God’s Word Is Truth! There Are No Contradictions!
God’s will is for us to know Him, His love which abounds forever and His commandments. He would not give us something that would confuse us because He is NOT the author of confusion but of peace. He has created everything with order and simplicity. He is not a man that he should lie. He IS only truth!
Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
The Bible contains the Truth – God’s will in written form, which He gave to men which He chose, to expound His will to the people . These men wrote and spoke as they were given by God’s power (Holy Spirit) so that His will would be understood clearly. As you study, you will discover that He actually had His word written at least twice within it!
2 Pet 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Starting from Genesis all the way to the Revelation of Jesus to John, there were witnesses that saw God’s Word come to pass! As He said, so it was.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us (pride), and let us run with patience the race that is set before us
Where there seem to be contradictions, we have to remember that man interpreted God’s Word into their own language, and may not have fully understood the culture or grammatics of the ancient scrolls or people of the ancient times. Some words were put in to supposedly “help in our understanding”. This does not change the fact that the Bible contains God’s Word; His Truth; nor does it give us permission to argue or debate what may seem to be an error. God’s Word IS Truth. Where there is misunderstanding, God will help us gain a clear and right understanding when we ask HIM for wisdom. Most importantly, He tells us not to add or subtract from His word or we will suffer the consequences of it. But because man later tried to help the “lay person” understand what was written, he actually caused confusion!
1 Cor 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
Rev 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraids not; and it shall be given him.
2 Tim 2:23-25 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth
There are other books written that would more explain this, which I suggest you search out and study, as there is not enough room here to go through each and every one. I will, however touch upon a few.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are customs and cultures from ancient times that today are misunderstood because they are not ours today. Understanding these ancient times will give us a better knowledge of what God is saying to us.
One example is the ten virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom.
Matt 25:1-12 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go you rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
There were ten virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom. Five of these prepared wisely and trimmed their lamps, meaning they filled them with oil and trimmed the wicks so that they would shine brightly.
Then came the time for them to go to the bridegroom. Those who had not prepared told those who had, to give to them of their lamps because they had been too lazy to do it. They were told, “No, we need ours. Go to the store and get supplies for yourself.” But by then, the shops were all closed for the night.
The custom was that when the virgins and guests were called to come, it meant the bridegroom was on his way. They were to come now and lead the way for the wedding party to the temple. Once everyone was there, the doors were locked, allowing no one else to enter.
Since the five virgins had left to go find oil for their lamps, they missed the wedding.
~~~~~~~
Another error or misunderstanding on the part of the writers, is when the malefactor asked Jesus to remember him when He comes into His Kingdom.
Luke 23:39-43 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If you be Christ, save yourself and us.
But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing amiss.
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou come into your kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, To day shalt you be with me in paradise.
Many versions put the “,” in the wrong place grammatically, and so saying that the malefactor would be with Christ on that very same day, which would be totally impossible as Jesus did not go to Paradise for almost 4 days or more!
If you understand how things progressed, in the correct order, you will see this to be the truth.
First, Jesus was in the grave for three (3) days and three nights. Then, He appeared to the apostles after that.
Mark 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Mark 16:2-6 And very early in the morning the first day of the week (Sunday – Saturday being the Sabbath or 7th day of the week), they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun (around 6 a.m.). And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he said unto them, Be not affrighted: You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
Many people think that Jesus was killed on “good friday”. I don’t see how that is possible if He was raised on the third day. It is all in our understanding.
The day Jesus was killed was a High Sabbath. The Passover. This is different from the “regular” Sabbath which was the Gregorian Saturday.
Exo 12:3-11 Speak you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month (Abib – our March/April – Later changed to Nisan) they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remains of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S Passover (a high sabbath).
Secondly, unless the malefactor was raised from the dead when Jesus gave up the spirit, then he will not be raised until Christ’s return;
Matt 27:52-53 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.,
which is impossible as the malefactor had not been buried yet according to the custom of that day.
It’s all in the punctuation, in the interpretation and in the understanding of the special Holy days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another place that may seem to be a contradiction is where Jesus talks about a “new commandment”. People think that Jesus is “doing away with” those that God had given us, when He really is not.
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.
He pretty much explains it in:
Matt 22:35-40 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, You shalt love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
If we follow these two commandments, we will not want to do anything against anyone! We will want to obey those ten that God gave us. When we follow these two commandments, we will only want to help and do good.
Pro 10:12 Hatred stirs up strifes: but love covers all sins.
This means what I stated above the passage. It does not mean you can sin and get away with it just because you love someone who loves you. It means you won’t want to sin at all!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another way people misunderstand God’s Word is through the italicized words. Any time you see any italicized words, try reading the passages omitting (without) those words. Nine times out of ten, it will make more sense to you! These words were added by man (not the apostles) to supposedly help us understand.
There are also spurious words and passages in the Bible that man added that were not in the original scripts, nor were they given by inspiration. They were added so that man could control the people thinking they were so gullible and stupid. This is the main reason we must pray and ask God for wisdom as we study, so we CAN know the Truth that HE GAVE US, not what man wanted us to have or not have.
There are many websites online that may be a help in this area. You can search out others for yourself by looking up “Spurious Scriptures” In The Bible. 🙂
Keep your candles lit and your wicks trimmed. THE KING IS COMING SOON!