Tag: christianity

Apologetics · Deity of Christ · God · Islam Muslims quran · Jehovah's witnesses · mormonism · Theology · Trinity · Uncategorized

The Deity of Christ from the Old Testament for our Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, and Muslim friends, part 2.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

Today we are going to pick up where we left off from the last article you can read it here.  Earlier we examined Genesis 15:1-2 to see that the Word of the Lord is God.  We also connected these verses with John 1:1-18 to see that the Word is Jesus.  Today we are going to look at Genesis 15:3-7 which will reinforce our previous assertion that the Word of the Lord is God, Jesus is the Word, and Jesus is God.  [The text in the brackets is mine.]  The blue text indicates who is doing the action and the red is what is being done.

Genesis 15:3-7 (NASB) 3 And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

[If you notice, the person doing the talking is identified as “the word of the Lord.”  You can tell he is a person because he is, “saying.”  The word of the Lord is speaking to Abram.]

“This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said,

[Notice the Word is referred to as, “He.”  What did He do?  He, “took him outside and said…”  How can anyone look at these verses and not come to the conclusion that the Word of the Lord is God, and how can they, in light of John 1:1-18 not see that Jesus is the Word and He is God?]

“Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6  Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”

If this isn’t enough, I’ll post some more later on.  Study the word, to know the Word, and His intent.  Knowing Him is knowing God.  To know God, and be known by Him, to be His adopted child and heir, is to be saved by this Triune God’s grace according to His sovereign will, regenerating and indwelling by His Spirit, and the justifying work on the cross of His Son.

Apologetics · Deity of Christ · God · Islam Muslims quran · Jehovah's witnesses · mormonism · Theology · Trinity · Uncategorized

The Deity of Christ from the Old Testament for our Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, and Muslim friends.

Bob Snyder1 Comment

lamb

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the same accusation from Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons (LDS), and Muslims.  They claim that Jesus is not God, but a god, good man, prophet, teacher, and so on.  I think it is great that we can always go to the word of God to let it make the defense.  Charles Spurgeon was quoted as saying, “The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.”  I agree with him.

With that being said let’s take a look at Genesis 15:1-2, and John 1:1-18.

In Genesis 15:1-2 we see that the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision. Now, you don’t hear a vision. You see it. Some people would insist that this is just Abram hearing God speak to him, but this is actually the preincarnate Christ appearing to Abram in a vision, and speaking to him. Abram said, “…O LORD God…” or אֲדֹנָי ’ăḏônây; an emphatic form of âḏôn; or (shortened) אָדֹן ’adon; from an unused root (meaning to rule); sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine): — lord, master, owner. Compare also names beginning with “Adoni-”.; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only): — (my) Lord. In this section of God’s word ăḏônây is used in conjunction with יְהוָֹה yhwh; (the) self-being aseity or Eternal; name of God: — the Lord. So essentially he is saying, Adonai YHWH or Sovereign eternal self-being, was being, is being, always is, one and only true God.  It is obvious that Abram believed the word of the LORD to be the one true, eternal, and self-being God.

We can look at John 1:1-18 and see who John said the Word of God is. Again, it is obvious that Jesus is the Word.

John 1:1-18 (NASB) 1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2  He was in the beginning with God. 3  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
The Witness John
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7  He came  as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8   He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word Made Flesh
14 And the Word became flesh, and  dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18  No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Jesus is not a god like the Mormons say.  He was not Michael the angel transfigured like the Jehovah’s Witnesses would tell you.  He was not just a prophet like Muslims claim.  If there is any doubt now that Jesus is the Word, and the Word is God, it is not due to lack of evidence.  It is due to disbelief.  May God grant you true and saving faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord and God.

Book Reviews · economics · God · gospel · Ontology · Theology · Trinity · Uncategorized

