Problem: When Jehoram became king in Judah, “he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit harlotry, and led Judah astray” (2 Chron. 21:11). In 2 Chronicles 21:12, we find that, in response to Jehoram’s sin, Elijah sent a letter to Jehoram. However, if Elijah was translated prior to the reign of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, then how could he have sent a letter to Jehoram?
Problem: Asa began his reign in about 911 b.c. The thirty-sixth year of his reign would have been about 876 or 875 b.c. However, Baasha began his reign in 909 and reigned until 886 b.c. when Elah his son became king (1 Kings 16:8). How could 2 Chronicles 16:1 say Baasha built Ramah in the thirty-sixth year of Asa, 11 years after Baasha’s death?\
Problem: When Asa was king in Judah, he was confronted by Zerah the Ethiopian who marshalled an army of 1 million men. However, there are no historical records of such a person. Is this an error?
Problem: According to 1 Kings 15:3, Abijah was a wicked king who “walked in all the sins of his father.” However, here in 2 Chronicles he is represented as giving a speech against idolatry and in defense of God’s appointed priests and temple in Jerusalem.
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense,” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
Problem: Here the Chronicler affirms that Solomon’s ships “went to Tarshish” and brought back gold. However, in 1 Kings 9:28 it claims they “went to Ophir” and acquired gold.
Problem: God told Solomon, “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice” (v. 12), that “My name may be there forever” (v. 16). Yet, even Solomon in his dedicatory prayer acknowledged that God could not dwell in His temple, saying, “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27). Other Scriptures likewise affirm that God does not “dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 17:24; cf. Isa. 66:1). Continue reading →
Problem: Leviticus 16:30 commanded that a fast should be kept in connection with the Day of Atonement. However, Solomon did not observe a fast in connection with the Day of Atonement celebration that he held here in 2 Chronicles 7:8–10 (cf. also 1 Kings 8:65–66).
Problem: Some Scriptures leave the impression that only some will be raised from the dead. Daniel says “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” (Dan. 12:2). The NT often refers to resurrection “out from among” (Gk., ek) the dead, implying that not all will be raised (e.g., Luke 20:35; Acts 4:2; Rom. 1:4; 1 Cor. 15:12).
Problem: Daniel 1:21 asserts that Daniel “continued until the first year of King Cyrus.” But Daniel 10:1 says that Daniel was still there until the “third year of Cyrus king of Persia.”
Problem: According to Daniel 5:31, the kingdom of Belshazzar fell to the invading armies, and Darius the Mede took over as king. However, modern scholars have rejected the historical accuracy of the Book of Daniel. They argue that there never was a Darius the Mede, since there is no mention of such a person in ancient documents. Is this an error in Daniel’s historical account?
Problem: Daniel 5 records the downfall of Babylon and identifies the king of Babylon as Belshazzar. However, neither Babylonian nor Greek historians record the existence of any such person. In fact, ancient historians report that Nabonidus was the last king of the Babylonian empire. Is Daniel’s record in error? Continue reading →
Problem: When Daniel refers to those whom Nebuchadnezzar summoned to interpret his dream, he identifies these as magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans. Each of these is a group of wise men who functioned as advisors to Nebuchadnezzar. However, in 5:30 Daniel refers to the Chaldeans as an ethnic group when he refers to Belshazzar as king of the Chaldeans.
Problem: The Book of Daniel begins with the dating of the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim of Judah. However, in Jeremiah 46:2, the date of Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion is given as during the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim of Judah. Which is correct?
Problem: Daniel contains an incredible amount of detail concerning the kingdoms of the Gentiles from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, from about 605 b.c., down to the Roman empire which began to exercise dominance as early as 241 b.c. and, under the Roman general Pompey, took over the Promised Land in 63 b.c. However, conservative scholars have maintained that Daniel wrote in the 6th century b.c. How could Daniel have given such historically accurate details of events in the future?