BULLSEYE!
ACCURATE
BIBLE KNOWLEDGE!
“I’VE FOUND A MISTAKE”
(Part 1
of 3)
QUESTION: “The Bible is wrong – it’s Merodachbaladan in
one spot but Berodachbaladan in another!”
ANSWER: There is no mistake. They are two names for
the same man.
EXPLANATION:
|
2 Kings 20:12
At
that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon,
sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that
Hezekiah had been sick.
|
Isaiah
39:1
At
that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon,
sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had
been sick, and was recovered.
|
Depending
upon their duties,
positions and
status,
kings, and indeed ordinary
men, were known by various names.
Furthermore,
if being used
by God for a
particular purpose,
as in this case
Berodachbaladan, God would indicate in the scriptures that this was the
case.
The
names
Berodachbaladan
and Merodachbaladan
occur only once in the Bible.
Now
Berodachbaladan
was his normal
name, but the name change to Merodachbaladan
shows he is being used as an instrument
of judgment
upon King Hezekiah,
and indeed, Israel, with enormous consequences to follow.
The
explanation is as follows:
In
Isaiah chapters 38 and 39, we can piece together the following story.
Hezekiah was
sick unto death and Isaiah the prophet tells him that he will die.
Instead
of Hezekiah accepting God’s will of death,
he starts to bleat, wail, cry and carry on like a spoilt child and tell
God how
good he has been. He won’t accept God’s verdict.
But
God knows better because if he lets Hezekiah live, he will give birth
to
Manasseh (which he does) - the most bloodthirsty and cruel king (2Kings
21) in Israel’s
history.
But
God relents and gives him fifteen years to live. Instead of Hezekiah
saying
“Thank you LORD” he petulantly says “Well how do I know this will be
true God.”
God then returns the sun ten degrees.
That is one massive miracle. I mean God could easily have done a minor
miracle and said “Look up in the sky, I’ll make those birds fly
backwards” or “Look at your finger – I’ll make it go bright white as in
leprosy
like Miriam.”
However
God says “Because you have done this, Israel will go into captivity
into
Babylon in about 100 years time.” A massive miracle matched by massive
destructive
consequences!
Now
here’s the point of it all. God sends Berodachbaladan
with the name of Merodachbaladan
to try Hezekiah, who promptly shows off all the treasures of the temple
to him.
God says “Bad move Hezekiah! You should not have done that!”
Yes,
Berodachbaladan
is his normal name but God calls him Merodachbaladan
(judgment name) deliberately
as he is being used to judge
what’s on Hezekiah’s heart.
Hezekiah
is probably running around the countryside boasting his head off to all
and
sundry saying the following …
1.
“God said I was going to die”
2.
“But I made God change his mind.”
3.
Then I said “Well God, I’m not sure you are telling the truth. Give me
a sign!”
4.
“Then God did this massive miracle and changed the shadow of the sun by
ten
degrees backwards! Yes! Not forwards but God reverses his laws of
gravity and
everything just for me. I must be something special!”
5.
“I’m invincible, I’m bullet proof! You can’t kill me! I’m alive for the
next
fifteen years!”
The
table below shows the two periods of sickness and recovery.
|
2 Kings 20:12
At
that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon,
sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that
Hezekiah had been sick.
|
Isaiah
39:1
At
that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon,
sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had
been sick, and was recovered.
|
The
first time Hezekiah is more humble so Berodachbaladan,
as the name infers, is not being
used as an instrument to try Hezekiah’s heart as such.
The
second time Berodachbaladan
shows up, he is Merodachbaladan
- God’s
instrument of
judgment.
Get
the picture? So God says “You can live for another fifteen years but
you’ll
give birth to the worst king ever and then I’m sending you off to
Babylon as
captives in about 100 years time. How about that!?”
Dear Reader, when you hear someone say “I have
found a mistake in the
King James Bible” you will know they either are ignorant in the
true
sense of the word or with their will, they choose to be willingly
ignorant,
and there is no amount of true, correct or factual information that can
change
their mind. You could dump a semi-trailer load of information on their
front
lawn, but they will not be convinced.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Go and study to show yourself APPROVED UNTO GOD,
and study to
find the answer why there isn’t a mistake. As the scriptures say God
rewards
those that diligently seek him (Heb 11:6). There are no mistakes
in the
King James Bible.
Look
Dear Reader, most
people have already made up their mind that there are mistakes in the
King
James Bible, and they will not let facts get in the way of their
opinion.
When
you hear someone say “I’ve
found a mistake…”. Do your best to open their eyes a couple of times …
then just
shake your head, walk away and pray that God will open their eyes.
As
someone said a long time
ago “People’s ignorance is their most prized possession, and they will
burn
down their own house to protect it.”
It’s
like you say to people “Get
saved or you will burn in hell.”
Their
response is “Well, I
don’t believe it. That’s just your opinion!”
The
purpose of God’s
‘mistakes’ in the King James Bible are two-fold:
1. A trap and a snare for the Bible Corrector,
Critic and Mocker
2. A reward for those that will diligently seek him (Heb 11:6)
**** ****
Harley Hitchcock
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com
“CONTACT US”
Australian
Bible
Ministries, PO
Box 5058 Mt. Gravatt East 4122 Qld, Australia
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com
