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Originally posted December 17, 2012.
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Hello! Welcome to the tenth entry to my Biblical Contradiction series. Yes, that is a 9 in the title – the only entry I’ve done in order was the very first one, so you’re not going crazy (or are you?). If you’re new to the series, I’ve been attempting to answer the claims that the Bible is full of contradictions. In a very clever YouTube video depicting stickmen in a game show, one individual is striving assert that the words on the page of the Bible don’t add up the way Christians say they do.
Since words hold meanings, and the Bible is set richly in a historical and cultural time almost long-forgotten, I want to see if maybe there’s more to the story than what anyone might simply read in a passing glance.
ONE OF THESE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER
When the same word is used in a book, wouldn’t it seem natural to assume that the same idea, object or action is employed? That’s what the maker of the YouTube video would have you believe. It’s not a completely invalid point, mind you. In fact, it can be quite accurate. If I start talking about a car, it would be fairly difficult to conclude that I’m not referring to a motorized, horseless carriage with NOS, right? But what about the word, “earth”?
Now there is a multi-faceted five-letter conundrum. “Conundrum?” you ask. “What’s the big deal about ‘earth’? It’s obvious the word refers to the planet in outer space.”
Au contraire! Am I speaking of the planet? Perchance I was speaking specifically of the soft earth from which the lovely lilies grow. (Actually, here in Texas it’s the blasted red dirt that always gets tracked into my house.) Or maybe the people of the earth. So which one does the Bible use? Actually, all of them. You can be sure we’ll get to that in a bit. First, we need to get an idea of contradiction in question.
The verses held in contention this time around come from Ecclesiastes 1:4 and 2 Peter 3:10.
Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
(Ecclesiastes 1:4, NLT, bold mine)
…and…
But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
(2 Peter 3:10, NLT, bold mine)
Now, considering the perspective I just offered above, what say you? Are Solomon (author of Ecclesiastes) and Peter talking about the same thing? “They are using the same word, after all,” you might say. In the English translation, indeed, they are. But is it the same definition?
The charge is that Ecclesiastes is saying the earth never changes, and 2 Peter is claiming that the earth will be ultimately wiped out along with the heavens and the very elements, themselves. Both talk about the earth, so why continue on? What does the definition matter? There’s clearly a contradiction in the Bible now.
Oh, reeeeaaaalllyyy? Well! Strap yourselves in, boys and girls!
TIME TRAVELING WITHOUT A GREEN CARD
I shall now ask you to join me in some world time travel by way of imagination (for I lack a DeLorean and we wouldn’t all fit anyway). I take you back now to ancient Israel (wasn’t that fast!). (Don’t worry, I’ll have you back in roughly 7 1/2 pages worth of MS Word.) We see here Solomon, son of the late King David…say hi, Sol! …[no answer]… Sol’s a little shy of time travelers.
Ecclesiastes is a somber compilation by an unnamed editor who amassed Solomon’s accounts about the activities and pursuits of life. It is a not a book for those seeking an encouraging pick-me-up. Solomon spent his life seeking wisdom, pleasure, fame, and more. All of these things God granted him…but in the end, apart from God, it was all hebel, the Hebrew word for vapor or breath. In context, the term describes how fleeting and meaningless – lacking anything concrete or substantial – all these pursuits are when sought after for their own sake (i.e.: a wise man who gained all insight, yet dies, taking it all with him to the grave). Solomon never condemned these things, outright; he encouraged the people to seek them out, even, noting that they were gifts from God (2:24). It was virtually an “eat, drink, and be merry” encouragement; but not exclusively, as if that was all there was to life.
Solomon sought to put into perspective the meaninglessness of human aspirations of grandeur, whether by the righteous or the unrighteous, the wise or foolish. Sol observed that despite of all these grand pursuits, in human terms, it amounted to the same fate for all: death (2:16). (Somehow I hear Poe’s nevermore crow cawing in the background.)
TRIVIA: Chapter 3 contains lyrics to a song covered by The Byrds (the music was originally written by Pete Seeger in 1959, making Solomon the author of the oldest existing song lyrics ever).
A WISE MAN ONCE ASKED…
If Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s conclusions on life, then 1 Kings describes his journey to it. It’s important to understand the background of Solomon’s life for it offers a ton of clarification as to the focus of his messages. (I say messages; the plural is due to much of Ecclesiastes was likely discourses Sol gave to large audiences; 1 Kings mentions how kings, queens, and other wise men came from distant countries to listen to his insight, garnering large audiences…not to mention gifts a-plenty that would make Bill Gates cry. What Bill will make in one lifetime, Solomon perhaps received in one day…or so I imagine.)
Over in 1 Kings 1, Solomon has been established as king over Israel by his ailing father, David. Solomon then spends time dealing with those who threatened his rightful rule under God’s provisions during chapter 2, thereby fulfilling requests made by his dad.
