Bibles like everything else are open to interpretation. We tend to gravitate towards those we agree with.
“Tweaking the Scriptures”- Ron Graham
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” 2 Timothy 3:16. The phrase “given by inspiration of God” comes from the Greek word “theopneustos”, which actually means God breathed. The above verse is a great verse to memorize as its truth is sure. Still, we must beware of “Tweaking of Scriptures” which occurs frequently these days. The corruption of God’s word is an ongoing, ever increasing, supernatural satanic attack. Even Bible publishers corrupt God’s truth. They’ve now included gender neutral changes as well as eliminating references to the Trinity.
“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.” Genesis 2:17. Even Eve did a little “Tweaking of Scriptures”. In the following verse we find Eve adding to the commandment God gave Adam. “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Genesis 3:3. Some of Eve’s descendants have perfected the art of “Tweaking the Scriptures” to a science.
A good bit of “Tweaking of Scriptures” has been accomplished by men who are intent on eliminating God from His own Creation process (Before I venture any further, let me just say that all “Tweaking” of God’s original inerrant word is satanic). The theory of evolution supplants God’s authority over mankind as well as the rest of His creation. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1. This verse doesn’t set well with those who believe in the theory of evolution. Many who profess to be Christian believe in evolution, and since they believe in evolution, in any form, to them God’s word is either filled with errors or God is just a liar.
Paintings depicting our Lord Jesus is just another attempts at “Tweaking the scriptures”. Many simply assume these paintings represent a fairly accurate portrayal of His likeness and dismiss the fact that they are only an artist’s point of view. Mankind has no God breathed word that tells us that Jesus ever posed for such a portrait. As a matter of fact, Jesus Himself placed prohibition against such things. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above…” Exodus 20:4. For centuries artists have been using their creative prowess to sculpt statues (graven images) of our Lord Jesus which we can now find standing in church courtyards and on tops of mountains around the world. How did the second Commandment become so irrelevant to so many? Sometimes I wonder how many Christians even understand the Ten Commandments. God’s principles never change.
In truth, no one really knows what our Lord looked like. Jesus was visible to multitudes of people as He ministered to the masses and promoted His Kingdom, but there was no way of capturing His portrait nor was there any need. None of those who followed Him thought He would disappear from their presence so quickly. We can’t even imagine how He looked in those days, nor are we supposed to.
The Roman Catholic Church has perfected the use of the “graven image” to represent our Lord. They keep Christ’s image on a cross as some sort of remembrance, even though God said not to do so. I’ve often wondered why they keep my Lord on that ugly cross, which was the instrument of His death. It’s His resurrection we celebrate. There is nothing wrong with a cross as representation of a person’s walk with our Lord, but don’t put Jesus back up there. He’s not going to die for His creation again, nor is He dying perpetually – Tetelestai – it’s done, finished.
In homes of believers we can find pictures of what is supposed to be the likeness of Messiah Jesus. We even see this in many of the buildings where Christians go to worship our Lord. We’ve all seen pictures or visited the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s representation of God. But considering God’s prohibition, does anyone believe He ordained that particular fresco? Anything Satan can do to corrupt the word of God or to divert humanities attention away from God he’ll do. God says don’t do it – Satan says do. These things may seem trivial to many, but little by little and year after year more of God’s word becomes insignificant as the “Tweaking” continues unabated.
When we see Cherubs portrayed as cute little children, most of the time bearing wings, the “Tweaking of Scriptures” continues. They’re painted and sculpted cleverly to resemble a child flying about holding a bow and arrow. Yet the Bible tells us that the Cherub is the highest in the hierarchy of angels. These are the leaders in the supernatural realm of angels. The Garden of Eden was protected by a Cherub. That Cherub wasn’t put there to block Adam or his descendants from entering the Garden, any regular angel could have been assigned that task. He was placed there so Lucifer and his horde of fallen misfits would be unable to re-enter the Garden. Cherubs are fierce. Michael the archangel, the one who does battle with Satan in Heaven and defeats him, is a Cherub as is Lucifer.
Another not so obvious attempt at moving people away from the truth of God’s word is this. Almost every time we see angels depicted in the media these days we see them as women. Apart from the blatant disobedience concerning the second Commandment (or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above…) how is it that there are no female angels spoken of in the Scriptures, yet man has created female angels to represent God’s messengers.
