Add or Take From the WORD of GOD

Posted by David Wu on 2020-07-04 | Modified on 2020-07-04

Noways, we have the highest quantity of Christians around the world than at any time in history. But the quality is not optimistic. Many Christians do like to talk about GOD, or even stand up to be a witness for GOD. However, though they did it in the name of GOD, the speeches they gave and the actions they took often do not match the WORD of GOD, some even self-contradictory.

The easiest way to mess with God's word in natural human nature is to add to it and subtract from it. Many doctrines that are taught in the churches demonstrate this trait, and it is getting worse continually. Through the entire Bible, so often does GOD warn against this, but HIS people still fail to take heed. Here we just pick two discrete verses from the same book Deuteronomy: not because they are strong in tone, but because they are so DIRECT and CLEAR:

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.

Deuteronomy 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not ADD thereto, nor DIMINISH from it.

Some might say the above is about the COMMANDMENTS of GOD, not the WORD of GOD. However, all GOD's COMMANDMENTS are of the WORD of GOD. Precisely, the COMMANDMENTS of GOD are the more important and explicit words of GOD: whenever there is something GOD wants to emphasize and urge us to do, likely GOD will call it HIS COMMANDMENT to draw our attention. The two are ONE and share the same attribute:

Psalms 12:6 The words of the LORD are PURE words: as silver TRIED in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

One might ask why the WORD of GOD is singular, not plural like above? One specific reason is that all GOD's words are tightly connected, not separated. You can think of the WORD of GOD as a complete painting, the COMMANDMENTS of GOD are the central parts, all other words are to SUPPORT, EXPLAIN, and COMPLEMENT the center. If central parts changed, it becomes another painting carrying different messages: thus no more the WORD of GOD, but the words of someone else.

If we reject some of GOD's COMMANDMENTS, no matter how many other words we keep, it is UNACCEPTABLE to GOD. However, the non-central part of the WORD of GOD still matters. Just like the background of a painting, the more it changed, the less possibility to keep intact the center. The background yields extra information in richness: when and why the center exists, how to be in line with it, the related blessings and curses, the good or evil examples, etc.

But nowadays, many Christians have developed a habit to take the WORD of GOD lightly and think the lack of accuracy as not a big deal at all. However, the Bible does teach the opposite: it is the battleground from the very beginning to the very end, even from Genesis to Revelation; accuracy matters too much to us, even as LIFE or DEATH, HEAVEN or HELL. We shall explore what happened in the garden of Eden first, for that is the first battle.

The First Battle in Eden

Needless to say, how important is the story of Eden. Every denomination I know, big or small, gives it much attention and have developed plenty of doctrines and teachings concerning it, from basic version for Sunday School to advanced research as academic papers. But the sad thing is many of them mixed with fallacies.

Before we can go any further, I have to address one fallacy that I learned in my early days as a Christian: the lesson of Eden is we should NOT to judge good and evil, it is the forbidden fruit of the tree of good and evil. I accepted it for a long time until I reached a certain stage of spiritual awakening. Then I realized: that is an irresponsible saying.

First, after GOD gave HIS first command, Adam and Eve lost their right to not judge good and evil. For they now had the unavoidable responsibility of judging what was good and consistent with GOD's command, and what was evil and against GOD's command. Eating or not eating is considered your judgment, of which there is no middle ground; you may or may not be right, but in any case, there is no room for you not to judge good and evil!

Second, that saying is self-conflicting: for it teaches us that NOT to judge is good, but it means that it has already judged what is good, which contradicts itself. Furthermore, if we should not judge, all sayings should be equal in our sight, then when we choose to follow this saying instead of the opposite, we disobey this saying itself. It is too absurd.

The real lesson in the story of Eden isn't that we should NOT judge good and evil, but by WHOSE principles and standards we should judge good and evil: GOD's or ours. The SOLE purpose of the Bible, which is the written WORD of GOD, is to TEACH us GOD's principles and standards of good and evil, so we would no more sin against GOD and be driven away from HIS presence, just like what once happened to Adam and Eve.

At the time of Eden, there are three persons who sinned against GOD: Satan, Eve and Adam. The three persons actually represent the three kinds of situations in which one might pervert GOD's WORD and sin: some twist purposely to achieve personal goals, make mistakes in their own understanding but then change the original, some just enjoy to follow others blindly.