By chapter 3, God plays a spiritual “sandman” of sorts.
That night the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”
(1 Kings 3:5, NLT)
Solomon replies, recognizing that it was God’s hand that led him to sit on the throne of his father, David. Sol adds:
“Now, O LORD my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of Your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern Your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of Yours?”
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing My people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies – I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for – riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow Me and obey My commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”
(1 Kings 3:7-14, NLT, bold mine)
Personally, I get this playful grin in light of Sol’s first display of wisdom being to ask for wisdom. It seems clear that God agrees that it was, indeed, wise. But, however wise Solomon was in terms of knowledge and insight, he was still human. And any human has the potential to abuse the gifts of God by forgetting Who gave those gifts to begin with and hyper-focus on the gifts. What we’re going to quickly examine is the decline of Solomon’s political and spiritual leadership and his kingdom in order better see how it leads up to Ecclesiastes.
WHEN KINGDOMS FALL
1 Kings 3:3 states that he “loved the LORD and followed all the decrees of his father, David…” (NLT). He definitely followed in his father’s footsteps out of the starting gate. However, just two verses earlier, Solomon had married an Egyptian princess (3:1), something God forbade for certain moral and social reasons at the time. This would not be the first time Sol made such alliances with other nations and would begin a downward path of a Godly man to an oppressor of his people.
God appears to Solomon three times during his reign, and each time is less pleasant that the last. The first is the aforementioned blessing of wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-32, 34), knowledge (4:33), fame (4:31, 34), and wealth (4:20-28, 5:10) in chapter 3. About the time that Solomon finished building the Temple for the LORD, God, likely through a prophet, had an encouraging message for Solomon, reminding him to stay faithful to the LORD and the covenant He made with Sol’s dad so to continue the prosperity and blessings God promised (1 Kings 6:11-13) for all of Israel.
After twenty years, Solomon finally built both the LORD’s Temple and his own palace (9:10). God appeared again, acknowledging Solomon’s sacrifices, prayer, and petition (chapter 8), but giving a firm reminder that the blessings of the Covenant He made with David were still conditional – Israel still had to obey God (9:2-9). By chapter 11, Solomon is once again visited by God, who is now extremely angry with Solomon and proclaimed that Solomon would be punished for the rest of his life due to his failure to observe God’s Laws and the Covenant He made with David years earlier. Starting with marrying an Egyptian princess (3:3), he made political alliances with ungodly nations by marrying their women (11:1-3). The influence of 700 wives and 300 concubines over Solomon proved deadly in terms of how Solomon conducted his affairs as a leader, spiritually and politically. The people of Israel became embittered with him due to hard, forced labor and heavy taxation (12:4), and his father’s enemies created a great deal of trouble for him throughout his reign (11:14-25) and seized upon growing opportunities to attack Israel.
By the end of chapter 11 and beginning in chapter 12, God establishes that Israel will later be split into two kingdoms – 10 tribes will be ruled by one of Solomon’s own officials, Jeroboam (11:26), and the other 2 southern tribes would be ruled by Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. That Sol’s son would be king was a sign of grace and in keeping with God’s promise to David to preserve David’s dynasty due to David’s faithfulness to the LORD.
Keep in mind that we only get 12 chapters in 1 Kings, a collection of discourses in Ecclesiastes, and a huge chunk of wisdom one-liners in Proverbs. (Oh, and of course there’s the ever-popular Song Of Songs. Didn’t think I’d really forget that one now did you? Heh heh.) What we don’t have is the detailed timeline of decay of Solomon’s actions and his thoughts about the course of his life as each event played out. After only 20 years, we have but a small handful of details and a few more mini-summaries.
HOW TO GET A MASTERS DEGREE IN STUPIDITY
Now to transition to the letter of 2 Peter to answer the matter of the earth getting burnt to a crisp as opposed to Solomon saying the earth never changes.
Peter’s main concern focuses on two points: 1) to grow in the knowledge of Christ (which is actually an overarching-focus of this blog series) and 2) warns against and denounces false teachers who claim to come in the name of Christ…or denounce Christ completely. There is an additional reference to judgment and the End Times as he brings his short letter to a close. It’s to that matter we’ll zoom in on in order to resolve this issue of conflict in the Scriptures in a second.
The whole of the context of Peter’s letter starts out by encouraging Christians to remain strong and grow in the knowledge of Christ (1 Peter 1:2), emphasizing that first-hand witnesses (1:16) of Christ and the fulfillment of the prophets (1:19-21) gives reliability to the claims of Christ as the awaited Messiah and risen Son of God. Unfortunately, Peter warns, there are false teachers who will (and, indeed, already were) proclaiming things that were overtly not of God. Furthermore, Peter emphasizes that such evidences, like those of false teachers, provides certainty that the “message proclaimed by the prophets” (1:19) is true. Due to the fulfillment of past prophesies, how much more so will Christ’s own promise to return be true, since both are from God. (1:19-21).
