Changing The Word Of God/Yahweh Is Wrong!!! Shalom Brothers and Sisters, why do people think they can disobey what is written in the Word of God/Yahweh and get away with it? And what’s more, how can people change or shorten the Word of God/Yahweh for their beliefs and teachings and think that they are serving God/Yahweh and are Believers? Don’t they understand that: Changing The Word Of God/Yahweh Is Wrong!!! The passage from the Word of God/Yahweh for today is Revelation 22:18-19; “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” This warning in reference to the Book of Revelation is applicable to all Scripture, and carries us back to Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32; “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.” This tells us that the Word of God/Yahweh is the Old and New Testament from Genesis to Revelation and every chapter and verse written in it as both Testaments tell us not to add or take away!!! It is given in the form of a testimony, from the faithful and true witness, to show its importance and its truth. To everyone who hears that testimony, the warning comes. How great the responsibility of those who have the Bible in their hands!!! How solemnly they should look on it, and listen to it, and handle it!!! In this testimony, then there is declared to us: The perfection of God/Yahweh’s Word!!! Man may not meddle with it either to add or to take away. He may meddle with his own words, or doings, or plans and to alter, to correct, or to complete, but not with what is divine. The words and things of God/Yahweh are not for him to touch. They are perfect; perfect for the ends required; perfect for God/Yahweh’s purpose in speaking them to man. Can man improve the works of God/Yahweh? Can man change the mountains, rivers, flowers, the blue sky, the stars, and the sun? Even so is the Word of God/Yahweh too perfect for him to touch… The honor God/Yahweh puts on it!!! He has magnified it, even above His works, so that he who disparages the Word of God/Yahweh is guiltier than he who disparages the works of God/Yahweh. Whether we see its perfection is not the question. We may be blind to it; but whether blind or seeing, God/Yahweh expects honor at our hands for His Word. It is the fullest expression of His mind, the completeness revelation of His character. It is such a declaration of the name of God/Yahweh as can be found nowhere else… Our responsibilities in regard to it!!! It is not given us for mere speculation or gratification, but for something far higher. We are responsible for the way we treat it, study it, and profit by it. Its perfection makes our responsibility very great, and appeals to our consciences most powerfully. Were it not so perfect, we might deal with it as we deal with a human volume; were it not divine, we might forego the honor to it of which we speak. Hence the modern dislike to the idea of a perfect Bible, because the pressure upon the conscience is felt to be so solemn and so overpowering, with no possibility of evasion or escape. Definite Bible doctrine the age hates as trammeling its freedom and especially doctrine defined by a divine revelation… The sin of tampering with it!!! In regard to many of the things of God/Yahweh, the idea is that while it is a misfortune to be in error, there is no sin in it. No sin in differing from God/Yahweh!!! No sin in trifling with His truth, or denying it!!! No sin in undervaluing His revelation!!! But, the sin of tampering with the Bible is one of which man is not easily persuaded; yet in the reckoning of God/Yahweh it is real and great. Every low thought about the Bible is sin. Every attempt to touch it, either in the way of addition or subtraction, is sin… The danger of meddling with it!!! The danger is exceedingly great; and the punishment awarded to the meddlers is the declaration of the danger. God/Yahweh will not be mocked in this!!! There are two opposite ways in which men treat the Bible or to add or to take away; and both these our passage condemns in the most fearful way… The doom of those who ADD; “God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.” Those plagues are very fearful. Read the plagues of the seals, the trumpets, and the vials. Are they not fearful? They are for this life, as well as for that which is to come. The very mention of them is appalling. Who in our day credits such things, or believes that God/Yahweh will execute such terrible vengeance upon all such as add to His Word? The Pharisees added to it; the Romanists add to it; and we ourselves often add to it, by the way in which we enter on its perusal with un-teachable hearts, with preconceived opinions, which would make the obvious meanings of the Word give way before them. Let us tremble at the Word!!! Add not unto His Word, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar. God/Yahweh adds His plagues to the adders of His book!!! The doom of those who TAKE AWAY from it: This is especially the sin of our age. We sit in judgment upon its verities; we tamper with its certainty; we trifle with its Words. We take from it; we render it null and void; we deny its authority; we object to its inspiration; we cut off what books or verses we please!!! But let us not be deceived. God/Yahweh is not mocked!!! He also can take away and He will!!! He will take away: Our part of the book of life by effacing our names, and inserting them in the book of death and not in the book of life!!!! Our part in the holy city… No holy city or no New Jerusalem is for the deniers of His Word!!! Our part from the things written in His book… These are many and the promises to the seven conquerors, the first resurrection, and the marriage supper!!! How much we lose!!! What a condemnation is there for those who reject or mutilate the divine Word!!! We must be careful not to change the Word of God/Yahweh!!! I recently found a new written Bible called: “The Tree of Life.” This is a messianic Bible, know as many of you already know I teach and preach the Word of God/Yahweh using Messianic beliefs. But when I saw this translation of the Bible, I was shocked to see and hear that they were calling themselves Messianic… This translation consists of only 24 books of the Bible and only from the New Testament: John 1-21, Acts 1-28, Romans 1-16, 1 Corinthians 1-15, 2 Corinthians 1-13, Galatians 1-6, Ephesians 1-6, Philippians 1-4, Colossians 1-4, 1 Thessalonians 1-5, 2 Thessalonians 1-3, 1 Timothy 1-6, 2 Timothy 1-4, Titus 1-3, Philemon 1, Hebrews 1-13, James 1-5, 1 Peter 1-5, 2 Peter 1-3, 1 John 1-5, 2 John 1, 3 John 1, Jude 1, Revelation 