This is the last one that contains only science. After this, I’ll be getting down to the more serious topics of the claimed contradictions. This one is a bit long, but I didn’t want to separate it into two posts since I wanted to move on. So feel free to move past any section you’re not interested in. As before, Q is the quote from the presenter of the contradiction, M is my response.
Q: JB 9:6 (KJV) God shakes the earth out of its place and makes its pillars tremble.
M: Scientifically, we know the earth has changed its tilt many times in its history, and it has continued to do so in the immediate past, several times (as much as 31 inches recently) for different reasons. Even the 2011 Fukushima earthquake shifted the planet on its axis by 4 inches, affecting the rotation of the earth. So, there’s nothing wrong with the earth being shaken out of its place.
And those pillars? By definition, pillars bear the weight of the upper levels, their main purpose. Ever hear about the tectonic plates on which the land is “supported”? Isn’t this a type of pillar in and of themselves? Most earthquakes originate due to the shifting of these pillars of the earth.
What’s truly amazing, if one will think about it, is that the Israelites knew about the earth’s changes in its tilt. When going through the science, this occurred to me many times.
Can the earth be shaken in other ways? Here’s some cool thoughts. There are two iron blobs in the middle of the earth that seem to be shifting all the time, changing the poles and magnetism. We’ve all heard the claim that the poles could shift, but there’s nothing yet to show that they will.
So, what if the poles do shift? What will it affect? The experts suspect things like satellites will malfunction, as well as motors, ships, airplanes, subs, military, computers, anything electromagnetic. What about the animals that rely on magnetism for guidance? I don’t know and neither do they.
What I do know is God has it all in His hands, so I tend not to worry about these things. Nevertheless, know how to read a map, just in case. But I can sure tell you, the pillars of the earth tremble, if from nothing else, from the iron blobs shuffling around inside our earth’s structure.
Q: Isaiah 11:12, Rev 7:1 The earth has four corners.
M: Last I heard it did – North, East, West, South – NEWS. In my youth, when I read about the “four corners”, I wondered where God had divided the earth. In Ezekiel 5:5 Jerusalem is the “middle of the nations/people.” So as you can see in the picture below, population density is divided fairly well with Jerusalem as the “navel” (the darker the area, the more people per square mile). Even the land mass, as we divide it today, is relatively balanced around Jerusalem.
In Isaiah Hebrew is kanaph, translating as “wings, extremities”; in Revelation, the Greek is gonia meaning “corner”. When you divide 360 by the 4 wings, you get a perfect 90 degree “corner” – in this case, using Jerusalem as the intersection. There's your 4 wings, your 4 corners. It’s easy to see once you can visualize it. That being said, there’s no reason to say that there are not “4 corners or extremities” when one thinks of the earth. There will always be 4 corners or wings, no matter where you stand.
Here’s a parenthetical thought: it's fascinating to think of the cherubim: living beings who had 4 faces and 4 wings. The magnificent creatures guarded the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life, Yahweh's transport, and their images stood on the ends of the atonement cover of the Ark (the mercy seat), overshadowing the seat. The temple curtains had cherubims woven throughout them. There were a pair of huge statues,15 feet tall, in the Holy of Holies along the back wall, stretching a full 30 feet wide between the two of them. They were carved into the walls all around the Temple, in the doors of the inner sanctuary, and on many of the furnishings. They enthrone our mighty God. Let's not forget to mention the fun Ezekiel had with them throughout his book.
One can envision their wings spreading out from Jerusalem toward the 4 corners when God reigns from there.
Q: Isaiah 24:1 (KJV) The earth can be turned upside down so as to scatter its inhabitants.
M: First, this “contradiction” comes from not understanding the 17th century idioms (or today’s, for that matter). In 1569, Richard Grafton, an English printer and historian said, “To chaunge all things, and tourne the world vpsedowne.”1 I’m sure Mr. Grafton was smart enough to know that because someone changed everything, it didn’t truly turn the world upside down.
All the same, I shall put here, from the Interlinear, what the original Hebrew said: “Behold, Yahweh makes empty the land and makes it waste and distorts its surface and scatters abroad the inhabitants.” For the term “makes empty the earth,” seems to mean He devastates the land so much, the people leave it, just as the last part of the verse claimed.
