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Creation and the Distant Starlight Problem
A common objection to the young earth creation position is the distant starlight problem. This starlight problem is usually framed with the following information. First, starlight travels approximately 186,000 miles per second. Therefore, the distance starlight can travel in a year is approximately 6 trillion miles, and is referred to in astronomical measurements as a light year. Thanks to the Hubble Telescope, we are able to see many stars which are invisible to the naked eye. One such star, named Icarus, is 9 billion light years from earth. In simple terms, the above information means the light from Icarus took 9 billion years (traveling at 186k miles per second) to reach earth. That is a long distance and a long time! However, at the same time, this seems to be incongruent with a young earth creation position, which posits a young age for the earth (usually defined as 6-10k years…
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Who are the Sons of God in Genesis 6?
Genesis 6 is one of those debated Old Testament passages where there are at least a few possible interpretations. There are three main options in identifying the sons of God: (1) rulers/kings, (2) the line of Seth, and (3) angels. Although each viewpoint has its advocates, I believe the angelic view corresponds best with the evidence. The situation is described as follows (Gen 6:1-4): Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of…
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Prophets and Prophetic Revelation
Since the beginning of time, God has communicated with His people through prophets. We can deduce from Genesis 3:8 that God likely communed with Adam and Eve at regular intervals. We are also told in Luke 11:51 that Abel was among the prophets, and thus received revelation from God. Prophets spoke for God. Perhaps better stated, prophets were God’s mouthpiece. Jeremiah 1:4-10 is quite instructive for the prophetic role. In v. 9, God specifically tells Jeremiah, “I have put my words in your mouth.” That is the role of the prophet—he speaks God’s words. As a nation, Israel was given special instruction for prophets. Deuteronomy 13:1–5 lays down the important principle that prophets cannot contradict previous revelation. If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if…
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Elijah: a Man of God or a Coward?
One of the most epic stories in the Bible is where Elijah squares off against the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. There are 450 prophets of Baal, and just 1 Elijah. Yet through a dramatic display, Yahweh shows himself to be the true God, and Elijah convinced the people to slaughter the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18:40). After the contest, Yahweh brings rain upon the land, relieving a 3 ½ year drought. Ahab, the king of Israel, sees all of this. Then, he returns to Jezreel and tells Jezebel, his Baal-worshipping wife, what Elijah had done. She sends Elijah a message, in which she promises to make him like the prophets of Baal (i.e., dead). What is Elijah’s response? Actually, this is where there are two diverging ideas. One idea follows the majority of English translations and claims that subsequent to Ahab telling Jezebel about the Mount…
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God’s Prophetic Plan of the Future
We love to know about the future! There is nothing wrong with that–especially when God tells us what the future is going to be like in order to prove His sovereign control over world events. God relates future events through prophecies in His Word. One of the most important prophecies in Scripture is Daniel 9:24-27. This prophecy provides an essential framework for understanding God’s future program in dealing with Israel and the nations. During Daniel’s time, Israel was in exile for sinning in not keeping the Sabbath. In 2 Chron 36:20-22 God promised Israel would be in exile until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. Because Israel was in trouble, Daniel prays. Daniel 9:24-27 comes as an answer to Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:4-19. Daniel asks God to forgive the people of Israel and return them to their land. Daniel is prompted to pray for this having read and meditated…
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Does the Bible Affirm 24-hr Days in Genesis 1?
Justin Taylor has stirred the pot recently with a post on Creation in Genesis 1-2 and whether or not the days referred to in Genesis 1-2 are actual 24-hr days, or just indefinite periods of time. Justin’s post reminded me of an article that I had read a few months ago by Robert McCabe that I think is worth summarizing his main points with my own comments. The context of Genesis 1 indicates a 24-hr day. Its true that day (yom) can refer to periods of time, like in the phrase “Day of the Lord.” But in Genesis 1, day is modified by “evening and morning” and also used in opposition to night. These are clear signals from the context of Genesis 1 that these are normal days with a normal sequence of day and night rotations. When yom is modified by a number, it always refers to a literal…
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Book Review: Learn Biblical Hebrew
Given my interest in teaching Old Testament subjects, I am always on the lookout for books with which to teach Hebrew. When I saw that John H. Dobson’s Learn Biblical Hebrew had been positively reviewed by Dr. Barrick (one of my own Hebrew teachers), I looked forward to the chance to look it over. There are many positives in the book. First, it is about as close to immersion as you can get through a book. From lesson one, the student is immersed in reading words and phrases. The student is given helpful pronunciation helps along the way. Although this may seem daunting, another help is access to audio pronunciation files at the book’s website. This allows the student to hear professional quality reading of Hebrew words and phrases to aid the pronunciation. Second, the book emphasizes reading the Hebrew Scripture instead of doing a workbook approach. Although workbooks can…
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Where Did Ahab Die?
While in Israel, overlooking the Jezreel valley, our group talked about how Ahab stole Naboth’s vineyard in an act of horrendous treachery. After that despicable act, God promised Ahab: In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours (1 Kings 21:19). In addition to the retribution promised to Ahab, God also promised that Jezebel would be eaten by dogs. After three years (1 Kgs 22:1), Ahab (from Israel) and Jehoshaphat (from Judah) went together for war against Aram. Although Micaiah, a prophet of the Lord, told them they would face defeat and that Ahab would not come back in peace (1 Kgs 22:28), they persisted in going out to battle. The armies of Israel and Judah did meet defeat, and 1 Kings 22:37-38 says, So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king…