The Wall That Made America Great and The Prophecy That Ends It

September 3, 2026 Gary Blanchard



Were Daniel and his three friends disobeying God when they refused to bow to the golden image, and when Daniel refused to stop praying to anyone but the king for thirty days?

Years earlier, the prophet Jeremiah had spoken to the children of Israel. He told them the Babylonians were coming and that, rather than resisting, they should “put their necks under his yoke.” In other words, they were to submit to Babylonian rule. This was not merely Jeremiah’s opinion. As a true prophet, he delivered a directive that came from God Himself:

“If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand. … But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live there, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 27:8, 11, NIV)

Jeremiah repeated the same message to King Zedekiah: “Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live” (Jeremiah 27:12).

So why, then, did Daniel’s three friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) refuse the king’s command in Daniel 3, and why did Daniel himself refuse the king’s decree in Daniel 6? On the surface they appear insubordinate to the very authority God had told His people to accept. They would not bow to the golden image when commanded, and Daniel would not stop praying to God when ordered to petition only the king for thirty days.

Their response in the furnace episode is clear:

“King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18, NIV)

Daniel, knowing the decree had been signed, continued his lifelong practice of praying three times a day with his windows open toward Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10).

5 Bible Versions That Change God’s Word

The Three Angels Messages - The IVP New Testament Commentary

(Biblegateway)

The Three Angels

John sees next another angel (v. 6; compare 7:2; 8:3; 10:1) proclaiming the eternal gospel (v. 6). Because he has seen no angels individually since the seven that blew the seven trumpets (8:2--11:19), it is natural to infer that this angel, commencing a new sequence, is another in addition to those seven. The angel is flying in midair, that is, directly overhead, like the eagle or vulture that announced the three woes terminating the trumpet series (8:13).

This eternal gospel to all the earth's inhabitants is a strange gospel in two respects. First, it is not "good news" (as the term gospel suggests), but quite the opposite--much like the "woe, woe, woe" of the eagle in the earlier vision (8:13). Second, and more surprising, there is nothing distinctly Christian about the message. The angel's eternal gospel does not mention Jesus Christ and contains no promise of salvation. Yet it is the only instance of the noun gospel in the entire book of Revelation. The eternal gospel is perhaps best understood on the analogy of Jesus' own proclamation of the kingdom of God ("The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news" or "gospel," Mk 1:15; compare Mt 4:17). That proclamation had two parts: an announcement ("the kingdom of God is near") and a command ("repent!"). John's eternal gospel has the same two parts, but in reverse order: first a command, Fear God and give him glory, and then an announcement, for the hour of his judgment has come. The announcement of God's judgment is equivalent to one aspect of the announcement of God's kingdom, for the coming of the kingdom involves judgment as well as salvation. In the case of the command, fear God and give him glory is a fairly exact equivalent to "repent" (see 16:9), except that John's vision spells out further implications of this repentance: Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water (v. 7).

The analogy with Jesus' "gospel of the kingdom" helps us to understand how the angel's proclamation here can also be described as "gospel." The very word "eternal," in fact, is probably linked to the absence of anything explicitly Christian about the angel's message. There is something almost contradictory about the terms "eternal" and "gospel." The Christian "gospel" by definition is new--"good news"--implying that God has done a new thing in the world by sending Jesus as Messiah or Savior. "Eternal," on the other hand, refers to that which has always been true.

Fear God and give him glory is the God of Israel's message to the Gentile world always and everywhere--whether the Messiah has come or not. It closely resembles the "good news" Paul and Barnabas brought to the citizens of Lystra, "telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them" (Acts 14:15). Such a "gospel" is pre-Christian, Christian and post-Christian, and in that sense "eternal," for it is a call to the earth's inhabitants to repent, leave their idols, and turn to the one true God (compare Acts 17:24-31; 1 Thess 1:9). It puts into words the implied message of the seven trumpets, a message that went unheeded when humans "did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols," and did not "repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts" (9:20-21).

