Problem: Genesis 25:1 says, “Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah.” However, 1 Chronicles 1:32 states, “Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine.” Was Keturah Abraham’s wife, or was she merely one of his concubines?
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Problem: How long did Jehoiachin rule over Jerusalem? Is it a copyist error or a mistake in the original document? 2 Kings 24:8 and 2 Chronicles 36:9
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Problem: This text says plainly that “these nations feared the Lord” (cf. v. 32). Yet this same passage claims that they “served their own gods” (v. 33). Isn’t this a flat contradiction?
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Problem: In 2 Kings 13:20, the prophet Elisha died. In the following verse, a dead man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as he touched Elisha, he sprung back to life! We read, “When the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet” (v.21). The Catholic Encyclopedia cites this passage in support of this practice. Should we interpret this passage in this way?
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Problem: How old was Ahaziah when he began to rule over Jerusalem? 2 Kings 8:26 and 2 Chronicles 22:2. The correct age of Ahaziah when he began to rule over Jerusalem is 22.
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Problem: According to the statement in 2 Kings 8:26, Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began to reign in Judah. However, in 2 Chronicles 22:2 (kjv) we find the claim that Ahaziah was age 42 when he took the throne in Judah. Which is correct?
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Problem: Naaman worries that he will need to return to Aram and worship his pagan gods (v.18). Some evangelicals believe that this justifies Muslim Background Believers participating in worship services to Allah—for the sake of the gospel.
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Problem: The northern and southern kingdoms of Israel came to attack Moab. Right as they were going to capture Moab, we read that the king of Moab sacrificed his own son on the city wall! As a result of this, we read, “There came great wrath against Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land” (2 Kings 3:27). Patterson and Austel write, “The mention of great ‘fury’ against Israel is difficult.”[1] What do we do with this difficult passage?
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Problem: Why would God allow two bears to kill 42 young lads simply for saying Elisha was bald? Cultural context is critical to understanding this issue. Let’s take a look.
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Problem: The text states, “Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, ‘Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!’ 24 When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number” (2 Kings 2:23-24).
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Problem: Did anyone ascend into heaven before Jesus or not? Several biblical passages mention people who were caught up into heaven. Yet, Jesus argues in John three that no one had ascended into heaven. So which is it? Did anyone ascend into heaven before Jesus?
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Problem: God, who cannot lie, sent a deceiving spirit that people would believe a lie. Why would he do this? Actually, the demonic force would do what it naturally does in God by giving it permission to go and live. Ultimately, it was used in God’s sovereign plan to accomplish what he desired.
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Problem: In his book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins excoriates the notion of capital punishment in the OT law, when he writes,
The following offenses merit the death penalty… cursing your parents; committing adultery; making love to your stepmother or your daughter-in-law; homosexuality; marrying a woman and her daughter; bestiality (and, to add injury to insult, the unfortunate beast is to be killed too). You also get executed, of course, for working on the Sabbath: the point is made again and again through the Old Testament.[1]
Are these laws a little bit of overkill? (pun intended) Why did the OT law prescribe this?
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Problem: David says, “For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not acted wickedly against my God. 23 For all His ordinances were before me, and as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. 24 I was also blameless toward Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity” (2 Sam. 22:22-24). How can this be the case, when he was found guilty of murder and adultery (2 Sam. 11)?
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Problem: There are roughly 30 references to polygamy in the OT. Lamech (Gen. 4:19ff), Abraham (Gen. 16:3), Jacob (Gen. 35:22; 37:2), and Solomon (1 Kings 11:3-6) are just a few examples. The NT authors speak against polygamy (1 Cor. 7:2; 1 Tim. 3:2, 12), but what about the OT? Did the OT writers promote polygamy or prohibit it?
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