Posts Tagged: contradictions in the Bible
“Fearing the Lord vs. Fearing the Lord”
A lot of people think that there are many contradictions in the Bible. In a sense, they are right. However, not all contradictions are contradictions.
Yes, I know, that doesn’t make any sense at all. Or then again, does it.
Take, as an example, the following passage from 2 Kings. Assyria had taken into exile many of the residents of Israel. Then the king of Assyria brought into the area of Samaria (the now defunct capital of Israel) other people groups whom the Assyrians had conquered. The author of 2 Kings 17 is summing up what happened and why it happened.
“2Kings 17:24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
2Kings 17:29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.
2Kings 17:34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.
2Kings 17:41 So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.” (2 Kings 17:24-41, English Standard Version, bolding mine)
So, the author of 2 Kings says both that they did and did not fear the Lord. Which is true? Probably both. In a sense—and to a degree—the folks who had been shipped into Israel did fear the Lord, but their loyalties were divided. And so, in a deeper sense, they did not fear the Lord. The author of Kings is acknowledging that both of these things are true.
Contradictions? Yes, but no more contradictory than human nature is. In fact, the Bible acknowledges that Israel itself did not fear the Lord (17:7). We are confronted with the fact that neither Israel nor the forced migrants who replaced them were doing a good job of reverencing the Lord.
The way that the story goes back and forth invites (or forces?) us to look at our own selves. Do we truly fear the Lord, or do we have divided loyalties? What seems to be contradiction in the biblical text may actually be asking us to take a good, long look at ourselves. We may not like what we see.
“Seeking God’s Face: Impossible, Difficult and Easy”
Wait a minute! How can something be impossible, difficult, and easy?!
Good question! Glad that you asked. I was meditating this morning on the statement in the Scriptures that we are to “seek God’s face.” I thought that this sounded like a worthwhile goal, and that I ought to do that. In fact, I made it my daily affirmation: “Today, by God’s grace, I am seeking the face of God, no matter how difficult that may be.”
My sponsor responded to my twelve-step affirmation by reminding me that I could see God’s face in the face of my wife or of a child. Good reminder. Sometimes I make things more difficult than they are. It is certainly possible that I am doing that in this case.
However, this whole idea of seeing God’s face—or seeing God—is very problematic in the Bible. Some verses say that mortal man cannot see God. For example, God says to Moses that even Moses would not be permitted to behold God’s face (Exodus 33:20).
Other Scriptures say something very different. For example, Exodus 24:9-11 says that Moses, along with seventy elders of Israel, did see God.
And then, there are verses that encourage, yea indeed command, us to seek God’s face.
“You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, LORD, do I seek.” (Psalm 27:8, English Standard Version)
Of course, those who think that the Bible is a hopelessly contradictory book have no problem at all with this. They simply say, “See! We told you so!”
However, those of us who hold the Bible in high esteem (as I do) want to look a bit more deeply. The average person (if such a person exists) may say different things at different times. We may recognize that this does not automatically mean that the person is contradicting him/herself. Perhaps we should extend the same courtesy to the Bible that we give to one another on a routine basis.
Context is everything, as I often remind my students. There are times when it is appropriate to speak of God’s face being inaccessible, and there are times for seeking God’s face.
On the other hand, our default position should be to seek God’s face. Thus, Psalm 105:4 says that we are to “seek God’s face continually.”
Perhaps the most helpful thing is to realize two things.
First, the word “face” in Hebrew, when it is not a literal face, often refers to a person’s presence. Especially, there is the nuance of a person’s gracious presence. In the famous priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24-26, the Israelite priest is to say to the people of Israel,
24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
A second observation about the idea of “face” is that it suggests how we get to know people. Most of us prefer “face-to-face” meetings, even though in this day of global pandemic, we may not be able to meet face-to-face.
A person’s face is the best way to get to know that person. The eyes, the facial expressions, and above all, the words a person speaks, helps us to know the person.
So it is with us and God. God is already well-acquainted with our faces. We just need to seek God’s face more diligently.
And yes, one way to do that is as easy as seeing God’s face in our daily relationships. Yes, God’s face is mysterious. But then so is my wife’s face, even though I’ve had the privilege of studying it for a very long time.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
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