Knowing the Enemy: Satan’s strategy for the end time Christians

Satan’s aim is simple. It’s the opposite of Jesus’ plan. Jesus wants to see as many as possible saved. Satan wants to see as many as possible deceived and destroyed. While Satan’s deceptions are many, there are five ‘end-time’ deceptions worth mentioning. He has already put these End Time deceptions in place and you may have already been influenced by them. The first of these deceptions rely on our human tendency to avoid difficulties. When faced with overwhelming problems we normally respond with a fight-flight response. Satan’s end time plan relies on such a fight-flight response, a response that we all typically exhibit when stressed.

In the ‘end time’ scenario the flight response is denial. When we try to ‘flee’ from facing what is becoming an increasingly obvious reality may be a sign that we are in denial. By ignoring the prophesies and signs that we are on a ‘runaway train’ to the end time calamity is denial. We avoid the discomfort and effort required in taking the time off, do the research and to seek the Lord in this. We may try to minimise or neglect the end-time prophesies and ignore the reality of what is happening around us.

The fight response is to forget that this is, in the first place, a spiritual showdown and to try and overcome the calamity with our own resources and in our own strength only. By becoming anxious about the future and by taking excessive measures to ensure physical survival, we may be in danger of minimizing the priority of remaining close to the Lord throughout this time. Overcoming in our own strength is not going to be possible. The bible pictures the devil as a seven headed dragon, a fearsome beast that cannot be overcome by our own devices and in our own strength. With the armour of God to protect us and the sword of the spirit in our mouths we are able to speak the words that will expose him and stand against him. In Jesus’ encounter with the devil in the wilderness, He used the scriptures to strike back. God’s word is truth. Our best defence is to know it. Know where it says that we are saved and that our salvation is secure. (See Appendix F). Know where it says that no one will be able to pluck you from God’s hand. Know where to find your security when it seems that the whole world is turning against you.

Denial and Complacency:

Satan knows the scriptures. He knows what’s coming and what has been prophesied. He has interpreted the scriptures, or at least read all the commentaries. We can sense that part of his strategy must be to lull as many in the Church as possible into a false sense of security. His aim is the opposite of Jesus. That we are not prepared, but living with a false sense of security.

What better way than by promising a false, stress-free and easy way for us escape the troubles ahead? Perhaps a rapture before the tribulation? That we are all whisked away to the bridegroom’s wedding banquet during the light of day without having to face the darkness?

I’d like that to be true, to be raptured before the tribulation, to miss the persecution and watch the finale from heaven in angelic comfort. However, it is difficult to get past the previously mentioned and obvious biblical warnings to the opposite: That we will be tested, and that we need to be prepared for it. Refer to post 4.1 for details of the pre-tribulation rapture deception.

The lie:

The lie is Satan’s most used tool. Complacency or anxiety will divert some from being ready and watching, ignoring what Jesus commanded. For those that Satan cannot stop by complacency or anxiety, he has other plans. He will try to divert those into a variety of traps: the lies of super-spirituality, false gospels, false experiences and false prophets, ‘apostles’ and teachers (some well-meaning but deceived and some others deliberate*)

In this post we will be focussing on experience based deceptions. The other traps are dealt with in the following sections:

1. The pre-tribulation rapture and Amillennialism. Post 4.1 describes how this deception leads to complacency.
2. The false gospels describe the two major historic  (Post 4.2) and the current false gospels. The current growing movement of ‘signs and wonders’ across all churches is preaching that ‘revival’ and ‘bringing heaven to earth’ will happen through healing and miracles. This ‘gospel’ has arisen from the ‘spiritual-experience’ gospel described below.
3. The attack on the inerrancy of the Word:  The last section of this post deals with the causes of the great ‘falling away’ of believers. The tampering and deceptions of Westcott & Hort and promotion of their version of the Greek new testament has resulted in a watering down of confidence in the bible and provided a base for many false teachings.
4. The Christian Zionist or ‘bless Israel’ movement. (also refer to post 2.5 and 4.2)
5. Performance gospels: Any prescription demanding the keeping of the Law, being a ‘good person’ or relying on our own efforts is a false gospel, by which no one can be saved. Legalism continually surfaces in many forms, probably mostly where there is little or no understanding of the eternal security of the believer. (see the section on ‘the gift of salvation’ below).

