Some are Rewriting the Bible

By: Randy Kea

The above sentiment is not anything new. In fact, as soon as you open the Bible and start reading it, you read the account in Genesis 3 where Satan, through the instrumentality of the subtle serpent, re-writes the word of God in order to deceive and lead astray Eve.

In Gen 2:16-17 the first recorded revelation of God to man is: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” In Gen 3:1, 4 the arch enemy of mankind comes to Eve and re-writes the word of God. Satan puts a question mark in the mind of Eve about the reliability of God’s word, and in addition, he changes the word of God: “Now the serpent was more subtle 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?… and the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.”

Satan modifies the word of God (re-writes) which results in the spiritual destruction of Adam and Eve. They died spiritually that day (separation from God) and they began to die physically that day (separation from the tree of life). Although no one else is responsible for the personal sins of Adam and Eve, all of humanity continues to suffer the consequences of their sin because we are born into a world dominated by sin and we suffer physical death as well. (Rom 5:12; I John 2:15-17; 5:19). Jesus says that Satan continues to rob man of the Word of God: “those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12).

Old Testament Example

Another example of re-writing God’s Word would be Jeroboam. Just prior to the death of Solomon, the Lord said to him, because of his apostasy and idolatry, “forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.” (I Kings 11:11-13) Upon the death of Solomon, the kingdom divided. Rehoboam would retain the Southern Kingdom which would include Benjamin and Judah and Jerusalem. However, Jeroboam became king over the northern ten tribes. When all of this takes place, Jeroboam became concerned that the northern kingdom would return to the house of David in Jerusalem. He believed the people would turn back to Rehoboam as they would return to Jerusalem to do sacrifice. To keep the ten tribes loyal to him he re-wrote God’s Word by:

Changing their God – “made two calves”– I Kings 12:28
Changing their place of worship – “he made an house of high places” – I Kings 12:31
Changing the feasts – “he ordained a feast in the eighth month” – I Kings 12:32
Changing the altar – “he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel” – I Kings 12:33

Note: the text says all of this “he devised in his own heart”—I Kings 12:33. Essentially, he rewrote the Word of God!

Jesus

Jesus condemned the religious leaders of His day for re-writing the Bible (the Law of Moses). Matthew and Mark both record the Lord’s rebukes to the Pharisees (Matt 15:1-14; Mark 7:1-19). In these accounts Jesus shows the error of holding to human tradition above the authority of the Word of God: “for laying aside the commandment of God ye hold the tradition of men…” (Mark 7:8); “but in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men” (Matt 15:9); “thus have you made the commandment of known effect by your tradition” (Matt 15:6). Clearly then, Jesus will not accept those who re-write the Bible!

The NT Writers

Paul wrote of respecting the authority of the Word of God and not tampering with it: “but we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully…” (2 Cor 4:2); “for we are not as many, which corrupt (make merchandise of) the word of God…” (2 Cor 2:17). In Galatians Chapter 1 the apostle Paul teaches that the troublemakers in religion are not those who stand for the truth, but are those who pervert the Word of God: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ…” (1:6-9). To my knowledge this is the only time in the Bible where God pronounces a double curse on something. There are other things that God curses, but re-writing the Bible resides under a double curse (anathema). Those who modify or alter God’s Word perish under the curse!

The Apostle Peter uses an interesting word to address this issue. In 2 Pet 3, he uses the word wrest to describe the sin of tampering with scripture: “and account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” The word wrest here is the Greek word strebloo, the meaning of which is to wrench or torture on the rack, i.e. pervert.

Many sound gospel preachers, through the years, have emphasized the danger of adding to or taking away from God’s Word by pointing out that this warning is found at the beginning of the Bible, at the middle of the Bible, and at the end of the Bible. Here are the verses: Deut 4:2 – “ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you”; Prov 30:6 – “add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar”; Rev 22:18-19 – “if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Examples of man re-writing the Bible:

Scripture The Bible Says Man Says

Matthew 16:18	One Church	Many churches
Ephesians 4:4-6	One religious body	Many acceptable religious bodies
Matthew 28:18	Christ has all authority.	Authority is invested in the Pope, creeds, etc.
I Peter 4:16	Wear the name Christian	Wear names that glorify man, systems, or doctrines
Galatians 1:6-9	The Bible says one gospel	Man teaches many religious messages
II Timothy 1:13	Sound doctrine is important	Doctrine is unimportant ~ just be sincere.
I Peter 2:9	All Christians are priests	Clergy, laity, etc.
Acts 20:17	Plurality of elders over each congregation.	One pastor over one church
James 2:14-16 Romans 1:5	Faith without works is dead	Faith only
Galatians 5:4	You can fall from grace	You can’t fall from grace
Acts 2:42: 20:7	Partake of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week.	According to custom, quarterly, annually, etc.
Romans 6:1-4 Colossians 2:12	Baptism is immersion	Sprinkling or pouring.
II Thessalonians 1:6-9 Acts 22:16	The Bible says obey the gospel.	Man says pray the sinner’s prayer.
Mark 16:16 Acts 2:38	Baptism is for penitent believers.	Baptism is for infants.
Mark 16:16 I Peter 3:21	Baptism is essential to salvation.	Faith only saves.
Ephesians 5:19 Colossians 3:16	Under the New Testament, the Bible says verbal and vocal music.	Man says mechanical instruments, clapping, etc.

Conclusion

I would be remiss if I did not add to these comments I have made, the pervasive fatal danger of modern translations of the Bible. From the Revised Standard Version through the NIV and even beyond, examples can be multiplied where men have sought to re-write the Word of God by producing faulty translations. There has never been a time when Satan and his cohorts have not sought to re-write the Word of God whether it be through translations, creeds, commentaries, or false teachers.