*Wow, here we are at the end of this summer series.  Again, a big thank you to my husband who has been a great help with picking topics, writing and researching!

“Every word of God is pure:”…  Proverbs 30:5

 

Have you ever gone into a Christian book store and wondered why there are so many bible versions?
Have you ever heard someone say they like one better than another because it is easier to read?

 

Can they all be God’s word if they say different things?

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32

 

If all the versions say something different, then they are not the same, which means they can’t all be the truth.

 

Read the following  story about something called  Standard Operating Procedure from the context of historical warfare.

 

In one of the minor battles during World War II, one part of the Allies found themselves losing because the enemy had cracked the coded messages that were being sent to the many divisional troops.  Someone came up with the bright idea to send out several coded messages- most of which were false with only one message being  true.

Somehow the Allies were able to instruct their side how to tell the difference between the false messages and the one true message.  At this point in that particular battle the war turned and the enemy began to lose because they were confused about which message was real.

 

If man can come up with something like that to confuse the enemy, how much more able do you think Satan is to come up with a plan of attack to attempt to bring down God’s Word… which God himself has elevated above his very name?  The very Word of God that lost sinners must hear or read in order to be saved?

“FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED” Romans 10:13

 

” How then shall they call on him in  whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THEM THAT PREACH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, AND BRING GLAD TIDING OF GOOD THINGS!”Romans 10:14-15

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

 

Sometime around the 1800’s (AD) the Word of God (which was the Authorized KJV 1611 version) was being sent to all corners of the world through a great missionary outreach.  This period of time in church history is described in Revelation 3:7-13  as The Philadelphian Church Age.  There was one truth going out to all nations.  {Incidentally, there are 7 periods of church history mentioned in Revelation chapters 2-3. History does repeat itself and we can correlate these exact periods in time to man’s history, up till the present day. Today our generation is described in the Laodicean period which is characterized by “the rights of the people”.  This is the last church age before the rapture…something to think about.}

 

So the Word of God is moving, enter Satan, who, if studied in the light of  biblical prophecy and world history- can be seen to be counterfeiting God’s work. There are patterns in the bible showing how Satan works and we can see those patterns in the history of the world.  {Satan, once named Lucifer, is one of God’s created beings who had the privilege of serving God in such a way as to bring glory to God but fell from his heavenly place when he lusted to have God’s thrown.  Ezekiel 28: 12-19 Isaiah 14:12-16}

 

Satan’s M.O.

Genesis chapter 3 introduces us to Satan’s “Method of Operation” when we read the Serpent’s (Satan) conversation with Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Everybody (Adam, Eve, and the Serpent) knew there was ONE tree Adam and Eve were not allowed to eat from.

 

Gen.3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?…   vs.4-6 “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat”…

 

Satan’s MO is to change the Words of God  in such a way as to create doubt, confusion, disbelief,  and disobedience – which all results in God not getting the glory He Alone is due.  Satan also appeals to our fleshly desires for power, control, pride, and personal fulfillment to draw us away from God.  How can we bring glory to God if we do not know him? How can we bring glory to God if we do not obey Him (His Word is our instruction manual)?

 

John 8:44  Jesus himself is saying…”Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

 

So Satan managed to inspire a tainted version of God’s Word and get it published as well. Satan is a Master Counterfeiter of God’s work and he is actively pursuing this M.O. today.  New bible versions started showing up around the late 1800’s and we are heavy with quite a variety of different versions right now in 2010.

 

There is no doubt confusion today over which version is “the inspired Word of God”, which version is worthy of our total trust. There has to be one, or God is not God because God cannot lie. Psalm 12:6-7 says...”The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

 

“Another Jesus and another gospel”?

The Apostle Paul could see this was already taking place during his day~ shortly after Jesus rose from the dead.  Paul makes reference to Satan’s lie to Eve in II Corinthians 11:3-4 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. ”

 

Gospel means good news, if there is another gospel, it is another good news, meaning it sounds good but it’s wrong.

 

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles  of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” II Corinthians 11:13-15

 

Do you fully trust that the version of scripture you hold is true and complete? Do you know why you believe what you do? Would you know if you were trusting in “another” Jesus and “another” gospel?

*I didn’t want this post to get too long so I haven’t  shared the proofs of what I’m talking about in reference to the exact parts of scripture that have been changed. I believe I’ve read there are 3000 or more places scripture has been changed amongst the newer versions, and I want to share a handful of significant items from that list. That will be in a follow up to this post. I hope you will subscribe here so you get that post when its done.

 

By the way, I do fully trust the version I use, but I won’t tell  you which one you should trust. You need to come to that decision for yourself. I’ll talk about that in Part 2.

…to be continued!

 

*To see all posts in this series, click here.