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Insight #65 — Surface Contradictions Call for Digging Deeper

How many times have you heard someone reject the Bible because “it is filled with contradictions”? Bless their heart; every realm of knowledge and life itself is filled with contradictions.

Example — On a news report you hear that Super-Duper Airlines flight #666 from Chicago to Miami crashed in Tennessee. On another report you hear that flight #666 was from Chicago to Atlanta. Contradiction. Which report is right? Both! The final destination was Miami, with an intermediate stop in Atlanta.

Throughout life, apparent contradictions are often resolved by seeking fuller information. Should we not use the same common sense in the study of Bible prophecy?

Consider the case recorded in John 7:40-43. “Many of the people… said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?’ So there was a division among the people.”

Some Jews, because of Jesus’ miracles and teachings, believed that He was the Christ. Others said He could not be the Christ because 1) Jesus was from Galilee and 2) it was predicted (Micah 5:2) that the Christ would come from Bethlehem. In fact, both #1 and #2 are correct. It was time to dig deeper. The fact that they were missing, of course, was Jesus’ birthplace.

Such apparent contradictions separate superficial people from real disciples. Real disciples will gladly dig deeper to find the truth.