Dealing with Difficult Bible Passages

The apostle Paul warns the Galatians about those who have “fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4). The writer of Hebrews says it’s “impossible to renew to repentance” those who have “fallen away” (Heb. 6:4-6). Yet, Jesus tells his followers he has granted us “eternal life,” and he assures us we will “never perish” (John 10:27-28). 

So, how do we deal with seeming contradictions in Scripture, especially with those difficult passages that challenge such comforting doctrines as eternal security?

Here are 10 guidelines that may prove helpful.

1. Embrace the truth of God’s Word. The Bible is inspired, or God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). God is the author of Scripture and the source of all truth. As such, his Word is inerrant, or without error in everything it addresses. It’s also infallible, or incapable of error, because God does not lie or make mistakes. We may take the Lord at his word, for he is completely reliable, truthful, and unchanging.

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Satan as the dragon – continued (3)

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

We continue our examination of the dragon in the Book of Revelation.

The dragon and the beast from the sea (Rev. 12:18 – 13:10)

The dragon stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. On its horns were ten crowns, and on its heads were blasphemous names. The beast I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority. One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against it?” (emphasis added).

Revelation 12:18 – 13:4

The word dragon in 12:18 does not appear in the Greek, so translators seek to identify the one standing on the sand of the sea either as “the dragon,” “he” (meaning the dragon), or “I” (referring to John). In any case, John sees a frightening beast rise out of the sea in Revelation 13:1-10. In verses 11-18, he sees a second beast rise from the earth. The dragon empowers both beasts. This is explicitly stated of the first beast and implied with respect to the second beast.

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Satan as the dragon – continued

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

The dragon thrown out of heaven (Rev. 12:7-12)

Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was thrown out ​— ​the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him. 

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short (emphasis added).

Revelation 12:7-12

We are spirited away from the pregnant woman and the fiery red dragon (vv. 1-6) to a cosmic battle between Michael and the dragon involving holy and evil angels. The conflict is severe. Michael and his angels prevail. Satan and his angels are cast down to earth. No longer does “the accuser of our brothers and sisters” have access to the throne in heaven. While the battle is won in the unseen spiritual realm, John is careful to record that it is the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of Christian martyrs that deliver the knock-out punches. The heavens rejoice, but the earth and sea brace themselves for a furious dragon onslaught.

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Same Bible, different conclusions

A few months back, a Christian school in Kansas City announced it was closing its doors due to a severe reduction in financial support. The reason: Urban Christian Academy had placed on its website a statement that it is an LGBTQ-affirming institution. When donors discovered this, many stopped writing checks. 

A story about the school’s demise appeared in the Kansas City Star, which, in turn, attracted interest from ABC News.

I received a call from a Chicago-based ABC reporter, who confessed he was in a quandary. He couldn’t seem to find a Christian organization in Missouri willing to go on record that Scripture is not LGBTQ-affirming.

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Satan as the dragon

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

The word dragon (drakon in Greek) appears fourteen times in thirteen verses in the CSB New Testament – all of them in the Book of Revelation. Other English translations, such as the English Standard Version and the New American Standard Bible, sometimes translate the Hebrew tanniyn as “dragon,” “serpent,” or “monster” (e.g., Neh. 2:13; Isa. 27:1; 51:9; Ezek. 29:3; 32:2). The CSB renders tanniyn “serpent” or “monster” in these same verses, but “dragon” never appears in the CSB Old Testament.

In the Septuagint, which includes various Greek translations of the Old Testament, drakon translates a number of Hebrew words for a variety of animals, including the lion (Job 4:10; 38:39), snake and asp (Job 26:13; Amos 9:3), and the jackal (Jer. 9:11; Lam. 4:3; Mic. 1:8). It is also used for the great monster Leviathan (Job 40:20; Ps. 74:14; 104:26; Isa. 27:1). In the Septuagint version of Esther, an apocalyptic battle between Mordecai and Haman is depicted as dragons locked in mortal combat. This is similar to the battle between Marduk and Tiamat in the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story. According to Peter Bolt, the same myth may lie behind the Septuagint addition to Daniel, the story known as Bel and the Dragon.

The apostle John uses drakon exclusively in Revelation as a symbolic representation of Satan. Further, he links “dragon” and “serpent” to identify this creature as the ancient tempter in the garden of Eden. The dragon is explicitly identified as “the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9; cf. Rev. 20:2). 

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