Why did God allow difficult passages in Scripture?
Question 1114
Anyone who has read the Bible seriously has encountered passages that puzzle, trouble, or even disturb. Genealogies that seem pointless, prophecies that remain obscure, apparent contradictions between accounts, commands that seem harsh to modern ears, and theological statements that the greatest minds have debated for centuries. If God wanted to communicate clearly with His people, why did He give us a book with so many difficulties? The question is not merely academic but touches on our confidence in Scripture and our approach to studying it.
The Reality of Difficulty
We should acknowledge upfront that the difficulties are real. Even the apostle Peter admitted that Paul’s letters contained “some things that are hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). The Ethiopian eunuch, reading Isaiah, asked Philip, “How can I understand unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:31). Jesus’ own disciples often failed to grasp His teaching, asking Him afterwards, “Explain to us the parable” (Matthew 15:15). If inspired apostles and sincere seekers found parts of Scripture challenging, we should not be surprised when we do.
The difficulties come in various forms. There are historical questions (how to harmonise Kings and Chronicles), scientific questions (the age of the earth, the flood), moral questions (the conquest of Canaan, imprecatory psalms), theological questions (predestination and free will, the nature of Christ), and textual questions (manuscript variants, uncertain words). These are not identical problems and require different approaches, but they share the common feature of making Bible reading less straightforward than we might wish.
God’s Purposes in Difficulty
Why would God allow such difficulties? Several purposes emerge when we think carefully about this:
Humility: A Bible we could fully master would become our possession rather than our master. The difficult passages remind us that we are dealing with the infinite God, whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). We come to Scripture as students, not as critics who stand in judgement over the text. Proverbs warns against being wise in our own eyes (Proverbs 3:7), and the very difficulty of Scripture prevents us from assuming we have it all figured out.
Dependence: Difficult passages drive us to prayer, to the Spirit’s illumination, and to the community of faith. If everything were obvious, we might think we could understand Scripture on our own. But when we are puzzled, we cry out with the psalmist, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). The difficulty creates dependence, which is precisely where God wants us.
Diligence: Proverbs tells us that “it is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out” (Proverbs 25:2). God rewards those who seek Him with their whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13). A Bible that required no effort to understand would not develop the same depth of engagement. The challenge draws us in, keeps us returning, and produces the kind of sustained attention that transforms minds and hearts.
Diversity of gifts: The difficulty of Scripture means that the church needs teachers. God gives gifted individuals to help His people understand His Word (Ephesians 4:11). If everyone could understand everything instantly, there would be no need for the teaching ministry. But because Scripture contains depths that require careful study, God’s people have always needed and benefited from those who devote themselves to its exposition.
Progressive revelation: Much that was obscure in earlier Scripture becomes clear in light of Christ. The disciples on the road to Emmaus had read Moses and the Prophets all their lives, but it took the risen Jesus to show them how everything pointed to Himself (Luke 24:27). The very difficulty of Old Testament passages creates anticipation for their fulfilment. Prophecy intentionally contains elements that are not fully clear until after the fact, lest human beings manipulate prophetic fulfilment or treat the future as merely determined fate.
What Difficulty Does Not Mean
Acknowledging difficulty is not the same as admitting error. The doctrine of inerrancy, rightly understood, does not claim that every passage is easy to interpret or that we currently have all the answers. It claims that what Scripture teaches, when properly understood, is true. The difficulties lie in our interpretation, not in the text itself.
History has repeatedly vindicated this confidence. Passages once thought to contain historical errors have been confirmed by archaeology. Apparent contradictions have been resolved by closer study. Obscure references have been illuminated by new discoveries. The trend of scholarship, despite the claims of critics, has generally been to confirm rather than undermine Scripture’s reliability. We should therefore approach remaining difficulties with patience, confident that answers exist even when we have not yet found them.
Practical Approaches
How should we handle difficult passages? Several principles help:
Interpret the unclear by the clear: Do not build doctrine on obscure passages. Let the plain teaching of Scripture guide your understanding of the puzzling parts. What is ambiguous in one place is often stated clearly elsewhere.
Consider context: Many difficulties arise from reading verses in isolation. The literary context, historical context, and canonical context all shed light on meaning.
Be humble about what you do not know: It is perfectly acceptable to say, “I don’t fully understand this passage.” Intellectual honesty serves the church better than forced explanations.
Trust God’s goodness: When you encounter passages that trouble you morally, do not assume you have understood them correctly if your interpretation makes God unjust. God is good, and His Word is good. If a passage seems to contradict that, keep studying.
Conclusion
The difficult passages of Scripture are not bugs in the system but features of a text designed by infinite wisdom for finite readers. They humble us, deepen us, draw us into dependence on God and community with His people, and ultimately point us to the One who alone can open our minds to understand Scripture. Rather than stumbling blocks, they are invitations to dig deeper, pray more earnestly, and discover treasures that reward those who seek.
“If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:4-5
Bibliography
- Archer, Gleason L. Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982.
- Carson, D.A. Exegetical Fallacies. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996.
- Frame, John M. The Doctrine of the Word of God. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2010.
- Geisler, Norman L. and Thomas Howe. The Big Book of Bible Difficulties. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008.
- Kaiser, Walter C. Jr. Hard Sayings of the Old Testament. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988.
- Sproul, R.C. Knowing Scripture. Rev. ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009.
- Stein, Robert H. A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011.