The ‘Spiritual Experience’ gospel:

We all desire feelings of peace, relief and happiness. This is a valid need, and scripture reveals how we are to approach this need to feel ‘alive’ and ‘exited’:

John 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

After the miraculous multiplication of the bread and fish, the crowd follows Jesus in admiration. Jesus uses the events of the previous day to teach and speak about ‘the bread of life’. He ends his teaching by declaring that eternal life is to ‘eat and drink Him, the bread of life’. Jesus emphasises how serious He is about ‘consuming’ Him by using an extreme hyperbole, that we ”eat his flesh and drink His blood’. This is so important that He repeats this statement three times in four verses, we are to ”eat his flesh and drink His blood’.

The crowd get so offended at this ‘outrageous statement’ that everyone except the twelve leave. When Jesus asks the disciples if they too don’t want to leave, Peter says: “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter understood that it was Jesus’ words that were the source of spiritual life.

When studying John 6 it becomes clear from Jesus’ teaching that the actual words of Jesus are our spiritual food, as essential as physical food is to the physical body. If we do not ‘eat’ and drink’ his words we are do not have life in us. Neither do we have eternal life. His words are the source of our spiritual life! This is the unmistakable message of John 6. 

In addition, Jesus makes the link between His words and our spirit. His words are spirit, they are life. They make our spirits live, come alive, and be ‘quickened’. To ‘eat His word’ is to make these words part of us, just like food becomes part of our physical bodies. His words provide the energy, the power to worship Him with our lives, as much as our sinful nature permits.  “But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him.” John 4:23

Despite the unmistakable priority of immersing ourselves in Jesus’ words, we get side-tracked. Our insecure nature starts looking for a sign, a sign that we are on the right track. Instead of simply trusting Jesus’ assurance that whoever “eats me, even he shall live by me (6:57)”, we start looking elsewhere. We start looking for an experience, a manifestation of God’s presence. Once we divert in this way, we are sitting ducks for deception and substitutes. The ‘feel-good’ or experience gospel taps into this human desire and need present in all of us.

Having been in Pentecostal churches for 17 years, I can now see the traps. God warned me beforehand to stick to the word above all, but I wouldn’t listen. I read the bible, but felt I needed something more, some help from other books, some other people’s wisdom. Too naïve and trusting that all  Christians authors have good intentions. Too little grounded in the word to see the subtle deceptions creeping in. I saw ‘seeker sensitive services’ become entertainment, and topic based preaching become a self-help gospel. God’s blessing became an entitlement to success, God’s presence became a music assisted enthrallment.

God’s plan is simple. Salvation is simple, trusting the Jesus did it all! His words feed us, nourish us and enthral us. No side-effects needed.

The gift of Salvation

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. {12:3} Therefore with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. (Is 12:2-3)

Isaiah proclaims the reasons why we do not need to fear. God is our salvation, it is He who saves us. Salvation is nothing we, as flawed beings, have something to do with. He has done it, He works our salvation, in Him we trust. There is no fear in this, God has worked our salvation to the full, there is nothing flawed about it, nothing we need to doubt. He has worked a perfect work through his Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus, speaking to the woman at the well in John 4:10,  refers to these same words from Isaiah’s as he addresses her: “If thou knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink; thou would have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” Jesus emphasises that the “water out of the wells of salvation” is a gift. A free gift, no strings attached. We simply accept the gift, trusting God that the gift is what He says it is: free, no strings attached.

Ephesians 2:8 confirms this: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: {2:9} Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Yes, it is free and it also sets us free. Not having to earn our salvation by our performance takes the pressure off us. We are relieved from all responsibility to first correct our sins before we accept His gift. Jesus did it all! This is what sets us free! There’s nothing else to be done. We accept the gift and can relax and enjoy having being made part of God’s family! Free to praise God with a free heart!

And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.  Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. (Is 12:4-6)

This is our spiritual condition and position. In a sense this condition is more real than our physical condition, because the physical is temporary and the spiritual eternal. Post 7.8 for more detail on our eternal security, the ‘once saved always saved’ principle.

Bible Versions and false teachings.

The last 50 years or so has seen a great ‘explosion’ in the number of bible versions in English. Many bible studies are plagued by participants all showing up at home groups with their own preferred translation. Very few can explain their preference in any convincing way. Have all these versions been beneficial to their studies, or has it increased confusion and decreased clarity?

