How Could Ahaziah Be Both 22 Years Old And 42 Years Old When He Started To Reign? How Do We Know The Bible Is True?
Question : I’m just wondering about what to make of certain things like Ahaziah’s age when he began to rule (22 according to 2 Kings 8:26 and 42 according to 2 Chronicles 22:2). How could Ahaziah be both 22 years old and 42 years old when he started to reign? How do we know the Bible is true? How could we ever say and justify the Inerrancy of the Bible in such a scenario?
Answer : "Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel." (2 Kings 8:26).
"Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri." (2 Chronicles 22:2).
Ahaziah’s true age when he became king of Judah is easy to discern by further research and evaluation. In 2 Kings 8:17, Ahaziah’s father Joram reigned for 8 years after beginning his reign at age 32. Joram was 40 when he died, showing that Ahaziah could not have been 42, but was instead 22 when he began his reign. So what does the 42 in 2 Chronicles 22:2 indicate?
The 42 in 2 Chronicles 22:2 indicate that there is nothing wrong with the inspiration that God has given to each one to write His Word and record the happenings that He wanted them to record for future inspiration and godly life (2 Tim 3:16-17). We know that a copyist must have made a mistake in this regard, and God knows that humans are susceptible to error because of their imperfection, and still God have assigned and entrusted human vessels to keep His Word secure through the generations. Does that mean that all the Word of God might have error in it? By no means, because one part of the Scripture can be validated from another part of the Scripture by its support to bring clarity to what has been written, so that we might understand the truth and leave out the copyist human error out of our scrutiny to validate (Isa 34:16). God's inspiration in His Word remains the same in spite of some small human error that have crept in, and there is not even a minute error in the truth of God revealed to us humans, and above all God keeps it safe through the copy of it done by many others who have written the same word and reproduced it through other means and methods to keep it safe (Psalm 12:6–7). So better to search the ancient copies of it and see what it says. Many fail to realize that several ancient texts have 22 (or simply 20) instead of 42 as listed in the Masoretic Text (MT) in 2 Chronicles 22:2. The Syriac version (common to Eastern churches) and Arabic version each have 22. But each translation has its own uniqueness and Jesus used different translations of the original for His reference and study. In spite of this difference, God's word remains the same without change and Jesus proved to us through living a supernatural life of a overcomer over self and sin, world and Satan, and put a seal of authority on God's word to be fully true and inerrant (John 1:14; 6:63; 12:49; Matt 24:34-35; Luke 24:27). Praise the Lord!
The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry website in short CARM says, "The fact that this is a copyist error does not invalidate the inspiration or authority of Scripture. Remember, God inspired the originals. They were without error. The copies have problems, though very very few. The copies are copies of inspired documents and, unfortunately, some copyist errors did creep into the manuscripts. However, they do not affect any doctrinal areas and are very rare."
So the bottom line is, those who do not want to believe the truth will always look for a reason to deny the truth by raising such dispute and doubt about the inerrancy of the Bible. But faith is a matter of the heart, so the truth must always be believed first and confessed next and then should be used to draw near to God by calling on Him by faith from that time onwards, and He will draw experientially near to us through various ways for the rest of our eternity ahead to bless us and keep us under His care (Rom 10:6-13; Jam 4:8). After trusting God if you are able to do a little home work of searching through the Scripture, you will come to solve apparent contradiction and get yourself confirmed and rooted in your belief. Searching the Scripture to support your doubt will never make you find the truth through your homework which will always validate the inerrancy of the inspiration of God, but instead it will only rock your boat of faith.
Jesus said, "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority." (John 7:17). In other words, Jesus was saying that if we want to know what the Bible says and what Jesus have said is true, then it is not about learning through studying that gives us the assurance, but it is our sincere desire in our heart to do the will of God that gives us the assurance and experience of knowing the doctrine of the Bible as true or not. Thus Jesus emphasizes first the belief in the truth and sincere heart desire in our heart to do the will of God that will then surely and concretely make us understand the inerrancy of the Divine inspiration of the Bible.
I am reminding of what Jesus has said to all humans regarding how they live their lifestyle regarding the Word of God will influence their future, "10 And he [Jesus] said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” 12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." (Rev 22:10-17).
Jesus has made it clear in the above verses that whether we doubt or believe the Word of God will not have any effect to alter the veracity of the Word of God, but it will have effect on our eternal future instead for sure. First of all if someone believes the Words of Jesus, they will get saved from hell fire and condemnation of living their rest of their eternity without God (John 3:16-18; 2 Thess 1:8-10; Matt 25:41, 46). Those who believe His word will live the rest of their eternity with God and His goodness. By believing and doing His commandments through their faith, they will get greatly rewarded by Jesus personally when He comes back again to take back His own to His Father's house in heaven in their new and glorious eternal bodies after rapture (John 14:1-4; 1 Thess 4:14-18). Jesus' invitation has gone global to every human ever born on this planet earth and it is our desire to accept the truth that will decide where we will spend the rest of our eternity with God in bliss or without Him in eternal hell fire. It is always better to first believe and do our homework to find the truth than to doubt and stay in doubt about our eternal future with God.
