Bible difficulties

PREFACE
During the past few months, the substance of the chapters comprising this volume was delivered
in addresses on consecutive Sunday evenings in the regular course of the author's ministry in
the Calvary Baptist Church. He has long felt that most of the difficulties generally supposed to
be in the Bible are not really in the Bible; but are in the human interpretation of the Bible,
rather than in the divine revelation itself. It is vastly important to separate between erroneous
biblical exposition and the actual truth of divine revelation. ... The newer scholarship, it will
readily be admitted has disturbed the faith of some Bible students-' but it is absolutely certain
that it has given'the fiible a fresh interest and an increased value It is not necessary to accept all
the conclusions of the so-called Higher Critics; indeed, these conclusions are often at variance
with one another, and more careful criticism will entirely refute some of the positions taken. But
we can readily see that the later criticism has done much to disabuse the minds of some readers
of their traditional interpretations and unauthoritative preconceptions of Holy Scripture; and, as a
result the Bible was never so new and so attractive a library as it is at this hour. It never was so
carefully studied as now ; and it never has been to the church or to the race the blessing which it
will be in the near future. The aim of these discourses is to separate between false interpretation
and genuine revelation. Miracles which God performs we unquestioningly receive; miracles
which men imagine we are free to accept or reject. This volume contains a selection rather than a
collection of difficulties in the Old-Testament Scriptures. Questions asked by members of the
author's congregation, and by correspondents in different parts of the country, partly guided him
in his selection of the difficulties discussed. Doubtless, many passages of Scripture which are
serious difficulties to the minds of some readers have been omitted; but it was not possible to
mclude all within the limits of a volume of convenient size. Still it is believed that the most
serious difficulties are here discussed. The author regrets that these discussions do not more
fully combine the results of the latest and most reverent scholarship with the spirit of sincere love
to the Holy Book and its divine Author. Of his failures in all respects he is distinctly and deeply
conscious; nevertheless, he hopes that as these discussions have proved helpful to many
hearers, and also to his own spiritual faith and life, they may be blessed in the wider circle to
which, through this volume, they are now introduced. This is his sincere desire and earnest
prayer as this volume goes forth.

Calvary Study, New York City,

***
L Was there Really Light Before the Sun? . . 13
II. Was the World Made in Six Solar Days?. • 25
III. Where and What was the Garden of Eden? 39
IV. What were the Sin and Sentence in Eden? 53
V. Whatwas Cain's Mark, and Who was his Wife? 69
VI. Who were the Sons of God and the Daughters of Men? ®'
VII. Does God Repent and the Spirit Withdraw? . 107
VIII. Was the Noachian Flood Universal or Local?. 125
IX. What was the Purpose of the Tower of Babel? 145
X. Was Lot Wise in Pitching his Tent toward Sodom?
XI. Who was Melchizedek, the Mysterious King-Priest?
XII. Was the Destruction of Sodom Natural or Supernatural?
XIII. Did God Mean that Abraham Should ReallyOffer Isaac?
XIV. Did Rebekah and Jacob Cheat Isaac and RobEsau? *^^
XV. Who was the Wrestler with Jacob at Jabbok? . 253
XVI. Did God or Pharaoh Harden Pharaoh's Heart? 269
XVII. Was the Passage of the Red Sea Supernatural? 287
XVIII. What were the Symbols called the Uriin andThummim?
XIX. Did Balaam's Ass Literally Speak with Man's Voice? 327
XX. Did the Sun and Moon Stand Still at Joshua's Command? S-**
XXI. Did Jephthah Really Sacrifice his Daughter?359
XXII. Did Samuel Appear when Summoned by the Witch of Endor'? ....•• 373
XXIII. Did Two She-bears Destroy Forty-two Children?
XXIV. Was the Destruction of the Canaanites Vindicable?405
XXV. Are the Imprecatory Psalms Justifiable or even Explicable? 4i7
XXVI. Are the Prophet Jonah and the Great Fish Historical?