A Review of, “God The Trinity” by Malcom B. Yarnell the III.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

yarnelltrinity

Today on SnydersSoapbox we will be reviewing a book dealing with the Trinity.  I know that as Christians we desire to understand the Trinity better.  It is a topic that is often speculated on, and many times people just give up.  Don’t feel too bad.  The book and the works of the men cited by the author are all very scholarly.  Some very intelligent men have been contemplating the Trinity for a very long time, and haven’t really come up with any better explanations or understandings than many of us.  They just sound a lot more intelligent when they talk about it 🙂
In the field of Christian books, I am always looking for books that will add value to my library, books that will not be a waste of my time to read.  This was a pretty good book overall.  It was definitely NOT for laymen.  It was a scholastic work.  The author assumes that the reader has read, or is familiar with the works of the other men he has cited in this book.  If you are not familiar with those works you can still read this book and get something out of it.  It is well bibliographed, and indexed.  The author throws in some Greek, not to worry, he explains what it says.  He also uses several big words that you might need to grab a dictionary and look up.  Do not be afraid of heady books.  These things help you learn and grow.  Don’t run from the challenge of education.
As far as the content of the book goes, I appreciated his explanation of the economic Trinity.  This helped me understand how we are in Christ, He is in the Father, and He is in us, as well as the Holy Spirit indwelling us.  It is one thing to know the words, it is another to get a better grasp on the mechanics of how that works.  If you are like me, you are not satisfied until you can see all the steps, or processes of the behind the scenes workings of something.  He also delved into the ontology of the Trinity.  I might not of understood everything he wrote when dealing with this topic, or maybe I did, and just disagreed with him on one of his conclusions.  Even so, If you are patient, and willing to do some work, I think you could learn from this book.
Yarnell also explains some non-Trinitarian heresies, defends the orthodox trinity, deals with some of the concepts of being eternally begotten, and what that looks like.  He explains how Christ accepted worship from people, and he demonstrates how the Bible equates Christ with God the Father.  If you take the time, this will help you with your apologetics when talking with non-Trinitarian heretics.

You can pick up your copy from Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, or Lifeway.com.

ISBN-13: 978-1433680748

Theology · Uncategorized

A Brief Lesson on Biblical Interpretation and Application from Hosea 10:11-5.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

First, let’s read the section of scripture;

“11Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh,
But I will come over her fair neck with a yoke;
I will harness Ephraim,
Judah will plow, Jacob will harrow for himself.

12Sow with a view to righteousness,
Reap in accordance with kindness;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the LORD
Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.

13You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice,
You have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors,

14Therefore a tumult will arise among your people,
And all your fortresses will be destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
When mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

15Thus it will be done to you at Bethel because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel will be completely cut off.”

Now, let’s just look at verse 12 all by itself.

“12Sow with a view to righteousness,
Reap in accordance with kindness;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the LORD
Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.”

If someone had put this verse up all by its lonesome on social media with an eye catching little picture, most people would be inspired by it. They wouldn’t have any idea that it was really part of a larger narrative about God’s punishment of Israel for their sins. There are many folks today who would have no trouble pulling this verse out of context and applying it to themselves today. As you can see, that would be a mistake. I would be very leery of a Pastor who did such sloppy work in a sermon. I’m sure many of you have sat through a sermon wondering, “How on Earth did he get that out of this verse?” Israel was not trusting in God. They were trusting in military might, worldly resources, idols, lies, and deceit. God was about to lay down some serious punishment on them. Remember what Hosea’s kids were named? Lo-ruhamah meaning, “not pitied” and Lo-ammi meaning, “not my people.” They were born to him and his wife. Remember her? She was a whore. He was told by God to marry her. God used his wife and children to illustrate to Israel at the time, and future believers how adulterous they were and we are in our relationship with God.  

Taking a verse out of context with complete disregard for the intent of the author is a horrible practice.  We wouldn’t want people to do this with our last will and testament, but we are fine with doing it to God’s word?  I never like it in a Bible study when the person who is supposed to be leading asks, “What does that verse say to you personally?”  I don’t care what it says to every individual in the room.  They should be taught what God’s intent was.  What was God saying, not what you think He was saying.  People shouldn’t be coming up with multiple and contradicting meanings for scripture. 

heaven · Uncategorized

“The Heaven Promise” by Scot McKnight does not rise above.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

heavenpromise

There are plenty of books out on Heaven currently.  This is one among them.  Scot Mcknight is a talented writer.  His book is interesting to read.  I can agree with much of what he said, if I give him the benefit of the doubt in some areas.

The difficulty I have with Christian books is that I look for books that will add value to the Christian’s library.  In the world of Christian books, I read works of scholarly endeavor, and works for the laymen.  In those two groups I apply the same standard, “Does this book rise above the current crop and add value to my library?”  Both categories are flooded, and in my opinion encumbered by copious amounts of average to damaging works.  Every once in awhile I run into a book that does add value to my library.  I heartily recommend those books.  In the laymen’s category, I loved, “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan.  I also loved, “The Holiness of God” by R. C. Sproul.  In the scholastic category, I relished, “Evangelical Influences” by J. I. Packer.  Books like those don’t come around often.