This should not be too hard for God to do. He does use nature, at times, to do His bidding. I’m not saying that when a hurricane comes, it’s because God is punishing anyone. Not at all. Nature happens. Nevertheless, in times like Sodom and Gomorrah, I believe He does change the landscape using whatever He wants, causing the land to be made waste and the survivors to relocate. He created nature, after all, no reason for Him not to use it for His purposes.
Q: Isaiah 40:22 The earth is a circle. (Note: The earth is really a sphere, not a circle, and this verse does not imply a sphere as some believers like to infer.)
M: Strongs has the Hebrew circle as “circle, circuit, compass,” but I can find no Hebrew or Jewish source that agree that chug truly means ”sphere”; there is a different word specifically for “sphere” in Hebrew. So, the guy was correct in saying that. However…
It seems this should be translated “He who sits above the vault/horizon of the earth.” This verse refers to the circle, or the vault, that surrounds the earth, not the globe itself. This would be the atmosphere that actually does “circle” the earth. Therefore, the verse is stating God sits, or dwells, outside of the earth’s atmosphere. Yeah, I think people agree with that. Not the atheists, of course. Can’t conclude with a contradiction or scientific fallacy here.
Q: Dan 4:11 Daniel dreams of a tree so tall that it can be seen to the ends of the earth. (Note: This implies a flat earth.)
M: First off, it was Nebuchadnezzar's dream, not Daniel's, and this is being so nitpicky. “End” is coweph, or “termination.” Besides, God would have put the dream to old Neb's understanding. Nebbie did say “end of the lands,” but when Daniel interpreted the dream, he said “ your dominion reaches to the ends of the earth.” Daniel and Nebs both knew that he didn’t rule the entire Middle East, much less the entire globe, therefore we know by simple logic they weren’t referring to a flat earth. To further this nuance of the dream, the Arab word used for “earth” in this verse equals the Hebrew firmament or land, not the globe.
So, in today’s language: the tree was so tall, Neb “could see to the farthest reaches of his kingdom.” And, have ya caught it yet?…it is a dream.
Q: Exod 20:4, Deut 5:8, Psalms 24:2, 2Peter 3:5 The earth sits in water.
M: To keep it very simple, Exodus and Deuteronomy, the “underneath or below” refers to the water, as in “those things below the water,” not “those things in the water below the land.” There are prepositions in these two verses, that unless you’re into Hebrew, you could get lost.
For those who want a little more (otherwise, skip to the next paragraph), there are a couple of prepositions that are called “inseparable.” The erets has one of these prepositions attached to it. The preposition means “to, in regards to, for, at, concerning.” Thus the verse reads, “in the skies above, or in the earth below, or in the waters below in regards to the land.” Doesn’t make sense in modern Engllsh? When the preposition le is used, it usually indicates direction or purpose of an event. Basically, the Hebrew was simply rounding up what it just said, “Don’t make yourself any graven images of anything concerning the earth.
In Psalm, God “established” the land “on, upon, above, about, over, or regarding” the water. Take your pick. If the earth wasn’t above the water, then we'd be flooded, right? Land must be higher than water in order to keep dry. Being in Missouri, we've seen that happen plenty in the past. For the last verse, Peter was talking about the creation of the world, how the earth was taken out of and through water (in order to be made livable).
Q: Isaiah 55:10 Water/snow come from heaven
M: The heaven used here was ahameh which means “the sky”. How is this wrong in accordance with science? I thought that's where the rain came from, the clouds in the sky?
Q: Psalms 33:7, Prov 8:29, Job 26:10, 38:8-9, 30 Water constitutes the earth's boundaries
M: Here again is the word erets or land; the land is surrounded by water. Again...if the water wasn't outside of the earth’s boundaries, then the earth would be under the water, and there’d be no dry land on which we could live, just a sphere of water. Maybe he was going for word count on his site?
Q: Psalms 104:7-9 Man may not pass over the waters bounding the earth
M: This passage doesn't say anything about man; it says the waters couldn't cross the boundaries God has set for them, specifically over the mountains! That'd have to be some high waters to cross mountains. The only time we know this has happened since the Creation was during the time of Noah; as pointed out in verse 9, that won't happen again.