Much Blessings....
Answer : "Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel." (2 Kings 8:26).
"Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri." (2 Chronicles 22:2).
Ahaziah’s true age when he became king of Judah is easy to discern by further research and evaluation. In 2 Kings 8:17, Ahaziah’s father Joram reigned for 8 years after beginning his reign at age 32. Joram was 40 when he died, showing that Ahaziah could not have been 42, but was instead 22 when he began his reign. So what does the 42 in 2 Chronicles 22:2 indicate?
The 42 in 2 Chronicles 22:2 indicate that there is nothing wrong with the inspiration that God has given to each one to write His Word and record the happenings that He wanted them to record for future inspiration and godly life (2 Tim 3:16-17). We know that a copyist must have made a mistake in this regard, and God knows that humans are susceptible to error because of their imperfection, and still God have assigned and entrusted human vessels to keep His Word secure through the generations. Does that mean that all the Word of God might have error in it? By no means, because one part of the Scripture can be validated from another part of the Scripture by its support to bring clarity to what has been written, so that we might understand the truth and leave out the copyist human error out of our scrutiny to validate (Isa 34:16). God's inspiration in His Word remains the same in spite of some small human error that have crept in, and there is not even a minute error in the truth of God revealed to us humans, and above all God keeps it safe through the copy of it done by many others who have written the same word and reproduced it through other means and methods to keep it safe (Psalm 12:6–7). So better to search the ancient copies of it and see what it says. Many fail to realize that several ancient texts have 22 (or simply 20) instead of 42 as listed in the Masoretic Text (MT) in 2 Chronicles 22:2. The Syriac version (common to Eastern churches) and Arabic version each have 22. But each translation has its own uniqueness and Jesus used different translations of the original for His reference and study. In spite of this difference, God's word remains the same without change and Jesus proved to us through living a supernatural life of a overcomer over self and sin, world and Satan, and put a seal of authority on God's word to be fully true and inerrant (John 1:14; 6:63; 12:49; Matt 24:34-35; Luke 24:27). Praise the Lord!
The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry website in short CARM says, "The fact that this is a copyist error does not invalidate the inspiration or authority of Scripture. Remember, God inspired the originals. They were without error. The copies have problems, though very very few. The copies are copies of inspired documents and, unfortunately, some copyist errors did creep into the manuscripts. However, they do not affect any doctrinal areas and are very rare."
So the bottom line is, those who do not want to believe the truth will always look for a reason to deny the truth by raising such dispute and doubt about the inerrancy of the Bible. But faith is a matter of the heart, so the truth must always be believed first and confessed next and then should be used to draw near to God by calling on Him by faith from that time onwards, and He will draw experientially near to us through various ways for the rest of our eternity ahead to bless us and keep us under His care (Rom 10:6-13; Jam 4:8). After trusting God if you are able to do a little home work of searching through the Scripture, you will come to solve apparent contradiction and get yourself confirmed and rooted in your belief. Searching the Scripture to support your doubt will never make you find the truth through your homework which will always validate the inerrancy of the inspiration of God, but instead it will only rock your boat of faith.
Jesus said, "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority." (John 7:17). In other words, Jesus was saying that if we want to know what the Bible says and what Jesus have said is true, then it is not about learning through studying that gives us the assurance, but it is our sincere desire in our heart to do the will of God that gives us the assurance and experience of knowing the doctrine of the Bible as true or not. Thus Jesus emphasizes first the belief in the truth and sincere heart desire in our heart to do the will of God that will then surely and concretely make us understand the inerrancy of the Divine inspiration of the Bible.
I am reminding of what Jesus has said to all humans regarding how they live their lifestyle regarding the Word of God will influence their future, "10 And he [Jesus] said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” 12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." (Rev 22:10-17).
Jesus has made it clear in the above verses that whether we doubt or believe the Word of God will not have any effect to alter the veracity of the Word of God, but it will have effect on our eternal future instead for sure. First of all if someone believes the Words of Jesus, they will get saved from hell fire and condemnation of living their rest of their eternity without God (John 3:16-18; 2 Thess 1:8-10; Matt 25:41, 46). Those who believe His word will live the rest of their eternity with God and His goodness. By believing and doing His commandments through their faith, they will get greatly rewarded by Jesus personally when He comes back again to take back His own to His Father's house in heaven in their new and glorious eternal bodies after rapture (John 14:1-4; 1 Thess 4:14-18). Jesus' invitation has gone global to every human ever born on this planet earth and it is our desire to accept the truth that will decide where we will spend the rest of our eternity with God in bliss or without Him in eternal hell fire. It is always better to first believe and do our homework to find the truth than to doubt and stay in doubt about our eternal future with God.
Much Blessings....
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