There are a lot of misconceptions about the bible because of pop culture theology and church traditions. There are many misconceptions about the Bible because of pop culture theology and church traditions. We all need to go back to reading what the text actually says. Here are a few examples that are only a taste of what there is to uncover.

Afterlife vs Eternal Life
Many Christians believe the Bible says people go to heaven eternally when they die and possibly even become angels. However, the Bible doesn’t focus on the “afterlife”; it focuses more on the resurrection from the dead so that people can live again forever. Because of this, there are Christians who object to the concept of going to heaven when we die because it doesn’t make sense for people to die and go to heaven and then get sent back to earth for the first resurrection, only to get taken back up into heaven. This is a good question to ask ourselves: Why would God have someone who is saved die and go to heaven forever, only to send them back to earth to get in their old bodies for the resurrection, so that they can be raptured back up to heaven? This means that we don’t “go to heaven and become angels” as some teach when we die, but instead, when we die, it is temporary as we wait to be resurrected. Side Note: We don’t become angels at all, Jesus said we become “like the angels in heaven at the resurrection” (Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25, & Luke 20:36) in that we don’t marry anymore, but we will always be humans since we were initially born on earth from earthly mothers. When Jesus returns, believers will be resurrected with eternal life; this means that eternal life is not the afterlife. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:3 that there are no bodiless spirits in heaven, and everyone who goes to heaven needs a new heavenly body.

The Bible teaches that eternal life starts at the resurrection of the righteous (the 1st resurrection). The 2nd resurrection is for the condemnation of the unsaved, and only they are thrown into the lake of fire afterward for the “second death”. Bible believers have different views on what happens between death and resurrection. Some Christians don’t believe in an afterlife and believe we sleep until the resurrection. Even most Jews don’t believe in an afterlife, but are waiting for the resurrection unless they follow the Sadducee school of thought, which denies the resurrection of the dead. Those who believe in an afterlife have different views. One view is that the wicked go to the fiery part of Sheol (also referred to as Hades or Hell), and the righteous are on another side, separated by a great chasm in Abraham’s bosom or Paradise. This is based on the parable in Luke 16:19-31. Another view is that while the wicked stay in Sheol, the righteous abode of Abraham’s bosom/Paradise was moved to heaven when Jesus rose. The righteous dead are those in Revelation 6:9-11 waiting for the 1st resurrection, while the wicked are waiting for the 2nd resurrection in Revelation ch. 20. The Bible says God is the judge of the assembly of the spirits of the firstborn (righteous men) in heaven, which sounds like a reference to a state of bodiless existence (or afterlife) in Heb 12:22-23, so I believe that there is an afterlife, but it is temporary. Temporary because when both resurrections occur, everyone will stand before God alive with bodies to be sent to their final eternal destination. So maybe believers go to Abraham’s bosom (or possibly a new paradise holding place located in heaven, post resurrections of Jesus) where they don’t need bodies, however, they are not in the actual Kingdom because they need the new bodies to be alive (2 Cor 5:1-10), and they are waiting for the return of Jesus which initiates the 1st resurrection.

Do Angels have wings?
Another misconception is that many people believe that biblical angels have wings, but they are never described this way in scripture; only cherubs and seraphs have wings. Think about Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, the two angels led Lot and his family out, but they didn’t pick them up and fly them away like superheroes; they ran on foot. Angels in pre-4th-century artwork are depicted without wings. In the 4th Century, wings were added to depictions of angels, and cherubs were made to look like cupid babies. This and many other changes came about with the European Romanization of Christianity, which reinterpreted Jewish aspects of Christianity.

How long were the Israelites in Egypt?
Another misconception is that the Israelites were enslaved for 400/430 years. They were only in Egypt for 215 years and enslaved for no more than 144 years. Moses’ grandfather Kohath came with the Israelites to Egypt from Canaan in Gen 46. If Kohath (who died at age 133) was born the year the Israelites came to Egypt, and his son Amram (died at 137) and grandson Moses (80 years old at the time of the Exodus) were each born when their fathers died, then 133 + 137 + 80 is a maximum of 350 years. So the Israelites COULDN’T have been in Egypt for more than 350 years. The 400 years in Genesis 15:13 and the 430 years in Exodus 12:40 are separate numbers for two separate aspects of the Israelites’ history. Moses was 80 when the Israelites left Egypt (Exodus 7:7), Moses’ father Amram lived until age 137 (Exodus 6:20), and Moses’ grandfather Kohath lived until age 133 (Exodus 6:18). Kohath was one of the 66 people who left Canaan for Egypt with Jacob (Gen 46:8-26 [v11 mentions Kohath]). 

The 430 years in Exodus 12:40 are a count from when Abraham received the promise at 75 years old to when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt at age 80. This is explained by Paul in Galatians 3:16-17 and confirmed by Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian from the 1st Century.  We can add up the years and find out. Abraham’s promise was given at age 75 (Gen 12:3-7). Isaac was born 25 years later (Gen 21:5). When Isaac was 60, he had Jacob (Gen 25:26). Jacob went to Egypt 130 years later (Gen 47:9). So, 25 + 60 + 130 = 215, which is half of 430 years. So, the second half of those 215 years comprised the time the Israelites spent in Egypt until the time of 80-year-old Moses and the Exodus. They weren’t enslaved until after Joseph died (Ex 1:8-11), which means they were in Egypt for 215 years, but there were slaves for less than that. Joseph was 39 (30+7+2) when Jacob came to Egypt. Joseph died at 110 (Gen 50:6), 71 years after Jacob came to Egypt. So 215-71=144. So they were enslaved for 144 years max and 80 years minimum.

