Headscratchers

The Bible I read almost every day is a ponderous 1,181 pages from “In the beginning, God….” to “Come, Lord Jesus.” Chaos and unpleasantness enter the picture very early on and never seem far away from the story. A critical examination of the Bible leads me to two conclusions. The Bible is a curious, unique, mysterious, perplexing book. Which leads to the second conclusion and the theme of this manuscript. If an individual or group of individuals had an affinity for Jesus 2,000 years ago and decided to write a book on their own touting Him as the central figure in human history and the fulfillment of God’s plan for His creation, the Bible we read today is not what would have emerged.

As you continue reading, ask yourself: Why was that included? Why does it seem purposely designed to confuse? Why do all the supposed Old Testament heroes and Jesus’s supporting cast fall so dramatically short?

I believe the answers lie in the fact that the writing was inspired by God and therefore is reliable and authentic as His word, even if oftentimes we can’t make sense of it. The headscratchers have convinced me that mere man without God’s inspiration did not write the Bible.

God’s Name

Let’s dive in. A good place to start is God’s conversation with Moses, where He speaks from the burning bush. After they get through the pleasantries, Moses indicates that the sons of Israel will want to know God’s name. “What shall I say to them?” Exodus 3:14 records God’s answer: “I AM WHO I AM. Say to them: “I AM has sent Me to you.” Can you see why I titled this chapter,” Headscratchers”? I can only try and imagine what Moses was thinking, something like “Why couldn’t He have said “I am the Great and Powerful Oz!”

There is a bit of clarity in John 8:58 where Jesus says, “Before Abraham was born, I AM.” The Trinity transcends time and every other dimension. Nonetheless, the name God gave Himself would not have been my first choice.

God’s Reflection on His Creation

One of the saddest conversations in Scripture is found in Genesis 6. This is the Trinity reflecting on how far man has fallen, how evil thoughts and actions have become the norm. Verse 6 reads: “And the Lord was sorry He had made man on earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” In the following verse, He says that He will “blot out man from the face of the land.” So, it appears that His plan didn’t work. But as the omniscient God, wouldn’t He have known this or at least anticipated this outcome? Had I been in an advisory role, I would have recommended leaving out any acknowledgements of doubt on the part of the Creator of the universe. In a later chapter, we’ll see that the plan actually worked, is still working today, and comes to a real crescendo at the end. He did not completely blot out man. Thank you, Noah for stepping up.

God’s Covenant with Abraham

Genesis 17 begins with a pleasant dialogue between God and Abraham. God promises to make Abraham a father of many nations. God confides in Abraham that He will give his descendants all the land of Canaan and that He will be their God. Abraham must be getting excited at everything he hears that’s ahead of him and his future family. Then in verse 10, God ruined the vibe by interjecting the word “circumcision” into their conversation. Abraham’s initial reaction may have been “What’s that?” Then when he found out, he may have thought to himself “Let me talk to my attorney. We’ll get back to you and renegotiate the terms of this covenant.”

Of course, Abraham went along. God fulfilled His promises and countless males have felt the effects for the last several thousand years. After Abraham performed his end of the bargain, he must have wondered: “Couldn’t we have done this with a handshake? Or if blood was necessary to signify the depth of the oath, wouldn’t a finger prick have worked just as well? And by the way, it’s a little unfair. Noah got a rainbow as the sign of the covenant between him and You.”

In Isaiah 55:8, the Lord declares: “My thoughts are not your thoughts; neither are your ways My ways.” I suspect Abraham was saying a hearty amen to that as he was recovering in his tent from the “procedure.”

God Continues to Baffle

Job

The Book of Job opens with a description of him as “blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil.” All good so far. But in the 8th verse of the 1st chapter, God said to Satan “Have you considered my servant Job?” Read the last chapter and see that it all works out for Job, but for the large majority of the book, he endures unimaginable misery and suffering at the hands of Satan and a lack of compassion from the men in his Community Group. Why God? Why allow Job to be tortured? God does provide an answer of sorts in chapter 38, which we will cover later in this book. For some, and I am in this camp, it is a strangely comforting response from God; for others, it reinforces the harshness. After all Job has suffered, he dares to question God, who responds with a series of questions that no man could possibly answer; only the Creator of man could. If we do have the opportunity to ask God questions when we get to Heaven (and it seems we should since we are there for eternity), “Why Job” would probably be in my top 20.

