WHY THE BIBLE MAN WROTE IS NOT PERFECT
In the previous page, these questions were asked:

• • • Is there any part of scripture that can be trusted?
    • Is there one Bible translation that is more accurate than others?

And the following answers were given: No and no.

These answers will be hard to accept for people who have been taught that the literal words of the Bible are the same as God’s spoken words.

STUDY TIP: See GOD’S WRITTEN WORD AND HIS VOICE ARE NOT THE SAME for some understanding about the differences between the written word and God’s spoken word.

Some Jews and Christians might think that God has created a situation where God has deceived people into believing that the Bible is true even though it is not completely trustworthy. For sure there has been deception, but God is guilty only in the sense that he allowed it to happen. Religious leaders, including, Bible authors/editors are responsible for the deception.

STUDY TIP: See Religion is Deception.

God did not deceive. He was clear in his warnings about religion and the written Bible. The problem was not with God. He spoke his word of truth, the prophets listened, and the prophets wrote what they thought the heard. After that, man had control of the written word.

Having an imperfect written Bible may seem unfortunate. It is true that editors/authors could have done a little better job of translating God’s spoken words into human language, but no human could do that perfectly. There will always be a problem translating/converting spiritual things into natural things. It cannot be done by human intellect. Only the spirit of God understands the mind of God. That is why we must always trust the spirit of God to teach us and never depend on man to teach us.

God understands the difference between spiritual things and natural things. Man, however, does not understand the difference between spirit things and natural things.

STUDY TIP: See DISCERNING BETWEEN CLEAN AND UNCLEAN, HOLY AND PROFANE, SOUL AND SPIRIT, and GOOD AND EVIL.

Lacking understanding of the difference between spiritual things and natural things, religious people think that the written Bible is spiritual. They do not understand that, in effect, there are two Bibles: literal/written and spiritual. Indeed, the written Bible is a tool to access the spiritual Bible, but physical Bibles are not spiritual.

Here are some key differences between the natural Bible and the spiritual Bible:

LITERAL BIBLE WRITTEN BIBLE	SPIRITUAL BIBLE:  GOD’S VOICE
It is a physical object.	It is a spiritual thing.
Has physical substance of paper and ink.	Consists of spiritual words written by the spirit of God on human hearts.
Can be seen, touched, read and understood by anyone.	Can be understood only by spiritual people who have ears to hear God’s spoken voice.
Created by human hands.	Created by God.
Will eventually decay.	Words are eternal.
Can be destroyed by human hands or natural causes.	Words are eternal.
Can be studied, interpreted and preached by anyone.	Can be heard only by New Covenant disciples.
Words in these Bibles are fixed, inert, tasteless and stagnant.	Is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Is like fire and a hammer. It tastes like honey. Is good spiritual food.
Accessed through the human eyes, ears and mind.	Is accessed through spiritual eyes and ears. Is understood with the heart. Is a book that is heard by the deaf and seen by the blind.
Educates and informs the natural mind with intellectual knowledge	Gives deep spiritual knowledge to the heart.
Stimulates human emotions and imagination to create religion.	Teaches that God hates religion.

God understands what religious people do not understand: The letter  kills, but the spirit brings life. The letter is the written word of the Bible and the spirit is the spoken word of God. The letter is the foundation of the Old/first Covenant, and the spirit is the foundation of the New Covenant.

In his wisdom, God is patient and gives religious people time to come to repentance for practicing Old/First Covenant religion. The timing of their death to religion and new life in the spirit is a matter known only to him. In the meantime, God is willing to allow religious people to suffer tribulation.

STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of tribulation.

The problem was man’s unwillingness to carefully listen to hear God’s voice while reading the Bible.

Here are some of the warnings God gave:

• • • • Listen to my voice.
      • Trust no man.
      • Put your trust and faith in God.
      • Jeremiah 8:8: Because this verse is so important, the actual text is reported below in many Bible versions.