In Gen 15:13, it was prophesied that Abram’s (Abraham’s) SEED (children/descendants) would be MISTREATED and ENSLAVED in a FOREIGN LAND for 400 years. “Foreign land” refers to both Canaan AND Egypt because Abraham was a foreigner in both since he is from Ur of the Chaldees. Canaan wasn’t his land; he lived among them as a sojourner. According to the promise, his first “seed” was Isaac (Gen 17:17-22). Isaac was “mistreated” starting from the time he was being bullied by Ishmael in his weaning days (Gen 21:8-9). Paul even reminds us of the time Ishmael persecuted Isaac in Gal 4:29. In addition, Isaac was persecuted by Abimelech in Gen 26. Jacob endured persecution from his brother Esau (Gen 27-28) and his father-in-law Laban in Aram (Gen 31-32). When the Israelites came to Egypt initially for food, they were discriminated against because the Egyptians didn’t like foreigners (Gen 43:32, Gen 46:33-34). Sometime after Joseph died, 71 years later, they were ENSLAVED in Egypt because they were foreigners (Ex1:1-11), and they didn’t have Joseph to protect them from discrimination. In addition, in Genesis 15:14, God says he will judge the nation [Egypt] for their enslavement of Abraham’s descendants. They will leave [Egypt] with reparations, and this is mentioned in Exodus 3:20-22, Ex 11:1-2, Ex 12:35-36. Then, in verse 15, God tells Abraham that he will join his ancestors in peace. This contrasts with everything God foretold, meaning Abraham himself is not included in the persecution or slavery, so it only applies to Isaac and later generations. 

Lastly, God says in Gen 15:16 that it is in the 4th generation (from the time Jacob’s family came to Egypt) that the Israelites will re-enter Canaan. The Torah’s definition of a generation would be 40 years, according to God’s prohibition on the wilderness from entering the promised land because of their disobedience in Num 14:26-35. Jacob and his 12 sons and their families came to Egypt in Gen 46, and verse 11 mentions Kohath (Moses’ paternal grandfather), so Kohath was born in Canaan before they moved to Egypt. That means that generation one of the Israelites born in Egypt included Kohath’s son, Amram. Amram married his aunt Jochebed (the daughter of Levi), and Levi died about 120 years before the Exodus, so Jochebed couldn’t have been any younger than 120 at the time of the Exodus. Amram, who died at 137 years old (Ex 6:20), was likely around the same age or older than her. Moses was 40 years old after Levi died, because he was 80 at the time of the Exodus (Ex 7:7), making him Generation 2 with his siblings, Aaron and Miriam. The 3rd generation is the generation of Joshua and Caleb. Joshua was born when 40-year-old Moses fled Egypt as a fugitive wanted for murder. This was 40 years before the Exodus because Joshua was 40 then (Josh 14:7-10). That leaves their children as the fourth and final generation born in Egypt. The third generation lost the right to enter the promised land except for Joshua and Caleb (Num 14:26-35, Num 20:12, Deut 32:48-52). So, the next generation, ages 20 and under (Num 14:29), would enter Canaan after spending 40 more years in the wilderness. The fourth generation finally entered Canaan under 80-year-old Joshua’s leadership 160 years after Levi died, (Moses died at age 120 at this time). This fits because 160 years is four generations if each is 40 years (160=40×40).

When did the Magi visit Jesus?
Even the Christmas story has misconceptions, like the idea that Jesus was visited by the Magi when he was born. The Magi showed up between 41 days and 2 years after Jesus’ birth and visited him in a house, not the manger. They did not come on the day he was born; those were shepherds who visited him in the manger in Luke 2:8-20. The Magi could have come as late as 2 years after Jesus was born since the star was in the sky for 2 years (Matt 2:7 & 16). If the star appeared 2 years before Jesus was born, then the Magi came that year, but not on the same night he was born. If they came the year Jesus was born, they couldn’t have come until at least 41 days after his birth because, in Luke 2:21-41, Mary and Joseph did the purification offering at the temple in Jerusalem, which according to Leviticus 12:1-5 is done on the 40 days after a boy is born. In Matt 2:21-23, Mary and Joseph detoured from their trip back to Judah after they left Egypt in order to avoid Herod’s son Archelaus. Instead, they went straight back to Galilee, which means there was no way they could do the purification offering at the Temple in Jerusalem (in Judah) after they left Egypt. Therefore, the events of Luke 2:21-41 happen before the magi story. In Luke 2:42, there is a time skip to the point where Jesus is 12 years old, so the magi visitation occurred in that time skip, sometime between that offering 40 days after his birth, and his second birthday. 

These are just a few examples of what happens when people don’t study the text and go off hearsay and bad recreations of Biblical stories in the media. We must study to show ourselves approved (2 Tim 2:15).