Arriving at chapter 13, the student of Scripture finds himself in the second division of Proverbs dedicated to the principles of wisdom (Ch. 10-24). Here he encounters the bulk of this book’s “proverbs” – those concise statements of a general truth that are contrastive (Pro. 11:1 12:5; 13:1; 14:1-6), comparative (Pro. 12:9; 15:16-17; 16:8; 16:19; 16:32; 17:10; 21:9), or completive (Pro. 10:18; 14:12; 15:3; 15:33; 16:4; 16:18; 17:4; 19:29; 20:2; 21:27; 25:17).
Realizing that Chapters 10-31 are replete with proverbs, each of which could be an independent study on its own, the studies on these chapters will select a particular proverb(s) from each chapter or an overarching theme from the chapter for analysis. The study of Chapter 13 will concentrate on verse 13: “Whose despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”
Unbelievers have always despised God’s word. Typically, they reject the Bible as merely the words of man (1 Thess. 2:13). They also twist the Scriptures to prove they are fallacious and unworthy of belief or to justify their ungodliness (2 Pet. 3:16). Then there are those unbelievers who receive the Bible as God’s word but choose to ignore it (Pro. 1:7; 23:9). Unfortunately, in these last days, God’s people en masse have also fallen into the trap of despising God’s word (2 Thess. 2:1-3; 1 Tim. 4:1-2; 2 Tim. 4:3-4). While unbelievers are expected to despise the Bible, believers are not. Yet, the issue of the last days is final authority, and believers and unbelievers alike are in rebellion against God (2 Tim. 3:1-13). As a wise man said, “Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.”
Let us then examine the ways God’s people despise God’s word: the Holy Bible.
1) A General Misunderstanding of the Importance of Biblical Authority
· The consequence of spiritual infancy and its attendant ignorance of the first principles of Christianity (Heb. 5:12-14; 2 Pet. 3:15-17)
o Immature believers fail to understand that Christianity is a book religion, where the Bible is the final authority for all matters of faith and practice (Ps. 119:128; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). That is, you must go “by the Book.”
§ The apostle Paul personifies the Bible in Hebrews 4:12-13 while using the word “Scripture” in place of “God” in Galatians 3:8 and Romans 9:17, revealing that the written word (the Bible) is the way to connect with the Incarnate Word (God – John 1:1). [Cf. 1 Sam. 3:21; 2 Ki. 1:3, 16.]. Hence, the Bible and God are not the same but are closely related, with the Bible being the closest thing you can get to God.
§ “God is everywhere. However, He does not want you to reach out for Him everywhere but only in the word. Reach out for it, and you will grasp Him aright. Otherwise, you are tempting God and setting up idolatry. That is why He has established a certain method for us. This teaches us how and where we are to look for Him and find Him, namely, in the word.” (Martin Luther)
§ John Wesley’s words are also quite pertinent: “I am a man of one Book.”
§ As one man said, “You have a paper pope.” Amen and Amen!!!
o Immature believers fail to renew their mind, casting off the “truth-is-relative” mindset that’s permeated our society.
§ There’s a failure to understand that God doesn’t care what they think or believe: He gave them a Book (the Bible) to tell them how to think and believe (Isa. 55:8- 11; Rom. 3:2-4).
o Immature believers thus reject Biblical authority due to their ignorance and spiritual stagnancy (Heb. 5:12-14).
§ This loss of Biblical authority thus diminishes a devotion to Bible reading, Bible meditation, Bible study, Bible memorization, and ultimately Biblical obedience.
§ This ignorance flies in the face of Paul’s 8 warnings regarding spiritual ignorance (Rom. 1:13; 11:25; 1 Cor. 10:1; 12:1; 14:38; 2 Cor. 1:8; 2:11; 1 Thess. 4:13).
· The entirety of the Christian’s life then not governed by Scripture
o When the Bible loses its place as the final authority in the believer’s life, he no longer lives a life devoted to Scripture (Mt. 4:4; Lk. 4:4). His life becomes one of warring authorities: the Bible and personal opinion.
o This dilemma is revealed in the following statement: “God does not ask for utter devotion to a written word. He asks for utter devotion to the God of that written word.” (Honest Answers, Janelle Alberts & Ingrid Faro) This is nothing more than personal opinion that could not be any farther from the truth, for Scripture alone tells us how to be devoted to God!!!
