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).
Continue reading →
Bible Difficulty
Ezekiel 10:2 – Why do the angels have wheels?
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).
Ezekiel 7:2 – Did the biblical authors believe in a flat earth?
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?
Continue reading →
Ezekiel 4:4-8 – How could Ezekiel lay on his side for over a year?
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.
Ezekiel 2:9-3:3 – Why does God tell him to eat this scroll?
Problem: Why does God tell him to eat this scroll?
Continue reading →
Ezekiel 1:28 – How could Ezekiel see God if no one can see God and live?
Problem: Throughout the Bible, we see conflicting messages on the visibility of God. On the one hand, God appeared to Abraham (Gen. 17:1; 18:1) and Moses (Ex. 6:2-3). In fact, Moses recorded that the elders “saw the God of Israel” (Ex. 24:10). However, in this passage, Paul says that God is “invisible” (1 Tim. 1:17), and at the end of this letter, Paul writes that God “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:16). God told Moses that “no man can see me and live” (Ex. 33:20), and John wrote, “No one has seen God at any time” (Jn. 1:18; c.f. 5:37; 6:46). Critics argue that the Bible seems to be offering a clear contradiction on the visibility of God.
Continue reading →
Ezekiel 1:15-18 – What are these creatures? They seem like space aliens!
Problem: Ezekiel’s vision is a visceral description of a supernatural experience. But what was the substance of the vision? Space aliens?
Continue reading →
Lamentations 3:38 – Is the Lord good or bad to people?
Problem: Is the Lord good or bad to people? Psalm 145:9; Lamentations 3:38 and Isaiah 45:7; Jeremiah 18:11; Ezekiel 20:25, 26
Continue reading →
Lamentations 3:38 – Does God create evil?
Problem: Isaiah writes that God is the one who “[causes] well-being and creating calamity” (Isa. 45:7). Older translations render this Hebrew ra’ as “evil” (ASV). Is God the author of evil?
Continue reading →
Jeremiah 52:31 – Was Jehoiachin set free from prison on 25th day of the month or the 27th day of the month?
Problem: The relevant passages are:
Jeremiah 52:31
Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.
New VBS for 2024
At this VBS, your kids will explore the answers to tough questions about the Bible as they set off on an epic adventure from Genesis to Revelation!
Learn More
2 Kings 25:27
Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison.
Continue reading →