The call to fear God and give him glory also makes explicit the message that was heeded when "a tenth of the city collapsed . . . and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven" (11:13). The worship demanded is worship of God the Creator, and the spheres of creation (the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water) correspond to the spheres of God's judgment according to the first four trumpets (compare 8:7-12).

A second angel follows with a message apparently directed to the same audience (v. 8). This time the message focuses specifically on Babylon the Great, an ancient city about which we have heard nothing so far in the book of Revelation. Like other cities, Babylon is personified as a woman, in this case an immoral woman. The angel's proclamation echoes Isaiah 21:9 ("Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!") and Jeremiah 51:7 ("Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad"). The new element in the text of Revelation is the definition of Babylon's wine as the maddening wine of her adulteries. We will hear more of "Babylon" and her "wine" in 16:19 and throughout chapters 17 and 18. For now it remains simply an allusion to the prophets, and to Israel's memory of oppression at the hands of a foreign empire long ago. Yet we sense that Babylon the Great is also linked somehow to the two beasts and the more contemporary oppression described in the preceding chapter.

The voice of the third angel makes it explicit: If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath (v. 9; compare 13:15-16). The warning confirms our suspected link between the beast of the preceding chapter and Babylon, with the wine of God's fury as Babylon's appropriate punishment for the maddening wine of her adulteries (v. 8). Yet for the time being Babylon the Great remains unidentified. John's original readers may have known her identity, but we do not--at least not without looking ahead to chapter 17.

The third angel adds that those who worship the beast and receive its image will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb (v. 10). The smoke of their torment will ascend forever, and they will have no rest day or night (v. 11). Although the language of these verses has contributed mightily to traditional Christian images of hell, it is difficult to say whether or not "hell," as commonly understood, is in view here. Why, for example, is the torment going on in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb, thus (apparently) in heaven itself? The announcement seems related to a celebration of Babylon's doom five chapters later: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever" (19:3). That celebration too goes on in heaven (19:1). Probably both scenes are momentary previews of "hell" and hell's finality in "the lake of fire" (19:20; 20:10, 14; 21:8), not the reality itself.

There is no way to be certain whether the word to Christian believers that immediately follows (v. 12) is a continuation of the third angel's speech or simply John's prophetic appeal to his readers, in the manner of 13:10 ("this calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints"). The words here are virtually the same: This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus (compare 12:17). The effect of placing the appeal here is to make the alternatives (either worshiping the beast and receiving its mark or remaining faithful to Jesus Christ) as clear and as stark as possible.

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Source:  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Rev/Three-Angels

Notes:

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

Pastors with a passion for sound exposition and scholars with a heart for pastoral leadership have joined forces to produce this exciting commentary series.

Each volume, informed by the best of up-to-date evangelical scholarship, presents passage-by-passage commentary based on the NIV along with background information on authorship, setting, theme and various interpretive issues. A unique format allows the main commentary to focus on the vital message of the New Testament for today's church, while bottom-of-the-page notes include valuable scholarly information to support those who use the volumes as a resource for preaching or teaching preparation.

Seldom have such readable commentary and reliable research helps been available in the same volume! Preachers, teachers, students and other individuals who want to dig deep into the heart of the New Testament will find an indispensable companion in the IVP New Testament Commentary Series.

IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press.

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Which Bible verses did the NIV delete?

