Bible Contradictions???
Hey again everyone. I have a brief thought I’d like to share about apparent discrepancies found especially in the Gospels. There are so many but I thought I’d expound upon one in particular and in doing that show a pattern for thought concerning all the others. They are all so explainable. If we have read much in the Word we know that there are differences in the account of the thieves on the cross in the Gospels. Luke is the only Gospel account that shows us the one thief who came to Christ while he was on a cross beside Him. The other accounts leave that out. They just say, they reviled him. End of story. But this is no contradiction. You may have heard what seemed to be far-flung attempts at reconciling these things and your spirit said, uh uh. But the answer is so simple. Matthew and Mark give accounts of what they knew. This means that at first, both thieves expressed disdain for Christ and doubted Him, reviling Him. This is what they recorded and they are correct in the recording of it. So we know at the beginning both reviled Him. We can be correct in an account of something yet incomplete. This is the case here. Luke comes along and has a peculiar role. Read the entry to Luke and you will see how very delicate he is in laying out the account in perfect order and completeness. Luke is the only gentile writer among the 4 Gospel accounts. He and Ruth are the only gentile writers of the entire Bible and this is by design. The 4 Gospels are represented through out the entire Bible in hidden ways. If we look at the tribes of Israel in the dessert setting up camp in the exact order they were instructed to do, at an aerial view we would see the shape of the cross. At the head of one camp there is a symbol that delineates that camp and it is a Lion (Matthew who reveals Christ as the Lion of the tribe of Judah). At another point, the symbol given is an ox (Mark, who reveals Christ as the Suffering Servant). The third is an eagle (John strictly reveals the majesty of Christ, Christ as Yahweh, Jehovah God). And the forth is a man (Luke reveals Jesus as fully God yet fully man, the humanity of Christ, that He came to save all men and not just Israel…this may be why He had a gentile write it!!!). Now this same pattern is seen to some extent in Daniel’s vision, Ezekiel’s vision and John’s. Ezekiel very beautifully says that the creatures with the 4 faces are not creatures at all (some have missed this and think these are cherubim, but they are not). He clearly says that the weird “creatures” he sees are simply the “APPEARANCE of the LIKENESS of the GLORY of God…in case anyone is tempted to misunderstand what is seen. God is Spirit so Ezekiel is miraculously given a visual representation of the likeness of the glory of God! And it is a foreshadowing of the 4 Gospels or the 4 roles of Christ. The image moves in all directions in an instant (God’s omnipresence). It has eyes all around (His all knowing) etc. All this is to show how perfect the Gospels are even in their seeming imperfections! Here is an example of how the Holy Spirit has written the Word; for we are told that men under His guidance have written it. Just think of how we are told in the gospels that Jesus baptized. This is to convey a thought. But then shortly after that the statement is clarified. It says, well actually it was His disciples who did the baptizing but still it was the Lord’s doing. We can choke on the letter of the Word if we hang on the dissection of it rather than breathing in the truth of it and tasting the Word as truth and for truth. Another example is this: We are told that the Lord said He was so fed up with Israel that He was going to wipe her out for good. Then in the next few sentences it is clarified for us and it says, but He won’t totally destroy her, for there is a remnant. God is passionate and speaks just as we do, or we speak just as He does, for we were made in His image. Also, the Bible interprets itself. So where we see an apparent contradiction, if we know well the rest of the scriptures, all is interpreted flawlessly for us. The Word is perfect. I’ll leave you with a really cool thought about the “creatures” in Ezek. with the 4 faces that represent the 4 Gospels. Notice that they move up and down like an elevator moves. Ezekiel is known for his attempts to describe things in his vision that will be in the last days that in his time were not invented (possible nuclear weapons, etc.). Why then wouldn’t he be describing an elevator of sorts? In Jacobs day, he saw a ladder extending into the Heavens. Jesus tells us that Jacobs vision was of Himself. He said, I was the ladder in Jacobs dream. So warp forwards thousands of years and now the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God has all the attributes of a modern ladder…an elevator!!!! Just a crazy thought. God is so much fun and so hilarious! God bless, Godspeed and God’s love!
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