In a recent reading through the book of Judges, I noticed something very interesting – that I never gave thought to before…
Judges 12:6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right.
Why this stood out to me, in this particular read-through, might be that I myself have been paying attention lately to trying to “pronounce it right” as I’m reading God’s word(s).
This one simple phrase, “pronounce it right,” reminds me of the fact that in the Hebrew tongue, God had to have given his written word to Moses and to all of the “old testament” scribes with vowel points. It is by the vowel points in Hebrew that God revealed to his Hebrew-speaking people from the beginning how to … … … … pronounce it right.
Note well that Jesus the Word of God is also Alpha and Omega. He is inseparable from his words and the letters of his words. If the letters are changed, so are the words that those letters form. Jesus also cares about the very jots and tittles that are part of the letters of his words (Matthew 5:18). In his word in Hebrew, the jots and tittles include his vowel points given from the beginning. Without the vowel points, the words could be changed. Text critics desire to change God’s words, and therefore falsely claim that vowel points were added later. That way, the text critics free themselves to go back to a fictitious time “before” vowel points were given and make up their own vowel pointings so as to change certain words to their own liking. Just one example (and there are many) is Psalm 22:16, wherein a deletion of God’s given vowel points, and then a change to vowel points desired by the text critics, results in the words being changed …
from: they pierced my hands and my feet
to: like a lion my hands and my feet
… eliminating from the psalm the connection of this prophecy to the crucifixion of our Lord.
Believer, beware.
What I notice from Judges 12:6 is a principle. The principle is that the LORD would have us that read his word, in English – the KJB, to …
pronounce it right (Judges 12:6)… … for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 34:5)
To pronounce right judgment, it is essential that the Judge pronounce it right.
EXACTLY RIGHT. IN THE NEW VERSIONS ALMOST EVERYTHING IS CHANGED. THE ONE THAT REALLY GETS TO ME IS CHANGING “ONLY BEGOTTEN SON” TO “ONE AND ONLY SON” … WHEN WE ACCEPTED JESUS AS OUR SAVIOR WE BECAME ADOPTED CHILDREN OF GOD, HENCE BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF JESUS. “BEGOTTEN” IS NOT “ONE AND ONLY.”
Yes sir, the distinction is important. The new versions that call Jesus the ‘one and only’ son miss the verse in John 1:12 that gives anyone who believes the power to become a ‘son of God’. We who believe are ‘sons of God’ but we are ‘born again’, not ‘begotten’ as Jesus Christ. If we are ‘born again’, then how are we adopted? The adoption, to wit, is the redemption of the body, Romans 8:23- that is, the physical body we have. The adoption is the body being glorified at the rapture, the ‘re-birth’ having already taken place.