2) Unbelief in God’s Inerrant Preservation of His word for Modern Man
· A theological way of denying Biblical authority
o The typical contemporary Christian believes that God gave His word to man in its original form inerrantly, often referred to as the “original autographs.” [Please keep in mind that the “original autographs” of the 66 books of Scripture were never collated into one book, and when the individual books of the Bible were assembled into one book, they were copies of the “originals.”] Yet, he doesn’t believe that God inerrantly preserved His word for man today. That is, he dismisses plenary (full), verbal (word-for-word) preservation of the Bible for contemporary mankind.
§ While God’s word is available to man today, it has assimilated some errors and problems through its transmission and translation down through the ages, but they are extremely small and insignificant and do not in any way affect the basic teachings of God’s word. Hence, all modern translations contain some anomalies: there is no version of Scripture today that is inerrant and “word perfect”.
o This belief is reflected in the following (typical) statement of faith regarding the Scriptures for Crossroads Church in Cincinnati: “We believe that the Bible, composed of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament, is the inspired word of God and without error in the original writing. The Bible was given by God through chosen people and thus reflects the backgrounds, styles, and vocabulary of human writers. The Bible is the full and final authority on all matters of faith and practice; there are no other writings similarly inspired by God. The Bible’s truth is timeless and speaks to our everyday lives” (Luke 21:33; 24:44; Romans 15:4; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21).
§ For this statement of faith to truly be accurate, it should read, “We believe that the Bible, composed of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament, was the inspired word of God and without error in the original writing…” Furthermore, nothing is said about where the Bible’s timeless truth can be found today.
· The practical outflow the denial of Biblical authority
o Since the typical believer today doesn’t believe the Bible is “word perfect”, he is therefore only concerned with the fundamental teachings and principles of Scripture, not its individual words.
§ This misunderstanding of the importance of the individual words of Scripture is senseless and illogical, for the teachings and principles of Scripture are conveyed through individual words and altering those words can (and does) result in altering the teachings and principles conveyed.
§ Consider the following example from Windows of Wisdom, a devotional study on Proverbs by Stephen F. Olford. In his devotional on Proverbs 13:7, Olford changes the word “maketh” to “feign” or “pretend”, and thereby has the text refer to someone who feigns himself to be rich and another who feigns himself to be poor. In so doing, he altered the entire meaning of the text!!!
o This concern for only the fundamental teachings and principles of Scripture also leads the typical believer today to believe that all English translations of the Bible are acceptable.
§ Having marginalized the importance of the individual words of Scripture (Pro. 30:5-6; Mt. 4:4), he will use any English translation since they all contain the fundamental teachings and principles of Christianity, even despite the plethora of errors they contain.
o This concern for only the fundamental teachings and principles of Scripture is furthermore self-defeating, for the individual words of Scripture are the key to the proper interpretation thereof (Pro. 30:5; Mt. 4:4).
· The unequivocal promise of preservation
o God promised to preserve His word – and more specifically His (individual) words (Ps. 12:6-7; Mt. 24:35; Isa. 40:81; Pet. 1:24-25) – which He did for English- speaking people through the King James Bible.
o The average believer today believes God preserved His word, but not in an inerrant form – something reserved only for the original autographs. That is, modern translations are reliable but not infallible: they contain minor errors without altering any major Biblical teaching.