Has the increase in versions increased bible literacy? It is up for debate whether the increase in choice has increased the amount of scripture reading taking place in English speaking countries. It certainly hasn’t lead to a revival in bible reading and literacy.

The plethora of versions seems to have lent credibility to the secular attack on the bible. When making a choice on which bible to buy, if there are so many versions, a person may well question what translation is the most reliable? Is the bible at all still accurate? How many errors have crept in over the years? Some question whether the Bible is still God’s Word, or just a guide to what originally was intended, now left to the individual to decide what is still applicable? That line of thought is of course faulty because it assumes God is not any longer involved in keeping His word the way He wants it, and translated the way he sees fit, despite our human frailties.

With so many versions it is also easy to see that churches will naturally start gravitating towards a translation pleasing to all, probably one giving the least offense, the lowest common denominator. A translation that most people are comfortable with. Would that perhaps not also coincide with the translation that has the best marketing campaign in the bookstores and the most exiting commentaries perhaps? Anything is acceptable as long as it helps people read the bible, seems to be the logic.

The prophesied great apostasy (1 Tim 4:1 and 2 Thess 2:2-4), where Christians follow false teaching in great numbers, can only happen in a climate where the Word has been watered down, corrupted and misrepresented. The Bible is our only link to God’s Words, without it Christianity goes astray, is left powerless. At the same time such a climate can only exist where Christians prefer of the reasoning of supposedly educated men, whose philosophies leads them to folly. They forget that God’s power is more than sufficient to maintain His purposes with His own Word.

 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

The Logical Historical Approach.

Rather than attempting to prove which version is the most reliable, which leads to hair splitting and not convincing anyone, lets use our logic. Let us simply look at the first few centuries of Christianity, and what the likely migration of Christianity into the greater Europe would have looked like. Greater Europe of the time encompassed Britain in the west to Russia in the east. At the same time we will limit our study to the New Testament manuscripts only, which were written in Greek. Greek was the world language of the time, much like English is now. For an explanation of why we know that at least 80% of the New Testament was written in Greek, refer to Greek books 17-05-19

In addition we will consider where any likely attempted corruptions of the bible would have come from. Only the very naïve will ignore the fact that Satan will have mounted attacks on the bible from the very first century. Is there any reason to believe this attack is not continuing to this day? It is no secret that false teachers, attempting to corrupt the gospel, arose simultaneously with the rise of Christianity. Peter and Paul already had to fight these men, as 1 & 2 Timothy, Thessalonians and Jude testify.

Persecution and the spread of the gospel:

If you were a Christian in Jerusalem in 40AD and had to flee for your life, where would you have gone? South to Sinai, Egypt and Africa or North into Asia-minor (Turkey of today). Note that Egypt of the day was a noted centre of the dark religions and the occult, especially the city of Alexandria. The rest of Africa was uncivilized. It stands to reason that the great majority of common men would have gone north.

Next we look at a map of the middle east, Europe and Asia. We colour in Turkey, as this country represents the first successful ‘invasion’ of Christianity. The apostle Paul’s first missionary journeys were all in Asia minor. Ephesus and the other six churches of Revelation were in Asia minor. Then colour in the Greece and the country of Armenia (north east Turkey) with a special highlight. Armenia is also important in our logical historical approach because it is the oldest continually Christian country up to the 1900’s. To have remained Christian through all those centuries, completely surrounded by Islamic countries most of the time, testifies of a vibrant, robust and tested Christianity. Armenia was the secondary gateway of the gospel into eastern Europe and into Russia. Then we draw a vertical arrow, pointing northwards, originating form Greece. (Macedonia of that time). Macedonia was the primary gateway of the gospel into Central Europe. North pointed straight into central Europe. (Click on link to view map: Byzantine text)

The next the primary country in Europe to colour in is Slovakia, representing the Moravian (Slavic) empire if the 9the century. Moravia was the springboard of much missionary work prior to the reformation, which continued until the late 1700’s, also testifying of a vibrant, robust and tested Christianity.

Geographically, the ancient Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Croatia represented a wide and easily accessible gateway from Asia Minor, and the Byzantine empire,  into eastern Europe.  In contrast, travel to western Europe was much restricted and in many other ways difficult. Rome, comparatively speaking, was in chaos during and after its demise in 476 AD, when Odoacer became king of Italy.