As GOD is timeless and knows all, HE proclaims the ending in the beginning and states the beginning in the ending. The three persons who sinned in Eden now reflects the three types of errors in the churches today: some lie purposely like Satan, some change the WORD of GOD without knowing its severity like Eve, some follow others disregarding GOD's warning like Adam.

Although all three persons sinned, Eve is the key in the middle: if it wasn't her, neither Satan could deceive, nor Adam would fall. So it is more important for us to learn from Eve's error: how she messed up the WORD of GOD at first, and how later that caused her to disobey GOD's commandment. We will start from GOD's original commandment given to Adam and Eve in Eden:

Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God COMMANDED the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Genesis 2:17 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.

Now we should check what is Eve's own version concerning the above commandment given by GOD:

Genesis 3:3 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.

Some may say it is not far from the original one. But we can find some SUBTLE changes. Let's examine the relevant verses in reverse order, which is mentioned by Jesus as last be first and first be last. So the last phrase "shalt surely die" now become "lest ye die", the word "surely" is taken away and the word "lest" is added. It looks okay.

But here is the difference, the word "surely" shall yield MUCH MORE alertness than the word "lest": for "surely die" stands for the UNCONDITIONAL consequence of to die. However, even though "lest die" does emphasize the possibility of to die, but it changes the possibly of NOT to die from zero to none-zero, thus what would have been IMPOSSIBLE becomes POSSIBLE: maybe not die.

Proverbs 30:6 ADD thou NOT unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found A LIAR.

By Eve added "lest" but took away the word "surely", she made up a lie that there was some kind possibility of not to die, and that also made herself a LIAR. Now we move backwards to its previous phrase: "neither shall ye touch it". It can't be found at all in the original commandment of GOD, so this is purely what Eve added. Is "neither shall ye touch it" harmless or even better? Ye, in the beginning it does look innocent or even enthusiastic; but later it shall bite as a snake.

I will explain in several perspectives, first is mathematical. Suppose at the beginning, before any adding to or taking from GOD's commandment, Eve kept GOD's command exactly, we reference this perfect state along with her feeling as 100%. Since GOD only commanded not to eat, but not forbade to touch, thus when Eve introduced a STRICTER rule, "neither shall ye touch", now Eve had a HIGHER feeling as 120%.

Now assume someone else in Eden did come to warn Eve about how she dropped the word "surely", what shall Eve react? Likely, Eve's high feeling would step down a bit, let's say possibly now from 120% back to 100%: thus, when Eve searched through her feeling for an answer to the warning, what she shall feel is exactly the PERFECTION: 100%, which means there is no need and no urgency to change herself.. So her breach shall remain until the day the tragedy happened.

The second perspective I'd like to explore is to compare with drinking alcohol. After drinking alcohol, you do feel euphoric, both quickly and easily, but it hurts your thinking ability. If nothing goes wrong, then you are okay, even though you are drunk. But in case something is going wrong, at your current drunken state, either you could not see it at all, or you would fail to handle it. It is hard for Eve to believe removing "surely" from "surely die" is any big deal, because she even had a STRICTER rule as "not touch". But actually "neither shall ye touch" hurts her thinking ability in the same way like alcohol.

The third perspective is in fact the SECRET of Pharisees. All Christians love to raise up our spiritual states, and what is offered here is the easiest and quickest way: by simply making GOD's commandment STRICTER, you shall feel high and look better, quick and easy indeed. And with those STRICTER rules glowing upon your head as a crown, definitely you will draw much attention, many shall come to share your lights and feel high too. So Pharisees never lack devoted followers.

However, the outcome of this kind of high feelings is similar to drink alcohol. If you point out some errors to a drunkard, usually you will have only two outcomes: either he agrees with you about the errors, but doesn't think they are worth to be fixed; or he just completely diminish your perspective of the errors. Today, when you try to correct someone at high position or of high rank in the churches, usually you shall meet the similar situation.