§ “While there are minor errors in copies of the Bible, there are no errors in any major teaching of the Bible. Many of the writers were either eyewitnesses or contemporaries of eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-4; Heb. 2:3-4). Further, much of what they wrote has been confirmed by history and archaeology. Literally hundreds of finds have confirmed the reliability of the Bible.” (The Bible’s Answers to 100 of Life’s Biggest Questions, Norman L. Geisler & Jason Jimenez)
§ “In order to be authoritative, the Bible must be true, that is, without error. As someone has noted, ‘Either the Bible is without error in all, or it is not without error at all.’ There’s really no middle ground. A ‘partially inerrant’ Bible is an errant Bible…Furthermore, we accept that there have been errors in transmission of the Bible from copy to copy, over the years (though surprisingly few). Nevertheless, the Bible bears witness to its own inerrancy. The most powerful witness is the Lord Jesus Himself. In Matthew 4:1-11, He emphasizes that the actual written words of Scripture can be trusted, not just the ideas they contain. In Matthew 5:17-18, He extends the absolute reliability of the text all the way to individual letters, and even the parts of letters…Inerrancy means that we have a Bible that is completely trustworthy, reliable, and without error in its original form.” (Living By The Book, Howard G. Hendricks & William D. Hendricks) In case you missed it, let me summarize. The Bible is inerrant in its original form. The modern versions are not inerrant, containing some errors, though few. Therefore, I can only hold in my hands today a partially inerrant Bible that is therefore not authoritative!!!
o But how can you call an errant translation the word of God? If it’s God’s Book, would it not reflect its Author: inerrant and infallible? Was God then incapable or indifferent to inerrantly and infallibly preserve His word for mankind today? Why would God inspire the “original autographs” and not preserve them for us today, knowing that Satan through man would corrupt them?
o Remember that the word “translation” or some from thereof appears 5 times in Scripture (2 Sam. 3:10; Col. 1:13; Heb. 11:5). IN EVERY CASE THE TRANSLATION WAS BETTER THAN WHAT PRECEDED IT!!!
· This defies the standard teaching that a translation is inferior to its source as it assimilates some error in the translation process.
o Remember that even the “original autographs” contained some translation of language (Gen. 42:23; Acts 21:40ff), meaning that they couldn’t be inerrant and infallible just as any translation of Scripture.
o Remember also that Timothy had access to the Holy Scriptures since childhood, though they were mere copy of the original autographs (2 Tim. 3:14-17). Yet, his copy of the original autographs is said to be divinely inspired Scripture!!! So, he possessed the preserved words of God!!!
3) Rejection therefore of God’s Preserved word for Modern Man: the King James Bible
· A divisive preoccupation
o Having established that the average Christian today believes that no translation of Scripture is inerrant and infallible, he then rejects “King James Onlyism” as a schismatic hobbyhorse.
§ Such Biblically ignorant believers are blind to the fact that Satan’s first attack against mankind was an attack against the words of God (Gen. 3:1). Therefore, he will have his own versions or translations of Scripture (2 Cor. 2:17; 2 Thess. 2:1-2).
§ These ignorant brethren are also blind to the fact that every problem and issue within the Body of Christ, the source of its cancer-ridden condition, emanates from rejection of Biblical authority, which practically means the rejection of the King James Bible.
o The rejection of the King James Bible is so pervasive and inveterate that no prominent Christian apologist will touch the Bible version issue.
· A restrictive problem
o Many a believer dons an ecumenical attitude, wanting to get along with other Christians regardless of their beliefs.
o If a believer adopts “King James Onlyism”, he is cut out of the herd. That is, there are many churches and ministries he cannot yoke-up with, and many believers who will assail him as divisive and contentious. Such separation is too bothersome and annoying for the average believer today who seeks mainly comfort and convenience – and thus to get along with other believers regardless of what they believe.
· A subjective preference
o Another motive that the average believer today rejects “King James Onlyism” is a simple desire to choose the version of his own personal preference rather than find the version of God’s choice.
· A massive preterition (oversight; a passing over; disregard)
o The King James Bible is God's final authority for English-speaking people today. It’s evident by manuscript evidence, internal evidence, the moral character of its translators, the inconsistency of its critics, the corruption of its competitors (new versions), and its fruitfulness through the centuries (including my own life). All these point to the King James Bible being the crowning work of the Holy Spirit insofar as Bible preservation goes.
4) Perversion of God’s word (2 Cor. 2:17; 4:2)
Note: Since the average believer today believes no translation of Scripture is inerrant and infallible but merely reliable, he has no problem changing God’s word as he deems necessary. Sitting in the seat of God, the believer thus becomes the final authority, not the Bible!!!
