Moses' personality
Num.12:3: "Now the man Moses was very meek,14 above all the men which were upon the fact of the earth."
Num.31:14, 17, 18: "And Moses was wroth...And Moses said unto them, "Have ye saved all the women alive? ... Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman, ... But all the women children ... keep alive for yourselves."
Apparently, Mr. Merrit misunderstands meekness. Like Moses, Jesus was also meek in that he deferred to the Father. Still he had righteous indignation when God’s purposes were being thwarted (i.e., the buying and selling in the Court of the Gentiles).
Righteous live?
Ps.92:12: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree."
Isa.57:1: "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart."
Does the author seriously see this as a contradiction? In poetry general statements are made that reflect the author’s immediate observation. In the context of Psalms 92 the righteous flourish following the judgment of God. The Isaiah passage reflects the observation that the experience of the righteous up to the time of God’s judgment is mixed like the general population.
Who bought the field?
Acts 1:18: "Now this man (Judas) purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out."
Matt. 27:5-7: "And he (Judas) cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests...bought with them the potter's field."
It was the reward money of Judas that bought the field. The chief priests used Judas’ money to buy it. When someone works for another as a hit man, both the hit man and the one who hired can be charged with murder. Both Judas and the chief priests bought the field.
Jesus' first sermon plain or mount?
Matt.5:1,2: "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying...."
Luke6:17,20: "And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people...came to hear him. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said..."
Jesus stood on a level place15 (see NIV, NAB, RSV) on the mountain. A simple consultation with the Greek text would solve the problem.
Jesus' last words
Matt.27:46,50: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, eli, lama sabachthani?" that is to say, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" ...Jesus, when he cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost."
JOB 38:22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail.
Luke23:46: "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, "Father, unto thy hands I commend my spirit:" and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."
Luke23:46: "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, "Father, unto thy hands I commend my spirit:" and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."
John19:30: "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished:" and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."
Jesus was singing Psalm 22 which begins with “My God, My God why have you forsaken me” and ends with “it is finished.” The whole Psalm, written some 1000 years earlier, is prophetic about the very events on the cross! Then he sighs as he “gives up the ghost.”
Years of famine
II SAMUEL 24:13: So, God came to David, and told him, and said unto him, shall SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE come unto thee in thy land? or will thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue. thee?
I CHRONICLES 21:11: So, God came to David, and said unto him, thus saith the LORD, Choose thee. Either THREE YEARS OF FAMINE or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee.
Though the Masoretic text for 2 Samuel 24:13 reads “seven,” the LXX says three, reflecting the testimony of earlier manuscript evidence (see also NIV, NAB, and RSV).
Moved David to anger?
II SAMUEL 24: And again, the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
I CHRONICLES 21:1 And SATAN stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
God incited16 or instigated (removed him from His protection and favor) and turned him over to Satan who actually performed the temptation (see also, “turning over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh” in 1 Corinthians 5:5).
The Genealogy of Jesus?
In two places in the New Testament the genealogy of Jesus son of Mary is mentioned. Matthew 1:6-16 and Luke 3:23-31. Each gives the ancestors of Joseph the CLAIMED husband of Mary and Step father of Jesus. The first one starts from Abraham (verse 2) all the way down to Jesus. The second one from Jesus all the way back to Adam. The only common name to these two lists between David and Jesus is JOSEPH, how can this be true? and also How can Jesus have a genealogy when all Muslims and most Christians believe that Jesus had/has no father.
See my notes for “Who is the father of Joseph.”