Bible Mysteries

I love a good mystery. Because so many people have read the Bible and it has played such an important part of Western culture, many people find mysteries in it. I have included several here for you. Email me if you'd like more details since what I have here is sketchy.



Apocrypha -- different from Apocalypse
disagreement among Christians
Catholics include 8 plus extra Daniel/Esther
Orthodox church adds two more
composed between 200 B.C. and 100 A.D. when Jews rebelled
not ever included in the Hebrew Bible
was included in the Septuagint (Greek translation)
Protestants rejected it -- Jesus and apostles never quoted from it
Maccabees good history

Ark of the Covenant -- sacred portable chest; mercy seat/cherubim; four feet by two feet by two feet; located in Holy of Holies
inside -- Ten Commandments, manna, rod of Aaron
Philistines captured it/returned it; David brought it to Jerusalem
disappeared when Nebuchadnezzar/Babylon destroyed Jerusalem 586 B.C.

Bible code -- involves equidistant letter sequences (els)
example "all of our avenues are wide" (eliminate spaces; start with second letter; skip the next three letters) – spells “LOVE”
scientist and mathematician in 1994 found names of 34 famous Jewish people
book called The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin popular
found in the Torah; in Genesis skip every 50 letters, spells Torah
skeptics say you can do the same in Moby Dick -- predict assassinations
Hugh Ross says probability high for using any skip method
web sites –biblecodedigest.com and skepdic.com/bibcode.html

Cain -- where did he get his wife? Asked at the Scopes trial/Carl Sagan in Cosmos
got his wife from his sisters -- Genesis 5: 4
law against marrying a close relative didn't start until Moses (Lev 18 -- 20 )
Abraham married half sister in Genesis
not as many accumulated genetic mistakes then

Creation -- Bible says matter/space/time/energy had a start
big bang theory -- transcendent start to the universe
ten total dimensions at the start of the universe
Bible indicates stretching of space (balloon) --Job 9:8, Isaiah 40:22, Psalm 104:2

Dead Sea Scrolls -- found in 1947, Qumran (northwest Dead Sea)
Dan Brown (Da Vinci Code) says references to Jesus -- no
Essenes in time of Jesus; Old Testament only; no gospels
entire Hebrew Bible except Esther
oldest copy of Hebrew Bible had been from 1000 A.D.


Egypt and the Israelites -- late Bronze Age, major social migrations
references to harsh brickmaking; quotas
references to low class people as “Apiru” or “Habiru”

Exodus and the Red Sea crossing -- around 1400 B.C.
nothing in Egyptian records (no king ever records failures)
a stele of a later pharaoh says he encountered Israelites in Canaan in 1225 B.C.
Red Sea? Reed Sea? Winds pile up the water

Flood -- probably local
flood stories in other cultures -- Babylon, Mesopotamia (Gilgamesh)
Genesis 7:19 -- 20 says covered the mountains; "covered" can mean "running over" or "falling upon"
to cover Mount Everest -- would need over four times the water we have today
only meant to wipe out people who lived in one area
Noah sent out a dove -- came back with olive leaf; olive trees grow low
Genesis 8:1 -- wind used; would work in flat area like Mesopot.

Garden of Eden -- recent scientific agreement one place for start of human race
two of the four rivers are missing today; radar shows rivers under the surface

Gospels -- Dan Brown (Da Vinci Code) says many other gospels; especially emphasizes Gnostic gospels (Nag Hammadi) including Gospel of Thomas
No-- these were written later; Jesus not human in them
the four gospels we have are best record of Jesus

James and the bone box -- inscribed "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus"
unusual to name brother
after 70 A.D. few ossuaries (bone boxes)
argument over its authenticity

Jesus -- birth: confusion over the star/date
not a comet, meteor, supernova
conjunction Venus and Jupiter (king of planets) in the constellation of Leo (tribal sign of Judah) near the star Regulus (king); "stood over" – retro- grade motion united
resurrection: much indirect evidence -- empty tomb, Paul's testimony in 1 Corinthians, discovery by women, disciples proclaiming resurrection in Jerusalem, appearances after death, tomb not venerated as a shrine, huge change in beliefs of disciples (no resurrection in history, God as single deity), changed day of week to worship (Sunday)

Jericho—walls fall in??
Collapsed walls; dated 1400 B.C.? 1250 ??