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 Revelation of Jesus Christ 20: 18-19 WHOLE Bible verses deleted in the NIV The following WHOLE verses have been removed in the NIV--whether in the text or footnotes.. here is but an example but there is over 40 IN ALL!!! The NIV also is a collaberator with the JWB or Jehovah's Witness "Bible". Matthew 12:47 -- removed in the footnotes Matthew 17:21 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." Matthew 18:11 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." Matthew 21:44 -- removed in the footnotes Matthew 23:14 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation." Mark 7:16 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." Mark 9:44 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:46 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 11:26 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." Mark 15:28 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors." Mark 16:9-20 (all 12 verses) -- There is a line separating the last 12 verses of Mark from the main text. Right under the line it says: [The two most reliable early manuscripts do not have Mark 16:9-20] (NIV, 1978 ed.) The Jehovah's Witness "Bible" also places the last 12 verses of Mark as an appendix of sorts. Luke 17:36 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left." Luke 22:44 -- removed in the footnotes Luke 22:43 -- removed in the footnotes Luke 23:17 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.)" John 5:4 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had." John 7:53-8:11 -- removed in the footnotes Acts 8:37 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. It's deletion makes one think that people can be baptized and saved without believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Sounds Catholic. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Acts 15:34 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still." Acts 24:7 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands," Acts 28:29 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves." Romans 16:24 -- COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. What are you NIV readers missing? KJV: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." I John 5:7 -- Vitally important phrase COMPLETELY removed [also deleted from the Jehovah's Witness "Bible"]. In the NIV it says, "For there are three that testify:" Compare the NIV reading with the following Jehovah's Witness reading-- "For there are three witness bearers," What are you NIV readers missing? What does the real Bible say? KJV: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." This is one of the GREATEST verses testifying of the trinity. That is why the Jehovah's Witnesses leave it out. They do not believe in the trinity and they do not believe that Jesus is God. Why does the NIV leave it out...? Whole books have been written on the manuscript evidence that supports inclusion of this verse in the Bible. Reader, do you believe in the triunity of God? If so, then this deletion should offend you. People are playing around with the Bible and it ain't funny. NIV Reader: Do you have enough confidence in the NIV to... tell God, OUT LOUD, that these verses do not belong in the Bible? If not, you need to get a King James so you can have some confidence. EVIDENCE MENU Source Note: I am grateful because my Son sent me this link.  My only disagreement with this article is the concept of the Trinity; Besides that I concur with everything else. (The term Trinity does not appear anywhere in the Bible.)  I believe that the GODHEAD consists of 3 individual persons that constitute divinity.   .

Perversions in the NIV & NASB

Photo (Credit: http://calins-to-romania.org/English/KJV_Vs_NIV_files/niv.jpg)

Can God Lie?

Mark 1:1-3

NIV

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"

"a voice of one calling in the desert, `Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"

NASB

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ""BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY;

THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, "MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.'''

But wait!

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me"

is not found in Isaiah! It is found in Malachi 3:1!!

"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord..." is found in Isaiah 40:3

Even the NIV and NASB footnotes admit this! Click here to see.

But what does the KJV say?

"As it is written in the prophets..." (Mark 1:2)

Isaiah + Malachi does not equal "Isaiah the prophet."

Isaiah + Malachi equals "the prophets."

Apparently the modern scholsrs can't tell the differnece between "Isaiah" and "the prophets."

If they didn't they wouldn't have made this contradiction in their translations.

But, what if the manuscripts they used are in error?

What if they really do say "Isaiah the prophet?"

Can these manuscripts be trusted?

Can God lie?

"Thy word is TRUE" Psalm 119:160 "...God, that CANNOT LIE..." Titus 1:2

Another lie in the NASB:

John 7:6-11

6 So Jesus said to them, " My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune.

7 " The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

8 "Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.''

9 Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.

11 So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, "Where is He?''

In verse 8, Jesus is saying that He is not going to the feast, but in verse 10, He went anyway.

This makes it appear that Jesus lied.

The King James says:

6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: But your time is alway ready.

7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

8 Go ye up unto this feast:

I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come.

9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.

10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

11 Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?

It is only a one-word difference, but in the KJV, the Lord Jesus is NOT made a liar.

If debating this minor change seems unimportant to you,

one new Christian almost lost his faith over it.

See http://www.balaams-ass.com/journal/resource/lie-dice.htm

Is Jesus in Danger of Judgment?

Matthew 5:22

"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment..." KJV

"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment..." NIV

"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court..." NASB

The newer versions omit "without a cause."

Another "minor" change, right?

