Problem: Here God told Moses, “I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon.” But elsewhere it asserts that Joshua gave Israel “half the land of the Ammonites” as a possession from God (Josh. 13:25).
Problem: Moses died before he could enter the Promised Land and was buried outside of it on the east side of the Jordan river (Deut. 34). But, this passage refers to the “land of their possession” as something that Israel possessed at the time it was written. Therefore, it would appear that Deuteronomy could not have been written by Moses, as it is traditionally claimed.
Problem: Many passages speak of Israel’s privations in the wilderness (cf. Ex. 16:2, 3; Num. 11:4–6). Yet here Moses declared that they “lacked nothing.”
Problem: Exodus 18:25 declares that “Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people.” However, here Moses told the people to choose their own judges (Deut. 1:13).
Problem: According to Numbers 26:64–65, all the unbelieving generation of Israelites died in the wilderness, with “not a man of those who were numbered by Moses” remaining to go into the Promised Land. However, when Moses spoke to the people at the end of the wanderings he referred repeatedly to their being witnesses to what happened before the wanderings (cf. Deut. 1:6, 9, 14; 5:2, 5; 11:2, 7).
Problem: According to this verse, “these are the words which Moses spoke.” However, many biblical critics claim that Deuteronomy was written in the third century b.c., many centuries after Moses’ time.
Problem: According to Numbers 35:30, a man accused of murder could be convicted and condemned on the testimony of two witnesses, but not on the testimony of only one witness. However, the great majority of crimes are not committed in the open for people to witness. Does this make it wrong to convict and condemn someone on the basis of other evidence when there have been no eyewitnesses?
Problem: God forbade murder (Ex. 20:13). Yet here He says, “The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.”
Problem: Numbers 21 speaks of the Israelites stopping off at Oboth, Ije Abarim, Zered, Arnon, Beer, Mattanah, Nahaliel, Bamoth, and Mt. Pisgah in Moab. But the Numbers 33 list of stopoffs includes Oboth, Ije Abarim, Dibon Gad, Almon Diblathaim, mountains of Abarim near Mt. Nebo, and the Plains of Moab.
Problem: According to the record of events in Numbers 31, Moses commanded the Israelites to utterly destroy the Midianites. Verse 7 states that they killed every Midianite male. Verse 9 records that they took all the women and children as captives, and verse 10 states that the Israelites burned all the cities and camps of the Midianites. Again, in verse 17, Moses commanded the people to kill every male child of the Midianites and every Midianite woman who had intercourse with a man, leaving only the female children and young virgins. How can such a total destruction be morally justified?
Problem: The incident at Baal-Peor resulted in God’s judgment upon Israel, and, according to Numbers 25:9, 24,000 died in the plague of judgment. However, according to 1 Corinthians 10:8, only 23,000 died. Which is the correct number?
Problem: The oracle of Balaam makes reference to the exaltation of Israel over Agag and his kingdom. However, Agag was an Amalekite king during the time of Saul who was king of Israel in the 11th century, almost 400 years later. How could this oracle refer to Agag when he lived later in the time of Saul?
Problem: In Numbers 22:20 God had told Balaam to go with the men to the plains of Moab. However, verse 22 says, “Then God’s anger aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him.” Also, in verse 33 the angel of the Lord says, “If she [the donkey] had not turned aside from Me, I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” Why did the angel of the Lord try to kill Balaam when God had already given him permission to go with the men from Moab?
Problem: God commanded Moses not to make “any carved image” (Ex. 20:4), lest it be used as an idol. Yet here Moses was commanded to “make a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole.” Later, the people worshiped this very image (2 Kings 18:4). Does not God command Moses to violate the very command He gave him against idolatry?
Problem: God would not allow Israel to do battle with the Edomites because He had given the land of Edom to Esau as an everlasting possession. Numbers 20:21 states that “Israel turned away from him.” However, when Moses reviews these events in Deuteronomy 2:4, he states that the Lord said, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau.” Likewise, Deuteronomy 2:8 says Israel “passed beyond our brethren the descendants of Esau.” Did they pass through Edom or did they go around it?