61. All the cattle and horses in Egypt died

All the horses of Egypt did not die

62. Moses feared Pharaoh

Moses did not fear Pharaoh

Hebrews says "By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger."

The accounts in Ex 2 and 4 describe events long before Moses led his people out of Egypt (besides, Ex 4 says nothing about Moses fearing Pharaoh). This is obviously another contradiction which is read INTO the Bible.

63. There died of the plague twenty-four thousand

There died of the plague but twenty-three thousand

According to Paul, 23,000 fell "in one day." The account in Numbers simply states that 24,000 died of the plague. It is not contradictory that 23,000 should die in a day, and another 1000 die before or after.

64. John the Baptist was Elias

John the Baptist was not Elias

Note, in Matt. 11:14, not "He is" but "If you are willing to receive it, he is." Indicating not a literal identity but a fulfillment of prophecy.

This is referring to the prophecy in Mal. 4:5-6 "Behold, I will send unto you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

This prophecy has two fulfillments. First, before the Lord's first coming, John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight His paths. Luke 1:17 "And it is he who will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the prudence of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people made ready."

The second fulfillment of this prophecy is before the second coming of the Lord. This has yet to happen, and at that time it will be Elijah, not one in the spirit and power of Elijah, who will actually come. This is confirmed by the Lord's word in:

Mt 17:10-13 "And the disciples asked Him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? And He answered and said, Elijah indeed is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah has already come; and they did not recognize him, but did with him the things they wished. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer by them. Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them concerning John the Baptist."

Again the Lord is careful to point out that the literal Elijah has yet to come, but then to say "but I say to you." This indicates that although Elijah is coming, it can also be said that he has come - referring to John the Baptist.

Elijah's coming is also mentioned in Rev. 11:3-4. He will be one of the two witnesses.

John 1:21 John B. said that he was not Elijah. That's right. He wasn't the actual person of Elijah. That would happen much much later ....

So in a sense he was Elijah, and yet he wasn't. Not a contradiction. --MAW

65. The father of Joseph, Mary's husband was Jacob

The father of Mary's husband was Heli

It is distinctly possible that Luke's account traces Jesus' lineage through Mary, and no Joseph. Some of the circumstantial evidence in to support this is as follows:

1. Luke's birth narrative is through the eyes of Mary, while Matthew's is through the eyes of Joseph. Thus, Luke could have received his material through Mary (or somone close), thus it is quite possible that he received her genealogy.

2. Luke 3:23 reads, "Jesus...being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, etc." Luke certainly draws attention to the fact that Jesus was not truly Joseph's son, so why would he then go to all the trouble in listing Joseph's genealogy?

3. After considering the Greek of Luke 3:23, Robert Gromacki believes it should be translated as follows:

"being the son (as was supposed of Joseph) of Heli, of Matthat, etc."

Gromaki states:

"Since women did not appear in direct genealogical listings, Joseph stood in Mary's place, but Luke was careful to note that there was no physical connection between Joseph and either Jesus or Heli."

4. Luke's genealogy also lists Adam as "the son of God." This would indicate that one would have no grounds for insisting that the term "son" meant only the direct, biological offspring. Thus, one could think of Jesus as the "son of Heli."

5. The writings of Ignatitius (ca. 100 AD) indicate that the early church thought that Mary was a Davidic descent. For example, he writes:

""Under the Divine dispensation, Jesus Christ our God was conceived by Mary of the seed of David and of the spirit of God; He was born, and He submitted to baptism, so that by His Passion He might sanctify water." -- Ignatius to the Ephesians

"Christ was of David's line. He was the son of Mary; He was verily and indeed born.." -- Ignatius to the Trallians

Since Ignatius believed in the virgin birth, it clearly follows that he would believe that she was "of the seed of David." Other apocryphal gospels and Justin Martyr also believed Mary to have been a descendent of David.

Objections to these claims are basically of two types:

A. The Jews did not typically trace genealogies through women.

Reply: This is true, but a virgin birth is not a typical birth. Thus standard practices would not be expected to hold.

B. There is no explicit mention that the genealogy is Mary's.

Reply: This is true again, but the reason for this is probably due to point A. The genealogy would lose all appeal if it was explicitly cited as Mary's. However, it does seem to be implied. Thus, one could discern this truth after they had converted and studied the text. This would account for the early church's belief about Mary's Davidic descent.

Whatever one makes of such reasoning, it is certainly possible that the above explanation might be true, thus a contradiction has not been proved.

66. The father of Salah was Arphaxad

The father of Salah was Cainan

67. There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David

There were but thirteen generations from Abraham to David

68. There were fourteen generations from the Babalonish captivity to Christ.

There were but thirteen generations from the Babalonish captivity to Christ

I looked this up in my study Bible (Recovery Version) and found the following explanation:

(Matt. 1:17) "This genealogy is divided into three ages: (1) from Abraham until David, fourteen generations, the age before the establishing of the kingdom; (2) from David until the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, the age of the kingdom; (3) from the deportation to Babylon until the Christ, again fourteen generations, the age after the fall of the kingdom. According to history, there were actually forty-five generations. By deducting from these generations the three cursed generations [Matt. 1:8; 1 Chron. 3:11-12; 2 Kings 15:1, 13; 2 Chron. 21:5-6; 22:1-4; Exo. 20:5] and the one improper generation [Matt. 1:11; 1 Chron. 3:15-16; 2 Kings 23:34-35], and then adding one by making David two generations (one, the age before the establishing of the kingdom, and the other, the age of the kingdom), the generations total forty-two, being divided into three ages of fourteen generations each." --MAW

It's simply a matter of how you count. In other words, you can count it as fourteen generations first by extending from Abraham to David; secondly, by extending from David to the deportation; and thirdly, by extending from Jechonias to Christ, inclusive in each case.

69. The infant Christ was taken into Egypt

The infant Christ was not taken into Egypt

Journey of Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem; birth of the child; presentation in the Temple; return to Bethlehem; visit of the Magi; flight into Egypt; return to settle in Nazareth.

70. Christ was tempted in the wilderness

Christ was not tempted in the wilderness

John 2:1, 2 The third day after John testifies for Jesus for the first time in the book of John, (not the first ever) Jesus is in Cana of Galilee turning water into wine. There is no mention of how much earlier Jesus was baptized. He was tempted in the wilderness before 1:29. Then He went back to see John, at which time John proclaims that Jesus is the Lamb of God, based on previously having seen the Spirit descend on Him in the form of a dove. (verses 32 to 34). -- MAW