Does God say He will never add to the word?
How do you understand this?
2007-03-22 07:53:31 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Deuteronomy 4:2: Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it....
And as John wrote concerning the Book of Revelation in Rev. 22:18,19: For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, 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.
What John wrote is true: no man should change what God has spoken. However, God has the authority to speak what and when He wants. God spoke to other prophets after Moses , and many of their divinely commissioned writings have been preserved in the Bible.
So if we take what Moses said, the other prophets that wrote after him would have been false right? Their words would be wrong, and would be adding to a book that shouldn't be added to. For those who don't know, revelations wasn't the last book written, it was placed last in the bible, but was written before most of the new testament. Does that mean that EVERYTHING that was written after it was written isn't the word of God? NO!! It means that God needed to add things, which He has a right to do whenever He feels the need.
This then opens the question that if prophets in olden times can add to the bible, or any scripture for that matter, couldn't someone today, who is in direct contact with God, add to it too? Most people would get really mad at me for saying this. They think it is blasphemy to think that anyone today could add any sort of scripture at all, that God no longer communicates to us through prophets, or other men called of God. I don't think that's the case. I think people have taken these few scriptures too literally and are unable to see that it is possible for us to receive divine, written inspiration from God.
2007-03-22 08:27:48 · answer #1 · answered by odd duck 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Revelation 22 : 19 says ( King James Version) " 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. " In verse 18 it says : " For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:..." I did it backwards, but those are the verses. I know God will never add to the words of the Bible because the very last verse of the Bible is a benediction, which signals the end of His Word, the same way a benediction in a Church service is the end of the service, and it is the end, until we meet again. In the 21st verse of Revelation, God is saying good bye until we see Him in heaven
2007-03-22 08:17:42 · answer #2 · answered by The Count 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The idea that what is written shouldn't be changed (added to or taken from) is in the current Christian Bible twice...
Deuteronomy 4:2-- Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Revelations 22:18 & 19--
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 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.
I interpret each of these passages to be applicable specifically to the book in which each was included-- God commanded the Israelites to not change what Moses wrote.... God also commanded the Christians to not change what John the Beloved wote...
I just laugh when some Christians say that this (the Bible) is all God will ever have to say to mankind.
2007-03-22 13:58:01 · answer #3 · answered by Yoda's Duck 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's the cited verse from Revelation as noted. It doesn't say, however, that you can't add or take away from the Bible as a whole, because it is only referring to the "prophecies of this Book" (and the "book" is the Book of Revelation).
After all... the Protestant reformers took away 5 books of the Bible during the Reformation (the Deuterocanonicals). So, either the Catholics improperly added those 5 books when the Bible was put together in the 4th century, or the Protestants took them away. Either way, there would be a problem.
2007-03-22 08:02:08 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Revelation. It's at the very end of the last book of the bible.
Revelation 22:18-19 says, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."
2007-03-22 07:57:14 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Revelations 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 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.
2007-03-22 08:18:07 · answer #6 · answered by deacon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The common reference is from the Book of Revelations, chapter 22, verse 19.
However, if you examine the preceding verses, it is clear that the reference refers specifically to the "Book of Revelation" itself, and not the entire Bible.
Additionally, if you examine the chronological order that the books of the Bible were written, this Book of Revelation came before some other books of the Bible, so a broad biblical application of Revelations 22:19 would preclude parts of the Bible itself.
2007-03-22 08:13:48 · answer #7 · answered by Kerry 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that is totally puzzling because of the fact the two are technically suitable. while the Jewish human beings (the messengers of God) desperate the canon of the bible (purely the previous testomony, they eradicated some books. whether, 3 hundred years later, while the recent testomony scriptures have been desperate via the Orthodoxy, they desperate to incorporate those 7 books. 1500 years later, Martin Luther desperate to repair the unique Jewish previous testomony. After that, while the Catholics chop up from Orthodoxy, they bumped off three extra books that the orthodox had till now extra. those books have been debated for 1000's of years, and that is incredibly much impossible to tell which canon of the three is suited.
2016-10-19 08:45:06 · answer #8 · answered by millie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Revelation 22:18-19 are the verses you are probably referring to. Although it is written in the book of Revelation most Christians take it as applicable to the entire Bible.
2007-03-22 07:58:58 · answer #9 · answered by real illuminati(Matt) 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Revelations was written well before a "committee" of several hundred people from varying backgrounds arrived at the current collection of books. God didn't write the Bible, nor did he personally edit it. Nor did any of the subsequent re-translations descend from the heavens. So, I believe the answer is, it's already happened and continues to happen each time a new-and-improved edition is published.
2007-03-22 08:22:53 · answer #10 · answered by kena2mi 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