To answer the question formulating in your mind, “Nope, this isn’t one of them.”  Like I said above,  “Scot Mcknight is a talented writer.”  Unfortunately, this book just sets in the middle of the field.  This book was  not aimed at scholars.  It was aimed at the average Christian.  It kept things pretty simple.  It is obvious that Scott leans a little to the left theologically.  He seems like, “emergent lite.”  He obviously thinks Calvinists are wrong.  (Read page 174)  He quotes John Henry Newman and Richard Foster.  One is a Roman Catholic, and the other is an emergent Church mystic.  He makes speculations based on only four options expressed by Jerry Walls, about how God ensures that everyone, even the dead get to hear the gospel.  He does this without ever really presenting the gospel.  The four presupposed options are severely lacking.  This is done on pages 160, 161.

In Chapter 23 he claims purgatory is a doctrine that has divided the Church.  To that I can only shake my head in astonishment.  Unless, in his horrible ecumenism he thinks the Roman Catholic Church is part of the catholic faith, he is including them as Christian.  It also seems that he is teaching that we do things for an eternal reward primarily.  He fails to teach that we should be doing things primarily for the glory of God.  We know that there are rewards for us in Heaven, but that should not be our primary motivation for doing things that are pleasing to God.  He also seems to place an undue amount of importance on the environment.  I don’t know if he understands that God is going to destroy the world with fire.  He tends to speculate where scripture is silent.

So if you are looking for a book on Heaven, that will add value to your library, purchase, “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn instead.  “The Heaven Promise” by Scot McKnight is just mediocre.  It has some problems.  It gets some stuff right, but ultimately it is just o.k.

ISBN-13: 9781601426284

God · gospel · government · politics · prophecy · Repentance · sharing the gospel · Sovereign choice · Uncategorized

Something from Habakkuk to Remember.

Bob Snyder1 Comment

habakkuk

Here is Habakkuk’s cry to God,

“Habakkuk 1:1-4 NASB The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw. (2) How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. (3) Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. (4) Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.”

Notice, his cry to God could be our cry today in the midst of a godless, secular, America.  Now look at God’s reply,

“Habakkuk 1:5-11 NASB “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days– You would not believe if you were told. (6) “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs. (7) “They are dreaded and feared; Their justice and authority originate with themselves. (8) “Their horses are swifter than leopards And keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come galloping, Their horsemen come from afar; They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour. (9) “All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces moves forward. They collect captives like sand. (10) “They mock at kings And rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress And heap up rubble to capture it. (11) “Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, They whose strength is their god.”

Do you see what God was doing there?  He was giving the prophet Habakkuk His word that He is using the pagan Chaldeans for His purposes.  He was raising them up to use as judgment against His people.  Israel had rebelled and neglected God’s word as revealed through the prophets.  Make sure to read the last part of verse 11, “But they will be held guilty, They whose strength is their god.”  The Chaldeans were going to be held accountable by God in His justice.

Habakkuk’s reply to God,

“Habakkuk 1:12-17 NASB Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. (13) Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they? (14) Why have You made men like the fish of the sea, Like creeping things without a ruler over them? (15) The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, Drag them away with their net, And gather them together in their fishing net. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. (16) Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net And burn incense to their fishing net; Because through these things their catch is large, And their food is plentiful. (17) Will they therefore empty their net And continually slay nations without sparing?”

At first it seems that Habakkuk understands why God is going to punish Israel, but then he goes on pleading with God.  His questions seem to call for God to not allow this to happen.  Sometimes we can be like that.  We live in a great land.  Many of us are like the Chaldeans.  We put our faith in the strength of our military, or our wealth.  We trust a nationalistic ideology called America.  We offer our sacrifices to it.  We neglect God and His word.  We rebel against Him.  We kill our young and call it a woman’s right to choose.  We make legal all types of perverse abominations and call it progress, and liberty.  Just because we legislate it and make it legal does not make it moral.  Just because a secular majority deems something to be good doesn’t make it so.

As Christians we have an external moral authority Who is immutable.  He never changes and is eternal.  His decrees of good and evil stand for ever, no matter what human government makes legal.  The political candidates we have to choose from, the debased minds that many of our fellow Americans have, the perversions that are abounding, are all punishments from God.  We are under judgement.  We need to be outside of our Churches, evangelizing so that people might be saved and come in.  We need to repent of our personal sins.  We need to repent of the attractional model of Church.  We need to stop begging goats to come in to our Churches.  We need to go out to them and preach the gospel of Jesus, which is repentance from sin and faith in Christ’s work on the cross.