Read Mark 3:5

He [Jesus] looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts..." NIV

After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man..." NASB

In this verse, Jesus was angry, but he had a reason, "the hardness of their hearts."

In the NIV and NASB, anyone who is angry is in danger of judgment, period.

This would make our Lord Jesus in danger of judgment!!!

Blasphemy in the new Bible versions:

NIV calls Satan "Jesus!!!"

Lucifer is another name for Satan. It is found once in the Bible:

Isaiah 14:12:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! KJV

But the NIV and the NASB (and others) leave it out:

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!

You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! NIV

How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!

You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! NASB

But wait? Who is the "morning star?"

The NIV reveals that the morning star is none other than Jesus Christ:

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." Revelation 22:16,

But wait! Didn't the NIV say that the morning star is an evil creature that is fallen from heaven?

Didn't the NIV replace "Lucifer" with "morning star?"

Jesus and Satan are one in the NIV!

But wait, you say. The Isaiah 12:14 "morning star" is not capitalized, but the Revelation 22:16 one is.

They have to be different then, because of this.

Wrong. The NIV also calls Jesus, "morning star" with all lower case letters:

And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 2 Peter 1:19,

I will also give him the morning star. Revelation 2:28--

What about the NASB?

The NASB changes "Lucifer" to "star of the morning" which is means the exact same thing as "morning star." They are gramatical equivalants. The NASB, in effect, makes Satan Jesus. too! This is much more subtle than the NIV, but it is still there.

Another thing about this confusion over the identity of "morning star" the Bible says that God is not the author of confusion (1 Corintians 14:33). If God is not the author of confusion, then who is behind these new "Bible" versions? Who would want us to believe that Jesus and Satan are one?

Source
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NOTE

NIV: New International Version

NASB: New American Standard Bible

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BEWARE, COULD OUR CHURCHES BE USHERING IN THE “ONE WORLD CHURCH”?

The “New International Version” (NIV), “New World Translation” (NWT) and other modern Westcott sourced Bibles destroy God’s fruitfulness in the world as “The Great Commission” of Matthew 28:18-20 is now taught just to be the passion of some people while others just sing, eat and play yet the Devil runs rampant in the world and some churches.

NIV and NWT, with others deny that Jesus is equal with God.

In Philippians 2:6, The KJV says, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:” while the NIV says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,” and the NWT says, “who, although he was existing in God’s form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God.”

NIV and NWT and others teach gradual salvation & sanctification

In 2 Cor. 2:15 the KJV says, “in them that are saved” while the NIV and the NWT say, “those who are being saved”

In Hebrews 2:11 the KJV says, “they who are sanctified” while the NWT says, “those who are being sanctified”

In Hebrews 10:14 the KJV says, “them that are sanctified” while the NIV says, “those who are being made holy” and the NWT says, “those who are being sanctified”

NIV and NWT Remove the following Verses

(Reinserted as footnotes which create doubt and confirm association with Alexandrian Texts)

Matthew 17:21, Matthew 18:11, Matthew 23:14, Mark 7:16, Mark 9:44, Mark 9:46, Mark 11:26, Mark 15:28, Luke 17:36, Luke 23:17, John 5:4, Acts 8:37, Acts 15:34, Acts 24:7, Acts 28:29, Romans 16:24

NIV and NWT Remove “CHRIST”

Luke 4:41, John 4:42, John 6:69, Acts 2:30, Acts 15:11, Acts 16:31, Acts 20:21, Romans 1:3, Romans 1:16, Romans 14:10, 1 Corinthians 5:4, 1 Corinthians 9:1, 1 Corinthians 16:22, 1 Corinthians 16:23, 2 Corinthians 11:31, Galatians 3:17, Galatians 4:7, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:14, Philippians 4:13, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 1 Timothy 2:7, 2 Timothy 4:22, Hebrews 3:1, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 4:3, Revelation 1:9, Revelation 12:17, Revelation 22:21*     (* not removed in the NWT)

NIV and NWT Remove “HELL”

