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Problem: Many wonder why the OT is filled with arbitrary commands like these.
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Problem: Critics argue that ancient people believed in myths like the burning bush, but this was before scientific progress.
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Problem: Critics claim that the God of the Bible isn’t truly omniscient, because passages like these show him with human features.
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Problem: Sunday schools typically teach that Moses’ mother was “letting go and letting God.” She put a baby in a basket and sailed it down the river, trusting that God would rescue the baby. For instance, in Charlton Heston’s movie The Ten Commandments, Moses’ mother says, “Follow it, Miriam. Watch it from the reeds. See where the Lord will lead him.” Does this mean that believers should make irrational actions like these, as well?
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Problem: The Bible teaches that we should submit to the government, because they are given as an authority of God (Rom. 13:1; Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13). It also speaks against lying (Prov. 12:22). And yet, when the midwives lied to Pharaoh and disobeyed him (Ex. 1:17), God blessed them (Ex. 1:20-21).
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Problem: Christian apologists often claim that this passage predicts the coming of the Messiah through the line of Jacob. However, critics claim that the language is too unclear. Which is true?
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Problem: Did Jacob worship at the head of the bed or leaning on a staff? Genesis says that Israel bowed to worship God “at the head of the bed.” The Book of Hebrews, however, while citing the same story, says that he did so “leaning on the top of his staff.”
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Problem: Why did God kill a man, Onan, for spilling his seed on the ground as recorded in Genesis 38:9? Is that really worthy of death? The answer lies in the legal custom of the time. He refused to carry out his familial obligations of producing offspring for his brother. As odd as that may sound to the modern ear, in that culture, relatives needed to produce seed for a deceased relative under certain circumstances.  Onan didn’t, and God killed him.
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Problem:`There are a number of parallels between Joseph and Jesus. Joseph’s job was to preserve the messianic line –even though he wasn’t in this line (Gen. 45:5-7). Because of his crucial role in the messianic line, we notice a number of similarities between Joseph and Jesus.
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Problem: Critics often claim that stories in the Bible (like Joseph’s) are mythical. Is this the case?
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Problem: Who purchased Joseph, the Ishmaelites or the Midianites? The term “Ishmaelite” was synonymous with the term “Midianites” so both (which are really the same), purchased Joseph.
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Problem: Jacob receives the blessing from his father, Isaac. But Jacob is repeatedly deceitful and conniving. Jacob seized the birthright when Esau was in a weak place of hunger (25:30-33). He was complicit in conspiring with his mother to lie to his father (27:11-12). He dressed up (27:13-17). He lied directly to his father’s face at least twice, when Isaac asked if he was Esau (27:19, 24). Finally, he even involved God into his lies (27:20). Why would God give the blessing to Jacob, rather than Esau?
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Problem: Amillennial interpreters believe that the Jews forfeited these promises, because they rejected Jesus—their Messiah. In Genesis 22:18, we read, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Later in Genesis 26:4-5, we read, “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” Do these verses make the Abrahamic covenant conditional on the obedience of the Jewish people?
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Problem: This text says Esau was asked by Jacob to “sell” him the birthright. But Genesis 29:1ff tells how he got it by deception.
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