When people are miraculously changed by God they will become sheep.  They  will come to Church without the need of the gimmicks of silly centers.  They will hunger for the preaching of God’s word, fellowship with brothers and sisters, praising God with hymns, prayer, and the glory of God will be their aim.  Don’t be bashful, now is not the time.  Be bold for Christ and His gospel to go forth!  Are you saddened by the damage and hurt you see being done by sin in the lives of your friends and neighbors?  Do you think that you love them?  If you do, then you must give to them the only cure for their brokenness.  You must give them the only thing that will heal them and make them whole!  Give them the gospel of Jesus!  It is truth and love!

So if you find yourself crying out to God much like Habakkuk did, ask yourself why God is doing what He is doing.  Ask yourself what the proper response is to what He is doing.  Then I think you will come to the same conclusion.

Church · cultural · marriage

Kim Davis and Religious Liberty.

Bob Snyder1 Comment

Listen, I’m no Kim Davis fan.  Now don’t get your dander up just yet.  I didn’t say that I agreed with the judge and liberals either.  Yes, I would have a problem with a muslim woman demanding her religious liberty to do or not do, “x” in the workplace.  No, I don’t agree with what they are doing to Kim Davis.  This boils down to Americans deciding which god they are going to believe in or at least make the central one of their society.  Things are coming to a head.  People can’t be on the fence anymore.  With the death culture winning lost unregenerate hearts left and right, it is going to get worse, not better.  Abortion, divorce, euthanasia, and gay marriage, all lead to human decline not human flourishing.  It glorifies God for us to flourish and spread His image bearers around the creation.

The left would have everyone believe that we should treat all religions the same under the constitution.  They have used this artifice for a while now and got many of us to buy in, for the sake of our own religious liberty.  Our country was never intended to be anything other than a country of Christians.  The intent of religious liberty was for us to be free from a monarch declaring whether we  would be Catholic, Protestant, or Anglican. (more or less)  We would be able to decide for ourselves what religion we wanted to be.  Now what did our founding fathers understand those options to be?  Did they consider satanism a religion?  Or how about hinduism?  The short answer is a resounding NO!  They considered them to be cults, or pagan.  They never thought or intended for those to be options for their descendants.  They understood that only the Christian faith was a true religion and when they thought about liberty in the Christian faith it was Christian liberty to choose the things not specifically mentioned in scripture, for instance you could believe in the credo-baptism like an anabaptist Puritan, or you could be a paedo-baptist like the Presbyterian.  You could be a Methodist even…  I guess…  I don’t know why you would want to?  Just a joke my Arminian brothers.  The point is religious liberty has been being misused and  misapplied for several decades now and we are reaping the fruit.

So Kim Davis is the latest adult victim of the death culture.  Sure millions of babies have been killed and millions of marriages dissolved, and millions of children have grown up in single parent homes, but don’t let that bother you.  Keep on harping about Kim Davis.  I hope she is what it takes to wake up the religious right in our country.  I hope that this outrage will focus us all together to finally recognize what the founding fathers intended and to stop being fooled, bamboozled, and confused by the satanic left.  We need to wake up and declare this country to be a Christian country, one of Christianity as the main and central faith, even if you aren’t a Christian there is no denying that Christianity equals human flourishing, scientific discovery, medical progress, inspiring art and architecture.  Wherever Christianity has been, humans have flourished.  When it is booted out the cultures sometimes die slowly like in Europe, or they go under in a fast violent overthrow like in the islamic states.  So recognize that the only reason America has been great is God, and without the God of the Bible we will fall.  As always, repent of your sins, believe in the justifying work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and follow Him.

Apologetics · Theology

Joseph Smith fixes the Bible and Mormons believe this guy?

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

100301sick_hat_joseph_smith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey kids! Me again, did you know that Joseph Smith, the false prophet who founded Mormonism, fixed the Bible for us to?  Don’t be surprised if you hadn’t heard.  It is a little publicized thing.  They like to say that they use the King James Version, but they don’t really believe it is accurate.  “8 We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.”

