kill all inside a city is seen by many to be immoral and a demonstration that the Bible is not true. But, we must examine the issue in light of its context – its biblical context – not in light of present-day, non-Christian assumptions. If we want to see if it is moral or not, we must know which morals are in question.
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