This scripture is famous....but is it in Deuteronomy or Revelations?

Question

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.

see if it is in Revelations, and the New Testament was NOT written in chronological order (as the epistles were just letters and not sent in any sequence) then...what happens with half of the Bible that was written AFTER Revelations?

If it was in Deuteronomy....WHAT HAPPENS TO THE WHOLE BIBLE AFTER THAT SENTENCE...SINCE THE SCRIPTURE HAPPENS VERY EARLY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT...DOES IT APPLY TO BOTH OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES? OR JUST OLD TESTAMENT?

IF I AM TAKING THIS EXTREMELY LITERALLY? THEN WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WHO TAKE THE SCRIPTURE IN REVELATIONS LITERALLY??

but the two scriptures in Revelations and Deuteronomy

CONTRADICT THEMSELVES....

IT IS IN BOTH BOOKS....

Answer 1

It is in the book of Revelations. And it is talking about the Book of Revelations and not the Bible as a whole.There are 66 books that make up the Holy Bible not Chapters.

Answer 2

The scripture you quote is Deuteronomy 4:2, but there is a similar verse in Revelation (Rev. 22:18).

Both verses were written in the context of giving instructions & warning to God's people at that particular time. Sure, we can extract meaning from them today, because the purpose and the meaning of God's word does not change.

In the simpliest interpretation, I think that the writers of both verses are warning against adding or taking away from the meaning of God's nature and his statutes (or commandments or rules) and not about the actual writings and books of the Bible following that verse. This would apply to then and now.

Where these verses appear in the Bible may be irrelevant, as far as I can see. Whether the books are in chronoligical order or not I don't think really matters, if you are truly seeking after God's heart and his nature.

I challenge you to read through the entire New Testament, just a few chapters a day, and then ask yourself this question. If you approach it with an open mind, and ask God to speak to you through his work, I promise that before you finish you will have the answers.

Peace!

Answer 3

There is a school of thought, especially among the rabbis, that says that the Bible is deliberately contradictory. The idea being that if two learned men are arguing over the Torah at least they are discussing the Torah.

The Bible didn't fall from the Heavens as is. It was written, edited, redacted, and argued over for hundreds, thousands of years. When the first Christian churches formed the Church Fathers argued over what was canon and what wasn't.I have read that some priests prayed over piles of texts until the the "true" texts revealed themselves.

This debate continued well into the Renaissance. Martin Luther never accepted the Book of Revelation as canon while most Protestants who came after him do accept it. It is the centerpiece of many people's theology (Time LeHaye for example). Catholics and Protestants still argue over whether or not the Jewish appocrypha are canon. Catholic Bibles include the appocrypha, Protestants do not. This is nothing compared to modern debates over Christian appocrypha such the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Mary Magdelene. Some argue that they are authenic Gospels left out for political reasons while others argue that they are false, left out for good reason, and good riddance.

Regardless of what scriptures are canon and which are aren't, taking any of them literally is to miss the point of scripture. Scripture is a tool. It functions as a guide to Truth but isn't Truth itself. Reading scripture as literal fact and history robs it of its power, transforms it into an idol, and binds your mind to specific words. It is the Truth that the words point to rather the words themselves that are important.

Answer 4

Yes. Deuteronomy has that quote and one similar to it in Revelation 22:18 & 19. The quote in Deuteronomy was pertaining to the Laws that were given, the Ten Commandments AND the other 350 or so laws that were the whole of the Law of Moses. What that is saying is that if you live by the Law of Moses and you break one, then you have broken all. With that in mind, if you break the Sabbath, which is on Saturday, you have broken all. Thanks be to God that when Jesus died, the Law of Moses, all of it, was nailed to the cross with him. About the literally stuff. You are not to add to the Bible or take away from it as it is God's Word given through the prophets and the disciples by inspiration of God. It doesn't matter when they were written, it matters that they were inspired by God

Answer 5

It is in both books and only applies to those books. At the time Deuter. was being written, it wasn't considered part of the Torah, nor was it considered scripture. Same with Revelation. The writers weren't writing those things with the thought that one day it would be part of a larger book. They considered their writings as something that would stand alone (any writer would consider their personal writings as something that would stand alone.... not something that would be added to some other books that were written at different times). The verses themselves only dictate that those books (Deuter and Rev) should not be added to or taken away from. They have nothing to do with the rest of the Bible... so in that sense, yes, someone is in deep **** for adding the rest of the Bible to those 2 books.

Answer 6

At the end of Revelations it says not to add or take away from the writtings of "THIS BOOK", i.e. revelation but also the whole Bible. Revelation was the last book written at around 100 AD, and the letters are not in "random" order but order by author. John was the last of the authors to write and was the last to die. Dueteronomy says not to change anything that is written. Hope this helps a little

Answer 7

No, you are taking both scriptures too literally.

1. The one in Deutoronomy was speaking of God's word in general, in other words, it was saying not to pass off your own beliefs as God's word.

2. The one in Revelation was speaking of the words of the book (scroll) of the Revelation of St John the Divine should not be altered by men.

The fact that God doesn't limit himself from further revelations, however, does not make your Mormon Church true.

Many prophets and apostles, whose words are said to be as good as scripture, have later had their words repudiated by the Church as either non-doctrinal, or 'personal opinion'. Either way, these prophets and apostles are guilty of #1 above, since they were speaking 'In the name of Jesus Christ [amen]" when they gave their talks. Most famous for this crime are Joseph Smith (Quakers on the Moon, racial inferiority of blacks) and Brigham Young (Adam-God, Blood Atonement).

Joseph Smith himself was guilty of #2 above, since he performed his JST translation of the Bible and BOTH added unto and retracted from the book of Revelation. Whether or not you believe the 'translation' was inspired or not is irrelevant, because the revelation was not to be altered.

EDIT: mkostelini, Revelation wasn't the last book written. The Gospel of John was actually the last one written. Revelation was the first book John wrote (92 AD), and then his 3 epistles (92, 95, 96 AD), and then his Gospel (98 AD). I hold that this scripture refers ONLY to the book of revelation. When John wrote Revelation, the New Testament didn't exist. The Bible was canonized as a single "Book" only after the Nicene Council of 325.

Answer 8

Revelation 22:
18. 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. 19And 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.

This is only meant for Revelation. Without this implicit threat, I imagine Revelation would have been left out of the bible. The early church definately didn't like this book.

Answer 9

It is from Deuteronomy 4:2. The verse is telling the Israelites to not add onto what God says.

Answer 10

you would do well to take this literally. when you read that scripture (in revelations) you should apply it to everything that is in the bible since no one else is writting books to the bible. the word of god says that all scripture is given by inspiration of god himself. you are never to add your own interpretation of the scriptures or disregard anything that the bible says or your will be cursed and experience that plague that were mentioned on the bible.