Next we draw a thick line from the Eastern end of Austria to Monaco, curving through Switzerland. This line represents a natural barrier to free travel, the Alps. Then we colour in Italy all the way up to the Alps. Contrary to our expectation, Italy and the Alps represent the opposite, not a gateway but a barrier to the spread of true Christianity into western Europe. The Catholic Church, with its obviously corrupted doctrine, was that barrier. By restricting the common man’s access to the Bible, the Roman Catholic church resisted true Christianity, and corrupted the gospel by adding their flavour to salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Was the Roman Catholic church then not in any way beneficial to true Christianity, thus representing the gateway for Christianity into western Europe? The answer seems to be no.

Firstly, the Roman Catholic Church was quick to implement ‘professional clergy’. These professionals were in many instances naturally inclined to protect their jobs, and it was in their interest to represent the bible as a book that only the learned could interpret. Private study of the bible was discouraged. It did not take long, after that, for the church to outlaw the possession of bibles by laymen. This became such an obsession with the clergy that the death penalty was soon imposed for possessing a bible. Many ‘heretics’ died at the stake for owning a bible.

In terms of stability, Byzantium, or the Eastern Roman Empire, established by Constantine in AD 330, maintained power in the region for over a thousand years. This provided superior security and a relatively stable base for the spread of the Gospel.  The countries to the north admired the splendour of Byzantium and its rulers. One such admiring ruler was the Slavic Emperor Rastislav. While he was in power, Greater Moravia had sufficient economic and military power to equal the Frankish Empire. In 855, he repelled such a Frankish attack.

Subsequently Rastislav contacted the Byzantine Emperor Michael III and asked for missionaries to be sent to teach Christianity in the Slavic language. The German clergy had come and gone without success, because the Moravians had insisted on ministers who could teach them the Gospel and celebrate the Liturgy in the Slavonic tongue, not in the incomprehensible Latin. Michael III sent the brothers Cyril and Methodius, who would have a lasting impact on the Slavic language and the alphabet in which it was written.

Cyril and Methodius were born in Thessalonica in 827 and 826, respectively. Their birth names were Constantine and Methodius. They came from a wealthy family, but denounced worldly things to become priests. Cyril and Methodius eventually became known as the ‘Apostles of the Slavs’.

Initially the Khazars were the first to send requests to Constantinople for a Christian teacher. At the time, the brothers were members of the monastery community at Bosporus. Cyril was chosen to fulfil the Khazar request and Methodius was allowed to accompany him. The brothers were so successful in their mission to the Khazars that they were next sent to minister to the Moravians, at Rastislav’s request.  Cyril and Methodius were familiar with this spoken language. What was needed was a written version. Cyril created an alphabet and, together, the brothers transcribed the Gospels and relevant liturgical books into this new written (Cyrillic) language. From 863 to ca. 868, the brothers worked prodigiously among the Moravians.

The Germans did not approve of Cyril and Methodius. The German clergy resented the use of the Slavonic language in conjunction with the Divine Liturgy, instead insisting on Latin, incomprehensible to the Slavs. Secondly , part of the problem was also that the brothers were from the eastern part of the Church, centred in Constantinople. Although the Byzantine church also had a hierarchical structure with professional clergy, there were fundamental differences with Rome. The Great Schism with Rome was around the corner (1054), and the disputes that led to this event were very much afoot in the late 800s.

The great foundation laid by Cyril and Methodius in alphabet design and literacy would lead to widespread Bible translation and open the way for the Scriptures to have much influence and for the Church to grow through the nations of Eastern Europe. There would be great success in the late 10th century AD. Russia would be Christianised under Czar (King) Vladmir I in 988 AD and Christianity  spreads through Russia.

The great abundance of the Byzantine text.

The above snippet of history illustrates the difference between the approach of Roman Catholic and Byzantine church. With this bit of background it is now easy to visualize that it would be most likely that one would find an abundance of evidence of true, living Christianity in Central and Eastern Europe. This evidence may be found in the form of NT Bible manuscripts referred to as the Byzantine text. Despite vicious attacks from the modern academia, nothing can dispel the evidence of the great number of manuscripts of Byzantine  origin as well as the evidence of great consistency among these 5300 manuscripts, now found dotted all over the libraries and universities of Europe. It is clear that reliable copies and translations  of the Greek New Testament were spread far and wide across all of central and eastern Europe.