Jonah—whaler recovered having been swallowed by whale in 1800s
Ninevah had history of repenting

Life spans -- other cultures had lengthy ones too (Sumer, Akkad)
recently astronomers found cosmic rays from recent, nearby supernova (Vela)
1300 light years away, 20-30,000 years ago -- bathed earth in radiation

Lost tribes of Israel -- Assyria captured north in 721 B.C., resettled people
Samaria -- intermarriage
British Israelism in 1800s; helped British be pro-Israel (Balfour)
Worldwide Church of God

Mt. Sinai -- location? Traditionally, south central Sinai peninsula;
mother of Constantine said it was there in the fourth century
but Galatians 4:25 says "Arabia"; Exodus 3:1 says in Midian (Saudi Arabia today)
may be Jabal al Lawz – see Base Institute

Number of Israelites -- Exodus 38:26 indicates 600,000 men, Numbers 1 and 2 also
if 2 million walking two feet apart, 10 wide -- 75 miles long
maybe 45,000 is 45 families/groups/tents (total around 20,000)
maybe the dead are counted along with the living -- all names in genealogical tables; Exodus 18:21 -- thousands?
Jordan River crossing -- 40,000? Joshua 4:13
Numbers 3:40-43 census of firstborn -- 22,000 (total 120,000)

Parables -- done to illustrate and to hide? Luke 8:10

Paul -- did he hate women? Is Christianity anti-woman?
Women treated badly in first century -- inferior to husband

1 Timothy 2:11 -- 12, but see verses 18 -- 10 (cultural)
"learn in silence" okay -- good attribute/rabbinic, okay for women to learn!
"I presently permit " correct verb (learn first before teaching)
"authority" -- odd word; "usurp" authority
closer translation -- "I am not presently permitting a woman to teach in a manner of usurping authority over a man"

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 -- keep women silent?
But see 1 Corinthians 11:5 -- okay for women to pray and prophesy
hard passage

See Galations 3:27 – 28 Magna Charta for women

Plagues of Egypt
blood in the Nile -- Red sediment late summer from Ethiopia
frogs -- abandon the river; bacterial algae polluted river
gnats -- frogs died; gnats bred in flooded fields late autumn
flies -- same as above
livestock -- flies carried anthrax
boils -- skin anthrax
hail -- January or February
locusts -- March or April; east winds bring in young, hungry locusts
darkness -- blinding sand storms blow in spring

Prophecies --
Isaiah 44:28, 54:1 -- written in 700 B.C.; Cyrus in 530 B.C.
Daniel 9:25 -- decree of Artaxerxes 444 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1-8)
with 360-day years, goes to 33 A.D.
Ezekiel 26 –Tyre: Nebuchadnezzar laid siege, people moved to the island (585 B.C.); Alexander (333 B.C.) tore Tyre down and built mole
Micah 5:2 –Bethlehem
Isaiah 49, 50, 52 -- Jesus
Psalm 22 -- crucifixion

Revelation –apocalyptic writing a popular genre with particular characteristics
several ways to interpret –preterist (most prophecies referred to 70 A.D.), future, symbolic
666 -- many suggested

Shroud of Turin -- single piece of linen, 14 ft by 3 ½ ft
mentioned in 544 A.D., French knight displayed it in 1356 A.D.
early paintings of Jesus have similar face
first photograph 1898 -- a negative
tests show real bloodstains, no paint
1989 -- carbon 14 dating placed it as medieval
new carbon dating shows 2000 years old (first dating from area mended with newer cloth)
some natural evaporative process?

Sodom and Gomorrah -- location at south end of Dead Sea
part of Jordan Rift Valley, earthquakes
bitumen (asphalt) and petroleum deposits there; also sulfur and natural gas
natural gas could be exposed by earthquake and lit by fires in the city