Handling Apparent Conflicts in Scripture

When two Biblical passages appear to conflict, you have three options:

1. Adjust your interpretation of one or both passages.
2. Reject the Bible as hopelessly muddled and contradictory.
3. Reject one or both of the Biblical books that contain the offending passages.

My advice is to always err on the side of caution and go with option 1, giving God the benefit of the doubt by interpreting the passages in a manner that makes Him both truthful and faithful.

This especially applies to any passages related to God's covenants and promises.

Update: For some Common Sense Bible Study, check out http://jaycarper.com/biblestudy.

What the Good Samaritan Did and Did NOT Do

But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ (Luke 10:33-35)

What the Good Samaritan did:

• Have compassion.
• Care for a stranger.
• Pay other people for services.
• Pay for a stranger to stay at an inn.
• Use his own personal resources.
• Inconvenience himself.

What the Good Samaritan did not do:

• Invite the man to live in Samaria.
• Invite the man to come home with him.
• Anything at all with multitudes of people.
• Take anyone's time, money, or resources against their will.
• Put himself in physical danger.
• Put his family in danger.
• Start a war against bandits.

Words Are Shadows of the Reality

Alphabets and vocabularies change. The shapes and pronunciation of letters change. New letters are invented and old ones abandoned. New words are coined while old words fall out of use. Slang becomes proper usage, while what once was proper becomes stilted and archaic.

Letters and words are just symbols. It's the meaning behind them that is important. Don't get so hung up on shadows that you forget the reality.

The Only Unacceptable Routes Are Standing Still or Going Backwards

Exodus 13:17

Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war… Ambition and drive can be good things. Sometimes people need to be pushed and a forward motion is the best plan, but a husband, father, leader, pastor must also think of his people and not drive them faster than they are able to go. Some lessons are very hard to learn and to accept. We must always be moving forward, improving our positions, but sometimes we have to move in a circuitous route or at an easy pace. The only completely unacceptable routes are standing still or returning to Egypt.

Exodus 13:18

But God led the people about... The people did not go where they wanted, and God did not lead them by the easiest route. He led them where he needed them to go. Israel, God's bride, was not in charge. She could make requests of him, but she could not issue demands without risking her own destruction. Following the example of Israel and her Husband, wives should follow their husbands even if that road leads into the wilderness or through the territory of giants.

The Sabbath Was Made for Man...

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, so it's ok to change it so it works for you and keep this day instead of that one.

Marriage was made for man, not man for marriage, so it's ok to change it so it works for you and keep this woman instead of that one.

The Bible was made for man, not man for the Bible, so it's ok to change it so it works for you and keep this book instead of that one.

That's how it works, right?

If you want to know more about how to keep the Sabbath, I wrote a 5 part series on it: All About the Weekly Sabbath.

Bible Teachers Should Be of At Least Average Intelligence

• Jacob's dreams of stars & wheat were not literal. Stars & sheaves didn't bow to him in real life.
• Pharaoh's dreams of cows & wheat were not literal. Skinny cows didn't really turn canibal by eating fat cows.
• Daniel's dreams & visions of statues & beasts were not literal. Kingdoms aren't literally chimeric beasts & kings are real people, not horns.
• Jeremiah's vision of figs wasn't literal. It was about people, not figs.
• Ezekiel's vision wasn't literally about bones being reassembled & covered in real flesh. It was about the restoration of Israel as a nation.
• Peter's vision wasn't about eating anything. It was about people.
• John's vision of beasts & bowls wasn't about beasts & bowls. It was about kings, nations, calamity, & judgment.

Visions in the Bible are almost never supposed to be interpreted in a hyper-literal sense. Metaphor is the rule, not the exception. This isn't spiritualizing the Bible or explaining away any mysteries. This is just common sense that any reasonably intelligent person should be able to discern for himself.

Anybody who says the earth is square because Revelation 7:1 says there were four angels at the four corners of the earth has no business teaching others about the Bible. It doesn't make him a bad person. It just makes him unqualified to be a teacher. Anybody who says the earth is flat because the Bible seems to say so, but won't go on to say the earth is square, is likewise unqualified to be a teacher. He can't even be honest with himself. How is he supposed to be honest with you?

Update: For more on Common Sense Bible Study see http://jaycarper.com/biblestudy.

Another update: Believing absurd things doesn't necessarily mean someone is unintelligent. I know many very smart people who are simply unable to think clearly about certain topics. 

Past Failures Are No Barrier to Future Success

There's a chiasm in Exodus 6:10-30 centered on the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi.

When God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh, Moses objected that he was a man of "uncircumcised lips," as if God didn't know what He was doing. God still used him to set His people free from Egypt. Centuries earlier, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi had disqualified themselves from the family role of Firstborn through terrible behavior, yet God still used them to found three of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

It doesn't matter what you've done or said. It doesn't matter what you think you can or can't do. God still has a use for you. There is a place for you in His Kingdom. Don't think so highly of yourself that you could ever do anything to thwart God's plans.

• V10-11 - God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh
• V12 - Moses’ uncircumcised lips
• V13 - God told Moses and Aaron to bring Israel out of Egypt
• V14a - These are the heads of their fathers’ houses
• 14b-25a - The children of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi
• V25b - These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites
• V26-27 - God told Moses and Aaron to bring Israel out of Egypt
• V28-29 - God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh
• V30 - Moses’ uncircumcised lips