A 6 Part Audio Teaching Series
http://www.cvbibleteachingcenter.org/audio.html
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Love: The Law of the Kingdom Audio Series
Love: The Law of the Kingdom
A 6 Part Audio Teaching Series
http://www.cvbibleteachingcenter.org/audio.html
A 6 Part Audio Teaching Series
http://www.cvbibleteachingcenter.org/audio.html
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Does God Really Put Diseases on Us?
Does God Really Put
Diseases on Us?
A Response to Chaim
Bentorah’s Online Article, “Word Study – Putting on Diseases”
Troy J. Edwards
And said, If thou wilt diligently
hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in
his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon
thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that
healeth thee.
(Exodus 15:26)
Chaim
Bentorah, according to the background information made available on his web
page, studied Hebrew as an undergraduate and under the tutelage of a Jewish
rabbi. Based on his knowledge he has challenged the Word-Faith understanding of
Exodus 15:26 in which God says, “I will put none of these diseases upon thee,
which I have brought upon the Egyptians.”
Word-Faith
proponents often understand this passage as being permissive but Mr. Bentorah disputes this based on his knowledge of
the Hebrew language. You will find his thesis at the following link:
http://www.chaimbentorah.com/2014/07/word-study-putting-diseases/?print=pdf (Last accessed: July 16, 2016)
However, allow
me to quote a portion of this author’s article:
Faith healers and the Word Faith movement have tried many
ways to get around this verse which clearly tells us that God puts diseases
upon people. They really hate this verse and will argue quite emotionally that
it is not saying with it appears. Their usual explanation of this passage is
that God did not say that He would put none of these diseases upon us but that the
Hebrew really said: “I will not permit these diseases to come up you.” I have
studied this passage every which way but Sunday in the Hebrew and as much as I
hate to admit it, there is no getting around that Hebrew word, ‘asim which
means to put or set. I cannot twist this
around to say that he would only permit or allow these diseases to come upon
us. Clearly in the Hebrew He is
putting them on us if we do not harken to the will and voice of God.
(Emphasis are mine)
I have addressed
Exodus 15:26 in detail in my book, “Does God Send Sickness” as well as in a future publication, “Healer or Inflictor: Sickness and Disease in light of the
Warfare between Christ and Satan”. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to deal with it briefly in
this blog in response to Mr. Bentorah’s article. I commend Mr. Bentorah for his
desire to be true to the text as it is stated in the original Hebrew. I do not
question his love for God or for His holy Word. On the contrary, I believe Mr.
Bentorah wants people to understand God’s truth correctly.
That being
said, I believe that if Mr. Bentorah unintentionally maligns God’s character by
presenting Him as the inflictor of sickness and disease. Mr. Bentorah relies
primarily on his technical knowledge of Hebrew to understand this passage
rather than interpreting it in the light of the full revelation of Scripture.
The full revelation of Scripture is more important to interpreting this passage
than technical knowledge of Hebrew because the full revelation reveals the
complete truth about God’s character and His relationship to sickness and disease.
While I do
not question this man’s knowledge, background, or proficiency in the Hebrew
language, I truly believe that Mr. Bentorah does not understand the method of “interpreting
Scripture with Scripture.” If Mr. Bentorah does understand this important method
of Bible interpretation then it is evident that he does not apply it consistently.
Proficiency in the original languages of the Bible does not necessarily make
one an expert on interpreting the Bible. The Bible is a spiritual book and must be spiritually
discerned (1 Cor. 2:14).
The late R.
A. Torrey, a great scholar himself, wrote, “The person who has no technical
knowledge of Greek and Hebrew but has spiritual discernment is a far more
competent critic of the Bible than the one who has a rare, technical knowledge
of Greek and Hebrew but no spiritual discernment.”[1]
An intellectual knowledge of Bible languages does not necessarily equate to
spiritual knowledge. After all, we have men who are proficient in Bible
languages who tell us that God no longer works miracles today and that He
predestines all events--the good and the bad. I reject their premise despite
how intellectually superior they are to me.