Angels are always presented in the Scriptures as masculine, never feminine. In the book of Genesis and that of Job we read about the sons of God (bene HaElohiym). “That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair…” Genesis 6:2. (The truth of this chapter has also been “Tweaked” by many who prefer to sugarcoat God’s word rather than letting it speak for itself). Bene Ha Elohiym are angels, whether godly or fallen, and always sons never daughters.
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them” Job 1:6.” Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD” Job 2:1. “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Job 38:7. This last verse tells of the sons of God shouting for joy at the creation. They were with God while He created everything in this universe, and there were no daughters of God mentioned.
Another pointed reference to angels only resembling men is “And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them;” Genesis 19:1. Now let’s see how the men of Sodom perceived these two angels “…And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.” Genesis 19:5. Two angels were sent by God to give safe escort to Lot and his family out of Sodom before its destruction. The two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as the surrounding smaller villages, were overrun with homosexuality. The men of Sodom wanted to “know them” (the two angels) which in the Scriptures is a term used of sexual intercourse. Whenever angels appear in the Scriptures they resemble men. That’s why these homosexual men of Sodom saw them as attractive.
This leads us to more “Tweaking of Scriptures”, this time coming from those who insist that God has no problem with homosexuality. The opinion that homosexuality is acceptable to God might leave some scratching their head in wonderment as to why He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Obviously the promotion of homosexuality today is widespread. These deceived folks will not stop until this abomination is fully condoned and accepted as normal in every society around the world. And lest we forget, homosexuality was unashamedly accepted in Lot’s day also. The practice of homosexuality was so repugnant to our perfect God that He destroyed, not only Sodom and Gomorrah, but all the surrounding cities involved in this abomination. We can look back into the history of numerous civilizations and find the reason for their collapse being the pervasiveness of homosexuality. America cannot be far behind. God’s principles never change – yet the “Tweaking of Scripture” continues.
The Bible has been “Tweaked” to the point that it is seen today as only a fairytale, which of course means anything goes. “…Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” 1 Corinthians 5:6. Throughout the Scriptures leaven is representative of sin, and in each of these cases just presented, we see the never ending “Tweaking of the Scriptures” spreading like leaven.
Everyone has seen the caricatures in Sunday school class of Noah’s Ark. They are usually presented as a funny, distorted looking little boat with its cargo of animals sticking out from all angles, most prominent is usually the head and neck of the giraffe protruding from the very top of the boat. These are used to teach the little children about the flood of Noah. But they are so destructive in their erroneous presentation. The sin that is covered up these days by Bible teachers who continue to point to these ridiculous characters was so egregious to God that He was forced to destroy the whole world. When the word of God is watered down and “Tweaked” even fairytales become more believable.
These are but a few things that get distorted over time and diminish the validity of the Bible. But there are many more instances of “Tweaking”, and more importantly there is a purpose to all this corruption and deceptiveness. Satan wants nothing more than to convince humanity that the Word of God should be seen as ridiculous, or at the very least insignificant to mankind. With the promotion of the above examples as truth many have begun to shun the Bible seeing it now only as myth or filled with fables. Satan is succeeding in his attempt to discredit God’s word and he has taken his deception one step further.
How do most human beings perceive Satan himself? Do we see him as real or fiction? Is he seen as the most significant evil threat to all humanity, or is he seen merely as a fictional cartoon character?
What Satan has been able to accomplish over the years is to provide for himself a surrogate personage, a phony devil if you will, to stand in his place until he is ready to reveal himself to mankind. The surrogate has a very different look and demeanor. Satan obfuscates the truth by inventing a cartoon character to represent himself, thus nullifying his existence. Satan is viewed by many today as a fictional dastardly red dude with funny little horns, a pointed tail, holding a pitchfork, and standing among a sea of flames. But the real Satan - and he is real - will soon present himself to mankind in a very different light.
By studying the Scriptures we’re shown a different side of Satan and brought to a very different conclusion concerning the number one nemesis of God and man. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” 1 Peter 5:8. As long as people see Satan as nothing more than a fictional cartoon character he’ll continue to build a following of deceived individuals. While devouring souls, Satan will continue his relentless attacks on God’s Holy Scriptures with his attempts at changing them into nothing more than fairytales.
There is much more “Tweaking the Scriptures” occurring than what I’ve been able to include in this commentary. Sometimes Christians can be their own worst enemy, believing what feels good about the Scriptures and dismissing what doesn’t fit their preconceived ideas. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7.
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