Jeremiah 8:8 King James Bible: 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. Jeremiah 8:8 New American Standard Bible:  How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. Jeremiah 8:8 New International Version “‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? Jeremiah 8:8 The Message: “‘How can you say, “We know the score. We’re the proud owners of God’s revelation”? Look where it’s gotten you – stuck in illusion. Your religion experts have taken you for a ride! Jeremiah 8:8 New Living Translation: “‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the LORD,” when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies? Jeremiah 8:8 New King James Version: “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood. Jeremiah 8:8 English Standard Version: “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. Jeremiah 8:8 Berean Study Bible: How can you say, ’We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us?’ But in fact, the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception. Jeremiah 8:8 Good News Translation: How can you say that you are wise and that you know my laws? Look, the laws have been changed by dishonest scribes. Jeremiah 8:8 GOD’S WORD® Translation: ‘How can you say that you are wise and that you have the LORD’s teachings? The scribes have used their pens to turn these teachings into lies. Jeremiah 8:8 Jubilee Bible 2000: How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Behold, certainly in vain did he make the pen; the scribes were in vain. Jeremiah 8:8 American Standard Version: How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely.

COMMENTARY ON JEREMIAH 8:8: We see here how Bible scribes make choices about how to translate into English from the original Hebrew texts. Even though they all began with the same Hebrew words, they all say it differently. But they do get the idea of what God meant when he spoke to Jeremiah.

Here are the Hebrew words that the editors of the King James Version had to work with:

‘amar Chakam Towrah Yehovah ‘aken Sheqer ‘asah`et Caphar Sheqer

And her is how the King James Version editors translated those word into English:

say (‘amar ) wise (Chakam) law (Towrah) LORD (Yehovah) certainly (‘aken) vain (Sheqer) made (‘asah) pen (`et) scribes (Caphar) vain (Sheqer)

And here are other words and punctuation in bold that the KJV editors added to make the verse readable:

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.

Jeremiah 8:9:   “The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, And what kind of wisdom do they have?

COMMENTARY: The wise men referred to here are the scribes/authors/editors of Bibles. The kind of wisdom that they have is worldly wisdom — not Godly wisdom. These wise men will eventually be put to shame when religious people discover that the written Bible is a lie. They will be put to shame when they are humbled to learn that everything they believed and taught about religion is a lie. The reason these wise men are caught in this deceptive trap is that they did not listen to God’s spoken voice.

Jeremiah 31:31-34: “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, ” declares the LORD. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

COMMENTARY ON LEARNING TO KNOW GOD: The only way to know God is when he writes his laws on your hearts. Before he does that, however, we must first do the following:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • Stop seeking for knowledge about God through the teachings of Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil (i.e. false prophets).
                        • Repent for practicing the sin of religion.
                        • Humble yourself.
                        • Seek God with our heart and soul.
                        • Turn away from your idols (i.e. religious leaders).
                        • Teach others how to study and how to know God.

Religious people say that you learn about God when you read the written words of the Bible and/or by participating in religious activities and/or by listening to good preaching. This thinking is only partly true. It is not true that participating in religion reliably leads to knowing God. It is also not true if people who read the Bible study for the wrong reasons. And it is especially not true if people listen to the preaching of false prophets. This thinking is true, however, for people who listen to hear God’s voice while reading the Bible.

Before trying to listen while reading, however, it is critical to know that God has placed conditions on who can hear. The main condition is that you do not listen to false prophets. If you are not ready to stop listening to pastors and rabbis and other religious leaders, you are not ready to hear God’s voice. You have already made your choice and God respects your choice because he allows us to choose between life (i.e. listening to his spoken voice) and death (i.e. listening to false prophets).

God is very jealous on the point of who people listen to.  In God’s view, people who are unwilling to stop listening to religious leaders for instruction about God still trust them and have affection for them. If that is the case, God’s view is that you do not love him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. People who don’t satisfy those conditions, you will not be able to hear his voice. But, people who delight in hearing God’s voice will hear it in their hearts.

When listening, it is critical to understand what God’s voice is not like, and what God’s voice is like. When what you think you hear agrees with what God’s voice is like, and when you find that you seek understanding of the symbolic meanings of scripture instead of literal understanding, you are probably beginning to hear God’s voice. If you notice that God is changing your heart as you read, you can be sure that you have actually heard it. Change of heart is God’s reason for giving you a heart to know his voice and ears to hear his voice. Little by little he is doing a creative miracle in you as you listen while reading.