Many years later, in 1510, when the printing presses were standing ready to flood Europe with printed bibles, they were waiting for the best Byzantine New Testament text they could find. The Swiss printers refused to touch the corrupt Latin bible, called the Vulgate. They wanted a reliable un-tampered Greek text to work with. Erasmus, the greatest Latin and Greek scholar of his time, was selected by the printers in Basel for this work. Even if Erasmus, under time pressure while the printers stood waiting, could only access six of these manuscripts to compile his Greek New Testament, God provided. The consistency of these texts, when later compared to other manuscripts of Byzantine origin, was so great that even enemies of the Erasmus’ work have to admit to it. They are forced to resort to minute and insignificant arguments, ladled with spoonfuls of emotion and rhetoric, to smear Erasmus’ work.

Of course there was a human element embedded in the Byzantine text that Erasmus used to compile the his work, called the Textus Receptus (TR), or ‘received text’. That is why he placed all six handwritten manuscripts next to each other, to compare them verse by verse. It is easy to spot one stray verse or copy error, if five verses say one thing and one said another. Even today, we can easily determine ‘the odd one out’, if we were to determine in a similar way what the majority of the verses agreed on. One ‘weakness’ of the TR was that part of the last page of Rev 22 was missing on all his documents. Erasmus, under time pressure from the printers, used the vulgate to add these last verses. That is understandable as the last page of any book is most vulnerable to damage.  One could argue that this practical issue substantiates the authenticity of the TR. However, detractors would misuse this to discredit the TR.

Of all the bibles in currently in print, it is only the King James Version, and to a degree the New King James Version, that derives from the Byzantine New Testament text. We contend that the KJV is the only English translation in print that can be trusted as the most authentic translation in English. This seems very radical, but anyone making the effort to research the origins of their bible version, will quickly see that all the other bible versions (NIV, ESV, NLT, RSV, etc.) derive from the ‘Westcott and Hort’ Greek text. These two men managed to convince the academic world that their compilation was better than the Byzantine text, despite the fact that all historic evidence points to the opposite.

Westcott and Hort’s Greek text derives from two Greek manuscripts, the Codex Sinai(ticus) and the Codex Vatican(us). Together with some snippets called papyri, these are now designated as the Alexandrian text type. By a similar application of history and logic, it can easily be shown that a single document, the Codex Sinaiticus, found in a monastery in the Sinai desert, was likely to be corrupt to start off with, and with preciously little backup. Where backup was presented, guess where that came from? None other than the Vatican, with also a single document, the ‘Vaticanus’.

The papyri speak for themselves. They were found amongst Gnostic writings specifically denounced as heresies by the church fathers. The gospels of Thomas and Mary, and the ‘Book of Truth’, all clear departures from the faith, have the same Alexandrian heritage. For a very detailed documentary on the above watch  https://youtu.be/ukRCVDmiAts

A simple question, to start of with, is to ask why the Catholic church, which has fought tooth and nail throughout the centuries to keep the bible away from the common man, would suddenly hail the discoverer of the Codex Sinaiticus, von Tischendorf, as a hero. Easily accessible history accounts that von Tischendorf had an audience with the pope and a number of Cardinals on his way to the Sinai.  After Tischendorf’s ‘discovery’ of the new manuscript, the Vatican also suddenly ‘discovered’ a forgotten manuscript in their archives which supported Tischendorf’s document. Why would the catholic church, who previously burnt and executed people who were caught in possession of a bible and made it their aim to destroy the bible-centred reformation, suddenly support a new Greek New Testament?  For a detailed history to back up the above, watch the “Lamp in the dark” series by Chris Pinto (YouTube link above, and the remainder of the series).

The main question remains the following: Why on earth would one trust a small number of Alexandrian documents with a ~30% variance (forming the Westcott & Hort New Testament)  over 5300 documents with a 1-3% variance? (forming the Textus Receptus). How is it possible that academics can be blind to such overwhelming evidence?

You may object: “How can it be that most academics and colleges are wrong on this”? The simple answer may be that academics are the most likely candidates to value the opinion of men too highly, regarding their approval even more important than the opinion of God. It is the same question raised in the evolution vs. creation debate. “How can all those evolution professors be wrong?” Surely they can’t all be wrong? Yes, they are, they are wrong as ~99% of Pharisees were wrong in Jesus’ day. That is the nature of deception, once a person swallows a lie he will defend it as the truth despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Those accepting the ‘Wescott & Hort’ new testament went wrong in precisely the same manner as the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, the ‘professional academics’. They would not accept the overwhelming evidence that Jesus operated in the power of God and the Holy Spirit because He did not fit their perceptions. Acceptance and laudation amongst themselves and the commendation and applause of men had become their idol.

