Some people look at apparent contradictions in the Bible and see a justification for not accepting the Bible as divinely inspired. People of faith look at apparent contradictions and put them in a mental folder awaiting their explanation. Often further research produces a reasonable explanation. In some cases we await future developments. The Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, points out how an apparent contradiction between the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel was seized upon by King Zedekiah and his advisors and used as a pretext for ignoring their prophecies.1
The background story
The setting for the incident is the events surrounding the Babylonian captivity of Israel. The Babylonian captivity actually occurred in three distinct stages over a 20 year period. In the first, Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon (2 Kgs 24:1, Jer 25:1, Dan 1:1-7). In the second stage, 10,000 were taken including Ezekiel and King Jehoiachin (2 Kgs 24:10-16: Ezek 1:1-2, Esth 2:5-6). The final stage resulted in the horrific destruction of Jerusalem and the temple with much loss of life and all but a few being taken to Babylon (2 Kgs 25:1-27). Jeremiah was not taken in any of these stages, but rather taken to Egypt by the remaining rebels (Jer 43:6).
Prophetic contradictions?
Ezekiel was prophesying from captivity while Jeremiah was prophesying in Jerusalem. Both prophets, at God’s direction, were desperately trying to get Zedekiah and the Jews to repent and thereby save their nation from total destruction.
Ezekiel’s prophecies were brought to Jerusalem. So, when the Jews in powers found a particular section of his prophecy that seemed to disagree with Jeremiah’s prophecy, they used the apparent contradiction as justification for ignoring all the warnings of the prophets, to continue in their evil practices. (How prone we all are to seek to discredit that which is opposed to our preference!)
We pick up story in Josephus’ “Antiquities of the Jews” Chapt. 7. (Emphasis is mine)
“Now as to Zedekiah himself, while he heard the prophet (Jeremiah) speak, he believed him and agreed to everything as true, and supposed it was for his advantage; but then his friends perverted him, and dissuaded him from what the prophet advised, and obliged him to do what they pleased. Ezekiel also foretold in Babylon what calamities were coming upon the people, which when he (Jehoiachin who was also in captivity) heard he sent accounts of them unto Jerusalem. But Zedekiah did not believe their prophecies, for the reason following: It happened that the two prophets agreed with one another in what they said as in all other things, that the city should be taken, and Zedekiah himself should be taken captive; but Ezekiel disagreed with him, and said that Zedekiah should not see Babylon, while Jeremiah said to him, that the king of Babylon should carry him away thither in bonds. And because they did not both say the same thing as to this circumstance, he disbelieved what they both appeared to agree in, and condemned them as not speaking truth therein, although all the things foretold him did come to pass according to their prophecies, as we shall show upon a fitter opportunity.”
Here are the relevant verses from the two prophecies in question. (Again, emphasis is mine.)
“And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, said the Lord; though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper” (Jer 32:4-5).
“My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there” (Ezek. 12:13).
The apparent contradiction was that Jeremiah said that King Zedekiah would actually look into the eyes of the king of Babylon. “…and his eyes shall behold his eyes…”. Ezekiel said “…I will bring him (Zedekiah) to Babylon…yet shall he not see it.” It looked like one prophet was saying Zedekiah would see the king of Babylon and one said he would not. How could Zedekiah see the king of Babylon and not see Babylon? But in the end events fell out in such a way that both prophecies were literally fulfilled down to the last detail as follows:
“Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death” (Jer 52:7-11).
Thus everything happened exactly as prophesied. King Zedekiah “..looked into the eyes of the king of Babylon..” exactly as Jeremiah had prophesied; but not in the city of Babylon. And he was brought to the city of Babylon but he never saw it..exactly as Ezekiel had prophesied.
The point to us
Josephus hits the nail on the head. Because Zedekiah did not want to believe Jeremiah and Ezekiel “..he disbelieved what they both appeared to agree in, and condemned them as not speaking truth therein, though all the things foretold him did come to pass according to their prophecies..”.
When someone is telling us something we do not want to hear, we become professional fault finders. We start looking for any evidence that will enable us to reject what is being said. We do this in our daily lives and we see it done by those who would justify their rejection of the Bible as the word of God. Because all their questions cannot be answered at this time to their satisfaction, they reject the preponderance of indisputable examples of fulfilled prophecy that authenticate the Bible as a divinely inspired work.
It is not easy to be open-minded when the discussion is accumulating evidence that opposes our current position in any area of our lives. Thankfully, John Thomas was an open-minded scholar. If he were not, he would still be in the Disciples of Christ.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One