There are two kinds of knowledge to be acquired by reading the Bible. When we listen while reading, we put the emphasis on listening for God’s spirit to teach us in spiritual language. That is epiginosko knowledge. We do not hear audible words, but we hear God’s voice speaking to our hearts. Epiginosko knowledge is the kind of knowledge that New Covenant disciples have

When we read without listening, our emphasis is on intellectual understanding of human words. In effect we are trusting that the religious leaders who wrote the Bible are absolutely accurate in translating God’s spoken word into human language. At that point you trust the Bible authors more than you trust that God will speak to you. You lack faith that God will tell you what he wants you to hear. When we read in the absence of trust, we acquire ginosko knowledge. This is the kind of knowledge that Old/First Covenant religionists have.

Epiginosko knowledge is the preferred kind of knowledge because it allows us to know God thoroughly and accurately. 

When people read without listening, they value the written words as law from which they make Old/First Covenant religious laws. When people read while listening, God’s New Covenant spiritual laws are written on their hearts. The New Covenant is a covenant of life, while the Old/First Covenant is a covenant of death.

God made it very clear that man should not add to or subtract from his word. When we bother to investigate, however, we see that man has violated this command throughout the Bible.

STUDY TIP: In TITHES, we presented an example of scripture where words were added to the original Hebrew to make the thoughts complete.

Disciples who are willing to verify that adding to God’s spoken word is a common practice in Bible editing may do so by looking at John 1:1 in two different Bible versions.

• • In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (KJV)
  • In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (NASB)

The highlighted words are the original words in Greek. Words not highlighted are filler words added by the editor/scribe to make the original thought understandable in English.

If the filler words were not included, here is how John 1:1 would read in  the KJV:

In beginning was Word and Word was with God and Word was God

And here how it would read in the NASB:

beginning Word Word God Word God

Clicks on the highlighted words go to the Greek lexicon which shows in detail the various ways the Greek words have been translated into English. When we do this, we begin to see how editors/scribes have wrongly influenced the content and meaning of the Bible by their choices.

Looking at the Greek lexicon for the word “word” which appears three times in each version, we see that the Greek word “logos” is translated into the following words in the NASB: account 7, account* 1, accounting 2, accounts 2, answer 1, appearance 1, complaint 1, exhortation* 1, have to do 1, instruction 1, length* 1, matter 4, matters 1, message 10, news 3, preaching 1, question 2, reason 2, reasonable 1, remark 1, report 1, said 1, say 1, saying 4, sayings 1, speaker 1, speech 10, statement 18, story 1, talk 1, teaching 2, thing 2, things 1, utterance 2, what he says 1, what* 1, word 179, words 61.

And when we look at the same word “logos” in the KJV, we see that it is translated in the following ways: word 218, saying 50, account 8, speech 8, Word (Christ) 7, thing 5, not translated 2, miscellaneous 32.

We might rightly wonder how there can be any confusion about the translation of such a simple word (i.e. word). The simple answer is that the words chosen for translation into English are editorial decisions. Some editors/scribes choose to translate logos one way in one place in the Bible and another way in other places. It gets more confusing when we see that other editors/scribes in other versions of the Bible choose to translate it another way. Thus it can be said that the words found in the Bible are words chosen by men — not God. Bible authors chose to translate logos into words that seemed  right to them according to their intellectual understanding of the scripture and according to their religious beliefs.

The consequences of these decisions are found throughout the Bible. This truth verifies God’s claim that the lying pens of the scribes has made God’s ordinance into a lie. God’s ordinance is his word, his law, his commandments. God’s word was not a lie when God spoke it to the prophets and apostles who wrote the Hebrew and Greek texts, but it becomes a lie when editor/scribes translate it wrongly.

With respect to John 1:1, the practice of Bible scribes/authors has had an immense impact on Christianity. Because of the way John 1:1 was written in the KJV, NASB, and all other versions of the Bible, most Christians wrongly believe that “the word” refers to Jesus. And because the Bible says that “the word was with God,” they also believe that Jesus always existed with God. This is one of the primary Christian arguments for the trinity.

This would be a reasonable argument except for the fact that the original language of John 1:1 does not say, or in any way imply that “the word” refers to Jesus. The Greek word translated as “word” is logos. Logos is translated with many different words in English, but there is nothing in the original Greek or English translations that suggests, or implies, that logos means anything other than “word.” It is a great mistake to interpret logos as Jesus. Logos is logos, and word is word. Logos and word do not refer to Jesus!

This is one case in the Bible that there is no symbolism. Logos is the Greek word that describes God’s spoken word — not Jesus. This is a fact worth repeating: Logos refers to God’s spoken word. To say or imply that logos refers to Jesus is an example of “adding to” scripture.

Christians have made the mistake of adding the symbolic interpretation of logos as Jesus. That is one of the main reasons why Christians believe that Jesus always existed with God. And that is why many accept the trinity doctrine.

Why Christians make this mistake is not really surprising. It is true that Jesus spoke God’s words, and it appears that he performed miracles that would suggest he had unusual spiritual powers. To make the jump to the conclusion from speaking for God and doing miracles to “Jesus is equal to God” is a mistake made for lack of understanding that it was not the human person Jesus who had spiritual power. Here are the truths that must be understood to avoid making the mistake of the trinity doctrine:

• • • Jesus only spoke for God — he did not speak  his own words.
    • The words Jesus spoke had spiritual power to heal people.
    • The miracles are parables for transformed hearts.
    • Only God’s voice has the power to change hearts.
    • The miracle of changing hearts is accomplished only by the power of God’s spoken voice.

Here is the main point that Christians need to understand: Speaking God’s words does not make Jesus equal to God. God has always sent many prophets, angels, witnesses, warriors and apostles to speak for him. None of these servants of God are interpreted to be equal to God. Those whom God sent, and those he continues to send, are spokespersons for God, but they are not God. Accordingly, Jesus, who is called a servant of God, also is not God. He is a servant of God, a spokesperson for God, and a mediator between man and God, but he is not in fact God.

The symbolic interpretation of logos as Jesus ignores the Biblical emphasis on God’s spoken word. Everything in the Bible points to God’s spoken word. Any translation or interpretation that deflects from the focus on God’s spoken word breaks God’s command that no one should add or subtract from his word. God and his word are the same thing. Therefore, anything said or done in writing the Bible or creating doctrines from the written Bible that adds to or subtracts  from God’s spoken word, adds to or subtracts from God. He takes great offense when religious people do misrepresent him in any way.

The written Bible is full of these kinds of mistakes. That is why it can be said that the written Bible and God’s spoken word are not the same. The reasons these mistakes are made is that Bible authors used worldly wisdom to interpret scripture instead of listening to God’s voice. The differences between Bible versions exists because the editors (i.e. scribes/writers) used their personal, worldly wisdom to make translation decisions. These scribes/bible editors began with the original Hebrew and Greek texts and then translated them according to their own understanding.

Without excusing Bible authors for lying, we can understand why they wrote Bibles the way they did. First of all, they were Old/First Covenant religionists who could not hear God’s spoken voice. If they could have heard God’s voice, they would not have tried to write the Bible because they would have known that God’s power exists in the spoken word — not in the written word. 

The scribes had the impossible challenge of translating the original Hebrew and Greek texts into their native languages. In the example of John 1:1, we see that all the scribes/authors had to work with were these few Greek words:

Arche Logos Logos Theos Logos Theos

Clearly, editors needed to do something to make these words understandable in English. The first thing the did was choose to translate the Greek words into these English words:

beginning Word Word God Word God

But these words alone do not make sense to English speakers/readers. The editors needed to add words to the translated word to satisfy the expectations of English readers. Thus, the editors/scribes were forced to insert filler words (see words in bold) between the Hebrew words to give meaning and understanding to the scripture. And here is what they choose:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The words in bold are filler words added by the editors/scribes to create a sentence or thought that would make sense to an English speaker. These words were not included in the original Greek text. The challenge to create a complete, coherent thought existed for all editors/scribes (past and present) who translated Hebrew and Greek into any other language.

English speakers would be hard pressed to understand what God intended if all they had to read was the few words (i.e. beginning Word Word God Word God) that could be translated from the Greek text in John 1:1. Thus, the editors were forced to add the filler words to make it all readable and understandable.

A Bible without all the normal parts of English speech would not be attractive or saleable to English readers. Therefore, in order to make Bible publishing a profitable enterprise, the scribes/editors inserted English filler words as necessary to make the Bible they were writing readable, understandable and saleable. Plus, they needed to write it so that it would be acceptable to the Christians who would buy it and read it.

In doing this, the scribes/editors had many choices to make as they worked their way through the original Hebrew and Greek Bible texts. For another example, we can look at the Hebrew words in Numbers 18:8, where we find these original Hebrew words:

 Yehovah Dabar ‘Aharown‘ aniy Nathan Mishmereth T@ruwmah Kol Qodesh Ben Yisra’el Nathan Mishchah Choq `owlam

Bible editors translated these words as follows in the NASB:

LORD spoke Aaron behold Myself given charge offerings all holy sons Israel given portion sons perpetual allotment.

Then, because these words alone would not make much sense, the editors/scribes added filler words and punctuation to tie it all together in a way that made sense. The filler words are the words in bold.

Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have given you charge of My offerings, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual allotment.

Now they had a Bible verse that was understandable.

Editors of the KJV translated the original Hebrew words as follows:

LORD spake Aaron given charge offerings things children Israel  given anointing sons  ordinance ever

Then, because these words alone would not make much sense, the editors/scribes added filler words and punctuation to tie it all together in a way that made sense. The filler words are the words in bold.

And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.

And the editors of the NIV translated them with these words:

Then the LORD said to Aaron, “I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion, your perpetual share.

Clearly, these three examples read differently, and the reason they read differently is that Bible editors choose to translate the Hebrew words differently and choose to include different filler words and punctuation.

Clearly, very few English readers could make any sense out of the translations without the filler words and punctuation. Lacking the filler words and punctuation, it is hard to understand this verse, or any verse in the Bible. It is understandable, therefore, why the editors/scribes made the choices they made. But that understanding does not exonerate them from the guilt of lying as God said.

We might rightly ask why God can say that the editorial decisions made by Bible scribes/authors constitute lying. There are at least four answers to this question:

When they added the filler words, they disobeyed God’s command not to add or subtract from his spoken word. By representing that the written Bibles they translated and published are God’s pure, authoritative, inerrant word, they effectively say that their written words have the same value and power as God’s spoken word. This is a false, arrogant claim. God’s power exists in his spoken word — not in the written word. The written word only has power when God’s spirit is activated to speak. Thus, they effectively subtracted from God’s spoken word when they insert their words as substitutes for God’s spoken words. Spiritual life is contained only in God’s spoken word. There is no substitute or equal to God’s spoken word. God’s spoken word is available only through anointed, true prophets. People who write Bibles are false prophets because they receive pay for their writing work and because they use human knowledge — not Godly knowledge —  to do their writing. They are always employees or consultants to established religious institutions or businesses such as publishers who produce Bibles and sell them for a profit. No written, human word has power and authority equal to God’s spoken word unless readers listen to God’s spoken voice while reading the written word.

There may be other reasons why God said that the scribes/authors of the the Bible lied. Even if we don’t know what those reasons are, we must still accept that he did say that scribes are liars.

Some Hebrew words are translated to many different English words in different parts of the Old Testament. Dabar, for example, is translated as word, thing, commandment, and several other ways. The variety of word choices available for each word is the reason why there are so many different versions of the Bible: Different scribes made different choices about how to translate the Hebrew words to make the resulting text agree with their personal theologies. We see the a small example of this dynamic decision-making process in the examples of the NASB and KJV versions of Numbers 18:8. We see the results on a global scale when we consider the multitude of Bible versions that exist.

It must be said that scribes/editors of each Bible were guided in their decisions by personal theological beliefs — not by God’s voice. They were compelled to choose filler words that agreed with and support their personal religious, theological beliefs. For them it was an intellectual exercise — not a matter of listening to God’s voice. The stronghold of wrong thinking that shaped their religious beliefs also shaped the Bibles they wrote. And it all happened because they didn’t know how to listen to God’s spoken voice.

Although Bible scribes/authors are guilty of lying as reported in Jeremiah 8:8, God has always had a plan for overcoming their influence and the influence of their religious co-conspirators (i.e. False Prophets, Pharaohs, Judas, Balaam, Kings, Queens and Princes, Pharisees, Serpent, Devil, Satan, Adversary, Demons, Evil Spirits, Anti-Christs).  Scribes are just one small part of a world of false prophets with whom God has always contended.

God’s response to their lies and deceptions has always been to send true prophets to speak for him. True prophets are also called angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses, and warriors. These all have God’s anointing which equips them to speak for God to people who have hard hearts and who always interpret the Bible literally — not symbolically.

Scribes and other false prophets speak lies and visions out of the imaginations of their evil, impure hearts. True prophets, however, speak out of the overflow of good, pure hearts.

The competition between false prophets and true prophets is symbolically called “war” in the Bible.

STUDY TIP: See Religion is the Enemy, Gods at War and Sibling Conflict for understanding of spiritual conflict.

Warlike competition is also described as good versus evil and as two kinds of food: clean and unclean. Competition between false prophets and true prophets is introduced in the book of Genesis as two trees that compete for Eve’s attention. Both trees looked attractive and appeared to be good for food. But, eating of one tree led to spiritual life, and eating of the other tree led to spiritual death.

The parable of the two trees previews the basic theme of the Bible: From which tree do we eat? Do we eat good spiritual food from the mouth of God (i.e. fruit from the Tree of Life), or do we eat evil, soulish food from the mouths (and pens) of false prophets (i.e. fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil)? The choice is a life and death matter.

True prophets, are symbolically called Trees of Life. They are also called angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses, and warriors. New Covenant disciples are anointed by God and sent by God to speak for God to people who do not know how to hear God’s spoken voice.

False Prophets, (including scribes) are symbolically called Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They are also called Pharaohs, Judas, Balaam, Kings, Queens and Princes, Pharisees and Scribes, Serpent, Devil, Satan, Adversary, Demons, Evil Spirits, Anti-Christs, foolish, worthless, stupid shepherds. These Bible characters are all symbolical representations of religious leaders (e.g. pastors, rabbis, evangelists, missionaries, prophets, etc.). These are all Old/First Covenant religionists who eat from Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil because they, like Eve, do not know how to discern between the two kinds of trees.

The distinction between the two kinds of trees is important because God wants/expects that his people will only listen to his voice. In fact, the Bible says that he becomes very jealous when people listen to false prophets instead of listening to him.

STUDY TIP: God uses several terms to help people understand the difference between the two trees: Clean and Unclean; Holy and Profane; Spirit and Soul; Good and Evil. He has also given us clues to help us identify True Prophets and identify False Prophets, and he has given us clues to understand the differences between pure religion and defiled religion.

This brief review about the two kinds of trees is necessary in the context of the accuracy of the Bible because, symbolically speaking, wood and trees represent people. Scribes that write Bibles are Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil because they are products of religion.

Most religious people believe that the Bible was written by Bible characters. In a sense this is true, but this belief ignores the fact that much of the Bible has been written by contemporary religious leaders (i.e. scribes.) All scribes must have religious credentials before they are hired to engage in the laborious work of writing a Bible. They must have religious training (e.g. Bible school, seminary, graduate studies in Hebrew and/or Greek, etc.)

They are Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil because they do not listen to God’s spoken voice. And if they are Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil, their fruit (i.e. their writings) is the fruit of trees of Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

That means that the literal Bible written by scribes contains the fruit of trees of Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

People who interpret the Bible literally effectively eat the fruit of trees of knowledge of good and evil. In Bible terms, they sin. They did not listen to God’s spoken voice. If they were able to hear God’s voice, they would not have undertaken the impossible task of using human language to report spiritual language with definitive, absolute, “thus saith the Lord” certainty. No human can do this.

The remedy for this situation is to listen to hear God’s voice while reading the Bible.

Not even true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses, or warriors will try to report or interpret spiritual language with definitive, absolute, “thus saith the Lord” certainty. What true prophets always say, however, is this: Stop listening to false prophets! Start listening to God’s spoken voice. Even though they know that they speak for God, they will never presume to be a substitute for God. Even Jesus did not consider equality with God to be something to be grasped. Speaking for God is not the same thing as being God. God’s servants who speak for him know that they are only servants.