Matthew 11:23, Matthew 16:18, Luke 10:15,  Acts 2:31, Revelation 1:18, Revelation 6:8, Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14   (Hell is the English word for the abode of condemned souls, Satan and devils; the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death – Hades, a Greek word, now used by modern translators instead of Hell to make it sound like a place of lesser punishment, causes confusion, destroys correct understanding of Hell’s eternal horror and kills passionate concern for lost souls, a self destructive belief of modern churches, many now disbelieving the fact of God’s perfect wrath on the day of judgment)

NIV and NWT Remove “JESUS”

Matthew 8:29, Matthew 16:20, Romans 1:3, Romans 15:8, 1 Corinthians 16:22, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 2 Corinthians 5:18, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:14, Colossians 1:2, Colossians 1:28, 2 Timothy 4:22, 1 Peter 5:10, 1 Peter 5:14

NIV and NWT Remove “LORD”

Matthew 13:51, Mark 9:24, Mark 11:10, Luke 9:57, Luke 23:42, Acts 7:30, Romans 1:3, Romans 6:11, 1 Corinthians 10:28, 1 Corinthians 15:47, 2 Corinthians 4:10, Galatians 6:17, Ephesians 3:14, Colossians 1:2, 1 Timothy 1:1, 1 Timothy 5:21, 2 Timothy 4:1, 2 John 1:3

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. …. 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 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. …. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Matthew 7:15, 2 Corinthians 2:17, Revelation 22:18-19, Revelation 18:4 – KJV/AV– Comparisons made with KJV, AV, Holy Bible including printed years of 1611-1985)

Other similar Westcott & Hort conflations found in: Amplified, Amer. Stand., Contemporary Eng., 21^st Cent. KJV, New Amer. Bible, New Amer. Stand., New Cent. Ver., NIV, NIV Inclusive, New King James, New Living, New Revised, Revised Standard, Revised, Today’s English (Good News) 

Who was Brooke Foss Westcott? (Abridged - See Full Version)

Brooke Foss Wescott (1825-1901), the co-founder of the primary new testament NIV translation source, referred to as Westcott and Hort’s New Testament in the Original Greek,  by his own words, Westcott did not believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis concerning the creation of the world; Westcott wrote a letter supporting Darwinism; Westcott didn't believe in the reality or the necessity of the bodily resurrection of Jesus; Westcott believed the Second Coming of Christ as merely Christ coming to us through His Spirit from hour to hour; Westcott said he believed "eternal life" is the life right now and he made strange statements concerning incarnation, such as, “Incarnation lies not in the recognition of a distinct divine person”.

Brooke Westcott and his student, Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828-1892), through a modern process of textural criticism divided all Bible Manuscripts into four families.   They called the “Smallest” and “Rarest” (only about 5% of the over 5000 known manuscripts), the “Neutral Family” which they used as a basis for a new Greek Text effectively removing verses from the Bible and making thousands of changes from the “Original Tongues”, the 90-95% Majority Text of the KJV and earlier Bibles.

Evidence showing that Westcott, in his words, did not believe the Bible

Concerning Genesis and Creationism: “No one now, I suppose, holds that the first three chapters of Genesis, for example, give a literal history - I could never understand how any one reading them with open eyes could think they did - yet they disclose to us a Gospel.” (Westcott’s New Bibles, James H. Sightler, M.D.; Page 14; Westcott, A., op.cit.,Vol. II,p.89)

Concerning the bodily resurrection of Jesus: “It may indeed be said that the Church was founded upon the belief in the Resurrection and not upon the Resurrection itself; and that the testimony must therefore be limited to the attestation of the belief, and cannot reach to the attestation of the fact.”  (Westcott’s 1867 pamphlet, The Resurrection as a Fact and as a Revelation, page 13)

“The Revelation (of the Resurrection) was a Revelation to believers…That which is of the earth can perceive only that which is of the earth.  Our senses can only grasp that which is kindred to themselves…the world  could not see Christ, and Christ could not-there is a Divine impossiblility-shew Himself to the world.  To have proved by incontestable evidence that Christ rose again as Lazarus rose again, would have been not to confirm our faith but to destroy it irretrievably”