Q: 1Chron 16:30, Psalms 93:1, 96:10 The earth does not move
M: In every verse, it doesn't say the earth, it says the “world” [tebel] meaning-the inhabitants, and “moved” means to be “totter, shaken or slip.” They were saying that humanity wasn’t going anywhere. We use “world” the same way today: ”This world sure is in a mess” or Second World War. This gives us faith that God will not allow humanity to destroy itself entirely.
Q: Psalms 102:25, 104:5, Prov 8:29, Zech 12:1, Isaiah 48:13, 51:13-16, Job 38:4, Heb 1:10 Earth has foundations
M: Proverbs is the only verse here that actually uses the term “foundation” in the Hebrew. Does land have foundations? If it didn’t, wouldn’t we be floating around in the ocean. Land refers not to the plates, but the soil. I’d have to say the tectonic plates could definitely be part of the foundations. All the other verses uses the verb “fix in place, establish,” meaning God fixed the land in place, which is exactly what He did.
Q: Job 38:5-40 Man cannot measure the earth
M: It says nothing about man not being able to measure the earth. Even so, this was God talking to Job who, at that time, could not measure the earth. These have just gotten too easy. Sorry about the dullness. It’ll get better, I promise. But do take time to admire just how far mankind has come since the days of Job.
Some tidbits on the earth: earth moves 67,000 mph around the sun; if you’re close to the equator, you could be spinning over 1,000 mph; and the temp inside the earth can be as high as 9,800 degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest temperature ever recorded was in Antarctica at -128 degrees Fahrenheit. There’s only on average 19 miles of land between us and molten magma whose layer is 1,800 miles thick; it has the consistency of a stiff molasses.
There are about 3 trillion trees on earth (about 420 per person); 68% of fresh water is frozen in permanent features, such as glaciers and ice caps; and the longest known cave system, Mammoth Cave in KY, is 390 miles in length. (How’d ya like that for a cave tour?) The amount of water molecules in 10 drops of water is equal in number to all the known stars in the universe.
Q: Job 28:24 Job can see the whole heaven and to the end of the earth
M: Again, it says nothing about Job seeing the whole heaven and earth, it says God can. (Yeah, methinks this guy got a bit too tired in his quest to make the Bible look bad.) Just a couple more to go here.
Q: Earth has edges or ends (25 separate references!)
M: Oh, so glad he didn’t list the 25; that would’ve been quite tiresome to link them all. Anyways, in looking up a few “edges” or “ends,” it seems the Hebrew ephes means “edge, ceasing”, and the earth/firmament does have edges where it falls below the water. I can't figure what this guy sees wrong with land having an edge. Once it's in water, it's not considered firm land anymore.
Be that as it may, it does seem when I find verses where “the ends of the earth” is used, it leans more toward “all the people in the world.” So, it’s more than likely another one of those idioms this guy has a hard time grasping. Brown-Driver-Briggs, an excellent resource for Hebrew translations and nuances of the language, says it is used “only in the poetic” sense.
Q: Matt 4:8 There is a high mountain from which all the kingdoms of the world can be seen. (Note: This implies a flat earth.)
M: The “world” here means the people of the earth. Be that as it may, this passage was being used in the spiritual sense, something we humans have a hard time conceiving.
And thus ends the scientific contradictions and fallacies of this part of the study. Phew! They were getting tedious. We’ll be moving on to more serious matters with the next articles. I’ll continue with the Old Testament. There are still three more divisions: New Testament, Jesus, and God.
Lots of studying to be done yet. Thank you for reading through my articles. Again, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them.
©2024 Kelly L. Hartley
Kelly L. Hartley, a new author, writes Bible studies, devotions, fiction, and poems. She focuses on Bible contradictions for her “Spare Time Musings” on Substack. She’s a member of Ozark Chapter of American Christian Writers and Springfield Writer’s Guild. Social media: Substack, 𝕏, Facebook, Instagram.
Richard Grafton • A chronicle at large and meere history of the affayres of Englande and kinges of the same • 1st edition, 1569 (2 vols.)