For not having the internet to look up Hebrew sources, for having to rely on hand copied manuscripts in the original languages and for not having discovered as many ancient manuscripts the old KJV translators did a pretty good job.  I wonder what happened to Joe Smith’s translation?  Well, I think we know.  By this time he had already gone on paper and proclaimed many false prophecies and new doctrines and once you’ve done that without studying the Bible you have to go back and change one or the other.  Can you guess which one he chose to change?  I’ll give you a hint, it rhymes with heretic, oh you caught me it doesn’t rhyme with heretic.  That’s right he changed the Bible!  What audacity!  Hadn’t he heard of the Septuagint?  Hadn’t he heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls?  Nope, the Dead Sea Scrolls weren’t dug up until the middle part of the last century, and apparently he didn’t even bother looking at the Septuagint, which was the Bible for the true Church as early as the 3rd century B.C.  The books we have in the Old Covenant were compiled and translated from Hebrew into Koine Greek, then later as the progressive revelation continued, the other books were added.  So this is the Bible the Church used and the Apostles quoted, but it wasn’t good enough for Joseph Smith!  Nope, he had to support all of his heresy.

So today I thought we would take a look at just a few differences in the Book of Genesis.  We will also look at the consequences.

Genesis 1:1 JST “And it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, I reveal unto you concerning this heaven and this earth; write the words which I speak.”

Genesis 1:1 NASB “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Hebrew Genesis 1:1 “בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃” or bə-rê-šîṯ (In the beginning) bā-rā (created) ’ĕ-lō-hîm; (God) ’êṯ  haš-šā-ma-yim (the heavens) wə-’êṯ (and) hā-’ā-reṣ. (the earth)

And finally the KJV that J.S. didn’t think supported his false prophecies and doctrines enough so he just changed it to make it fit better.

Genesis 1:1 KJV “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Can you see a difference yet?  Pretty obvious he didn’t use any manuscripts to translate from.  Matter of fact he didn’t even claim that he did.  Nope, he just studied the Bible and changed it the way he claimed it was revealed to him to change.  You read correctly, he used personal revelation as his means for rewriting the GOD’S WORD.  Remember, the Mormons claim the Bible is not translated correctly and that is why they can just disregard it when it doesn’t support their doctrine.   I would compare the first verse to the other translations, but there is no need to.  It doesn’t match at all.  Let’s see if it gets any better in the next few verses.

JST Genesis 1:2-8

“2 I am the Beginning and the End; the Almighty God. By mine Only Begotten I created these things.

 

3 Yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest.

 

4 And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to come up upon the face of the deep.

 

5 And my Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, for I am God.

 

6 And I, God, said, Let there be light, and there was light.

 

7 And I, God, saw the light, and that light was good. And I, God, divided the light from the darkness.

 

8 And I, God, called the light day, and the darkness I called night. And this I did by the word of my power; and it was done as I spake. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

And now the NASB

2The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

6Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

And the Hebrew,

וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְהֹ֑ום וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

Str Translit Hebrew English Morph
776 [e] wə-hā-’ā-reṣ, וְהָאָ֗רֶץ And the earth Noun
1961 [e] hā-yə-ṯāh הָיְתָ֥ה was Verb
8414 [e] ṯō-hū תֹ֙הוּ֙ without form Noun
922 [e] wā-ḇō-hū, וָבֹ֔הוּ and void Noun
2822 [e] wə-ḥō-šeḵ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ and darkness Noun
5921 [e] ‘al- עַל־ [was] on Prep
6440 [e] pə-nê פְּנֵ֣י the face Noun
8415 [e] ṯə-hō-wm; תְה֑וֹם of the deep Noun
7307 [e] wə-rū-aḥ וְר֣וּחַ And the Spirit Noun
430 [e] ’ĕ-lō-hîm, אֱלֹהִ֔ים of God Noun
7363 [e] mə-ra-ḥe-p̄eṯ מְרַחֶ֖פֶת moved Verb
5921 [e] ‘al- עַל־ on Prep
6440 [e] pə-nê פְּנֵ֥י the face Noun
4325 [e] ham-mā-yim. הַמָּֽיִם׃ of the waters Noun

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י אֹ֑ור וַֽיְהִי־אֹֽור׃

559 [e] way-yō-mer וַיֹּ֥אמֶר And said Verb
430 [e] ’ĕ-lō-hîm אֱלֹהִ֖ים God Noun
1961 [e] yə-hî יְהִ֣י Let there be Verb
216 [e] ’ō-wr; א֑וֹר light Noun
1961 [e] way-hî- וַֽיְהִי־ and there was Verb
216 [e] ’ō-wr. אֽוֹר׃ light Noun

וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָאֹ֖ור כִּי־טֹ֑וב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָאֹ֖ור וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃

7200 [e] way-yar וַיַּ֧רְא and saw Verb
430 [e] ’ĕ-lō-hîm אֱלֹהִ֛ים God Noun
853 [e] ’eṯ- אֶת־ – Acc
216 [e] hā-’ō-wr הָא֖וֹר the light Noun
3588 [e] kî- כִּי־ that Conj
2896 [e] ṭō-wḇ; ט֑וֹב [it was] good Adj
914 [e] way-yaḇ-dêl וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל and divided Verb
430 [e] ’ĕ-lō-hîm, אֱלֹהִ֔ים God Noun
996 [e] bên בֵּ֥ין a space between Prep
216 [e] hā-’ō-wr הָא֖וֹר the light Noun
996 [e] ū-ḇên וּבֵ֥ין and between Prep
2822 [e] ha-ḥō-šeḵ. הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ the darkness Noun

וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאֹור֙ יֹ֔ום וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר יֹ֥ום אֶחָֽד׃ פ

7121 [e] way-yiq-rā וַיִּקְרָ֨א And called Verb
430 [e] ’ĕ-lō-hîm אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ God Noun
216 [e] lā-’ō-wr לָאוֹר֙ the light Noun
3117 [e] yō-wm, י֔וֹם Day Noun
2822 [e] wə-la-ḥō-šeḵ וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ and the darkness Noun
7121 [e] qā-rā קָ֣רָא he called Verb
3915 [e] lā-yə-lāh; לָ֑יְלָה Night Noun
1961 [e] way-hî- וַֽיְהִי־ And were Verb
6153 [e] ‘e-reḇ עֶ֥רֶב the evening Noun
1961 [e] way-hî- וַֽיְהִי־ and Verb
1242 [e] ḇō-qer בֹ֖קֶר the morning Noun
3117 [e] yō-wm י֥וֹם day Noun
259 [e] ’e-ḥāḏ. אֶחָֽד׃ the first Adj
p̄ פ –

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּתֹ֣וךְ הַמָּ֑יִם וִיהִ֣י מַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין מַ֖יִם לָמָֽיִם׃

559 [e] way-yō-mer וַיֹּ֣אמֶר And said Verb
430 [e] ’ĕ-lō-hîm, אֱלֹהִ֔ים God Noun
1961 [e] yə-hî יְהִ֥י Let there be Verb
7549 [e] rā-qî-a‘ רָקִ֖יעַ a firmament Noun
8432 [e] bə-ṯō-wḵ בְּת֣וֹךְ in the midst Noun
4325 [e] ham-mā-yim; הַמָּ֑יִם of the waters Noun
1961 [e] wî-hî וִיהִ֣י let Verb
914 [e] maḇ-dîl, מַבְדִּ֔יל it divide Verb
996 [e] bên בֵּ֥ין a space between Prep
4325 [e] ma-yim מַ֖יִם the waters Noun
4325 [e] lā-mā-yim. לָמָֽיִם׃ from the waters Noun

וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים֮ אֶת־הָרָקִיעַ֒ וַיַּבְדֵּ֗ל בֵּ֤ין הַמַּ֙יִם֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ מִתַּ֣חַת לָרָקִ֔יעַ וּבֵ֣ין הַמַּ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֖ר מֵעַ֣ל לָרָקִ֑יעַ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃

6213 [e] way-ya-‘aś וַיַּ֣עַשׂ And made Verb
430 [e] ’ĕ-lō-hîm אֱלֹהִים֮ God Noun
853 [e] ’eṯ- אֶת־ – Acc
7549 [e] hā-rā-qî-a‘ הָרָקִיעַ֒ the firmament Noun
914 [e] way-yaḇ-dêl, וַיַּבְדֵּ֗ל and divided Verb
996 [e] bên בֵּ֤ין a space between Prep
4325 [e] ham-ma-yim הַמַּ֙יִם֙ the waters Noun
834 [e] ’ă-šer אֲשֶׁר֙ which Prt
8478 [e] mit-ta-ḥaṯ מִתַּ֣חַת [were] under Noun
7549 [e] lā-rā-qî-a‘, לָרָקִ֔יעַ the firmament Noun
996 [e] ū-ḇên וּבֵ֣ין and from Prep
4325 [e] ham-ma-yim, הַמַּ֔יִם the waters Noun
834 [e] ’ă-šer אֲשֶׁ֖ר which Prt
5921 [e] mê-‘al מֵעַ֣ל [were] above Prep
7549 [e] lā-rā-qî-a‘; לָרָקִ֑יעַ the firmament Noun
1961 [e] way-hî- וַֽיְהִי־ and it was Verb
3651 [e] ḵên. כֵֽן׃ so Adj

וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֱלֹהִ֛ים לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ שָׁמָ֑יִם וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר יֹ֥ום שֵׁנִֽי׃ פ

7121 [e] way-yiq-rā וַיִּקְרָ֧א And called Verb
430 [e] ’ĕ-lō-hîm אֱלֹהִ֛ים God Noun
7549 [e] lā-rā-qî-a‘ לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ the firmament Noun
8064 [e] šā-mā-yim; שָׁמָ֑יִם Heaven Noun
1961 [e] way-hî- וַֽיְהִי־ And were Verb
6153 [e] ‘e-reḇ עֶ֥רֶב the evening Noun
1961 [e] way-hî- וַֽיְהִי־ and Verb
1242 [e] ḇō-qer בֹ֖קֶר the morning Noun
3117 [e] yō-wm י֥וֹם day Noun
8145 [e] šê-nî. שֵׁנִֽי׃ the second Noun
p̄ פ –

 

And now the KJV

1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

The First Day: Light

3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The Second Day: Firmament

6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which [were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

So as you can see, he didn’t even care about staying true to what was originally delivered to us as the very Word of God.  He did violence to the word just like the enemy of God that he was.  If he was a true prophet of God his work would have been the same as the other works, but it isn’t.  These works, except the KJV predate the time when Joseph Smith says the apostasy happened.  Remember, the Mormons claim that after the death of the last Apostle the Church fell into complete apostasy, never mind all of the Christians who maintained their faith all over the world in the face of persecution and martyrdom.  He either didn’t know that these texts were out there or predated his claims that the Church was apostate or he didn’t care.  I think, he didn’t know.

So in verse 2 he lies and says that God said, “I am the Beginning and the End; the Almighty God. By mine Only Begotten I created these things.”  You might ask yourself, “What is so wrong with that?” Well you’d have to understand Mormonism a little bit to get why he did this.  You see Mormons believe that God the Father actually has a flesh and blood body and he is married to a Mother Goddess, who through copulation with him produced many offspring.  Two of them would be the Mormon Jesus and his brother Satan.  When he says, “by my only begotten I created these things.”  He means that Jesus reformed matter that was already in existence.  He shaped into what he wanted to make.  If you notice J.S. rewrote Genesis to make it look like God was saying all these things directly to Moses.  This is to support their book of Moses which is completely fiction.

It really starts to get weird in chapter three.  There we see Satan and Jesus arguing over who gets to redeem mankind and protect his free agency?  I’m not making this garbage up.  You can read it for yourselves;

Genesis CHAPTER 3 JST

Rebellion of Satan — Man’s agency, temptation and fall.

1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying, That Satan whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning;

2 And he came before me, saying, Behold I, send me, I will be thy Son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore, give me thine honor.

3 But behold, my beloved Son, which was my beloved and chosen from the beginning, said unto me: Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.

4 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him; and also that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten I caused that he should be cast down; and he became Satan.

5 Yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive, and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.

6 And now, the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which I, the Lord God, had made.

7 And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, for he had drawn away many after him; and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God; wherefore, he sought to destroy the world.

I know, right!?  What the what!?  Here is the real word of God;

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'” 4The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

There are so many changes it is hard to know where to start.  If I had more ambition I’d attack his abuse of the book of Isaiah.  Comparing it to the entire book of Isaiah recovered from the Dead Sea Scrolls would be fun, but lots of work.  For now, I will leave you with this to ponder, why would a true prophet of God make so many false prophecies and contradict the Bible so often he would have to write his own to support it?  Why would you want to believe that God was once a man who through Mormonism became an exalted man then eventually a god who only re-ordered matter to make things?  Why would you not worship the one true God who has never been made because he always existed?  He was never a sinful man like the Mormon god once was.  The true God made everything from nothing.  He transcends all other things.  The Mormon god is subject to the gods that sired him and they are subject to the ones who sired them and so on and on back eternally.  Does that sound like the one true God, worthy of worship to you?