“The Resurrection, to set the matter in another light, was not an isolated event.  It was and is an abiding fact.  It was the beginning of a new and living relation between the Lord and His People.” (The Gospel of Life, New York; Macmillan & Co., 1892, p.35, Heresies of Westcott and Hort 1979, pp 32-33)

Concerning Darwinism: “A celebrated author and divine has written to me that ‘he has gradually learnt to see that it is just as noble a conception of the Deity to believe that He created a few original forms capable of self development into other needful forms, as to believe that He required a fresh act of creation to supply the voids caused by the actions of his laws.”   (Second edition of Darwin’s Origin, January 1860 quoting from Wescott’s letter)

Concerning the Second Coming of Christ: “In my Father’s house-the spiritual and eternal antitype of the visible temple-are many mansions-many resting places…The assurance stands in the grand simplicity, and we must not attempt to define further what at present we have no faculties to understand.  Heaven is where God is known as our Father…The ‘mansions’ are not, as it seems, simply fixed abodes in some spiritual city, but rather stations along the highways of some vast realm.  Even in the father’s presence life is still portrayed under the image of a journey, such that the idea of repose is combined with that of progress…If I go and prepare a place for you, I come again…The ‘coming’ is the strength of life, the ‘receiving’ is the crown of life.  Christ comes to us through His Spirit from hour to hour in the blessing and sanctifying of every circumstance and change.” (Westcott’s commentary on John 14:1-3)

Sample from Mark 9:44-47 showing Westcott and Hort’s Greek source for the NIV & NWT versions

Mk 9:44: (omitted)
Mk 9:45: και εαν ο πους σου σκανδαλιζη σε αποκοψον αυτον καλον εστιν σε εισελθειν εις την ζωην χωλον η τους δυο ποδας εχοντα βληθηναι εις την γεενναν
Mk 9:46: (omitted)
Mk 9:47: και εαν ο οφθαλμος σου σκανδαλιζη σε εκβαλε αυτον καλον σε εστιν μονοφθαλμον εισελθειν εις την βασιλειαν του θεου η δυο οφθαλμους εχοντα βληθηναι εις γεενναν
(1881 Westcott and Hort)      

From Christians caring about The Great Commission and unity in Christ: Way Truth Life Ministry  http://www.wtlministry.org

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Lutherans Latest to Reject New NIV Bible Over Gender Language

(Photo: The Christian Post)

The 2011 NIV Bible was released in stores in March. The updated translation has drawn mixed reviews, with the latest criticism coming from the Southern Baptist Convention

By Audrey Barrick , Christian Post Reporter

September 4, 2012|11:24 am

The updated NIV Bible has gained another critic: the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. In a recent report, a panel of Lutherans cautioned against use of the new NIV over gender-related issues.

"The use of inclusive language in NIV 2011 creates the potential for minimizing the particularity of biblical revelation and, more seriously, at times undermines the saving revelation of Christ as the promised Savior of humankind," the Commission on Theology and Church Relations Executive Staff stated in an August report.

"Pastors and congregations of the LCMS should be aware of this serious weakness. In our judgment this makes it inappropriate for NIV 2011 to be used as a lectionary Bible or as a Bible to be generally recommended to the laity of our church."

The New International Version is reported to be the world's leading contemporary English Bible translation as it is known for being easy to understand. It was announced in 2009 by global ministry Biblica that the popular translation would be revised for the first time in 25 years.

The updated NIV (completed by members of the Committee on Bible Translation, an independent body of global biblical scholars that has the sole authority to update the text of the NIV) was released in 2011 and has drawn criticism largely over its revised gender language.

Critics include the Committee on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and the Southern Baptist Convention, which officially rejected the revised NIV last year, saying it "alters the meaning of hundreds of verses, most significantly by erasing gender-specific details which appear in the original language."

