Isaiah 29
9 ¶ Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 ¶ Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 ¶ And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that
fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then
look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
This Page Under Construction as of 12/01/2020
This page and it's companion pages in the "Apparent Biblical Contradictions Series" are all under construction on my workstation. They have been uploaded to the site in their rough draft form to assure that I have resolved all links and properly dereferenced them in a live environment. I apologize in advance for any confusion this may cause, but it is necessary to test such works; hopefully, even in their original context they might benefit some people.
The Seeming Contradiction
Matthew 17
1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
Mark 9
2 ¶ And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
Luke 9
28 ¶ And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.
This seeming contradiction is trivial to explain to a saved Bible Believer. It is a little harder to explain to a Bible Critic (usually they are lost). Notice that, in each case, the text says, a certain number of days after the Lord says some things (to his disciples), and then He takes 3 of his disciples up the Mount of Transfiguration.
Notice also, that the time span is given as 6 days in Matthew's and Mark's accounts, but 8 days in Luke's account. As in all supposed contradictions, the answer lies in the details.
Jesus was travelling around and teaching his entourage which will necessarily mean that he often repeated the same material. In this case, what was said 6 days before the ascent up differs strikingly from what was said 8 days before the ascent.
Matthew records that the Lord says six days before the ascent, that there be some standing there "which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come." i.e. the day of Pentecost when the Comforter came.
The explanation begins with an understanding of Two(2) fundamental Bible truths: i.e. First (and this important) The Kingdom of God and The Kingdom of Heaven are not the same thing. Consider the following three verses:
Matthew 11
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Luke 16
16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
John 3
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
After pondering the well known passage from John 3:3 it surely must be apparent to you, if you are saved at all, that God's Spirit dwells in you and you are therefore a citizen of the kingdom of God, able to discern spiritual things by the Holy Spirit.
Now consider Matthew 11:12 and tell me: Does it seem credible to you that anyone (especially violent people) could take the Spirit of God by force? Yet the kingdom of Heaven is explicitly stated to "suffer violence and the violent take it by force".
Now consider as a working hypothesis And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by forcethat the kingdom of Heaven is the Lord's physical kingdom consisting of the Earth and Heaven, and is separate from the kingdom of God which is Spiritual and shall be in you.
I assure you that working from this position will solve far more problems for you than it creates. The remaining verses which have to be reconciled will also fall into place if they are properly approached in their context.
This fundamental precept that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Heaven are not the same thing is one of the first applications of one of the greatest keys to Scripture in the Bible: II Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
The word of truth has proper divisions in it. Old Testament is separate from and divided from the New Testament, though each contains references to the other. The kingdom of God is separate from the kingdom of Heaven until the King himself is present, and then they are both present at the same time.
However, lest I digress, let us examine the portion of the Lord's promise that states "some standing there shall not taste of death" I can almost here some of the critics muttering "that was over 2,000 years ago"
Certainly I will concede that point; not even Methuselah lived that long. However, there are several examples in the Bible that prove (The Bible is always right) that some persons have not yet died in time frames even more ancient than Jesus's earthly ministry:
- Just to name a few...
- Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him
- Elijah was carried into Heaven by a whirlwind
- More recently...
- We do not know what happened to John on Patmos
Now pause for a moment and recall Jesus words to the Sadducees, i.e. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto him.
The words above "there be some standing here that shall not taste of death till they have seen the Son of Man coming in his kingdom" resonates with the power of our Saviour who reigns over the living and the dead! Just as Moses and Elijah will be present in the (future) great tribulation, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, some who were standing there 2,000 years ago will be present also.
Who will they be? Well, John himself is a good candidate. The Lord told him that he "will testify again before many people, nations, tongues and kings". Either John died on the isle of Patmos without fulfilling that prophecy (but remember, the target audience was "some who shall not taste of death") or he was translated like Enoch without fulfilling it. Either way, he is likely to be preaching to Israel (to many people, nations, tongues and kings) during Daniel's 70th week.
I humbly suggest to you that it is unwise to read the Bible with a critical eye looking for mistakes. That attitude is tantamount to the muck raker in John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress"; You will be raking through the trash looking for something that is not there, while the Prince of Peace proffers a crown of Life. The only possible outcome is that you will be a castaway for not believing the words of God.
Jeremiah 26
2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
3 If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
John 3
14 ¶ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 ¶ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 16
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
John 3
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
John 6
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 11
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: