Problem: Ezekiel speaks here of “living creatures” whose faces were in “the likeness of a man” which moved “like a flash of lightning” (v. 14). They were “lifted up from the earth” (v. 19) and their “wheels were lifted up together with them” (v. 20). Some have taken this to be a reference to UFOs and extraterrestrials. Are there human-like UFO creatures in outer space?
Problem: This and many other verses in Scripture describe God as merciful and compassionate, slow to wrath and plentiful in kindness (cf. Ps. 94:9; James 5:11; 1 John 4:16). By contrast, there are numerous passages in the Bible which reveal God as wrathful and vengeful. God told Moses, “You shall destroy all the peoples whom the Lord your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them” (Deut. 7:16; cf. 1 Sam. 6:19; 15:2–3; Jer. 13:14; Heb. 12:29).
Problem: According to this prophecy of Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar would attack and devastate Egypt. However, the Greek historians made no mention of this event, and there does not seem to be sufficient historical evidence to substantiate the claim that there ever was such an invasion. Is this an error in the biblical record of history?
Problem: Because Jehoiakim burned the book of the prophecy of Jeremiah, God told Jeremiah to prophesy again to Jehoiakim that he “shall have no one to sit on the throne of David” (Jer. 36:30). However, according to 2 Kings 24:6, Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim “reigned in his place.” Is this contradictory?
Problem: According to evangelical scholars, only the original manuscripts (autographs) were inspired and inerrant, not the copies, since there are minor errors in the copies. But according to this passage, the king destroyed the original manuscript in the fire.
Solution: When evangelicals refer to the “original manuscripts” alone being inspired (autographs), they do not exclude the fact that a biblical author may have had a “second edition” in original manuscripts too. Nor do they exclude the fact that, if the original is destroyed, God can inspire another one just like it. Indeed, Jeremiah was told, “Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll” (v. 28). So both manuscripts were inspired, only the first one perished without a copy. So the second one is now the “original” one.
Technically, we should not claim that only the original manuscripts are inspired, but the original text. For example, a perfect copy (e.g., a photo copy) of an original manuscript is as inspired as is the original manuscript itself. Likewise, all existing manuscript copies of the original are inspired in so far as they have accurately reproduced the original manuscript. God in His wisdom has not deemed fit to preserve the original manuscripts of Scripture. Some believe this is so men would not make an idol of it (cf. 2 Kings 18:4). Others claim it was His way of keeping it from human distortion by diffusing so many copies that it would be impossible to distort all of them. Whatever the case, the copies we do have are earlier, more numerous, and more accurate than those of any other book from the ancient world. They bring us all the truth of the original text, and the minor differences do not affect any doctrine of the Christian faith.
Problem: Jeremiah declared here to King Zedekiah: “your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon … and you shall go to Babylon.” However, 2 Kings 25:7 says the Babylonian invaders “put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.” How then could he see the king of Babylon, if he was blind?
Problem: The psalmist declared that “the Lord loves the gates of Zion.” (Ps. 87:2). In fact, “the Lord has chosen Zion … [as] My resting place forever” (Ps. 132:13–14). But, in this text, Jeremiah quotes God as saying, “This city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day.” Well, then, does God delight in Zion forever, or has He been provoked by it from the beginning?
Problem: In the nkjv, this passage reads, “In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim.” However, verses 3 and 12 identify Zedekiah as king of Judah, and 28:1 indicates that the prophecy of chapter 27 was given during the time of the reign of Zedekiah, not Jehoiakim. Should it be Zedekiah or Jehoiakim here?
Problem: Jeremiah was told here to “write this man down as childless.” However, Jechoiachin had a son, Shealtiel, who is listed in Matthew 1:12.