Be wise regarding Bible translations - What message is the Message preaching?

Be wise as to Bible translations:

The Bible is the word of God. Penned by men yet inspired by the Holy Spirit. Re-writing the Bible without that same inspiration is going to contain mistakes and take away from God’s message.

The Bible is 100 per cent consistent and coherent. Only through God’s inspiration could such a perfect book be written. Without this inspiration the book would not be consistent or coherent, but rather inconsistent and incoherent. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.’

Stick to the script! Do not change what does not need to be changed. Do not change it, especially using our short-sighted, sin-filled minds.

Lets look at the Lord’s prayer in the Message for an example:

Matthew 6:11 in the New King James reads: “Give us this day our daily bread.” In the Message, the same passage in Matthew 6:7-13 reads: “…keep us alive with three square meals.”

This seemingly small difference is in fact massive. Not only does it take away the meaning of the verse and the Lord’s Prayer, it also shows the author’s lack of comprehension of Biblical scripture and promotes sinful and selfish desires.

Matthew 6:11 is not referring to physical food. It is referring to Christ.

John 6:33-35 “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

‘Give us our daily bread’ is talking about a spiritual bread that will sustain us for ever, much more than any physical food or drink ever could, just as Jesus says to the woman at the well (John 4:13-14).

Could it mean physical food as well? It could. Obviously God can provide for us in all ways, including physically. However, whilst ‘the message’ has captured this meaning; it has lost the other meaning of Christ being the bread through it’s wording.

In this instance, bread is not to be taken as a physical meal, but as the spiritual bread of Christ. It is the inviting of the Holy Spirit to fill our lives daily. God does not require us to ask Him daily to physically sustain us. He already knows! In the very same chapter, Jesus says: Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:31-32 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

This is what Matthew 6:11 means. We must invite the Holy Spirit to fill our lives and sustain us daily, to give us a strength and a boldness that can only come from God, as seen in the disciples after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. (Acts 2).

The interpretation the Message provides also encourages weak, short sighted selfish people because it is promoting physical strength and satisfaction, not spiritual. This is wrong. Spiritual is always better than physical. The OT covenant, which is physical, is trumped by the much stronger NT covenant, which is spiritual.

As Christians we are to kill the flesh: Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

By killing the physical we come to rely on the much stronger spiritual, even though this is against everything our rationale mind tells us. Our instincts tell us to put body before soul, but this is ungodly and illustrative of our sinful and therefore distorted minds.

2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

A change in wording of something that appears so small has massive implications. By changing Matthew 6:11 the Message has lost the whole essence of what the Lord’s Prayer is about – God-reliance!

We need to be so vigilant when choosing our Bible translations. The devil is involved in everything, trying to corrupt and destroy. He does this by etching away at things that seem small and harmless, however these seemingly small things equate to one more piece of the jigsaw lost, creating a much more serious bigger picture.

We must take on board the advice in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

-BACChristian