At this point, I'd like to summarize some similarities between Eve and Pharisees: first, both make STRICTER rules out of original GOD's commandments; second, both feel HIGH because of their STRICTER rules; third, neither of them could be easily corrected because of their HIGH opinions about themselves. However, we shall soon find more similarities between them. While the story of Eden is in the beginning of the OLD TESTAMENT, the issue of Pharisees is in the beginning of the NEW TESTAMENT. Let's look at the Gospels to see what Jesus says about Pharisees.

The conflicts between Jesus and Pharisees

According to the Gospels, Pharisees took the initiative to come to accuse that Jesus broke their good rules, like not washing hands before eating, healing people on Sabbath, etc. Though Pharisees have more problems addressed by Jesus, we will only focus on how Pharisees first add their own things unto GOD's commandments and then later take away original parts from GOD's commandments. Below is Jesus confronted Pharisees about holding the traditions of men but violating the commandments of GOD.

Matthew 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

Matthew 15:5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

Matthew 15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

The tradition referred by Jesus in above was created by Pharisees in those days: a gift (certain amount of money) to the parents is all that is needed for an rightful inheritor, who has reached the required age, to take away the wealth (include houses and lands) from the parents. The intention of such rule is already under suspicion of greed, but it is only the first half of the rule. The second half is more troublesome: after this gift, no matter what circumstances the parents are in, the inheritor has no more the obligation to support or take care of them.

A gift is an add-on and looks nice, but is NOT REQUIRED at all by GOD for inheritance; while what required by GOD is for the children to respond properly to the needs of your parents with whatsoever is available of you, time, hand, arrangement, etc., so their sufferings because of diseases, old age disability, accidents, mental issues, etc., could be mitigated. In those days, systemic support from society or community didn't exist. If the parents can not get help from their children, then there was no help at all.

So it caused many at their old age lived a miserable homeless life in the streets. Meanwhile, because of such rule of Pharisees, the public pressures were lifted up from those adult children who were responsible for their parents according to GOD's 5th commandment. You can image how many sad stories Jesus shall see and hear, and how much sorrow and anger Jesus shall have concerning that. So it is not surprising for us to see Jesus warns Pharisees with a strong word "WOE":

Matthew 23:23 WOE unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the WEIGHTIER matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Matthew 23:24 Ye BLIND GUIDES, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Jesus begins his proclamation with "woe unto you", which means GOD shall pay back troubles and sorrows to those who replace HIS COMANDMENTS with their own rules. Jesus explains further from another perspective, mint, anise and cummin are not food, but spices. In those days, usually a very small amount of them was planted in the corners of the fields. Many people never thought of giving tithe of such crops. Thus by tithing those which were ignored, Pharisees did make their devotion to GOD very impressive to the public.

Jesus further says what are put aside by Pharisees are the things of GOD: the law, judgment, mercy and faith, which are called by Jesus as "weightier matters", that means more important. Jesus emphasizes the part of GOD's things is what they ought to do and should not be undone. At the end, Jesus compares the value of what Pharisees added as the principles and standards of men, to the value of what Pharisees dropped as the principles and standards of GOD: it is like gnat vs camel. So Pharisees just replaced the significant with the trivial.

Here Jesus also gives an official title to Pharisees: BLIND GUIDES. We have discovered quite amount of similarities between Eve and Pharisees, could they share this title too? With the shining insertion of "no touch", Eve was blind to see how DEADLY the removing of the word "surely" about the possibility of to die. But is she a guide too? At that moment, the relationship between Adam and Eve should be sweeter than most couples of this world. However it turned sour when the WORD of GOD was put aside. And Eve did lead Adam to do the same thing as she had done: disobeyed GOD.

Matthew 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

In the Gospels, Jesus warns against two kinds of leaven: one is the leaven of Sadducees, another is the leaven of Pharisees. In history, Sadducees were those who rejected the authority of TORAH, so they dumped the commandments of GOD from the beginning. Though they did have a large number of followers, its problem is relatively more obvious for those who love GOD. But Pharisees were those who embraced TORAH, so the leaven of Pharisees is more deceptive and dangerous, even for the true lovers of GOD.