Let me
provide a Biblical example to illustrate my point. In 2 Samuel 24:1 we read, “And again the anger of the Lord was kindled
against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and
Judah.” I do not possess the knowledge of Hebrew that Mr. Bentorah does but
I did look up this passage in the Interlinear Hebrew Old Testament. None of the
Hebrew words used in this passage would lead me to believe that it can be
interpreted permissively. However, should I conclude from this passage that God
is a seducer and tempter? That is what the word “moved” means in the Hebrew.
However, the
New Testament, the document by which all Old Testament teaching is to be
interpreted by, disputes that idea about God. James said, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” (James 1:13). Since
James is in direct contrast to 1 Samuel then we can only conclude one of two things:
a) The Bible contradicts itself or
b) The Bible interprets itself
Mr. Bentorah
and I (as well as the Word-Faith teachers) believe that the Bible is the infallible
Word of God so option a) is out of the question. Therefore we can only resort
to option b). The beautiful thing about option b) is that it is easily proven
in the case of 2 Samuel 24:1. Several centuries after 2 Samuel 24:1 God
inspired another Biblical writer to give us the correct interpretation of 1
Samuel 24:1: “And Satan stood up against
Israel, and provoked David to number Israel” (1 Chron. 21:1). Here we see
that God is not a seducer or tempter. This is the work of Satan.
This begs
the question as to why did the writer of 1 Samuel 24:1 say that God seduced
David to sin by numbering Israel? Many scholars explain that, “….in the Hebrew
idiom God is often said to do what he merely permits to be done.”[2]
I go into much more detail about this truth in my book, “What God is Said to Do is that Which
He Only Permits”. I
find it strange that Mr. Bentorah did not learn this truth from the schools he
attended or the Rabbis he consulted.
This truth
should be equally applied to Exodus 15:26. God is no more the distributor of
sickness than He is of sin. As one author wrote well over a century ago:
We are apt to say, when any one is afflicted, diseased,
distressed, tormented, or dead, that the Lord has done it, the Lord gave, and
the Lord hath taken away. Now, this is right to say and to believe, if we speak
of it, and believe, respecting it, according to truth, and a right
understanding of the subject. With this view, a right understanding of the
matter, we ask the following questions:—Is there sin in existence? It is answered
yes. Was God the cause of it? It is answered no; for if he was, then
sin is not sin, as God can do no sin, nor be its cause, direct nor indirect,
immediate or remote. What then was the first cause of sin? It is
answered, Satan or the devil was its cause, and originated the first sin….. But
as held by others, and as established by the Scriptures, it is plain that the
devil was the author of sin. If the devil then, is the originator of sin, then
is not the devil the true cause of the diseases and death of the human race as
it was that evil being who misled our first mother to sin, on which account
death entered into the world and has passed upon all men, because that all have
sinned in our first head, Adam and Eve.[3]
The New
Testament abounds with the teaching that sickness is directly inflicted by
Satan and demonic forces (Matt. 4:24; 12:22-28; Mark 9:25; Luke 7:21-22; 8:1-2;
9:42; 13:11-16; Acts 10:38; 19:11-12; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; Heb. 2:14). Jesus, who we
are told is exactly like the Father in every respect, never once inflicted
anyone with sickness (John 5:19, 30; 10:30; 14:7-11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Heb. 1:1-2).
On the contrary, He went about doing nothing but healing people who had been
inflicted by Satan.