Esau

And while we are on the topic, Why Esau? Okay, he sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob. But look at Romans 9. Verse 13 reads: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Go back two verses: “For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand…” It seems Esau was born with one big strike against him. With an explanation, Paul tries to untangle himself beginning in verse 18, “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” That explanation probably would not have made Esau feel any better.

Hosea

But maybe by comparison, better than the prophet Hosea, whom God tells: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry.” Hosea obeys. His reward in Chapter 3 is another baffling command from God: “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress.” Perhaps these marriages were symbolic; perhaps not. The purpose was to convey God’s message to the sons of Israel that they would be punished for their idolatry.

But couldn’t God have just commanded Hosea to stand on a street corner with a megaphone and shout the warning? God could have accompanied that with a little miracle, say fire from Heaven, to boost Hosea’s credibility. As Isaiah said: “Your ways are not My ways.”

The New Testament

Genealogy

Let’s begin with the genealogy of our Savior. Surely, every ancestor will have been a powerful and godly man. Not exactly. Judah seems like a good place to start, since Jesus is often referred to as the Lion of Judah. Judah and his son Perez are listed in the genealogy, as is Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah. That seems odd until one refers back to the story in Genesis and realizes that it was Tamar who bore the son Perez to Judah.

Along with incest, there is the adultery of David and Bathsheba, who had a son Solomon. Both David and Solomon have prominence in the genealogy of Jesus.

And let’s not forget Rahab, who was a prostitute and not a Jew.

If my opinion had been sought with respect to the genealogy, I would have recommended cleaning it up a bit. It’s certainly not befitting the Savior of the world.

A Few Zingers from Jesus

While Jesus personifies compassion, tenderness, love, patience, and hope, He still provides his share of uncomfortable moments:

At the end of the second chapter of Luke, after His frantic parents finally found Him in the temple and scolded Him, He responded “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” A little condescending for a twelve-year old. And no record of: “Sorry, Mom and Dad; I’ll be more thoughtful next time.”

In Matthew 12:46-49, His mother and brothers wanted to speak to Him. His response was: “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” I bet there was a little tension around the family dinner table that night.

Near the end of Luke’s 9th chapter, certain individuals expressed their desire to follow Jesus, but it seems like he tried to dissuade them. In one encounter, a prospective follower simply said, “permit me to bury my father.” That seems like a reasonable request. But Jesus must have gotten up on the wrong side of bed that morning. His response appears to be void of any compassion when He responds, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you.” Pretty harsh and actually kind of gross. Seems like putting a patch over it would be reasonable middle ground.

It’s easy to appreciate Jesus’s anger with the money changers debasing the temple. But the examples above can cause us to scratch our heads.

Marketing Campaign

Jesus was clear on His objective in coming to earth – to save man through His death on the cross. He sought followers, so He embarked on a marketing campaign. It is found in Luke 9:23 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” More like an anti-marketing campaign.

Since He roamed the earth before the internet or even the telephone, mass communication was a bit more difficult. When He performed a miracle, He had to count on the witnesses to spread the word. Well, wait a second. Once again, either He or His marketing team fell short. One example is found in Matthew 8:4. He had just healed a leper. What a great opportunity to further prove to the multitudes that He was in fact the Christ. Unfortunately, He squandered this and other similar opportunities. Verse 4 says that Jesus’s first words to him were “See that you tell no one.”

So, confusion reigned – Who is this man? Can He really be the Son of God? Eventually, He became a little more vocal about His identity, but He certainly took His time in doing so. Had I been consulted, I would have encouraged a much more aggressive communications strategy and positive marketing campaign from the outset.