Given the clear picture of what is Godly via the Scriptures – which is why Peter emphasizes so much the importance of knowledge of Christ, etc. – Peter then details the horrible, sinful behavior of the false teachers, stating, “They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them…mak[ing] up cleaver lies…” (2:1, 3), amongst other sins (2:2, 10, 12, 14-15, 18).
But God has their fate sealed for they refuse to repent (2:3-6). Judgment is coming.
I LIKE MY DOOMSDAY MEDIUM-RARE
Both the prophets and Jesus, Himself, warned about the coming of such false leaders with contrary behavior…some far more obvious than others, given their use of lies and deceit to reel people into a destructive lifestyle. Like a witch’s poisoned apple and a certain princess. Oh how good it looks…and, oh, how deadly.
Evidence indicates that Peter died under Emperor Nero in AD 64 or 65, which would place 2 Peter sometime in the early 60s (he states he is aware that his life will soon be gone (1:14-15)). Roughly six and a half decades have passed since Jesus’ death on the Cross and the subsequent resurrection from the grave. So there has been plenty of time for word to get around that Jesus promised to return.
It’s here that the matter of 2 Peter 3:10 comes into focus, allowing us to begin bringing this contradiction to a rest. Again, Peter starts out by reminding people to keep their knowledge of Jesus and the prophets strong. In this way, they can discern the Truth of God from the lies and sinfulness of the false teachers. Finally, Peter references the mocking questions of these wayward people: “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created” (2 Peter 3:4, NLT, bold mine). Okay, what has remained the same? Remember, Peter just got done discussing the judgment such false teachers will face.
This might seem insignificant, but it’s almost the crux of everything Peter is trying hurriedly to convey. Remember all that Jesus did. Remember all that God accomplished in the past. Remember! Just like Satan causing Eve to doubt God’s warning of death for sin, these Godless people are questioning the very history of the world!
Peter expounds on this claim:
They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of His command, and He brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then He used the water to destroy the ancient world with a might flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the Day of Judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
(2 Peter 3:5-7, NLT)
Peter references the Great Flood of Noah, citing that the world has seen great change due to the method of punishment God extracted upon the sinful people of the (really) ancient world. Such a point is why remembering the Scriptures was so important; because the false teachers were making wildly preposterous claims! The naïve would be too easily fooled and drawn into sinful behavior (2:18-20).
Given the question of Jesus’ promise to return, Peter adds this famous – and famously misunderstood – verse about how a day is like a thousand years to God and a thousand years is like a day (3:8). It is meant to point out that Jesus’ promise to return is not delayed (3:9), but is an expression of God’s grace so that people may have more time to choose to repent. This is a comparison of perspective – ours from within time, and God’s from outside. Peter is warning, though, that the time of Christ’s return will be as unexpected as when a thief decides to rob your home. Time will eventually run out.
However! Dear readers, this is now not just an article to address a claim of contradiction, but an address to you, personally, with what follows… Please adjust your thinking from intellectual to one that regards the condition of your current relationship with Jesus Christ…or, perhaps, lack of one. It is my hope that this will serve as a gentle, but firm, and sobering thought for serious consideration. I’m sure Peter intended it as such.
But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, He will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth He has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
(3:10-13, NLT, bold mine)
Are you amongst the “we” mentioned here? Consider the alternative. We do live in a day and age where weapons can literally melt away the surrounding environment. I don’t know if that’s how God plans to invoke judgment upon the earth, but it is one hell of a way to go out…literally.
To close this section, we see here a clear distinction between people and the earth. The earth…and everything on it. People, those without Christ will be amongst the everything on it. And if you at all take the Bible seriously, there is no theme of “annihilation”. Hell is everlasting.
WHICH EARTH ARE YOU FROM?
So now we have a rather vivid account of Ecclesiastes and 2 Peter (and 1 Kings which sets the stage for Ecclesiastes). It ought to be self-evident what the differences are and how they’re not contradictions after all. But for the doubtful, let’s take a “microscopic” look. Remember, the pit bull match being staged is based on the usage of the word “earth”. I personally challenge that an unfair fight is being waged, though. One that is not unlike saying a fight between a dog and a cat is purely fair because both animals have fur, four legs, and a tail.
See, we’re actually dealing with two words. Not one. “But the words on the page both say earth.” Yes! In the translations to English! Ladies and gentlemen, not only do we have two different words we’re dealing with in the Bible, but two languages – Hebrew and Greek (though that’s just an additional bit of info to highlight fact). Allow me to explain.
Just like most any word in most any language, each word has a varied set of definitions, but the definition in play depends on the context of the intended message, which is usually clarified by the surrounding words and, when applicable, the current circumstances. To start out with, the following is the definition set of both uses of earth in their respective languages.
