DO NOT ADD NOR TAKE AWAY!
The Bible is undoubtedly the most precious tool that
Yehoah Elohim
has put at our disposal.
As we will see later, this universal tool is dealing with almost all
fields you can imagine and enriching those who are using it with understanding.
But the Bible is like the Garden of Eden, it also has prohibitions.
Let's read the instructions given by
Yehoah Elohim (i.e. the Eternal God), in the Garden
of Eden in Genesis, chapter 2, verses 15-17:
" 15 Then Yehoah Elohim took the man and put him in the garden of
Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And Elohim commanded the man, saying,
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day
that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
In the same spirit, Yehoah Elohim is forbiding us to
change His Word in anything and this order is given to us from the beginning to
the end, everywhere Elohim reminds us that we must never change His Word!
Already in the time of Moses in
Deuteronomy 4: 1-2, we read:
" 1Now,
O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to
observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yehoah Elohim of your fathers is giving you.
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you,
nor take from it,
that you may keep the commandments of Yehoah
your Elohim which I command you."
This commandment is so important
that Moses deems it useful to repeat it in Deuteronomy 12:32 (or 13: 1
according to the versions):
" “Whatever I
command you, be careful to observe it;
you shall not add
to it nor take away from it."
The key to be able to stick to this
order of our Father is to equip ourselves with an essential quality to enter
His Kingdom:
BE HUMBLE.
Moses had this quality! Have you
often seen nation leaders ready to publicly acknowledge their mistakes in front
their people as Moses did. Let's read how he expresses
himself in Deuteronomy 4: 21-22:
" 21 Furthermore Yehoah was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I
would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which
Yehoah your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance. 22
But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall
cross over and possess that good land."
With his wonderful humbleness, Moses
also gives us an admirable example of what it means to "add nothing and
take nothing away" if we read how he is assembling the Tabernacle of Yehoah Elohim in Exodus 40: 16-33:
" 16 Thus Moses
did; according to all that Yehoah had
commanded him, so he did.
17 And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the
first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised
up. 18 So Moses raised up the tabernacle,
fastened its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars, and raised up its
pillars. 19 And he spread out the tent over the tabernacle and put
the covering of the tent on top of it, as Yehoah
had commanded Moses. 20 He took the Testimony and put it
into the ark, inserted the poles through the rings of the ark, and put the
mercy seat on top of the ark. 21 And he brought the ark into the
tabernacle, hung up the veil of the covering, and partitioned off the ark of
the Testimony, as Yehoah had commanded Moses.
22 He put the table in the tabernacle of meeting, on the north side
of the tabernacle, outside the veil; 23 and he set the bread in
order upon it before Yehoah, as Yehoah had commanded Moses. 24 He put
the lampstand in the tabernacle of meeting, across from the table, on the south
side of the tabernacle; 25 and he lit the lamps before Yehoah, as Yehoah had
commanded Moses. 26 He put the gold altar in the tabernacle
of meeting in front of the veil; 27 and he burned sweet incense on
it, as Yehoah had commanded Moses. 28
He hung up the screen at the door of the tabernacle. 29 And he put
the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of
meeting, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as
Yehoah had commanded Moses. 30 He
set the laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and put water
there for washing; 31 and Moses, Aaron, and his sons would wash
their hands and their feet with water from it. 32 Whenever they went
into the tabernacle of meeting, and when they came near the altar, they washed,
as Yehoah had commanded Moses. 33
And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle
and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished the
work."
Agur, another prophet of our Lord, confirms the importance of not
adding anything to the writings of our Father and, by the way, please note that
here too we are dealing with an example of humbleness! Let's read the words of Agur in the book of Proverbs, chapter 30, verses 1-6:
" 1The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his
utterance. This man declared to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal:
2 Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the
understanding of a man. 3 I neither learned wisdom nor have
knowledge of the Holy One.
4 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the
wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established
all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, If you know?
5 Every word
of Elohim is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
6 Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. "
With this humbleness, Agur is telling us about the Son of the Lord, Jesus-Christ.
Moreover Agur is also explaining why we must not
alter the Word of our Creator:
BECAUSE OF THE FEAR OF BEING A LIAR!
It is also helpful to continue the reading
of verses 7 through 9 which are providing additional teachings:
" 7 Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die):
8 Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor
riches—
Feed me with the food allotted to
me; 9 Lest I be full and deny You, and say,
“Who is Yehoah?” Or lest I be poor and steal, and
profane the name of my Elohim. "
Neither Wealth nor Poverty: Wealth
is likely to lead to deny Yehoah Elohim, our Lord, as
He is warning the Children of Israel while they are still in the wilderness.
Let's read this in Deuteronomy 8: 10-20:
" 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless Yehoah your Elohim for the good land which He has given
you.
11 “Beware that you do not forget Yehoah
your Elohim by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes
which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full,
and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your
herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied,
and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted
up, and you forget Yehoah your Elohim who brought you
out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you
through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and
scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you
out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna,
which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might
test you, to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart,
‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
18 “And you shall remember Yehoah your
Elohim, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish
His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19
Then it shall be, if you by any means forget Yehoah
your Elohim, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify
against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations
which Yehoah destroys before you, so you shall
perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of Yehoah
your Elohim ."
All what we have read above can be
summed up by the Word of Jeus-Christ:
"Give us our daily bread".
Jeremiah also obeyed with humbleness
to the Creator's will to repeat His words, without omitting a single one, as we
will read in Jeremiah 26, verses 1-7:
" 1In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from Yehoah,
saying, 2 “Thus says Yehoah: ‘Stand in the
court of the Yehoah’s house, and speak to all the
cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Yehoah’s
house, all the words that I command you to speak to them.
Do not diminish a word.
3 Perhaps everyone will listen and turn
from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to
bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’ 4 And you shall
say to them, ‘Thus says Yehoah: “If you will not
listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, 5 to
heed the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up
early and sending them (but you have not heeded), 6 then I will make
this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of
the earth.”
7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah
speaking these words in the house of Yehoah."
This attitude of Jeremiah put him several
times in danger of being killed by the religious authorities, who, like most
religious authorities of this world, are inspired by Satan and are showing the
opposite of humbleness. They are driven by pride and concern to keep a
spiritual authority being ready to twist the meaning fo the Bible in an attempt to legitimize their
position and attitude.
Jeremiah, on the other hand, does
what Yehoah Elohim is asking, even if it seems
unpleasant to him at first sight, as can be read in his book, Jeremiah 20:
7-10:
" 7 O Yehoah, You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are
stronger than I, and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; Everyone
mocks me. 8 For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, “Violence and
plunder!” Because the word of Yehoah
was made to me a reproach and a derision daily.
9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in
His name.”
But His word was in my heart like a
burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could
not. 10 For I heard many mocking: “Fear on every side!” “Report,”
they say, “and we will report it!” All my acquaintances watched for my
stumbling, saying, “Perhaps he can be induced; Then we
will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him.”
Not even an jot!
Jesus-Christ is also warning us against
any change of in the text of the Bible even very minor ones as you can read in
Matthew, chapter 5, verses 17-20:
" 17 “Do not think
that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but
to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth
pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is
fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these
commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of
heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your
righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. "
And Christ also knows what he
is talking about since he himself has kept with great care the Word of His
Father, showing also the greatest humility (Hebrews 5: 5-10):
“5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High
Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”
6 As He also
says in another place: “You are a priest forever according to the order of
Melchizedek”; 7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered
up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able
to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8
though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9
And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who
obey Him, 10 called by Elohim as High Priest “according to the order
of Melchizedek,” 11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to
explain, since you have become dull of hearing."