Words to the Jewish Leaders

It seems like Jesus occasionally enjoyed telling the pious Jewish leaders just what He thought of their religiosity. One of my favorites is found in Matthew 23:27, where He calls them “whitewashed tombs.” He could trash-talk with the best of them. His followers must have found it amusing.

However, in John 6 when He is talking with the Jews, His followers were likely very confused. In fact, they said so. After He states: “I am the bread of life”, He goes on to say, “He who eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” We can all likely empathize with the disciples’ response in verse 60, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it.” Once again, quite an understatement and yet another example of Jesus throwing more roadblocks in our effort to know Him and worship Him.

Heroes of the Bible

Since Jesus didn’t always make it easy for His followers, let’s turn to the heroes of the Bible for clarity and inspiration. A Mount Rushmore of Biblical heroes would likely include Moses, Abraham, David, Peter and Paul. Admittedly, because they were human, they sinned and were therefore flawed heroes. It’s been said that this makes them more relatable to us today. Perhaps that has a kernel of truth, but let’s not let them off too easily.

Moses killed a man.
David had an affair and then ensured that her husband would be killed.
Abraham lied about Sarah, his wife, not one but twice, out of timidity.
Peter denied Christ three times after being with Him every day for three years.
Paul stood and watched with approval as Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death.

Not much inspiration here, although they all experienced redemption and ultimately merited their places on Rushmore. Maybe joined by Joseph, Daniel, Elijah, and John, the Baptist. Still, all were flawed. There is only one true Hero of the Bible and He is not flawed.

Psalms

As we continue the struggle with some of the harsher passages in the Bible, the Book of Psalms should provide us some healing balm.

“The Lord is my Shepherd.” (Psalm 23)
“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 17)
“I have not seen the righteous forsaken.” (Psalm 37)
“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains, from whence shall my help come. My help comes from the Lord.” (Psalm 121)
“I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139)

Alas, not so simple. Consider these verses from Psalms and ask yourself what they are doing in this book. There are quite a number of verses that speak of vengeance toward the adversaries of David and of Israel and do so in an unimaginably brutal and cruel manner. Just a few examples:

Psalm 109:10 – “Let his children wander about and beg.”
Psalm 109:12 – “Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.”
Psalm 137:9 – “How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock.”

Innocent children seem to bear the brunt of the wrath in these Psalms. Why do the beautiful passages above co-exist with the awful words found in chapters 109, 137 and elsewhere?

Yet another headscratcher.

Theology

Now with the confusion and angst highlighted by so many difficult passages and identified above, it is time to turn to the theologians for the answers.

In fact, theologians do have compelling responses for many of the most troubling passages the typical layperson encounters in just trying to understand and appreciate God’s Word.

On the other hand, interpretation of Scripture has prompted numerous scholarly debates that have raged for centuries and split people apart like nothing else. One might expect that the themes of love, joy, faith and peace would cause people to be united. Sadly, that’s not the case. Here I offer a few examples of where theologians cannot agree on some of the basics, demonstrating that the Bible once again generates confusion.

How does free will co-exist with predestination? Romans 8:29 states it plainly: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.” This is reinforced in Ephesians 1:5 – “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” And yet we have free will, don’t we? We’re not robots, are we? We weren’t pre-programmed to love God, were we? This conundrum has twisted theologians in knots for centuries. Clear, convincing answers seem out of reach. Another top 20 question for God soon after we arrive in Heaven.
If that doesn’t make your head spin, what about the Trinity? God, the Father; God, the Son; God, the Holy Spirit. Often explained as 3 persons in 1. That clears it up!? I’ve heard the analogy of water in 3 states – ice, liquid, gas, but still two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. Interesting analogy, but it doesn’t quite satisfy my desire to understand 3 persons in 1. Even the brilliant J.I. Packer makes a reference to this in the preface to his book “Knowing God.” The balconeer in his ivory tower asks, and I quote: “How one God can conceivably be three, what sort of unity could three have, and how can three who make one be persons?” Once again, Scripture seems designed to confuse.
Surely, there is consensus on the plan of salvation. Not so fast. At the risk of oversimplification, Catholics and Protestants would appear to take opposing views. The irony is that they use the same story to come to their different conclusions. Romans 3:28 states plainly that “we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Then chapter 4 covers Abraham’s faith, which was “reckoned to him as righteousness”. James 2:21 asks the question: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works?” Reading the same Bible, even the same story, Protestants believe we are saved by grace through faith, whereas for Catholics, salvation is centered on works.