In light of
this, how do we understand the Exodus 15:26 phrase, “I will put none of these
diseases upon thee, which I have brought
upon the Egyptians”? Job 42:11 provides the answer:
Then came there unto him all his
brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance
before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the
LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money,
and every one an earring of gold (Job 42:11)
In both
passages God is said to have brought
the sicknesses. But let’s go back to the second chapter of Job to see what
actually took place concerning this patriarch:
But put forth thine hand now, and
touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD
said unto Satan, Behold, he is
in thine hand; but save his life. So
went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils
from the sole of his foot unto his crown (Job 2:5-7)
Satan
demanded that God “put forth His hand”. God complies with his request but does
not directly afflict Job with
sickness. God “puts forth His hand” by removing
His protection and allowing Satan to inflict Job with sickness. The only
way that God can be said to inflict sickness is to remove His protective
presence and allow Satan to inflict it. Hence we believe that Burton Coffman gets it
right in his commentary on Job 42:11:
One thing that is absolutely clear in
the Book of Job is the fact that it was Satan, not Jehovah, who slaughtered
Job’s children, impoverished him, and reduced him to the utmost suffering and
disease; yet here, it is stated that, Jehovah had brought all these things upon
him. Here we have enunciated the Biblical premise that God indeed does that
which he allows to happen.[4]
If “brought”
can be understood as “allowed” in Job 42:11 then there is no reason why the
words “put” and “brought” in Exodus 15:26 (which are the exact same words in
the Hebrew according to the Interlinear
Hebrew Old Testament) cannot be understood in the permissive sense as well. While his paraphrase is geared toward a
denominational bias, I do like how Dr. Jack Blanco, a Seventh Day Adventist
minister, interprets Exodus 15:26:
The Lord said to Moses, “If you will listen to me and do what
is right, if you will keep my commandments and laws, I will not let any of you come down with the diseases of the Egyptians.
I will heal you for I am the Lord.”[5]
(Emphasis are mine)
In
conclusion, we do not want to belittle or downplay the importance of Mr.
Bentorah’s knowledge of the Hebrew. We appreciate his scholarship. But his
understanding of Exodus 15:26 must go beyond merely being able to give a
technical interpretation from the original language. It must be understood in light
of the full revelation of God’s character. God is not the inflictor of sickness
and disease. We have proven that Exodus 15:26 can be understood in that light.
[1] Torrey, R.A. How To
Study The Bible (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1985), p. 9
[2] Holden, George The Christian Expositor; or, Practical
Guide to the Study of the Old Testament (London: J. G. and F. Rivington,
1834), p. 139
[3] Priest Josiah The Anti-universalist: Or History of the
Fallen Angels of the Scriptures (Albany: J. Munsell, 1837), pp. 326, 327
[4] 12. Coffman, James Burton.
“Commentary on Job 42”. “Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament”.
<http://classic.studylight.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=job&chapter=042>.
Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
[5] Blanco, Jack The Clear Word: An Expanded Paraphrase to
Build Strong Faith and Nurture Spiritual Growth (Hagerston, MD: Jack J.
Blanco, 2003), p. 85
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get our books that shed further
light on this subject of Bible interpretation as it relates to God’s character
of love:
Visit our web pages for more information on how to purchase
these insightful books:
Be on the lookout for our upcoming
books, “The Permissive
Sense: Hints and Helps to Bible Interpretation that Vindicates God’s Character
of Lovc” and “Healer or
Inflictor: Sickness and Disease in light of the Warfare between Christ and
Satan.”
Available in 2017
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Untying God's "Nots" Or, How Much Control Does God Really Have?
Untying God's "Nots"
The "God is in Control" Mythology is Exposed at Last
If
a nation marches against you, know that I am not behind it. (Isaiah
54:15a; The Voice)
A
common phrase used by many Christians, particularly when there is some tragic
event, is that “God is in control”. Many people mean different things by the
statement, however, the majority of those who use the statement believe that
God initiated the tragic event and had a secret mysterious plan to bring some
unknown good from it.
We
believe that such a teaching casts aspersions on God’s character. Besides, the
origins of this teaching is not from the Bible but is derived from pagan
philosophy. Throughout these pages we will look at a number of arguments and
Scriptures used by proponents of this teaching and show the reader that it does
not line up with the Bible’s teaching about God. The reader will also learn that this
teaching is a
tool of Satan to keep Christians passive so that they will not stand against
him in the authority of Christ’s victory over him.