The danger zone for academia is that their jobs and their department grants  are locked into a system of compliance. Their ‘reputation’ amongst their peers is likely to cloud their thinking. Are they still independent readers of God’s word? Are they valuing the Word’s guidance more highly than the doctrines of their peers? Perhaps it is such men whose leadership should be trusted least of all. Rather do your own research and trust the evidence of history. Consider also that the infamous Rupert Murdoch, a prolific porn publisher, owns Zondervan, and thus technically owns the NIV. One must be very naïve to believe that the NIV team’s ‘integrity’ will ensure that revisions and study bible commentaries on the NIV will not be influenced by his ownership and commercial pressure.  The sheer extent of his marketing power is very much visible on the bookshelves.

You may now also ask: “Does this mean that Erasmus should be considered a hero, and that those who contributed to the new bible versions are villains?” No, like Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and any of the other reformers, Erasmus also had his shortcomings. These were men that God used to influence history, but they remained just that, men. Men as likely to err in some fashion like all of us. No man is worthy to be elevated to hero status, every one errs seriously somewhere along the way. We all need God’s mercy and forgiveness. Nevertheless God wants to use us, He accomplishes His purposes through us despite our failures.

As may be clearly seen in the Old Testament, God has his hand in all of history, despite the apparent chaotic outcomes. He is the only One we can trust. He is the only One who saves us (from ourselves, our fallen nature). The amazing thing is that He wants us to engage in this world even if we are going to mess things up somewhere. He wants us to give life a full go, relying on Him, on His Word and to acknowledge His presence with us along the way. Only He offers us the gift of gifts, Jesus Christ, as payment for our many omissions and sins.

Behold, God [is] my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation. {12:3} Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. {12:4} And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. {12:5} Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this [is] known in all the earth. {12:6} Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great [is] the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. (Isaiah 12:2-6)

For further detail of manuscripts relating to the Byzantine text, refer to https://brandplucked.webs.com/byzantinetextlate.htm

Personal Conviction:

I would not imply that the new translations (NIV and the like) cannot be used by God to speak to us, His people. Of course He does speak to us through His Word, in our spirit, by His Holy Spirit.  Our own family has previously read from the NIV for many years and has benefited from reading it. I personally would not discourage anyone from bible reading if only the NIV or ESV is available. There is such an abundance of truth is God’s Word that the efforts of some men to corrupt it can not possibly change it all. They may succeed in changing some verses, but the truth will still come through in others.

An example of such a ‘new translation’ change with much backup would be Revelation 1:6: In the KJV we read: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, {1:6} And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” The new translations change this to “a kingdom of priests“. On its own it is a quite serious change, affecting our view, hope and expectation of our purpose in the millennium. However, Revelation 20:6 states that we will be ruling with Christ (we “shall reign with him a thousand years.”). We are His co-regents during the millennium. Hence the truth is still to be found elsewhere and the dilution, although serious, is compensated for. Also read Rev 5:10 “And has made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” The serious reader of the bible is less likely to be affected by these corruptions, because they would be aware of the substantiating scriptures. However, false teachers will use these corruptions to deceive weak Christians. For example, by using the corrupted Rev 1:6 verse above, they may use it to substantiate their false ‘kingdom now’ theology. (google ‘NAR’ (new apostolic reformation))

Another easy to spot change in the new translations, is that the word “hell” has been removed in the majority of cases.  It has been replaced by the pagan concept of ‘Hades’ (Rev 6:8,20:14). Would you think that ‘Hades’ an easier concept to understand than hell? Are the new translations not supposed to make the bible easier to understand? Or do they wish to water it down, dilute it, to make it more ‘palatable’.

We clearly need to draw a line in the sand, resist the corruption process and establish a benchmark. We need to realize that we already have a “go to” version in the KJV that can be trusted, and use this as the authoritative guide in our studies.

The most serious effect of the new translations, perhaps even greater than attempting to corrupt God’s Word, is that it attempts to erode the general view of the infallibility of God’s word.  Is Satan’s prime target not perhaps to erode our confidence in whether we are reading Jesus’ exact words? When anyone is confronted with the many differing versions, a person may well question what translation he should choose as the most reliable? Are the those words still God’s words?