With the adding of STRICTER rules or MORE requirements to GOD's commandments, it brings us a false high feeling about ourselves, and the biblical name of such feeling is PRIDE, and it paves the way for us to lose our sensitivity when eventually we drop some important parts of GOD's original commandments. So after Pharisees added their own stuff, with such dazzling add-ons there, their eyes are DOOMED to not see what is taken away later. It is actually a curse set forth by GOD, because when it was added in the beginning, it was already a nullification of GOD's original word. So the curse is really just a way to make the hidden transgressions visible.

Proverbs 16:18 PRIDE goeth before DESTRUCTION, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Now we can see more similarities between Eve and Pharisses: both have a high feeling (pride) about their STRICTER rules; both are affected by their high feeling (pride) like alcohol; both are hard to be corrected like drunks; both later drop the key part of GOD's original commandments; both sin against GOD because their failure to keep GOD's commandments; both lead others to sin against GOD in the same way as they do; both are punished according to GOD's judgement.

But one question: we do sometimes take extra caution to keep GOD's commandments, is it wrong? Definitely not, in fact, extra caution is both necessary and wise. For the sake of the first commandment of Jesus, if we try our best to love GOD with all our strength, how could we not do anything extra? But with two conditions: first, you shall not state it as part of GOD's commandments; second, not imply it as a principle thing for others to follow. Otherwise, it becomes an ABOMINATION.

Proverbs 30:5 Every WORD of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Proverbs 30:6 ADD thou NOT unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found A LIAR.

It is hard to prevent ourselves from pride, especially if your are a teacher or a preacher in the churches. But Jesus offers us a practicable way: not to seek our own glory, but to SEEK to glorify GOD. For whether we receive HIS Word or HIS power, it is God who gives it to us by HIS Spirit, and not we who can have it.

John 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that SEEKETH HIS GLORY that sent him, the same is TRUE, and no unrighteousness is in him.

John 8:50 And I seek NOT mine own glory: there is ONE that SEEKETH and judgeth.

In fact, if we seek GOD's glory, GOD HIMSELF will make sure that we as HIS faithful servants shall share HIS GLORY upon HIS THRONE, just as what happened to Jesus after he died on the cross and resurrected.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my THRONE, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his THRONE.

Revelation 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him HEAR what the SPIRIT saith unto the churches.

The Move of The Enemy

Till now, we have focused on the second group: who has not truly understood the commandments of GOD, yet have added their own STRICTER rules there, hence dig a trap for themselves to fall into later. But now, it is time to look on the first group who change the WORD of GOD purposely in a deliberate way. Again, we will examine what Satan said in Eden in a reversed order: the last verse, which is verse 5, shall be our first pick.

Genesis 3:5 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.

Verse 5 is what Satan put forth to entice Eve to take wrong action. This part itself is very juicy and looks good (although fatal indeed). But Satan didn't have much confidence on it alone. He carefully took two extra steps, which are verse 1 and verse 4, to pave the way for this deadly poison.

We need to analyze them in the reverse order so we can see Satan's device more clearly: for even today, Satan is still using exactly the same strategy. The reason for Satan is really simple: it works in the present time as well as in the past.

Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

In a glance, Verse 4 does bear some similarity of the original GOD's commandment, except one place: "shall surely die" is changed to "shall not surely die". You can see how much caution Satan took to make such subtle change: it is a minimal, only a word of three letters. I can't find a better way， but Satan is not at the same level as me.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Strictly speaking, the above words are not in conflict with God's commandment: for there was a tree whose fruit they they shall not eat of. Thus it is actually a correct saying for Adam and Eve not to eat of every tree. But here is the problem.

For the general and more direct meaning of the words could be that the fruit of every tree is not to be eaten. This becomes absurd and can cause Eve to doubt the validity of God's commandment. More subtly the phrase is expressed as a question rather than a statement.

But Satan is not beyond me one level only, he had more than only above to mislead Eve: he initialed his speech, which is a question indeed, not a statement at all, with a purely deceptive "Yea" to impress Eve that what he intended to say was just the SAME as what Eve knew already. How subtle it is? I have no word to say.

However, GOD did see it as clear as crystal. The word which GOD choose to describe the snake - Satan, is not clever or cunning, but SUBTLE. The reason is: it is good for GOD's children to know Satan is cunning, but it is far MORE IMPORTANT for us to learn how SUBTLY Satan could TWIST the WORD of GOD to lead us to GO ASTRAY.

