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Some, who are unwilling to believe what our God has explicitly told us He will bring to pass, claim that all Bible prophecies are stated in riddles. On the basis of this false claim, they insist that those who simply believe what these prophecies say are applying their own interpretations to prophetic riddles. But what does the word of God have to say about this?
Their claim is based on a passage in Numbers 12, where we read, “If there is a prophet among you from the Lord, I make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my household. I speak with him directly, openly, and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (Numbers 12:6-8 - CSB)
The Hebrew word here translated “riddles” is בחידה, bhida in our alphabet, the word חידה, hida in our alphabet, with a beth prefix, signifying instrumentality. This is word number 2420 in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary, which literally means a “puzzle.” In this verse, most translations render this word as “dark sayings,” but those that do not wish to simply believe the prophecies in the Bible prefer the word “riddles,” which is indeed an accurate translation, and is used in a number of translations. They love this word because they think it implies a need to “guess” at the meaning. But a need to guess at the meaning is not even implied by this Hebrew word. Instead, it implies a need to find the meaning, not to guess at it..
In the entire Bible, this is the only time this Hebrew word was used in regard to prophecy. And it should be obvious to anyone that this is a very flimsy foundation for a claim that it applies to all the prophecies in the Bible. They defend this claim by saying that this pasage says that God always speaks to prophets other than Moses, “in a vision” or “in a dream.” But that it not what it says. In the CSV, which these people like to use, Proverbs 30:6 says, “Don’t add to his words, or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.” Yet these people add the word “always” to Numbers 12:6.
There can be no doubt that God often spoke to His prophets through dreams or visions. And, conerning these dreams or visions, there is a fixed rule that runs throughout the Bible, from one end to the other, without a single exception. And that is, in every dream or vision which God described for us, and then gave us an inspired interpretation, the meaning was completely different from what the prophet saw. So dreams and visions are ineed “riddles” to be solved. But not so with explicit statements about coming events. Indeed, they are exactly the opposite. For again throughout the entire Bible, without a sngle exception, every time God explicitly said that something was going to happen, and then afterward told us that it had been fulfilled, was fulfilled literally, exactly as God had said it would happen, down to the tiniest detail.
The same is also true of Daniel 11:2-35. Althugh no scripture rells us this prophecy has been fulfilled, the records of history ineed tells that every part of ths account was literally fulfilled, down to the tiniest detail. But verse 35 describes a contition that it says will continue “until the time of the end.” and nothing in the rest of that chapter has been fulfilled.
Again Abraham was told “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (Genesis 15:13-16) And, not only the accounts of the historical books of the Bible, but Acts 7:6-7 explicitly tells us it was fulfilled literally.
So the claim that all the prophecies in the Bible are stated in “riddles,” is not only baseless. It is contrary to explicitly stated scripture.
Their claim is based on a passage in Numbers 12, where we read, “If there is a prophet among you from the Lord, I make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my household. I speak with him directly, openly, and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (Numbers 12:6-8 - CSB)
The Hebrew word here translated “riddles” is בחידה, bhida in our alphabet, the word חידה, hida in our alphabet, with a beth prefix, signifying instrumentality. This is word number 2420 in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary, which literally means a “puzzle.” In this verse, most translations render this word as “dark sayings,” but those that do not wish to simply believe the prophecies in the Bible prefer the word “riddles,” which is indeed an accurate translation, and is used in a number of translations. They love this word because they think it implies a need to “guess” at the meaning. But a need to guess at the meaning is not even implied by this Hebrew word. Instead, it implies a need to find the meaning, not to guess at it..
In the entire Bible, this is the only time this Hebrew word was used in regard to prophecy. And it should be obvious to anyone that this is a very flimsy foundation for a claim that it applies to all the prophecies in the Bible. They defend this claim by saying that this pasage says that God always speaks to prophets other than Moses, “in a vision” or “in a dream.” But that it not what it says. In the CSV, which these people like to use, Proverbs 30:6 says, “Don’t add to his words, or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.” Yet these people add the word “always” to Numbers 12:6.
There can be no doubt that God often spoke to His prophets through dreams or visions. And, conerning these dreams or visions, there is a fixed rule that runs throughout the Bible, from one end to the other, without a single exception. And that is, in every dream or vision which God described for us, and then gave us an inspired interpretation, the meaning was completely different from what the prophet saw. So dreams and visions are ineed “riddles” to be solved. But not so with explicit statements about coming events. Indeed, they are exactly the opposite. For again throughout the entire Bible, without a sngle exception, every time God explicitly said that something was going to happen, and then afterward told us that it had been fulfilled, was fulfilled literally, exactly as God had said it would happen, down to the tiniest detail.
The same is also true of Daniel 11:2-35. Althugh no scripture rells us this prophecy has been fulfilled, the records of history ineed tells that every part of ths account was literally fulfilled, down to the tiniest detail. But verse 35 describes a contition that it says will continue “until the time of the end.” and nothing in the rest of that chapter has been fulfilled.
Again Abraham was told “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (Genesis 15:13-16) And, not only the accounts of the historical books of the Bible, but Acts 7:6-7 explicitly tells us it was fulfilled literally.
So the claim that all the prophecies in the Bible are stated in “riddles,” is not only baseless. It is contrary to explicitly stated scripture.