Purchase at Amazon.com:
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Interpreting Hebrew Causative Verbs Permissively
Interpreting
Hebrew Causative Verbs Permissively
The Key
to Vindicate God’s Character of Love, Righteousness, and Holiness
Troy
J. Edwards
So
this is what the Eternal Lord continued to say: Eternal One: I am going to
restore the fortunes of Jacob and have compassion upon all My people Israel,
for I am eager to defend My reputation
and to protect My holy name. (Ezekiel 39:25; the
VOICE)
Due
to the lies and misrepresentations of God’s character that Satan has
successfully spread over the past several centuries, it has been no easy task
to vindicate God and to proclaim the truth that He is not the way that others
have made Him out to be. One of the major challenges in overcoming false ideas
about God is the language that the Word of God itself uses to describe God’s
actions.
Overcoming
Bible Language Obstacles
The
impression that the King James Version has left on our minds has been one of
the greatest obstacles in relation to proclaiming the truth about God’s
character. In the KJV God is said to inflict sickness, natural disasters,
influence and motivate evil nations to cruelly punish and kill His people, to
make wild animals hurt and kill, harden hearts, move His own people to sin and
then punish them for it, to impart lying spirits and other evil spirits into
men in order to torment them, to personally deceive and to commit numerous
other reprehensible acts.
How
do we understand those passages in the Bible that make God appear to be the
cause of things that detract from the truth that He is a God of love? One ray of light has been the
discovery of many scholars and Bible commentaries who have affirmed the truth
that in the Ancient Near East, where the Bible was written over the centuries,
there is an idiom that was adopted by the Hebrews in which God is said to do
that which He merely allowed or permitted. Much of this has been explained in
my book, God is Said to do that which He
Only Permits.
There
is no doubt that when we embrace this truth we will get a better picture of
God. He will be more trustworthy to us. Furthermore, we will see that it is sin
and Satan that destroys though God often took responsibility for the
consequences of sin. After writing and
publishing my book I felt I was done with this subject. Yet God showed me that
there was another ray of light. He led me to research other English Bible
translations outside of the KJV and look at how they interpret the many KJV causative verbs (as they relate to God)
into a permissive verb.
Most
of my research will be found in an upcoming book titled, “The Permissive Sense: Hints and Helps to Bible Interpretation that Vindicates
God’s Character of Love.”
But you will not have to wait until this
publication is complete. In this essay, I will target a number of passages in
the KJV that tell us that God was the cause of some evil event and show you how
this is interpreted permissively in
other English Bible translations.
God Causing Animals to Hurt
People
When we interpret certain acts of
God correctly then we are able to see what a loving God He is while continuing
to value the Bible as the divinely inspired Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). In the
first examples we will look at a couple of times where God said that He would
cause animals to do harm to His people. In Ezekiel 32:4 in the King James
Version we read:
Then
will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field,
and will cause all the fowls of
the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole
earth with thee.
In
the KJV, God says that He will cause
the fowls of Heaven to remain upon His people as punishment for their
rebellion. He also says that He will make
the beasts of the earth eat them. Sounds pretty vindictive, doesn’t it? Now,
let’s read this in some other translations:
And
I will let you be stretched
on the land; I will send you out violently into the open field; I will let all the birds of heaven
come to rest on you and will make
the beasts of all the earth full of you. (Bible in Basic
English)
Then
I will drop you on the dry ground. I will throw you down in the field. I will let all the birds come and
eat you. I will let wild
animals from every place come and eat you until they are full.
(Easy to Read Version)
Then
I will throw you on the land. I will toss you into the open field. I will let the birds of the sky
rest on you. And I will let the
animals of the earth eat you until they are full.
(International Children’s Bible)
I
will leave you on the ground, I will fling you on the open field, I will allow all the birds of the sky
to settle on you, and I will permit all
the wild animals to gorge themselves on you.
