Problem: Critics often accuse Paul of taking OT passages out of context. Is this the case?
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Bible Study
Jeremiah 7:31 – It did not enter God’s mind
Problem: How could God, who knows all things (1 John 3:20), never have thought of something? It makes no sense. Jeremiah 7:31 is where God says, “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.”
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Jeremiah 7:22 – Did God Command the Israelites to Sacrifice to Him Before Sinai?
Problem: It is alleged that Jeremiah 7:221 contradicts Exodus 3:18, 5:3, and 10:25, where there are mentions of sacrifice just before the time of the Exodus. These passages are then alleged to be a foreshadowing of the coming post-Sinai and Levitical sacrifices. But whenever there is an apparent Bible contradiction, it is helpful to look at the surrounding context of the passages, as well as to pay close attention to what the passages are actually saying.
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Jeremiah 7:16 – Why would God tell Jeremiah NOT to pray for Israel?
Problem: God tells Jeremiah, “Do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you” (Jer. 7:16). Does this verse condone not praying for sinful people?
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Jeremiah 6:20 – Do good deeds replace the need for Temple sacrifices?
Problem: Jewish investigators of Jesus often have many common questions about Jesus and Christianity. We consider several of these here:
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Jeremiah 3:7 – Does God not know the future?
Problem: Jeremiah 3:7 states, “I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it” (Jer. 3:7). How could God think that something would happen, but it didn’t? Open theist Greg Boyd writes, “If the future is eternally settled, it is difficult to see how God could express surprise over how humans behave, and even confess several times that he expected people to act differently (e.g., Jer. 3:7, 19; Isa. 5:1–5).”[1]
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Isaiah 66:22 – Does the earth last forever, or is it destroyed?
Problem: Does the earth last forever, or is it destroyed? Psalm 78:69 says, “And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever.” But 2 Peter 3:10 says, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” So which one is correct? Does the earth last forever, or is it destroyed?
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Isaiah 65:17 – Does the earth abide forever or not?
Problem: Does the earth abide forever or not? Psalm 104:5; Ecclesiastes 1:4 and Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:10
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Isaiah 56 – Does this chapter mark the beginning of “third” Isaiah?
Problem: Critical scholars charge that this section of Isaiah is actually a third author, who felt the freedom to tack on more chapters to Isaiah’s book. We have already considered the arguments for multiple authors for the book of Isaiah (see “Authorship of Isaiah”). What was Isaiah’s purpose in these final chapters?
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Isaiah 51:9 – Does the Bible support the belief in mythical monsters?
Problem: This passage makes reference to the seven-headed, Ugaritic, mythological creature Leviathan (cf. 42:1). Does the Bible purport a belief in mythological creatures such as the Leviathan?
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