I. Was there Really Light Before the Sun?

WAS THERE REALLY LIGHT BEFORE

THE SUN?
Truly sublime are the opening words of Genesis.
No other historical writing approaches its
first verse in grandeur and majesty. It implies
the existence, the eternity, the freedom, the omnipotence,
the intelligence, and the goodness of
God. The first sentence denies atheism, for it
assumes God. It denies materialism, for it asserts
Creation. It denies pantheism, for it declares
the personality of God. The word bara, translated
"created," is one of three words, the others
being yatsar and asah, used in this section, and
bara always has God for its subject, whatever its
object may be. Yatsar, formed, and asah, made,
both refer to construction out of pre-existing materials,
and both are predicablc of God and man.
The verb bara, in its simple form, occurs fortyeight
times, according to Dr. Murphy, and always
in one sense. The word "Elohim," translated
God, is found in the Hebrew Scriptures fiftyseven
times in the singular, and about three thousand
times in the plural, according to the same
authority. In the plural it may mean the " Eternal
Powers," but it is correctly translated God.
Later references will be made to the significance
of its plural form, conjoined with verbs and adjectives
in the singular, being thus somewhat of
an anomaly in language, and giving a suggestion
of the doctrine of the unity of the Godhead,
which was later fully revealed.
In the preceding verses the inspired writer described
the condition of the world while in its
chaotic state. Now he enters on the details of
that stupendous process by which the whole was
reduced to order, and the heavens and the earth
were made to appear in their beauty and glory.
The great secret of the entire process is the being
and the power of God. Remove God from this
lofty history, this noble poem, this sublime anthem,
this glorious oratorio of primeval wisdom
and goodness, and you have nothing left behind
but darkness, mystery, and chaos. Insert God in
the history, and all becomes perfectly reasonable,
and partially explicable. Every thoughtful man
must admit that there is far less mystery and
difficulty with, than without, God. Eliminate
God, and you eliminate reason as well as faith.
Atheism has no explanation to give of Creation;
it leaves the whole subject involved in impenetrable
darkness and hopeless mystery. Admit
God, and the hymn of Creation has beauty, majesty,
and glory. Thus it comes to pass that " God
said" is the keynote to this sublime song. This
word of God rcm(f\'cs all ideas of blind force and
senseless matter. Thus it is that God's presence
and power in the first majestic words of Genesis
answer a thousand questions of the human mind
and heart. Past all the works of Creation we
must go to the person of God as the divine
Author.
God Not Eliminatep.
Behind the visible universe stands God. Men
talk of the laws of nature. What do they mean?
What is a law? A law is only a name which we
give to the manner in which we have observed
some force to act. If the force be physical, we
have a physical law; if moral, we have a moral
law. A law is not a force, but a form; not a
motor, but a motion; not a power, but a process.
Law implies a lawgiver, evolution an evolver, order
an ordainer. There stands God. We have
often permitted ourselves to be confused as to the
true definition of law. We have allowed ourselves
to think of law as if it were endowed with
power and possessed of personality. Even if evolution
were fully established, it would not eliminate
God. Nothing can be evolved that has not
first been involved. There stands God. Back of '
all processes is God as the almighty power. But
how are we to understand the words " and God
said"? Did God literally utter His voice in that
primeval solitude? Did His voice echo through
that chaotic abyss? This we cannot suppose.
We have here an example of the application to
God of terms which usually are applied to human
beings. In this way the Bible often speaks of God's face, ear, hand, and voice. In harmony
with this u;age the Bible speaks of God as repent-
Tng and as performing other acts charactenstje of
nl. This usage is what the theologians caU an
example of anthropomorphism. If God is to
^mnunicate with men He must adopt methods
which men can understand, and if men are to
speak of God, they must use the only language
which it is possible for them to employ. God s
rpeaking is His willing, and His willing is His
doing •• This is the first time that the phrase
"God said" is used in this narrative, but it is used
in all ten times in the account of the creation. It
is also a characteristic form of -pres-on m th^
Old Testament. We have it in such forms as
"God spake, saying," "Thus saith the Lord of
hosts," Ld such other expressions as " the word of
the Lord came, saying."
on reading the first chapter of Genesis we are
reminded of the first chapter of John's Gosp 1,
"In the beginning was the Word." Observe the
similarity between these two great opemng chapters
What is the irresistible conclusion? The
" God-said" of the Old Testament is the God-word
of the New Testament. The Jehovah of the Old
Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament
In John we further read that Jesus made all
things which were made. At this point also the
two records harmonize. In Genesis we have the
maiestic words, "Let there be light, and there
was Light"; or, more literally, Light be, and light was
The sublimity of these words in the
original cannot be fully reproduced in English.
It appears more completely in the Greek of the
Seventy and in the Latin Vulgate. Longinus,
the famous Platonic philosopher and finished rhetorician,
born at Athens or in Syria, about 213
A.D., a student in Alexandria and finally a teacher
in Athens, the man whose knowledge was so great
and varied and his critical taste so acute that he
was called a "living library" and a " walking museum,"
refers to these words as an illustration of
his theme when writing of the Sublime. The
Eternal Word speaks, and light is. Finely has
Dr. George Dana Boardman said: "Man's words
are but sounds, God's words are deeds. He but
speaks, and lo! light, sky, ocean, mountain, tree,
animal, man, star, universe. He spake, and it
was; He commanded, and it stood fast."

Light before the Sun.

But just here a difficulty arises. Whenever the

mind of the Infinite comes into contact with the
finite, an insoluble problem emerges. The finite
can apprehend, but cannot comprehend the Infinite.
Now we know God, not as He is, but as
we are. Now at best we see through a glass
darkly. Could there have been light before the
sun's creation? Can there be any alleviative explanation?
Assuredly there can. We are told
that the sun is the primary source of light, and,