(New English Translation)
In
the KJV God is the direct cause of
the birds and beasts bringing divine retribution upon His people for their
sins. Sort of like a father causing his
pit bull to kill his children for misbehaving. On the other hand if his grown
children will continue to do dangerous things that he warns them not to do then
at a certain point he is unable to protect them from the consequences of their
behavior. This is the meaning here when God says that He will let these things happen. It means that
He will not protect His people.
Ezekiel
provides us with
another example of God causing wild
animals to punish His people for their rebellion. In Ezekiel 14:15 in the KJV
we read:
If
I cause noisome beasts to pass
through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man
may pass through because of the beasts
In
the KJV God threatens to cause
noisome beasts to pass through the land. However, this is interpreted permissively in some other English
translations:
If
a mischievous wild beast, I suffer
to pass through the land, and that beast bereave it, so that it become too
desolate for any man to pass through, by reason of the wild beast
(Emphasized Bible)
Or
suppose I allow wild animals to
roam through the land, and it becomes so wild that no one can live there or
even travel through it on account of the wild animals.
(Complete English Bible)
The
Emphasized Bible, which is an older translation by J. B. Rotherham, had as one
of its goals to remove the denigration of God’s character so prevalent in the
translations of his day. He used the archaic word “suffer” in the place of
“cause”. In older English the word “suffer” simply means “allow” or “permit”.
The Complete English Bible is much clearer in this regard. But both help to
alleviate the idea that God personally causes wild beasts to make a land
desolate.
God’s
Protection Withdrawn is the Real Cause
These warnings about animal violence
and such certainly came to pass because Israel would not fear God or walk after
the manner of the Lord (2 Kings 17:25-26). However, we must learn to interpret
the language properly so that it does not denigrate God’s character. It is God
who is protecting His people from
wild animals that surround them:
You will subdue a lion and a snake; you will trample underfoot a
young lion and a serpent. The Lord says, “Because he is devoted to me, I will
deliver him; I will protect him
because he is loyal to me. (Psalm 91:13-14; New English
Translation)
Moses
reminded the Israelites that it was God, “Who
led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery
serpents, and scorpions” (Deut. 8:15). In Leviticus Moses again relates to God’s people His promise of protection
from animal violence. God told the Israelites to, “Faithfully obey my laws” (Leviticus 26:3; Contemporary English
Version). He then follows this up with a series of promises that include
protection from dangerous animals:
You will eat and be satisfied, and you will live in
safety. I will bless your country with peace, and you will rest without fear. I
will wipe out the dangerous animals and protect you from enemy attacks. (Leviticus 26:5b-6;
Contemporary English Version)
God
was the one who protected His people from dangerous animals. God’s preferred
activity is to protect His people from wild beasts:
And I
will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the
wilderness, and sleep in the woods.... And they shall no more be a prey to the
heathen, neither shall the beast of the
land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them
afraid (Eze.
34:25, 28; KJV)
Therefore,
God’s method of punishment is not to directly make animals hurt and destroy but
to remove His protection that prevented the animals from causing harm: “I will take away the hedge around it, break
down the wall that protects it, and let wild animals eat it and trample it
down.” (Isaiah 5:5b; Good New Translation).
God’s
preference is to protect Israel from wild animals that would devour its people.
That protection is forfeited when God’s people choose to forsake God and
worship false gods. God asks Israel, “Do
you think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings
to Baal, and chase after other gods and
still expect Me to protect you?” (Jer. 7:9; The VOICE).
Therefore,
passages rendered in a causative
sense in the KJV and other English translations should be understood in a permissive sense when it speaks of God
as the source and origin of some horrendous evil. God does not steal, kill, and
destroy. This is the work of His enemy and ours, Satan.
God Causing Enemy Armies to
Defeat Israel
God
is a protector of His people. However, His people can forsake Him, worship
other gods, and thereby forfeit that protection:
All
the strength of Israel vanishes beneath his fierce anger. The Lord has withdrawn his protection as the enemy attacks. He
consumes the whole land of Israel like a raging fire.