· By adding to His words
o Demonstrated by Eve in Genesis 3:3
o Demonstrated by the Lost Books of the Bible, the Forgotten Books of Eden, the Apocrypha (hidden writings of dubious authenticity), the Pseudepigrapha(false writings)
o Demonstrated typically by the paraphrased versions of Scripture, as The Message, which, for instance, alters Romans 14:10 from containing 27 words to one with 65 words: “So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I'd say it leaves you looking pretty silly - or worse. Eventually, we're all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren't going to improve your position there one bit.”
· By subtracting from His words
o Demonstrated by Eve in Genesis 3:2
o Demonstrated by most of the modern versions of the Bible in the removal of sixteen verses from the New Testament: Mathew 17:21; 18:11; 23:14; Mark 7:16; 9:44; 9:46; 11:26; 15:28; Luke 17:36; 23:17; John 5:4; Acts 8:37; 15:34; 24:7; 28:29; Romans 16:24
o Demonstrated by the sundry attacks against the fundamental doctrines of Christianity:
§ The Trinity (1 John 5:7)
§ The Virgin Birth (Lk. 2:33; Acts 4:27, 30)
§ The Deity of Christ (Lk. 23:42; Phil. 2:6; 1 Tim. 3:16)
§ The Blood Atonement (Col. 1:14)
§ Salvation by Grace [perverted from an instantaneous birth to a process (1 Cor. 1:18; 15:2; 2 Cor. 2:15)
§ Second Advent of Christ (Titus 2:13; Rev. 11:15)
§ Hell – The word “hell” appears 54 times in the KJV, and it is changed multiple times in the new versions, like the ESV which alters it 45 of its 54 appearances.
o Demonstrated by the removal of the only appearance of Satan’s original name “Lucifer” in Isaiah 14:12
o Demonstrated by inaccurately attributing the Old Testament references in Mark 1:2-3 to the prophet Isaiah
§ The King James Bible accurately reads “the prophets” (Mk. 1:2) since Mark 1:2 refers to Malachi 3:1 and Mark 1:3 refers to Isaiah 40:3.
o Demonstrated by the removal of the article “a” from John 4:24, asserting that “God is spirit” rather than “God is a (one) spirit” and thereby inserting the New Age heresy of pantheism into the Bible.
· By distorting the context of His words
o Demonstrated by Satan in Matthew 4:6
o Demonstrated by the “Name-It-Claim-It” teaching from John 14:13-14
§ This text is used to teach that a believer can ask God anything and will receive it if he uses the formula “in Jesus name”. Yet, the context is speaking to the eleven disciples, promising them that God will provide the necessary resources for them to complete their task, with the asking in accordance with obedience to God (John 14:15 w/ 1 John 5:14-15).
o Demonstrated by the misuse of Philippians 4:13
§ This verse twisted by so many Christians to teach, “You are capable of anything you set your mind to!” Yet, this verse has nothing to do with one’s personal capabilities and potential. It refers to God’s strengthening of the believer to be content in every situation (Phil. 4:11-12), even if that means being imprisoned as the apostle Paul was as he penned this epistle to the Philippians.
· By altering His words with Greek and Hebrew texts
o Quite often adding to and subtracting from Scripture, along with distorting context, is performed by running to the Hebrew (Masoretic) text of the Old Testament or to some Greek New Testament or Greek lexicon of the New Testament.
§ While the Bible correctors resort very little to the Masoretic text to correct the Old Testament, the real battle ground is the New Testament.
§ Bible correctors regularly run to “the Greek” to correct the New Testament, leading believers to think there is one authoritative Greek New Testament. Yet, there are over 5,800 extant Greek manuscripts of the New Testament.
§ While the majority of these manuscripts agree and fall under the designation “textus receptus” (or the majority text), there exists disagreement between them, requiring God to divinely guide the translators of the King James Bible to produce an inerrant translation.
o Typically, it is perpetrated by Christians who cannot fluently read, write, or speak Hebrew or Koine Greek but want to appear scholarly and thus able to play God, the interpreter of Scripture.