Note: The above Bible verses are based on the King James Version, so if you feel the need, you can check them out yourself.

Psalms 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Eve did keep some words of GOD in mind, but had not much keenness on accuracy, and this weakness became a breach before Satan; so Satan deliberately twisted GOD's WORD in a very subtle way, so that Eve would have a wrong feeling of SIMILARITY while comparing Satan's words with the WORD of GOD, which led to a false feeling of safety, which further caused Eve eventually to lose all her ALERTNESS.

What happened in the Eden is actually a fierce battle concerning the WORD of GOD. When the enemy makes a move, there are only two possible outcomes for you: deceived or not deceived, and there is no gray area. The loss of this battle is the first pivotal moment in the beginning of the OLD TESTAMENT. In the NEW TESTAMENT, the Gospels record many conflicts between Pharisees and Jesus. The last council to deliberate on how to get rid of Jesus was held by the Pharisees and the priests.

John 11:47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.

Those who wanted to kill Jesus had their own reasons. But in spirit, they all were influenced by Satan. Satan's purpose is to kill the TRUE WORD of GOD. For though the priests and Pharisees embraced the Torah, they didn't have the right understanding. What is unknown to Satan is that he just served GOD again as it was in Eden: help bring out the NEW TESTAMENT for GOD's final purpose - ETERNAL LIFE.

However, while the gift of Salvation is free for you and me to take, there is no guarantee that you will get the end result. We can compare it to a gym: it's free for anyone to access and take advantage of the facilities, but you can't get your desired shape by simply entering it. You have to put in enough effort to follow the right instructions for the workout there. Otherwise you will be disappointed.

The same is GOD's salvation: Your exercise is a drill of your FAITH, the proper instruction concerning exercise is the WORD of GOD. With these two, you change your shape from the first Adam towards the second Adam which is Jesus. Yes, Jesus came to restore what Adam had lost in the Garden of Eden. But we can not go back to our heavenly FATHER with the exact same breach Adam and Eve once had in Eden.

Some churches teach the purpose of GOD's salvation is to receive us back to GOD, no matter how bad we are. Again, that is half truth and half lie, just as what once Satan said to Eve in Eden. The true part is that you are welcomed to start your spiritual journey no matter how bad you are, just as a free admission gym, it's open to anyone, no matter how out of shape they are. But the lying part is that it is okay for you to continue to be your old self: in fact, that's a total no-no.

Will you call it a success if you attend a class in a gym for a period and end up with nothing changed to your shape or weight? Will GOD accept us to come back to HIM with all the original breaches that Adam and Eve once had in Eden? GOD has tolerated that for a long period, but in the End Time, HE shall no longer tolerate it, for this is the time for the FINAL EXAM.

We have to amend this original breach in time. Otherwise we will suffer in the GREAT and DREADFUL day of GOD, which is the later half of the End Time called the GREAT TRIBULATION. Satan's first try is always to prevent you from entering the gym - accept the Gospels. If it failed, then he tries to convince you to stay in your comfort zone instead of practicing your faith with sweat and tears.

In case you are truly determined to devote your time and energy, then Satan tries to lead you to follow the wrong instructions that twist from the WORD of GOD. You can image: if someone hates you and know you are going to exercise in the gym, then he comes beforehand to modify the exercise manuals there by adding and taking away; when you go into the gym, not knowing what has happened, pick a manual of your preferred taste and start working out hard according to it; the result is sure to make you cry.

We would be naive to think that all versions of the Bible are the same. You should be able to see by now that this article couldn't have been written if I hadn't quoted the KJV Bible; furthermore, if I hadn't read the KJV Bible, I wouldn't even have had the opportunity to receive this message. Even the NKJV Bible couldn't help me to write this message, because it's actually a subtle trap setup by Satan, the same thing as what Satan did in the Garden of Eden.

Just like in Eden, the churches today still have the same three categories of people: some with their evil purposes, twist the WORD of GOD for personal gains as Satan; some having a false confidence but not the true understanding, join the force to change the WORD of GOD as Eve; some putting their relationship with men before their relationship with GOD, willingly follow the words of men instead of the WORD of GOD as Adam. Here will be a web link to further discuss the Bible and the WORD of GOD, please check again later.