(Lamentations 2:3; New Living Translation)
The
consequences of losing His protection are many and varied but one of the most
recurring themes in Scripture is that His people were constantly defeated by
the surrounding pagan nations that God had previously protected them from. When these things happen then God
is said to have personally caused it Himself. For example, look at one of the
results of the curse that comes from disobeying God:
The Lord shall cause thee to
be smitten before thine enemies:
thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and
shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
(Deuteronomy 28:25 King James Version)
In
the King James Version God says that He will cause Israel to be smitten by
their enemies. A number of other English translations render this in a permissive sense: “The Lord will allow you to
be struck down before your enemies” (New English Version); “The Lord will let your enemies defeat you” (God’s Word); “The Lord will let you be
overcome by your haters” (Bible in Basic English); “The
Lord will let your enemies defeat
you” (International Children’s
Bible); “The Lord will let you be defeated by your enemies”
(Contemporary English Version); “Yahweh
will let your enemies defeat you”
(Names of God Version)
This
language is consistent with all of the symptoms of the curse listed in
Deuteronomy 28. God does not personally inflict the curse of sickness, disease,
poverty, defeat, etc. He only “causes” these things by removing His protection.
God, concerning the curses, further explains: “I’ll be furious with them and
abandon them. I won’t look on them when they pray. I won’t protect them, and they’ll be eaten alive”
(Deut. 31:17; The VOICE).
There
are many other places in King James Version where God is said to have caused
Israel’s enemies to hurt and defeat them. In Psalm 66:12 we read:
Thou hast caused men to ride
over our heads;
we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a
wealthy place.
The
Easy to Read Version renders verses 11 and 12 in the permissive sense:
God,
you let us be trapped. You
put heavy burdens on us. You let
our enemies walk on us. You dragged us through fire and water. But you
brought us to a safe place.
The
ERV renders the passage in a way that allows us to see that God, Israel’s
protector, removed His protection when the people forsook Him. The result was
to allow their enemies to conquer them. Other translations besides the ERV also
render the causative verb in a more permissive sense: “You allowed us to be
conquered and let our enemies run
over us” (The VOICE); “You allowed men to ride over our heads”
(New English Translation); “You have allowed people to ride over our heads”
(Modern English Version) “You let our enemies trample us” (Good
News Translation); “Thou didst let men ride at our head” (Emphasized
Bible)
Again
we see that God only “causes” anything by removing His protection and allowing these things to take place.
Another example is found in Jeremiah 19:7:
And
I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the
sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives:
and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for
the beasts of the earth. (KJV)
However
rather than making God the direct cause the Easy to Read Version says, “And
I will let the people of Judah be killed with swords in this place.”
The New Living Translation renders it, “I will allow the people to be
slaughtered by invading armies” and the Contemporary English Version reads,
“I’ll
let your enemies kill you.”
Not
only does God cause Israel’s enemies
to kill them according to the KJV but He even causes them to rejoice over their
misfortune:
The
Lord hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he
had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and
he hath caused thine enemy to
rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.
(Lamentations 2:17 King James Version)
In
Proverbs we read, “Rejoice not when thine
enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth” (Prov.
24:17). Is God the cause of people doing
something that violates one of His divine principles? This would seem
impossible since God Himself is grieved when His people are afflicted and He
suffers with them (Isa. 63:9; Hosea 11:8-9).
This
is another good reason to interpret Scriptures such as Lamentations 2:17 in a
permissive sense. The New International version renders it, “He has let
your enemies laugh at you.” The New Century Version says, “….he has let your enemies laugh at you.” The International Standard
Version says, “He let the enemy boast about you.” The Emphasized Bible reads, “Thus hath he let the enemy rejoice over thee” The Contemporary English
Version says, “….let your enemies boast about their powerful forces.” Finally, the
Holman Christian Standard Bible says, “letting the enemy gloat over you.”
