Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more subtil 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?”
The serpent (Satan - Revelation 20:2) subtly came to Eve to trick her. It is very interesting that the very first thing the serpent did in his interaction with Eve, was to question what God said to her... “YEA, HATH GOD SAID”? The Devil was the first person to ever tamper with the Word of God, changing it into a lie! If you look back to the previous chapter, you'll see that God said something different than what the serpent said to Eve. Genesis 2:16-17, “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.” What did the serpent say to Eve? Genesis 3:1b, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Wow, the serpent misquoted God and said the exact opposite! God said they could eat freely of every tree, but the Devil quoted God as saying they couldn't eat of every tree. The Devil is a beautiful liar!
The Devil is still up to his old subtle ways in the 20th century! Look at the following comparison between Philippians 2:6 in the King James Bible and Bon Jones University's English Standard Version of the Bible:
KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB) - Philippians 2:6, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”
ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (ESV) - Philippians 2:6, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,”Do you see how Satan has misquoted the inspired Word of God, saying the exact opposite? Why, oh why, does Bob Jones University, use, sell, promote, sanction and bid Godspeed to this evil work of darkness? 2nd John 1:11, “For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” BJU has blood on their hands! They are leading impressionable people astray from the truth, confusing the churches, and
Satan is incredibly subtle. That means the Devil is often difficult to detect or grasp by the human mind. He is sneaky and very smart. In fact, the Devil is so subtle that he deceive you into thinking you're serving God, but in reality you are headed for Hell. We see this truth bared out in Matthew 7:21-23. They called Jesus, “LORD, LORD,” but they went to Hell forever, having failed to do the will of God, which is to believe on the Savior (John 6:40). The Devil can get you so turned around in your thinking as a Christian, that you think like him. That is why Jesus said to the Apostle Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan” (Matthew 16:23). Jesus said that the Devil is so subtle that, if it were possible, he would deceive even God's children with a false gospel. Matthew 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” The best way to expose the darkness is to shine the light of the truth! God's Word is truth; “thy word is truth” (John 17:17b).
It is impossible for any human being to understand how important the inspired Word of God is. Revelation 22:18-19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
The serpent changed what God had said, saying the exact opposite. The serpent began to deceive Eve by asking a seemingly harmless question. The serpent planted a seed of doubt into Eve's mind. That was all it took, and then Eve started to rationalize. She said three things to justify her sin: 1) It will be good for food; 2) It is pleasant to the eyes; 3) It will make me wise. And then Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit. Oh how sin thrills and then it kills! Oh how sin fascinates and then it assassinates! Eve never would have looked for excuses to sin, had she not first been lied to by the Devil. This is how the Temper operates!
The Devil likewise came to Jesus in the New Testament, misquoting the Scriptures:
Matthew 4:6-7 “And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”This is very interesting! The Devil knows the Bible inside and out. I guarantee you that Satan has the Bible memorized, every word of it! This is the prophetic Old Testament passage that the Devil quoted to Jesus from Psalms 91:11-12, “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.” Carefully notice that the Devil left out the phrase, “to keep thee in all thy ways.” The angels were there to protect Jesus, not to save Him from tempting God! Jesus responded to Satan by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16a, “Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God...” Jesus knew the Bible well! The Devil knew the Bible well! There are many lessons we can learn from this interaction between our Lord and Satan, but primarily we learn that the inspired Word of God is our weapon! But the Bible is only as effective as our knowledge of the Scriptures! That is why every believer should daily get into the King James Bible. Read it! Listen to it! Study it! Share it! Love it!
In consideration of the truths I just shared with you, it becomes very obvious why the Devil would want to change the Holy Bible. The Devil change the Bible to deceive Eve, and it worked. The Devil changed the Bible in an attempt to deceive Jesus, but he failed. Eve could have quoted God's Words from Genesis 2:16-17 to defeat the serpent, but she WENT ALONG with the deception! Eve went along with THE CHANGES the serpent made to God's Word!!! That is what Bob Jones University and everyone using the Devil's Bible revisions are doing today—hey are GOING ALONG WITH THE DEVIL'S CHANGES!!!
Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965) said it absolutely right:
“Be on guard against any tampering with the Word, whether disguised as a search for truth, or a scholarly attempt at apparently hidden meanings; and beware of the confusion created by the senseless rash of new versions, translations, editions, and improvements upon the tried and tested Bible of our fathers and grandfathers.” —Pastor M.R. DeHaan, “The Tabernacle,” Pg. 101The serpent is still tampering with the Word of God in the last days, for the same reason he did in the Garden of Eden, to DECEIVE his victims! James 4:6-7, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The most important thing is to SUBMIT TO GOD! We submit to God by submitting to the Word of God. Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
The Devil wants to get you to live independent of God. That was the raw deal he sold Eve, which didn't work out so well in the end. Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of this world, and everything that the world has to offer a man, but the Lord quoted the Scriptures to resist him, which is what we must also do. John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” If the Devil can successfully corrupt the Word of God, and we go along with those changes (as Eve did), then he can shape our thinking, and lead us to destruction.
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