Problem: According to this verse, God declares, “I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies [in his sins].” Yet in Proverbs 1:26, God declares to the sinner, “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes.” But, these seem to be contrary attitudes toward the doom of the sinner.
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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: Ezekiel says clearly God does not punish the sons for their fathers’ sins, but that “the soul who sins shall die [for its own sins].” However, in Exodus 20:5 we are informed that God visits “the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations.” These seem flatly contradictory.
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Problem: While most Orthodox Jewish and Christian scholars have held the position that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their rampant homosexual behavior (namely, sodomy), there are others who believe that those cities were destroyed because of their pride.
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Problem: Ezekiel described the sin of Sodom as selfishness: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy” (niv). No mention is made of homosexuality or related sexual sins. Contrary to the traditional view, they were apparently condemned simply because they were selfish, not because they were homosexuals.
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Problem: Ezekiel states, “If a prophet is deceived into giving a message, it is because I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet. I will lift my fist against such prophets and cut them off from the community of Israel” (Ezek. 14:9 NLT).
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This description demonstrates that the presence and glory of God was leaving the Temple (Ezek. 9:3; 10:4, 18). When a King travelled at this time, he would take a chariot. God is explaining his departure from the Temple in kingly terms (i.e. a chariot).
Problem: Critics of the Bible note that John writes of “the four corners of the earth” (Rev. 7:1). They argue that this demonstrates that the authors of Scripture believed in a flat earth. Is this the case?
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Ezekiel probably only laid on the ground for part of the day. The text doesn’t say that he lay there all day long—only that he had to lay there for 390 days. He was probably tied up with the rope for the time that he was laying there. This becomes clear, when we see the imperatives in verses 9-17. He is told to fix food for himself.
Problem: Why does God tell him to eat this scroll?
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