And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? (Gen. 40:8)
o Pay no heed to these Bible correctors, for the light they offer (if any) on Scripture can be obtained by simply reading the 6th grade English of the King James Bible.
· By affirming the cultural irrelevance of His words
o The Bible is deemed antiquated and out-of-date for modern man; therefore, ANY Biblical teaching thus branded is entirely rejected.
§ Male leadership in the home (Eph. 5:22-24) and church (1 Tim. 3:1-2; Titus 1:5-6)
§ The condemnation of the LGBTQ perversion (Gen. 1:27; 13:13; Lev. 18, 20; Deut. 22:5; 23:17; Rom. 1:24-27; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:10; Jude 10)
§ Shacking up (Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 6:18)
§ Biblical creation (creation ex nihilo, Gen. 1-2) for theistic evolution (evolutionary creationism – the official position of Catholicism, mainstream Protestantism, and even prominent Christians as Billy Graham and C. S. Lewis), or progressive creationism (a modified version of theistic evolution).
o Drew Stever, a female minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who identifies as a man and serves as the lead pastor at Hope Lutheran Church in Hollywood, responded in a recent interview with Lisa Ling of “CBS Mornings” concerning the Biblical teaching that God made only two genders, male and female, with the following rejoinder: “It's hard to relate it to modern-day times because it wasn't written for 2024; it was written for then.”
o The late "New Theist" Rev. Michael Dowd argued, “Those of us who wish to continue calling ourselves Christian must no longer enslave mind and heart to inert fossils of ancient texts and creeds.”
o The Bible never tries to be culturally relevant: it creates its own culture!!!
5) Refusal to Saturate the Mind with God’s word (Col. 3:16)
· Failure to read Scripture (Isa. 34:16; 1 Tim. 4:13)
· Failure to study Scripture personally (2 Tim. 2:15; John 5:39; Acts 17:11) and collectively (Heb. 10:25)
· Failure to meditate upon Scripture (Ps. 1:2; 119:15, 23, 48, 78, 148)
· Failure to memorize Scripture (Ps. 119:11)
· Failure therefore to renew the mind (Rom. 12:1-2) and think like God (Ps. 119:128)
6) Disobedience to God’s word (Lev. 26:15; 2 Chr. 36:14-16; Isa. 5:24; 30:9-13)
· The culmination of neglecting Bible reading, Bible study, Bible meditation, and Bible memorization.
· A condemnation of all believers, regardless of their position on Bible preservation, as all have despised God’s word at one time or another
· The confirmation of Scripture that to despise God’s word is to despise God Himself (2 Sam. 12:9-10; Jer. 23:16-18)
o The closest thing you can get to God is His word.
o It’s no surprise then that to hate God’s word is to hate God.
Conclusion
The real issue in “despising the word” (the Bible) is a rejection of the individual words of Scripture. While the average believer today speaks of believing the word of God – the Bible as a whole – what he means is that he believes in the message, the principles, or the fundamental teachings of Scripture. He does not believe that the Bible contains the actual words of God – every one of them. So, to despise the word – the Bible as a whole – is to disbelieve that the Bible – any version of the Bible – contains in its entirety the individual words of God.
So, what is a true Bible believer? A true Bible believer is the saint that believes he can hold in his hands the infallible, inerrant words of God. He thus believes that God originally wrote (through human agency) an infallible, inerrant book, and He also preserved that book – each and every word of it – infallibly and inerrantly for him to read and study today. For English-speaking people, that book is the King James Bible!!!
So, Christian, devote yourself to Bible reading, Bible study, Bible meditation, and Bible memorization that you may become a walking Bible!!! As Amy Carmichael affirmed, “Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well.” And don’t be like the overwhelming majority of believers today regarding Biblical authority: warming your hands at the enemy’s fire (John 18:18)!!!
Remember, the issue of Biblical inerrancy today is an issue of preservation. Did God inerrantly preserve His words for modern man? And if so, where can I get my hands on it?