{"id":910,"date":"2012-07-21T13:33:44","date_gmt":"2012-07-21T11:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/web\/?p=910"},"modified":"2012-07-21T13:33:44","modified_gmt":"2012-07-21T11:33:44","slug":"the-old-testament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/?p=910","title":{"rendered":"The Old Testament"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u201c[The Bible] has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.\u201d<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2014Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, Vol. II<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s begin by putting \u201ctwo of every sort (of animal) into the ark,\u201d and then \u2026 Oh, wait.\u00a0 Was that \u201ctwo of every sort,\u201d as per Genesis 6:19, or seven of clean and two of unclean animals, as per Genesis 7:2-3?<\/span>
\nHmm.\u00a0 Well, we\u2019ve got up to 120 years to think about it, because that\u2019s the limit of the human lifespan, as per God\u2019s promise in Genesis 6:3.\u00a0 So, just like Shem \u2026<\/span>
\nOops.\u00a0 Bad example.\u00a0 Genesis 11:11 states, \u201cShem lived five hundred years\u2026\u201d<\/span>
\nOookay, forget Shem.\u00a0 So, just like Noah \u2026 Double Oops.\u00a0 Genesis 9:29 teaches, \u201cSo all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.\u201d\u00a0 So let\u2019s see, Genesis 6:3 promised a lifespan limited to a hundred and twenty years, but a few verses later both Shem and Noah broke the rule?<\/span>
\nWhoa, time out.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>
\nLet\u2019s look at Old Testament dates from a different angle.\u00a0 Here\u2019s Genesis 16:16: \u201cAbraham was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abraham.\u201d\u00a0 Genesis 21:5 tells us, \u201cNow Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.\u201d\u00a0 So let\u2019s see, one hundred minus eighty-six, subtract the six from the first ten, nine minus eight \u2026 I get fourteen.\u00a0 So Ishmael was fourteen when Isaac was born.<\/span>
\nA bit later, in Genesis 21:8, we read, \u201cSo the child (Isaac) grew and was weaned.\u201d\u00a0 Now, weaning in the Middle East takes two years, according to ethnic custom.\u00a0 So tack two onto fourteen, and Ishmael was sixteen before Sarah ordered Abraham to cast him out (Genesis 21:10).<\/span>
\nFine.<\/span>
\nSo far.<\/span>
\nA couple more verses, and Genesis 21:14-19 portrays the outcast Ishmael as a helpless infant rather than an able-bodied, sixteen-year-old youth, as follows:<\/span>
\nSo Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away.\u00a0 Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.\u00a0 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.\u00a0 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, \u201cLet me not see the death of the boy.\u201d\u00a0 So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.<\/span>
\nAnd God heard the voice of the lad.\u00a0 Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, \u201cWhat ails you, Hagar?\u00a0 Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.\u00a0 Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.\u201d<\/span>
\nThen God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.\u00a0 And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.\u201d<\/span>
\nA sixteen-year-old youth described as a \u201cboy\u201d or a \u201clad?\u201d\u00a0 In a time and place when sixteen year-olds were commonly married and awaiting their second or third child while supporting a growing family?\u00a0 In addition to being hunters, soldiers and, albeit rarely, even kings on occasion?\u00a0 Sixteen years equated to manhood in Ishmael\u2019s day.\u00a0 So how exactly did his father give the sixteen year-old \u201cboy,\u201d Ishmael, to Hagar?\u00a0 And how did she leave him crying (i.e., \u201cthe voice of the lad\u201d) like a helpless baby under a shrub?\u00a0 And how, precisely, did his mother lift him up and hold him with her hand?\u00a0 Lastly, are we truly expected to believe that Ishmael was so frail that his mother had to give him a drink, because he was unable to get it himself?<\/span>
\nUh, yes, that\u2019s the gist of it.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we\u2019re supposed to believe.<\/span>
\nBut wait, there\u2019s more.<\/span>
\n2 Chronicles 22:2 teaches that \u201cAhaziah was forty-two years old when he became king\u2026.\u201d Hunh.\u00a0 Forty-two years old.\u00a0 Hardly seems worthy of mention.\u00a0 Unless, that is, we note that 2 Kings 8:26 records, \u201cAhaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king \u2026\u201d So which was it?\u00a0 Forty-two or twenty-two?<\/span>
\nLet\u2019s take a hint from the Bible.\u00a0 2 Chronicles 21:20 teaches that Ahaziah\u2019s father, King Jehoram, died at the age of forty.<\/span>
\nAhem.<\/span>