Why insert a section on theology into this chapter? The purpose is to illustrate that while some of the questions posed earlier may have good answers by those who have devoted their lives to rigorous study of the Scriptures, there are still plenty of difficult passages that baffle Biblical scholars.

It seems mystery was woven into the Scriptures purposely, so that even the brightest minds could not completely comprehend and articulate it all. Actually, that’s comforting. If man could explain everything, that would diminish the Creator and negate the need for faith.

Just for Fun

Here are a few lighthearted headscratchers, meaning why bother to include these?

Acts 18:18 – Paul got his haircut.
How about Luke 24:42 – The fish that the Risen Christ ate was broiled.
II Corinthians 12:2 says, “Such a man was caught up to the third heaven.” I was kind of hoping to get into the first heaven.

The point here is once again to stress that unless Paul really did get a haircut, no writer would have bothered to interject that tidbit into the greatest book ever written. These apparently trivial observations reinforce the notion that a man (in this case, Luke) didn’t just sit around and make this stuff up.

Construction of the Bible

Let’s say a group of men got together and decided to make up the Bible so that the masses would read it and believe it and adhere to its teachings. The writers would try and avoid redundancy, contradictions, and mind-numbing detail. However, the Bible is characterized by all three.

Start with redundancy:

Exodus and Deuteronomy – As an example, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5)
Chronicles and Kings – Now there would be an opportunity to pare back the overall length. (Part of what I refer to as “the flyover books”)
Do we really need 12 minor prophets?
Even the Gospels – Admittedly, there is a logical reason for several eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus.

(Apparent) Contradictions:

God tempts man. (Genesis 22:1); God does not tempt man. (James 1:13)
Jesus is equal to the Father. (Philippians 2:5-6); Jesus says the Father is greater than I. (John 14:26)
God is unchangeable. (Numbers 23:19); God changes His plans. (I Samuel 15:10-11)

Excruciating Detail:

Descriptions of, and regulations associated with, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle
Dimensions of the Temple
613 laws in the Old Testament
Census of the sons of Israel in the book of Numberssszzzzzzz…..sorry, my head hit the computer.
If you’re still awake, read the 70 verses in Ezra 2. It’s better than counting sheep; in fact, it’s a lot like counting sheep.

The men around the table who selected the books of the Bible, the Canon, should have taken one more, long look and left much of what I have highlighted in this chapter on the cutting room floor. And couldn’t they have laid out a more uniform Bible with chapters roughly the same size, like a “normal” book?

Nonuniformity:

Psalms has 150 chapters; Philemon and Jude have 50 verses between them.
Within Psalms, chapter 117 has 2 verses; chapter 119 has 176 verses.
Compare everyone’s favorite memory verse “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) to the convoluted 49-word sentence from Paul on temptation in I Corinthians 10.
There was no focus on uniformity in the construction of the Bible. Argument for or against its authenticity?

And why not just put the books in chronological order?

Conclusions

An obvious conclusion is that the Bible seems to be a weird book. It contains a bunch of stories and dialogue that just have you shaking your head.

As you have now finished reading this piece, you may even wonder if the author dislikes the Bible because it’s strange, confusing, and at times simply mean and cruel.

My response is the exact opposite. It is because of the mystery and the fact that I can’t completely comprehend it that I love the Bible. It is authentic. It is truth. It reveals God’s plans. It demonstrates the love and compassion of a father.

No man or group of men, had they sat down to invent a god or a book about God, would have written a book resembling the Bible. Their finite minds, their desire for clarity, their interest in making the heroes of the story look heroic would have framed their approach. It takes more faith to believe that the Bible was concocted by man than to believe that it is the inspired Word of God.