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It Was Foretold
“Behold, I have told you before.”Matthew 24:25
Nothing on this site should surprise a Bible believer. Long before anyone printed a modern version or opened a seminary, God said men would corrupt His words, twist the scriptures and preach another Jesus, and this page sets His warning right beside what actually happened, verse by verse, from the garden all the way to the last book. You don't have to take my word for any of it... read the verses, then look around.
The warning, in three steps.
The first attack was an edit.
The serpent never denied that God had spoken. He went after what God said, one word at a time, and he opened with a question that made God's words sound doubtful.
“Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”Genesis 3:1 · The serpent
The devil can quote the Bible.
When he tempted the Lord Jesus in the wilderness, the devil quoted a psalm and left out one line, and it was the line that mattered. The Lord answered him with the rest of Scripture.
“Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”Matthew 4:7
God said it would happen again.
The apostles warned that the same method would come back, and that it'd come from inside the church and get worse toward the end.
“Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”Acts 20:30
One command. Three versions of it.
God gave Adam one command, and by the time it came up in the serpent's conversation with Eve, there were three versions of it going around the garden, and only one of them was God's. Read them side by side.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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.
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat ▵of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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.
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? … Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
- ▵Taken away. God said “freely”. Eve dropped it, and just like that God's generous command started to sound stingy.
- +Added. God never said “neither shall ye touch it”. Eve added a rule He didn't give.
- ~Softened. God said “thou shalt surely die”. Eve said “lest ye die”, and the word she dropped was “surely”... the very word the serpent picked up next.
- ✕Contradicted. Once the words were loose, the serpent flatly denied them: “Ye shall not surely die”.
Taken away, added to, softened, then denied. Hold on to those four marks, because you'll see every single one of them again on the seven fronts.
Question. Contradict. Replace.
The same three moves, in the same order, every time.
- 1
Question
“Yea, hath God said…?”
Make God's words sound uncertain.
Genesis 3:1 - 2
Contradict
“Ye shall not surely die…”
Once they're uncertain, deny them.
Genesis 3:4 - 3
Replace
“…ye shall be as gods…”
Put something else in their place.
Genesis 3:5
He quoted Scripture, and cut one line.
In the wilderness the devil tried a new approach: he quoted the Bible. Put his quotation next to the psalm he was quoting, though, and you'll find a hole in it right where the condition used to be.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
…for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: to keep thee in all thy ways and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
The promise was for a man walking in God's ways. Without that line, it sounds like a promise to catch anyone who jumps.
“Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”Matthew 4:7
The Lord didn't argue about the psalm. He answered with more Scripture, and that's the pattern for everything on this site... when the words are cut, you put the rest of the words back.
God said it would happen again.
The apostles didn't treat the garden like ancient history. They warned that the same method would return, and they went so far as to say where it would come from and how it would end.
- In Paul's own day
Already, many.
“For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God…”2 Corinthians 2:17
“…not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully…”2 Corinthians 4:2
- From inside the church
Not from outside. From among you.
“Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”Acts 20:30
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you…”2 Peter 2:1
“For there are certain men crept in unawares…”Jude 4
- In the latter times
Doctrines of devils, itching ears, twisted scriptures.
“…in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;”1 Timothy 4:1
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”2 Timothy 4:3–4
“…which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”2 Peter 3:16
- At the end
A falling away, and a strong delusion.
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…”2 Thessalonians 2:3
“…because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:”2 Thessalonians 2:10–11
“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”Revelation 13:8
Notice where it ends. The warnings don't stop at bad Bibles or bad teachers; they run all the way to the whole world worshipping the wrong one, and that's why the words matter so much.
Another Jesus. Another spirit. Another gospel.
Paul named the destination, and none of it looks evil on the way in... it comes dressed as light, and its ministers look like ministers of righteousness.
“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received,
or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”
2 Corinthians 11:4
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”2 Corinthians 11:14–15
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”Galatians 1:8
Plenty of Bibles. A famine of hearing.
“…for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.”Jeremiah 23:36
“How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?”Jeremiah 8:8–9
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:”Amos 8:11
And where does it all start? The Lord Jesus told us Himself, speaking of the devil: “When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44
They changed the warning itself.
Of all the verses in the Book, this is the one that warns about corrupting the word of God, so you'd think it would be the last verse anybody dared to touch. Look at what the modern versions do to it.
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
For we are not, as so many, corrupting peddling the word of God...
As already quoted on Front IUnlike so many, we do not corrupt peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.
The NIV text as its publisher serves itFor we are not, like so many, which corrupt peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
The ESV text from esv.org, CrosswayLook at what they did. The Greek behind this verse never changed, and the King James men gave it to us as “corrupt the word of God.” The NIV took that warning out, put a sales counter where it stood, and then added “for profit,” words that never stood in the King James. In the very verse God gave us about corrupting... changing the true meaning of His WORD... the one thing He holds above even HIS own name, they changed it... hiding their own sin... and trading it for another.
“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”Psalm 138:2
…for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
…for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame.
The NIV text as BibleGateway serves it…for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
The ESV text from esv.org, CrosswayAnd look what they did to the very verse that sets His word above His name. The NIV keeps a ranking but swaps out both things being ranked, so “thy word” becomes a “solemn decree” and “thy name” becomes His “fame,” and the ESV drops the ranking altogether and sets His name and His word side by side. The one verse that tells you how high God holds His WORD... they rewrote that one too.
And who sells it? In the U.S. and Canada, its commercial print rights run through HarperCollins Christian Publishing, home of Zondervan, and HarperCollins belongs to News Corp, a publicly traded media company. That isn't two sins sitting side by side. It's one act with two faces... God's word handled as something man is free to recast, and then sold, and the warning they rewrote now describes the very business that prints it for profit.
One warning for every front.
Each front on this site opens with the verse that warned of it, and here they all are together, so you can see that none of this caught God by surprise.
The Counterfeit Bibles
“many, which corrupt the word of God”2 Corinthians 2:17 IIGod warned of this
The “Oldest and Best” Lie
“the pen of the scribes is in vain”Jeremiah 8:8 IIIForetold
The Seminary Machine
“of your own selves shall men arise”Acts 20:30 IVForetold
The Merchandise of Souls
“in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous”2 Timothy 3:1–2 VForetold
The Deceitful Heart
“after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears”2 Timothy 4:3 VIForetold
Familiar Spirits
“seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils”1 Timothy 4:1 VIIForetold
Science Falsely So Called
“all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old”2 Peter 3:4–5
Don't take my word for it. Take His.
The Bible tells you how to check anything you hear, and that includes this site and every word I've put on it.
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”Acts 17:11
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”1 John 4:1
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”Isaiah 8:20
Before you go
“What must I do to be saved?”
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.Acts 16:31 Read the Gospel