\nKing Jehoram died at the age of forty and was succeeded by his son, who was forty-two?\u00a0 In other words, King Jehoram fathered a child two years older than himself?\u00a0 Arithmetic, according to Mickey Mouse, is \u201cBeing able to count up to twenty without taking off your shoes.\u201d\u00a0 But between the reader\u2019s toes and all appendages of the family cat, there\u2019s no way to make sense of these figures.\u00a0 And while the logical conclusion approaches ramming speed, 2 Chronicles 22:1 points out that Ahaziah was King Jehoram\u2019s youngest son, for raiders had killed all Jehoram\u2019s older sons.<\/span>
\nSo if Ahaziah was two years older than dear departed Dad, how many years did his older brothers have on their father?<\/span>
\nObviously, 2 Chronicles 22:2 can\u2019t be trusted and 2 Kings 8:26, which teaches that Ahaziah was twenty-two when he became king, must be the correct version.<\/span>
\nSo King Jehoram died at forty (2 Chronicles 21:20) and was succeeded by Ahaziah, who was twenty-two (2 Kings 8:26).\u00a0 Which means King Jehoram was eighteen when Ahaziah was born, and roughly seventeen when he was conceived.\u00a0 Not only that, but Jehoram had older sons (2 Chronicles 22:1), so he must have started his family at the age of fifteen or less.\u00a0 So much for Ishmael having been a helpless lad at the age of sixteen.\u00a0 It was a time when teenagers were men.<\/span>
\nBut what about 2 Chronicles 22:2, which states that Ahaziah was forty-two when he assumed the throne?<\/span>
\nA copying error, no doubt.<\/span>
\nBut that\u2019s not the point.<\/span>
\nIsaiah 40:8 claims that \u201cthe word of our God stands forever.\u201d\u00a0 This assertion doesn\u2019t excuse copying errors, or any other error, regardless how slight.\u00a0 In fact, according to Isaiah 40:8, any \u201cword\u201d which has not \u201cstood forever\u201d is disqualified as having been from God.<\/span>
\nWhich should make us question the authorship.<\/span>
\nIf \u201cthe word of our God stands forever,\u201d and the \u201cword\u201d of Ahaziah\u2019s age doesn\u2019t stand the test of time, whose word is it?\u00a0 God\u2019s or Satan\u2019s?<\/span>
\nDon\u2019t look now, but even the Old Testament seems uncertain on this point.<\/span>
\n2 Samuel 24:1 reads, \u201cAgain the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, \u2018Go, number Israel and Judah.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 However,<\/span>
\n1 Chronicles 21:1 states, \u201cNow Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.\u201d<\/span>
\nUhhh, which was it?\u00a0 The Lord, or Satan?\u00a0 There\u2019s a slight (like, total) difference.<\/span>
\nTalk about identity theft.<\/span>
\nBut seriously, the mistake is understandable.\u00a0 After all, it\u2019s pretty hard to know who you\u2019re talking to, when you can\u2019t put a face to revelation.\u00a0 And, as God said in Exodus 33:20, \u201cYou cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.\u201d<\/span>
\nSo there we have it.<\/span>
\nNo man can see God\u2019s face, and live.<\/span>
\nWell, except for Jacob, of course.\u00a0 As Genesis 32:30 states, \u201cSo Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: \u2018For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.\u2019\u201d<\/span>
\nAnd we mustn\u2019t forget Moses, as per Exodus 33:11: \u201cSo the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.\u201d<\/span>
\nSo no man can see God\u2019s face, and live.<\/span>
\nExcept for Jacob and Moses.<\/span>
\nBut God didn\u2019t mention that exception, did He?<\/span>
\nSo maybe He changed His mind.<\/span>
\nAnd then again, maybe not.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nCopyright \u00a9 2007 Laurence B. Brown<\/span>
\nPermission granted for free and unrestricted reproduction if reproduced in entirety without omissions, additions or alterations.<\/span>
\nA graduate of Cornell University, Brown University Medical School and George Washington University Hospital residency program, Laurence B. Brown is an ophthalmic surgeon, a retired Air Force officer, and the medical director and chief ophthalmologist of a major eye center. He is also an ordained interfaith minister with a doctorate in divinity and a PhD in religion, and the author of a number of books of comparative religion and reality-based fiction. His works can be found on his website, www.LevelTruth.com.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u201c[The Bible] has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2014Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, Vol....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[102,281],"class_list":["post-910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comparative-religion","tag-christianity","tag-comparative-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=910"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":912,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions\/912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}