Interpreting Causative Language Permissively
The
examples we have provided thus far can be multiplied, which is why we will be
presenting more evidence on this issue in our upcoming book titled, “The Permissive Sense: Hints and Helps to
Bible Interpretation that Vindicates God’s Character of Love.” However,
let’s look at a few more passages in this essay where the King James Version
places God as the cause of something
terrible and see how other translators viewed such actions:
Jeremiah 15:8:
Their
widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them
against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly,
and terrors upon the city. (KJV)
Their
widows have become multiplied to me, beyond the sand of the seas, I have
brought against them - upon the mother of young men - the spoiler in the broad
noon, - I have let fall upon her
suddenly, excitement and terrors. (Rotherham’s
Emphasized Bible)
Jeremiah 17:4:
And
thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and
I will cause thee to serve thine
enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in
mine anger, which shall burn for ever. (KJV)
You
will lose the land I gave you. I will let
your enemies take you to be their slaves. Why? Because I am very angry. My
anger is like a hot fire, and you will be burned forever.
(Easy to Read)
Jeremiah 19:9:
And
I will cause them to eat the flesh
of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one
the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies,
and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
(KJV)
And
I will suffer them to eat the flesh
of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, yea every one - the flesh of
his friend, will they eat, - in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith,
their enemies, and they who seek their lives, will straiten them.
(Emphasized Bible)
Jeremiah 29:4:
Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away
captives, whom I have caused to
be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon
(KJV)
The
Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those people whom he allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take away as prisoners
from Jerusalem to Babylonia (Good News Translation)
Thus,
saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Unto all the captivity whom I have suffered to be carried away captive
from Jerusalem to Babylon (Emphasized Bible)
Jeremiah 49:37:
For
I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them
that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,
saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed
them: (KJV)
And
I will let Elam be broken before
their haters, and before those who are making designs against their lives: I
will send evil on them, even my burning wrath, says the Lord; and I will send
the sword after them till I have put an end to them:
(Bible in Basic English)
Ezekiel 32:12:
By
the swords of the mighty will I cause
thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they
shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be
destroyed. (KJV)
I will let the swords of the
strong be the cause of the fall of your people; all of them men to be feared
among the nations: and they will make waste the pride of Egypt, and all its
people will come to destruction. (Bible in Basic English)
Ezekiel 32:32:
For
I have caused my terror in the land
of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them
that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the
Lord GOD. (KJV)
For
I have suffered his terror to be in
the land of the living, Therefore shall be laid low In the midst of the
uncircumcised With them who were thrust through by the sword, Pharaoh and all
his multitude! Declareth My Lord, Yahweh. (Emphasized
Bible)
Ezekiel 36:15:
Neither
will I cause men to hear in thee the
shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the
people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith
the Lord God. (KJV)
And
I will not suffer to he heard
against thee any more, the insult of the nations, And the reproach of the
peoples, shalt thou not bear any more,- And thy nations, shalt thou not cause
to stumble any more, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.
(Emphasized Bible)
From
these different examples we can conclude that God is only said to be the cause
of an evil action that is harmful to His people by removing His protective
presence and then allowing the forces of evil to have their way. God does not
directly or personally cause harm because hurting others is not a part of His
character or nature.
This
also reminds us that sin and disobedience is very dangerous. The worse thing
that can happen to us is for God to abandon us and leave us in the hands of the
forces of evil. However, if we choose to follow and live in evil and we reject
God’s constant pleadings to repent and return to Him then what choice is He
left with but to abandon us to the evil forces that He previously protected us
from?
It
is important that God is not presented to the world as the author of sin or its
harmful effects. We must proclaim the loving character of God if we want to see
Him embraced by those who hate Him. The truth about God’s love, when fully
understood, does a better job of persuading men to leave their sin than the
threats of an angry capricious God can do.
I
hope that this essay has blessed you and helped you to understand some
difficult passages in the light of God’s loving character.
For more Information see our upcoming book, “The Permissive Sense: Hints and
Helps to Bible Interpretation that Vindicates God’s Character of Lovc.”
Available: June 2017
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