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VERSE
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Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
(Ecclesiastes 1:4, NLT, bold mine)
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…Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
(2 Peter 3:10, NLT, bold mine)
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LANGUAGE
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Hebrew
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Greek
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WORD & DEFINTION
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‘erets (eh’-rets), noun
Root word: from an unused root probably meaning to be firm
1) land, earth
a) earth
1) whole earth (as opposed to a part)
2) earth (as opposed to heaven)
3) earth (inhabitants)
b) land
1) country, territory
2) district, region
3) tribal territory
4) piece of ground
5) land of Canaan, Israel
6) inhabitants of land
7) Sheol, land without return, (under) world
8) city (-state)
c) ground, surface of the earth
1) ground
2) soil
d) (in phrases)
1) people of the land
2) space or distance of country (in measurements of distance)
3) level or plain country
4) land of the living
5) end(s) of the earth
e) (almost wholly late in usage)
1) lands, countries
a) often in contrast to Canaan
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gē (gā), noun
Root word: contracted from a root word
1) arable land
2) the ground, the earth as a standing place
3) the main land as opposed to the sea or water
4) the earth as a whole
a) the earth as opposed to the heavens
b) the inhabited earth, the abode of men and animals
5) a country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land, territory, region
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It’s pretty obvious that 2 Peter’s word for earth is straight forward – it’s talking specifically about the physical planet. But with Ecclesiastes, Solomon’s choice of words has a few more options. It’s true that the word could refer to either the physical planet, the land on the surface, or the people of the earth. But…which one is it? The key comes in the context of what Solomon was talking about. He frequently discussed people and their actions and what he and they all poured their efforts into. Since the Hebrew word ‘erets can refer to the physical object of the planet earth, it’s land, or the people, we need something to single out which meaning is intended; that word is generation.
In Hebrew, generation is translated from dowr (dōre), and one particular definition is “those living during a period [of time]”. It’s a reference to people. We’re dealing with two different earth references, not one. Despite the single use of the English earth, one is to the planet, and one is to the people on it.
THE “NEW” NEW? WHO KNEW?
To round out the context of Ecclesiastes 1:4, let’s take a gander at the rest of the opening discourse.
Remember that the subtext of Ecclesiastes meaninglessness, hebel, the fleeting value of human efforts alone, apart from God.
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
Keep that in mind. Solomon’s starting out by examining the worth of all that people do. He illustrates his opening point with the repeating course of nature, itself.
The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.
With that visual, Sol further clarifies his point by comparing physical nature with all that he has observed about human nature.
Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.
While it’s not the purpose of this article to be a social commentary with a Biblical perspective, that’s certainly one aspect of what Solomon is addressing presently. He’s been there, done that and had the “unlimited” resources to indulge in it (1 Kings explains his financial gains, too). Solomon pursued wisdom, knowledge, partying, drinking, working, building grand cities, fame…hebel. All hebel.
How often does society get excited about the latest and greatest? How often is the latest and greatest nothing more than an update on the previous model, whether it’s the newest video game console (think Nintendo, PlayStation, or Xbox) or smart phone or car? (Who remembers the old models? Cell phones with black-and-white LCD screens. Cars with no A/C or radio. The Atari 7800 game console. Anyone?) All of these things have been invented. Video games are not new, nor are smart phones or cars. They’ve all been around for many years now – especially cars. All the new-fangled things to come onto the market aren’t new; they’re just updated models of what’s old. Perhaps fashion embodies this notion best of all.
True, there was a time when none of these things existed. However, it’s not about the specific item or idea, but the whole hyper-focused, fad-minded, delusions-of-grandeur way of living that is being addressed, as if those things, or style of dress, or career, or whatever, were somehow the. Ultimate. Thing.
We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in the future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
(Ecclesiastes 1:3-11, NLT, includes verses referenced above in this section)
Most likely, I’m guessing now, Solomon is speaking of the “nobler” human efforts.
That’s what never changes. Generation to generation, the people of the earth don’t change. They don’t understand the pointless pursuits – when sought after for their own sake – will lead to emptiness. That doesn’t make helping others, having grand buildings that touch the sky, reaching other planets, growing businesses, of having world-wide fame bad things. The point is that, apart from God, these “new” things are completely hebel. It would be foolish to let anyone teach you different, just like Peter warned about regarding the false teachers and prophets of old.
The major difference is that Solomon was addressing the unchanging nature of humanity, apart from God, and Peter was discussing future matters. Solomon was examining matters in hindsight, while Peter was foreshadowing things yet to come.
An event has just happened. You wake up, dazed. You hear noises, overlapping conversations. You don’t know what just happened and you only recall events earlier in the day, but nothing at present that can explain the current situation or why you just woke up in such a state.
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