True or False?
January 20, 2002
Dear Friends,
Parts of the Bible are not true.
Before you write me off as a another who has gone the way of the “higher critics”, think about the following passage. In 1 Kings 22:11, we find the following account of a false prophecy. “And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king’s hand.” Later in the narrative, a true prophet of God, Micaiah, tells King Jehoshaphat that Zedekiah was lying. The narrative is historically accurate, but the statements in the narrative are not true.
One of the better known and recognized passages along this line is found extensively in the book of Job. Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, give long discourses that are part true and part false. We know that part of what they said was not true because at the end of the book God tells us so. God tells Eliphaz, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
The Bible telling us things that are not true serves a purpose. Just as the Bible is full of stories of people committing wicked deeds to contrast them against righteous deeds, the Bible tells us things people say that are not true to bring these sayings into contrast with sayings of truth.
How do you tell that something being is said is not true? There are several pointers. The easiest is when the narrative tells us like in our example of Zedekiah. The second easiest is when the speaker is rebuked like Job’s three friends. Another pointer is when the character of the speaker is challenged. The Pharisees are a good examples of this although this is more difficult as there are many things that the Pharisees said that were true. The trickiness of this situation is highlighted when Jesus tells his disciples “All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”
Sometimes, the truth of a certain passage is not obvious and requires diligent study. One such verse that is probably not true, but may appear to be true, is Habakkuk 1:13. Habakkuk speaks to God and says “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.” The context of the passage is Habakkuk questioning God about His use of an evil people such as the Babylonians to punish Judah. Habakkuk is having great difficulty believing what he has just been told – that God will bring the Babylonians down to destroy Judah. Part of Habakkuk’s argument against what he has been told is that God is “too pure to look upon evil.”
The context of the passage indicates that Habakkuk is wrong. Beyond that, common sense and a healthy list of other Scripture indicate that his comment is probably false. God does see immorality. I know at times I wish He didn’t, but He does. We are quick to list the qualities of omnipotence and omnipresence as attributes of God. These cannot be true if God does not look on evil. God would be, in effect, blocked from beholding a large part of the planet. God’s purity is not in any way, shape or form affected by what mortal man does or does not do. It is also a fact that God does use natural evil (earthquakes, wars, famine, etc.) to accomplish His will including using wicked nations like Babylon.
The exhortation is for us to read the Bible with care. There is no extra credit for speed reading when the Bible is concerned. We must read for understanding. Following the argument and the context are invaluable. The Bible is the unerring and inspired word of God. Let us each strive to be “a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15b)
Have a great week!
Comments»
No comments yet.