1-21… Now besides the fact that they do not even mention any books from the Old Testament, just take a close look at the last book on their list that they call a Bible… Does anyone see what is wrong with the book of Revelation that they use? They have purposely missed out chapter 22 which contains the very passage that we are using today in this message… Why? Well it makes me think that they do not use it as they are doing exactly what the Word of God/Yahweh is telling us not to do… This may just be out of fear as it certainly is not because they just forgot it!!! Despite the claims of many of today’s modern prophets, the 66 books of the Bible remain the only written Words that have come from God/Yahweh!!! Believers must be careful to differentiate between those who speak forth for God/Yahweh and those who are false teachers and prophets. Now I know people get upset when we start talking about false teachers and false prophets, but it is something that MUST be done. In fact, we should note that Jesus/Yeshua called out false teachers and false prophets. Matthew 12:34; “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Matthew 23:23-34; “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.” Mark 11:17; “And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”” It wasn’t just Jesus/Yeshua doing the calling out, Peter, John, Paul, and Jude did also. We need to be very aware that there are many false teachings in the world today. Satan is ever bit as crafty as he was in the garden! In Genesis 3:1 we read; “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”” Satan was attempting to cast doubt upon the Word of God/Yahweh from the beginning!!! And he is one leopard that hasn’t changed his spots. Satan is still using this same method today. The Bible is being re-written, changed, questioned, denied, added to, taken away from, misrepresented, misinterpreted, and shortened!!! Believers must be in remembrance what is written also in 2 Timothy 2:15; “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” Believers, you can have confidence in God/Yahweh’s Word!!! The Word of God/Yahweh can be trusted… Therefore, be careful to read it, heed it, and obey it… Jesus/Yeshua Himself is our example… He stood upon the truth of God/Yahweh’s Word, John 3:34; “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.” John 14:6; “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”” John 17:3; “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” We are also warned against falling prey to empty deceit, traditions of men, and the principles of this world that are not of Christ/Yeshua in Colossians 2:8; “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” Remember, the Bible is our foundation (read please Psalm 19:7-11; 86:11; 119:105). We are to study the Bible diligently (also read please Hebrews 4:11-13; 2 Peter 1:2-4; 2 Timothy 2:14-19). God/Yahweh’s Word guides us (read please 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6: 13-18). God/Yahweh will always preserve His Word (you will see when you read please Luke 24:13-32; Jeremiah 36:1-4; 36:17-32). God/Yahweh’s Word is complete… Therefore, do not change or shorten God/Yahweh’s Word!!! The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 18:20–22; “But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.” How could the people tell if a prophet was authentically speaking for God/Yahweh? Moses said in Deuteronomy 13:1-5; “If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.” In other words: if the thing does not come about, then it was not from God/Yahweh. The characteristic of false prophets is the failure of their predictions to always come true. Sometimes false prophets speak and it happens as they said, but they are representing false gods and trying to turn people from the true God/Yahweh and they must be rejected and executed as we read now. Other times, false prophets are subtler and identify with the true God/Yahweh, but speak lies. If ever a prophecy of such a prophet fails, he is shown to be false. In Jeremiah 28:15–17; 29:30–32 we read; “Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’” In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died... Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against me.’”” Now again if we look at the passage today in Revelation 22:18–19; “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” We find here in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible the assurance from God/Yahweh that His Word is complete and must not be changed… Jesus offers extended testimony on the authority and finality of the prophecy. He commissioned John to write it, but He was its author. These are not the first such warnings you ca also read in the Old Testament in, Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; and Jeremiah 26:2… Further, these warnings against altering the Biblical text represent the close of the New Testament canon. Anyone who tampers with the truth by attempting to falsify, mitigate, alter, or misinterpret it will incur the judgments described in these verses… So I think we would do well to also make a careful reading of Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 12:32; and Galatians 1:6-9… Here are a few more points to wrestle with concerning this message: Remember, that there are ways to distinguish between God/Yahweh’s Word, the Bible, and those writings through the centuries that claim to be from God/Yahweh... Does the writing of new or taking away, make false predictions? Does the writing of adding to or taking away from the 66 Books of the Bible, go against the Will of God/Yahweh? Does the writing of new or shortening, make or take away statements that contradict the Bible, the Word of God/Yahweh? Consider these questions if you are using a Bible that does not contain the Old and New Testaments, with 1,189 chapters, with 31,103 numbered verses and 137 non-numbered verse in the book of Psalm, in total… If you are using anything with less then it has been shortened, altered and abbreviated… The Word of God/Yahweh has not to be tampered with, but has to be studied fully to get a true understanding and be a True Believer in God/Yahweh, Jesus/Yeshua and the Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh!!! Anything less is not the Word of God/Yahweh!!! Changing The Word Of God/Yahweh Is Wrong!!! Be Blessed in the name and shed blood of Jesus/Yeshua and do this by using the whole of the Word of God/Yahweh with no adding or taking away…Hallelujah, Amen!!! Pastor Jeff Walker
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:04:30 +0000