Besides the attack on the individual’s confidence, the new translations have also lent credibility to the secular attack on the bible. Very few theologians will still have the confidence and faith to state openly that God has in fact preserved His Word, even he used fallible men to copy the original Greek and afterwards other men to translate it into English. Logically this attack is all too ridiculous. Could our Almighty Father, creator of the heavens, the earth and all contained in them, worker of great deeds and miracles, not accomplish a much simpler task, like preserving His Word?

The ‘Bless Israel’ deception:

Consider a number of pleasant sounding terms and concepts which are really serious errors that we should re-think:

1. A Hebrew New testament: There is a strong push in christian media promoting the idea that the new testament was written in Hebrew. For an explanation why this is false refer to Greek books 17-05-19.
2. Messianic Jews: Shouldn’t we simply call a converted Jew a “Jewish Christian”? What does that mean exactly, Messianic? Why use a confusing term, calling them messianic, is there now a new category of Christian? Many non-Christian Jews also expect a messiah, but it’s not Jesus!  Doesn’t Paul clearly state that ‘in Christ’ there is no longer Jew or Gentile?
3. Elohim and Yeshua: False teachers claim that Elohim and Yeshua should be used for father God and for Jesus, to be ‘true to the word’. “Among other, they falsify the origin and meaning of the name ‘Jesus’ in New Testament claiming the Greek is derived from that of a pagan Greek god, in order to promote their Jewish version (‘Yahoshua’ or ‘Yehoshua’ – shortened as ‘Yeshua’). They teach that the Greek form of the name Jesus, Iesous, is the contracted genitive form of the Greek goddess of healing in the Greek Ionic dialect and therefore not to be used of the Messiah. Likewise, they teach that the term ‘god’ in English comes from the false god ‘Baal’ via a German root which implies sexual perversity, in order to promote their use of the Hebrew term ‘Elohim’ in English for God.” (refer link below)

3. God’s Covenant with the nation Israel is Unconditional and Forever. (John Hagee ‘In Defense of Israel’, Page 197).

This is one of the worst of Hagee’s many deceptions. He quotes from Psalm 89 concerning God’s dynastic covenant with David to establish his royal throne forever and pretends that this refers to a national covenant with Israel. Confusing one covenant with another is a subtle ploy to deceive those who do not know Holy Scripture. (For more detail refer to http://www.lloydthomas.org/6-ChurchLifeIssues/hagee.htm)

4. The Jews are the ‘brothers’ of Christ by race, and so the treatment of the Jews is the criterion by which God will judge humanity. (Page 7).

Hagee quotes from Matthew 25:40 to ‘prove’ this, which says –”Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me”. He then states: ‘The expression “these brothers of mine” in this verse is a Greek term that refers to “relatives according to the flesh”.’ Yes, αδελφων μου (adelphon mou) means ‘My brothers’, but the Lord Jesus had already publicly explained exactly what He meant when He applied this term to Himself, so Hagee is promoting a false concept of God’s judgement. (refer above link for more detail)

5. Israel’s declaration of political independence at 4pm on Friday May 14, 1948, fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy of a nation born in a day and is an ‘unmistakable milestone on the prophetic timetable’. (Page 11).

Hagee (mis)quotes from Isaiah Chapter 66:8 to ‘prove’ this, but the context of these verses is completely different, it is ‘the day of the Lord’ (see post 7.0). The New Testament confirms the Old as to the timing of Israel’s prophesied spiritual-rebirth as a nation, that it will happen only when Christ returns in judgment. In the interim, as Paul said: “The Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved — so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God’s wrath has come upon them at last.” It has, and will so remain upon them – until, as their own prophet said, as a people they repent as they look upon Him whom they have pierced. Zech.12:10 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. {12:10} And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him….”  (also refer to above link for further detail.)

The important principle to remember is that Jesus reserved his harshest and most condemning words for the Pharisees. Judaism has not got any merit in Christianity, it is a false gospel of works and is completely rejected by Jesus himself. As saved Christians we have no business in promoting or being enamoured with such a false gospel. There clearly is a movement afoot to sacralise Jewish culture, we should be aware and wary thereof.

• refer to the ‘Lamp in the Dark’ series, an expose of the deliberate Catholic/Jesuit infiltration into positions of influence in seminaries, education and policy making with the intent to corrupt and destroy the reformation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBLwBlqjLSs