LISTENING WHILE READING
The ultimate goal of disciples is to hear God’s spoken voice. His voice may come from God directly or through anointed True prophets. The only way to reliably recognize the truth in teaching and writing is to listen for God’s voice while reading the literal Bible. But, this ability is not accessible for anyone who does not first reject the teachings of false prophets. This means getting out of religion.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Although we strongly recommend against studying the works of false prophets, we will say that after a student has learned to discern the differences between Old/First Covenant and New Covenant teaching, there is some value in reading the works of false prophets.
The value is in the ability to recognize Old/First Covenant teaching that the reader would have previously accepted and valued. With this awareness, readers will be very grateful to God for having opened up their eyes so that they can discern between clean and unclean, holy and profane teaching.
Another benefit of reading these materials is that it reminds readers that friends, neighbors, and maybe even family, who continue to read and study such materials are still deceived by it. This awareness should motivate New Covenant disciples to become warriors for God in the battle to tear down and destroy religious high places and idols.
Having made the decision to stop listening to false prophets and only listening to God’s voice, however, there is still the challenge of identifying the truth in a field of lies. In his wisdom, God has chosen to leave the biases and lies intact in all versions of the Bible and in the writings of false prophets. It is impossible to find a published Bible that does not contain them and other published religious materials abound in the world of commercial religion. These are individually and collectively Stumbling Blocks to Godly wisdom.
That God would leave stumbling blocks in our way does not easily line up with man’s way of doing things. But God is not stressed about the possibility of people making mistakes interpreting the written word. He is not stressed because he knows that he is able to break through the lies and deceptions by speaking to directly to New Covenant disciples who strain to hear his voice while reading the Bible.
God has given us the Bible as an introduction to his voice. But he has also provided other written resources that help us sift through Biblical texts to find the original texts that do not include the biased language that writer/scribes have added to make difficult scripture more understandable to themselves and others, but which actually confuse and distort the spiritual meanings God wants us to discover.
For people who have the internet, the best way to study is to use Bible study resources that highlight the original texts in Greek and Hebrew. People who do not have the internet would do well to find a Bible with a concordance that includes the definitions of Hebrew and Greek words.
Strong’s Concordance is an excellent tool for learning Hebrew and Greek words. Unfortunately, this concordance is linked only to King James Version Bibles. That makes study harder, but it is not an insurmountable handicap.
When we look online or use a resource like Strong’s we will find the following examples:
Genesis 1:1-2: 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters
John 1:1-2: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
In these verses, the highlighted words are the words recorded in the original Hebrew and Greek texts. The other words, those in black type, and the numbers, are editorial words and conventions inserted by scribes/writers to make the idea complete, or understandable for readers and to make the text agree with their personal theological biases of what the text means.
If we take out the words that are not linked (e.g. In the, was the, and they, was with, and the, was, etc.), verse numbers, and punctuation, here is what is left:
Genesis 1:1-2: beginning God created heavens earth earth formless void darkness over surface deep Spirit God moving over surface waters
John 1:1-2: beginning Word Word God Word God beginning God
These words are found in the original Hebrew and Greek texts. These words are all that Bible translators have to work with when they try to translate the original texts to English and other modern languages. So, to make the scripture understandable, they use their own language and their own words to fill in the blank spaces so that the scriptures will agree with their personal theologies. In doing this, they are adding to, and subtracting from God’s word. They are also creating deceptions that lead Bible readers astray.
When we look at what Bible translators had to work with, we can see that it is impossible to accurately translate the original Hebrew and Greek texts into any language. But, thankfully, God supplies what man is unable to provide through his spoken voice.
Human mistranslations exist throughout the Bible. The story of creation in Genesis, however, is perhaps one of several that have had the most profound impact on Judaism and Christianity.
STUDY TIP: See these links for understanding of how the creation story has been misinterpreted:
Admittedly, it is nearly impossible to make sense of the highlighted words alone. That is why it is absolutely necessary to listen to God’s voice. God’s voice fills in the blank spaces of scripture and makes it all understandable. God’s voice also sifts out the words inserted by men who use only their intellect to make sense out of scripture. In doing this, however, they mislead and deceive as they insert words that, in their view, make the Hebrew and Greek words fit with their doctrines. They add nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs and other language tools that make the original Hebrew and Greek words make sense to them. Then they package it all up in a Bible which they say is God’s word.
But, if we bother to click on each highlighted word so we can study the meanings of the original Hebrew and Greek words, we can begin to understand what God intended to communicate when he spoke to his true prophets who recorded the scripture. And, if we also bother to ask God to explain to us what he intended to communicate in that scripture, we will eventually move toward understanding that is not tainted by human wisdom and biases.
The study challenge, therefore, has these steps:
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It is important to make clear that doing this takes time and effort. It make take years of study before eyes are opened and spiritual enlightenment comes. But it is time and effort that will eventually yield a harvest of righteousness if we do not weary in the well-doing of knocking and seeking in our hunger and thirst for righteousness.
The last thing to say about this process is this:
If faith is the conviction of things not seen, then study in which we listen to hear God’s voice provide the meaning of the unseen words between the written words of the Bible is the essence of faith.
The truth of this statement is affirmed in the fact that man does not live by bread alone (i.e. the written words of the Bible) but by every spiritual word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
STUDY TIP: See God’s Written Word and God’s Spoken Voice.