My favourite contradiction in the bible
Jeremiah 22:28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
:30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
The man here called Coniah is Jehoiachin, also called Jeconiah; he was of the seed of David, was one of the last kings of Judah, did evil, and was carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar.
According to the covenant God made with David, only the seed of David could rightfully rule on the throne of David, the throne of Israel, for ever. 2 Samuel 7:11-29.
The line of kings which rightfully ruled on that throne is referred to as "the seed royal". (2 Kings 11:1, 25:25; 2 Chronicles 22:10; Jeremiah 41:1).
The messiah was to be of the seed of David (Psalm 132:11; Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15; John 7:42; Romans 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:8). He was to be king of Israel according to numerous references like Isaiah 9:7 and Jeremiah 23:5. So he had to come from the line of the seed royal, not just from any seed of David, in order to have claim to the throne.
Now watch how the Lord worked to create an air-tight Biblical "problem text". You read right. He designed it.
He has Jeremiah "curse" king Coniah's seed from ruling over David's throne. So from whence will the messiah come? Not to worry. Coniah wasn't the last king of Judah, his father's brother, Zedekiah was. (2 kings 24:15-17). And he had sons! Praise the Lord! One of Zedekiah's sons will reign and the messiah's line will not be jeopardized by Jeremiah 22:30. Glory.
2Kings 25:6 So they took the king (Zedekiah), and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.
2Ki 25:7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
Ouch. The last official king with any sons remaining is now Coniah, who had 7 of them (1 Chronicles 3:17-18). Yet with Jeremiah 22:30 the Lord God barred all of them from ruling in Judah on the throne of David.
He deliberately set-up the extermination of all of Zedekiah's sons and the abdication of all of Coniah's sons in order to seal the paradox!
That 7 stands for a perfect dead end.
No way out of that one. Wonderful.
Now this plot is even more intricate for the Lord uses the devil’s wrath to get his set-up (Psalm 76:10). The devil had had the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 in mind ever since it was said to the serpent.
“And I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between thy seed (the serpent’s) and her seed (the messiah); it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
As you read the book of Genesis you discover a relentless war on the part of the devil against the line God had chosen to bring forth Christ as to the flesh. You find him either attempting to mingle his own seed into the line, or closing wombs, or defiling a man’s seed in various ways, or downright killing him.
Why? Because he knew God had in mind to bring forth a man-child from a certain line which would one day crush Satan’s head under his heel and he didn’t appreciate the prospect. You see the devil is no idiot when it comes to the Bible. He believes it. He just wants YOU not to believe it. So when Nebuchadnezzar kills the sons of Zedekiah, you could look in the deep left corner, and there in the shadow descry the shifting figure of the old serpent. His hand was in it. Nebuchadnezzar is presented in the Bible as a type of the antichrist: the devil incarnate. Just like the devil is a dragon, Nebuchadnezzar is spoken of as a dragon. (Jeremiah 51:34). I’m pretty sure that the day Zedekiah’s sons were killed, the old serpent held a party, for he knew about Jeremiah 22:30 and the disqualification of Coniah’s sons. At last, all branches had been severed and seared.
So why did the Lord allow that to happen? Well, he executes vengeance against the evil house of Zedekiah and his sons using the devil as executioner (all too happy to carry out the business for his own reason), and by the same token set-up a contradiction that he alone can solve in order to
a) Solve it and be glorified
b) Put the Jews in such a predicament so as to make it easier for them to receive Jesus as the prophecied messiah. (We’ll see how later)
c) Give Bible-critics an excuse to scorn the word of God
So now imagine you're an Old Testament Jew. You've got a monumental paradox on your hands. And I mean MONUMENTAL. According to one prophecy, the messiah had to come from the royal line. That means he had to come from Coniah. But according to another prophecy he couldn't come from Coniah.
Now how's that for a Biblical contradiction you Bible-haters?!
Boy wouldn't you have looooooved to get a hold of that one back in 50 B.C. And I'm sure your spiritual ancestors did too; assuming they read enough to find it. Give us a real challenge for once you intellectual anemics.
It took about 700 years for the predicament to be marvelously solved by the the Holy Ghost. Literally!
And the hint to the solution was written before Jeremiah 22:30.
Come back soon.
Labels: bible studies
I am imagining that the Virgin Birth of Jesus had something to do with solving the mystery of the extinct Royal Line!