The false pens of the scribes

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The false pens of the scribes...

Furthermore, what about taking the Bible literally? We're always told that God "breathed the Word", but the Bible itself seems to dispute the assumption of perfection. For instance, look at this verse in Jeremiah 8:8 -- "How can you say, 'We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us'? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie." Here, God admits that the Jewish scribes sometimes "falsify the word", which calls into question the integrity of the Bible's authors. Has anything else in the Bible been equivocated?

Although God commanded, saying- "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you" -Deuteronomy 4:2, for "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar" -Proverbs 30:5-6. That is exactly what false prophets do- add or subtract form God's word to falsify it.

The passage you referred to says- "How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, THEY HAVE REJECTED THE WORD of the LORD; AND WHAT WISDOM IS IN THEM?" -Jeremiah 8:8-9.

The verse you quoted is pointing out what little good the Holy Word of God has done for the FALSE SCRIBES, not the true. Nor is the Word of God in vain to those who will follow it, but it is become vain to those that "have rejected the Word of the LORD". A companion verse to explain this passage you have quoted is found in Mark 7- "Then came together unto him... CERTAIN OF the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding THE TRADITION of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. AND MANY OTHER THINGS there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and SCRIBES ASKED HIM, Why walk NOT thy disciples ACCORDING TO THE TRADITION of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, FULL WELL YE REJECT THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD, THAT YE MAY KEEP YOUR OWN TRADITION. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; MAKING THE WORD OF GOD OF NONE EFFECT THROUGH YOUR TRADITION, which ye have delivered: AND MANY SUCH LIKE THINGS DO YE" -Mark 7:1-13.

We have many, many examples of this very thing going on right here on CyberSight- the false pens of the scribes making the word of God into a lie. Here's an example-

The scripture specifically says- "I DECLARE UNTO YOU THE GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, IF YE KEEP IN MEMORY what I preached unto you, UNLESS YE HAVE BELIEVED IN VAIN. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how THAT CHRIST DIED for our sins according to the scriptures; And that HE WAS BURIED, and that HE ROSE AGAIN the third day according to the scriptures" -1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

That is the complete, and ONLY good news (gospel)!! The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And about which gospel, as you will notice, the WORD OF GOD SAYS- "By which also ye are saved, IF YE KEEP IN MEMORY what I preached unto you, UNLESS YE HAVE BELIEVED IN VAIN" And if any man reading this has a problem with that, let him remember that these are NOT MY WORDS but God's!!! For we are told that- "Judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? -1 Peter 4:17-18. For- "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, AND THAT OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" -2 Thessalonians 1:7-9.

More than a couple times here in CyberSight I have gone into how that the way to obey the gospel is summarized in Acts 2:38, the first message preached after Christ's ascension, and therefore in the New Testament period- "Repent, and be baptized EVERY ONE of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" -Acts 2:38.

So, by the power and strength of these words, it is obvious that anyone who preaches a gospel different than that specifically stated in scripture has made the Word of God of none effect, has falsified the word, right?

So let's look at the words of one of our fairly new arrivals to CyberSight- Mark the Mormon-

"Now it is most certainly our job to spread the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, but let us make sure that we are spreading his gospel, his literal gospel from the New testament to love god and love our brother as ourselves." (Quoted here from Mark's 'Are you here to argue' posting)

The "literal" gospel, (or good news) is DEFINITELY NOT "to love god and love our brother as ourselves". Those are the first and second commandments (Mark 12:29-31). Are the commandments of God, from the law, the good news? Or they bad?

"I had not known sin, but by the law... But SIN, TAKING OCCASION BY THE COMMANDMENT, WROUGHT IN ME ALL MANNER OF CONCUPISCENCE. For without the law sin was dead. For I WAS ALIVE WITHOUT THE LAW ONCE: BUT WHEN THE COMMANDMENT CAME, SIN REVIVED, AND I DIED. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me" -Romans 7:7-11.

Do you see the difference? "The gospel of Christ... is the power of God unto salvation" -Romans 1:19. For "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" -Romans 8:1-4.

Therefore, the commandments alone are death to us (which is definitely not good news), but the gospel bestows the power to fulfill the law, and that is the good news.

Now knowing the difference of the good news, and the commandments, we can see how this fellow Mark's words have made the word of God of none effect-

For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold THE TRADITION OF MEN- "the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ... his literal gospel... to love god and love our brother as ourselves."

Full well ye (Mark) reject the commandment of God- "The gospel which I preached unto you... that Christ died... that he was buried, and that he rose again"

Making the word of god of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: AND MANY SUCH LIKE THINGS DO YE" -Mark 7:1-13. (Note for clarity's sake: the "tradition" being refuted here is the opinion that the first commandments are "the literal gospel" (gospel = good news). I am not at all disputing that loving God first and others second are scriptural commandments).

Therefore, as the passage you quoted in Jeremiah states, the pen of this scribe Mark has made the Word of God vain, and Mark is dismayed at the Word, and he has also rejected the Word, and therefore, what wisdom is in him then?

"How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, THEY HAVE REJECTED THE WORD of the LORD; AND WHAT WISDOM IS IN THEM?" -Jeremiah 8:8-9.

And as Jesus so clearly, and plainly stated, many such things do the false prophets do!!! (For another example of this very same thing- perverting the gospel, and making the true gospel of none effect, follow my comments to Daniel in his 'Christianity 101' thread. Daniel does the same thing with the true gospel as Mark does- he perverts it and makes it of none effect. Because he does this in writing, that makes him a scribe. Because he makes the true gospel of none effect, he has made the word of God vain (not that the Word of God is vain, but his tradition makes the word of God of none effect to those who will listen to him, rather than the scriptures).

by TomR.