Conservative Lutherans are the latest to express caution against use of the 2011 NIV.

The Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the LCMS has long recognized that language evolves. It also acknowledged the intent of the Committee on Bible Translation to try to communicate the meaning of the Bible's texts in English as it is used today.

But the commission took issue with some of the substitutions for masculine singular pronouns.
"While there may be many examples in which such substitution does not change the sense or inherent intent of the passage," the commission reported, the approach is advised against because "of its potential to alter significantly the meaning of passages."

Among the changes made in the updated NIV is the substitution of "he," "him," and "his" for "they," "their," and "them."

The commission provided two significant examples where such a revision proved to affect the meaning of Scripture "adversely."

Example one:

Genesis 1:26-27 in NIV 2011 reads: "Then God said, 'Let us make mankind [collective noun substitution for "man"] in our image, in our likeness, so that they [the plural pronoun is in the original] may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created mankind [collective noun substitution for "man"] in his own image, in the image of God he created them [plural pronoun substitution for "him"]; male and female he created them."

In the first substitution of "mankind" for "man," the particularity of the first man is made unclear. The rationale for this would seem to be the desire to emphasize that all humanity is created in God's image, but the original text itself had made that abundantly clear already by paralleling "man" in the first clause of verse 26 with "they" in the following clause. In verse 27, the second substitution of "mankind" for "man" again undermines the particularity of Adam's creation. Moreover, when coupled with the substitution of "them" for "him" as the verse continues, the progression of the verse is obfuscated. The original verse itself progresses from the particular creation of Adam-the one man who is father of all creation, created in God's image, and in whom all will die through his sin (Rom 5:12)-to the male and female, which is paralleled to him. The original text then preserves both the particularity and universality which NIV 2011 undermines.

Example two:

Psalm 8:4-5 in NIV 2011 reads: "What is mankind [collective noun substitution for "man"] that you are mindful of them [plural substitution for "him"], Human beings [plural noun substitution for "son of man"] that you care for them [plural substitution for "him"]? You have made them [plural substitution for "him"] a little lower than the angels and crowned them [plural substitution for "him"] with glory and honor."

Once again, the rationale for the translation changes seems to be the desire to emphasize a universal truth about all humanity-that humankind has received glory and honor as the crown of creation. The translation decisions, however, obfuscate other things. First, and most importantly, the decision to use plurals here vitiates the Messianic meaning of this psalm, its particular application to Christ. Hebrews 2:5-9 quotes Ps 8:4-5 and notes that these verses testify to our Lord Jesus. He is the Man to whom the Lord gives all glory and honor; the Son of Man to whom all creation is subject. He is the One who exceeds the angels in glory and honor, even though he was made to be lower than them for our salvation.

Second, we should note that the substitution of a generic term like "human being" or "human beings" for "son of man" (a consistent pattern in NIV 2011), impoverishes the understanding of "Son of Man" as the self-designation our Lord uses throughout the Gospels. Jesus uses a term (a particular idiom, "son of man") from the Old Testament that indicates full humanity and refers it to himself. This is of great importance, especially when it is seen in the light of Daniel 7:13-14.

There that same term, "son of man," is used in a prophecy of our Savior's incarnation, where "one like a son of man" is "given dominion and glory and a kingdom" in which all nations are included under a rule that shall never be destroyed.

Though critiquing the updated NIV for its "misguided attempt to make the truth of God's Word more easily understood," the Lutheran commission clarified that its judgment is not on "the entirety of NIV 2011 as a translation." The commission would have to do a much more extensive study of the translation, it said.

LCMS describes itself as a mission-oriented, Bible-based, confessional Christian denomination. The Commission on Theology and Church Relations was established by the Synod in 1962 and it provides study documents, opinions and statements on theological issues.

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The Bible Explicitly Forbids Christmas Trees

This is a thing I did not know:

Courtesy of Russell’s Teapot‘s Know Your Bible series. Great stuff, eminently quotable.
And, just in case you were wondering. No, they don’t lie: that is what the bible says.


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