Can you see Satan smiling?

The Bible. The book that serves as a guide to salvation and a teacher in ethics. But also the book that is blamed for divided families, murdering fanatics and the source of ‘sick men’s dreams’. Some love this book. Some died for this book. Some blame all their problems on this book. And with all this said – this controversy alone makes it a book well worth studying.

Personally I see the Bible as a fountain of Godly wisdom. This is the undeniable word of God. Is it written by fallible humans? Definitely! This is the most important factor of the nature of the Bible. That God used fallible humans with different backgrounds and personalities to light the world with a message of love from Him even in this modern age. And yet this book is challenging enough to keep even the most brilliant scholar occupied! Therefore we have to consider these challenges and accept the fact that the study of the Bible can only be explained through the eyes of the reader. Like the classic scenario of an accident that took place and multiple witnesses that had the opportunity to first class see the accident from different angles. Only one accident took place – but if you had eight witnesses you will have eight different versions of what had happened.

So it will be with the study of the Bible as well. Eight different people will read the same chapter of the Bible and you will eventually have eight different interpretations. The contributing factors be the cultural differences, the background differences, the religious difference, the need at that time and even the level of arrogance of the reader to name just a few.

In 2011 I took a few modules in Religious studies and had the privilege to touch on the religious spectrum and the differences and sometimes subtle conformities. But included was a module on Sects and Cults where the horrendous consequences of misinterpretations of the Bible are shockingly apparent. Yet, within fanaticism there is not always just a sick mind, but most of the time the searching soul of a very sincere heart.

The meaning of the Bible will differ as individuals have different needs. The religious importance and cultural influence will determine the value being put on the scriptures. Historians will have a different reason to value their studies as to the person who struggles to find a reason for their suffering between the Holy pages. The Bible is a bulky book and rightly so! To find the right answer that will suit my needs and fulfill my desires may take some serious searching! Therefore I may be a very sincere Christian in search of ways to show God how much I love Him and end up in 1 Timothy 2:9 that states that a woman should not braid her hair and before you know it I am condemning all the maidens with the braided hair! This is a simple example to explain the misguided interpretation of the Bible just because the cultural issues of the time of Paul’s writings are not taken into consideration.

The modern Bible reader is also faced with the challenging task of selecting a suitable version of the Bible. For there are some who favor just a particular translation and are very condemning towards those that do not share their sentiment. What I found to be a startling reality is the limiting vocabulary that consists in languages. There are words in Greek that are not found in English or in Afrikaans (the languages I am familiar with). For example the different types of love – Eros and agape – to name but two. In my language there is only one word for love. So the study of the ancient texts by the modern reader will not necessarily include these details and seemingly important concepts can be lost. Not every reader of the Bible is a scholar in ancient Greek and Hebrew.

In the same manner the meaning of the text can be misunderstood because the cultural rituals and lifestyles and traditions of the ancient times are not taken into consideration. So we will read that men must not wear woman’s clothes and woman must not wear men’s clothing but in the time when this was written the men all wore dresses! So in our modern times what will we then consider men’s clothing?

For some the Bible is to be interpreted literally, for others it is only a collection of literature that unveils the cultural behaviors of an ancient nation. Whatever the preference may be and whatever debates it may bring. The Bible is ultimately regarded by all Christians as a serious contribution to their own salvation and a textbook for a world that is in great need of an ethical lesson.

The day when all nations will seek God, salvation, forgiveness, wisdom and humility between the holy pages will be the day when reconciliation will take place between families, friends and nations. For it is only when selfishness disappears and God is honored that true religion is born. I am getting so annoyed with the constant criticism on the Word of God that is coming from Christians! As if we are not suffering enough attacks from non-Christians. Christians are criticizing the various versions of the Bible, listing boundless faults that is to be found in this version of the other. This is beginning to take on dangerous elements for Christianity. Non-Christians might as well stop criticizing the Christians as we are doing a very good job of it ourselves! With every negative remark against the Word of God we are belittling our faith in the mighty hand of God and crushing the trust of our own people. We need to stop this. We are encouraging people to distrust what they read in God’s word by placing their focus on detail that in my opinion has little or no effect on the promise of salvation.

Allow me to explain:

Is it not astonishing that even though Satan has been trying to ruin the Word of God the golden thread of salvation has never been lost! And this is the everlasting promise: No matter how many words are removed - everything you will need to understand the perfect gift of salvation will still be found between its pages. Don't worry my friends and do not concentrate on what seems to be missing from the translations - concentrate on that which is still there! Place the focus of the people on the multitude of promises of God that is still found in every translation on the shelves!

We as Christians cannot make a bigger mistake than concentrating on the efforts of Satan and all those that work for him. There are those amongst our people that can spend hours telling us every detail of Satan. They can tell us about all his signs, all his organisations, all his secrets and apparently they also have access to his journal as they even know what his modus operandi is going to be in every one of his ‘secret societies’. For hours our people can discuss the entire workforce of Satan and especially the one they feel is his main peanut here on earth and so when I walk into church every Sabbath the first thing I have to hear is what this peanut was up to during this week….Can you see Satan smiling? Very few are still speaking about Jesus - way to many Christians are discussing His adversary!

I find it strange that our people can list Satan’s signs, societies and workers by the scores yet they cannot even name the 12 disciples or list the fruit of the spirit or recite the Ten Commandments by heart. I find it strange that they will spend hours drawing up a complete presentation on all the faults found within a Bible translation and yet they cannot give a simple Bible study on salvation….Can you see Satan smiling? He is keeping us from our commission and is being entertained by all the attention we give him!

To put it even more simple: Our people can give you a carpeted tour right to the doorstep of Satan but they cannot even give a hint in which direction you have to go to find Jesus. Can you see Satan smiling? Boy, he must really enjoy every moment the Christians are doing the work for him! 

Friends if we are sowing only ONE seed of distrust or doubt we are doing Satan’s work. I have friends and family that I wish I could get so far to just read ANY translation of the Bible! When my own people sow even more seeds of doubt in their minds about the trustworthiness of God’s Word it makes our lives as ministers and lay-ministers extremely difficult and our efforts are unnecessarily burdened. Let our people not be found guilty of that.

Let’s put all Satan’s publicity stunts (that are found so bountiful on social media) behind us– pick up God’s Word and find Him once again in those Holy pages! Seek for Him like never before! When Jesus returns on the clouds of heaven He will not require you to give a presentation on Satan… but He will require you to give an account of everyone you have influenced in life! Mark 9:42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a large millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” Matt 15:9 “Their worship of me is empty, because they teach human rules as doctrines.'"  Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed because they lack knowledge of Me.”

My friends in Christ, seek the Lord with all your heart. Do not worry about Satan’s tantrums – they are futile anyway. You and I seek the face of the Lord and we strengthen the faith of our brothers and sisters and all the efforts of Satan will become laughably pathetic! It's time we wipe the satisfied grin of his face.

Roné F.