From the Foundation of the Cosmos

In a recent conversation I referred to the wondrous message of Revelation 13:8. The other person pulled out a Bible and read it to me. I was aghast. I responded, “That is terrible! What translation is this?”

It was the New Revised Standard Version. The verse in the NRSV reads:

and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.

The full NRSV can be found at Revelation 13:8 (NRSV).

The King James reads much more closely to the Greek:

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

It seems that many of the newer so-called translations likewise ignore the Greek and deliberately change what this verse from Holy Scripture teaches. The ESV likewise follows this anti-Christian translation, saying

and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

For a sampling of a few translations see Revelation 13:8 (multiple translaitons).

Why would translators deliberately change what this text says? It seems clear that they simply do not believe in the Lamb who is slain from the foundation of the cosmos. They do not believe in the Lamb who gave His body and blood to His disciples on the night of His betrayal, before His crucifixion. They do not believe in the Lamb to whom Nicodemus came, of whom John records:

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:10-13)

John was writing at a time when it was necessary to silence those who rejected the perfect union of the two natures of Christ. Some denied that Jesus the man was truly the Son of God. They refused to accept that Jesus was the Son of MAN who came from heaven. Notice that in this chastisement of Nicodemus that Jesus did not refer to Himself as the Son of God who came down from heaven, even though a few verses later He does refer to Himself as the Son whom God gave to the world. But here He calls the one who came down from heaven the Son of MAN. It seems that hardly anyone pays any attention to the fact that He not only refers to this Son of Man as having come down from heaven, but simultaneously still being IN heaven!

This is what is rejected by those who deny the efficacious nature of the Sacrament of the Altar and those who deliberately reinterpret Revelation 13:8 rather than translating it for how it stands written. They do not believe in the Jesus who is slain from the foundation of the cosmos, in whom Abraham trusted, and in whom Abraham lives.

When we understand what is taught in Revelation 13:8, our eyes and ears are opened to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Then we understand St. Paul’s insistence in 1 Corinthians 2 that he judged to know nothing in his preaching and teaching save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When we follow the dear apostle in expecting this to be the sole message of the Scriptures, the Scriptures begin to open to us, or perhaps we begin to open to the message of the Scriptures, as never before. Then we understand why Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

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Translations or Interpretations?

My frustration over the inaccuracies in our many translations is experienced frequently. Over the period of my life I have used many different translations or “versions” of the Bible. I learned Luther’s Small Catechism in at least three versions, each using another version of the Bible. Three different versions of the Hymnal also were foisted upon me. This is a confusing practice. It makes remembrance of the specific passages of Scripture difficult, especially when seeking to use a concordance.

But this is not the main cause of my frustration. My greater frustration arises from the continual bombardment that I experience of interpretation being forced upon the texts of the Holy Scriptures and being presented as what the Scriptures actually declare and teach. I do not know of any English version/translation that does not do this.

I have returned to using the King James as my primary source. It is the most widely known and accepted. It is better than many so-called translations. And, it is in the Public Domain and can be quoted freely without limit.

Nevertheless I encounter many false things in even this old stand by translation.

In the Gospel reading appointed for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, the reading for this week’s sermon, the first sentence is translated the worst in the ESV and RSV, which are virtually the same translation of this verse. The text is Matthew 13:24.

Here are a few of the translations of this verse:

KJV:
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

NKJV:
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;

NIV:
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

RSV:
Another parable he before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field;

ESV:
He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared unto a man who sowed good seed in his field,

Of these the KJV is the closest to what Matthew writes. The RSV and The ESV are the worst. These actually change the meaning of the verse entirely. Matthew records Jesus as saying: “Was made like/was likened the kingdom of the heavens unto a man sowing/who sowed good seed in the field of him.”

The RSV and the ESV change this to “the kingdom of heaven may be compared to . . .” This is horrible. May be . . .? Jesus says that it was likened unto and they translate that it may be compared to.

This completely changes the point of the parable. It completely changes how preachers preach this text and how people perceive the Word of God, even the kingdom of God.

IF you are interested, my exposition of this text is available here. PDF and Audio are available here.

My former church body has chosen the ESV for its official use. Before that they chose the NIV. Both are very bad choices. I used the NIV for years and regret it now. But even the NIV does a better job with this text than the ESV.

I find it frustrating that with the resources that a church body the size of the LC-MS has, with the number of experts in the original languages that they employ in their seminaries, that a really faithful translation has never been produced. But I suppose that would require an entirely other focus for the church body. Then, also, who among their “experts” would even understand the issue while they continue in a communion that does not care? It is a sad thing to observe, especially since so many people continue to trust such leaders because it is easier than standing on and in the Word alone.

Shut Up and Listen

Not very long ago I wrote to someone whom I love very much words that to most people would sound contradictory. I wrote:

     You truly need to shut up and listen. You need to set aside the Scriptures and stop seeking to understand them according to your own reason and strength. You need to listen to one who truly knows the God of peace, mercy, and love. Then you can pick up the Scriptures again and be free of your own interpretations. Then you will be free to hear the merciful love of God that the Scriptures declare in connection with Jesus.

In this connection St. Peter writes:

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:19-21)

In Acts 8 Luke records the account of the Ethiopian eunuch’s encounter with St. Philip. The eunuch was a very sincere man, who came to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel, purchased portions of the Scriptures, including the book of Isaiah, and eagerly sought to know the meaning of the Scriptures but could not understand apart from having the Holy Spirit’s true interpretation preached to him. Upon hearing the one true faith of the Scriptures from Philip, the man carried the Gospel back to Ethiopia with joy.

One of the problems in the Church today and with those who seek to understand the Scriptures is that many, even most, seek to interpret the Scriptures for themselves. But God has appointed that the Scriptures be used to preach the Gospel, or as Luke records with Philip, to preach Jesus, which is one and the same preaching. But this Jesus cannot be known apart from the right preaching. To one who has not been regenerated, as well as to one who has drifted into other interpretations, the Scriptures become a stumbling block rather than a source of life. Without the right knowledge of Christ, which is purely by the faith created by the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures become a tool of the devil. The devil used an interpretation of the Word to deceive the woman. The devil tried the same thing with the Word Himself, Jesus, of all the insane things that the devil could try.

Sometimes, when a person has become confused as to the testimony of the Scriptures, the person actually needs to be advised to stop reading the Scriptures, to set them aside, and allow one who knows the true testimony of the Holy Spirit to proclaim it. Then, like the Ethiopian eunuch, the Scriptures can be picked up again and read to the everlasting benefit of the person’s soul. Otherwise the person continues in the self-deception of his own reason and strength and follows after a false doctrine and a false faith, that end in death rather than in life.