The tension: The Second Commandment in Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8 prohibits making "any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is i…
The tension: The Torah (Exod 20:14, Deut 5:18) and the New Testament (Acts 15:20, 1 Cor 5:1, 6:13, 6:18, 10:8, 2 Cor 12:21, Gal 5:19-21, Eph 5:3, Col 3:5-6, 1 Thess 4:3, He…
The tension: Exodus 30 and Numbers 1, 3, and 26 have YHWH explicitly commanding Moses to take multiple censuses of Israel — the Sinai census, the Levite census, the firstbo…
The tension: Exodus, Leviticus, and Nehemiah consistently name Mount Sinai as the mountain of revelation (Exod 31:18, 34:4, 34:32, Lev 26:46, 27:34, Neh 9:13).
The tension: Exodus 33, Deuteronomy 7 and 31, and Joshua 1, 3, 17, and 21 all promise or declare total victory — God will drive out every Canaanite nation, no one will stan…
The tension: Exodus 34:1 has YHWH explicitly saying "I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables." Deuteronomy 10:4 confirms "he wrote on the tab…
The tension: Dozens of texts describe YHWH as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loyalty — Exodus 34:6, Deut 4:31, the Psalms, the prophets, the New Testament l…
The tension: The Torah and the prophets repeatedly insist the Sabbath is a perpetual sign of the covenant — Exodus 31:13-16 calls it an everlasting obligation and Isaiah 56…
The tension: Exodus 6:16-20 and 1 Chronicles 6:1-3 and 1 Chronicles 23:6-12 all give the same three-generation chain from Levi to Moses: Levi -> Kohath -> Amram -> Moses.
The tension: The Pentateuchal legal codes prescribe death by stoning, burning, or general execution for an enormous range of offenses: murder (Gen 9:6; Num 35:30), striking…
