Friday, January 16, 2015

To Confound Is Not To Shame - Part 1034

The King James version states: "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea] and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are ..." (I Corinthians 1:27-28)

Apparently, the religious experts in this world -- who ironically have made it their collective purpose to revise the Word of God (on the premise that we could not possibly understand the King James version) changed the text of the abover verse -- I Corinthians 1:27-28 -- to reflect the following.

It is important to note here that not just one modern day translation missed the point but almost all of the modern day revised versions followed suit, including -- New International Version; New Living Translation; English Standard Version; New American Standard; Holman Christian Standard; NET Bible; Aramaic; God's Word translation; American Standard; Darby Bible Translation; World English Bible; Young's Literal Translation.

These so-called expert authored revisions scribe some version of the following, using the word "shame" in place of the word "confound" in the King James version. For example, the NIV states:

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are ...” (1 Cor. 1:27-28)

The issue is this. When one looks at the definitions of "confound" and "shame" these are not one and the same. The two definitions are not even interchangeable. For example:

Confound means -- 1. cause surprise or confusion in (someone), especially by acting against their expectations -- synonyms: amaze, astonish, dumbfound, stagger, surprise, stun, startle, baffle, bewilder, bedazzle, mystify, bemuse, perplex, confuse. 2. mix up (something) with something else so that the individual elements become difficult to distinguish. 3. used to express anger or annoyance, as in exclamation.

Shame means -- 1. a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour -- synonyms: humiliation, mortification, chagrin, embarrassment, ignominy, indignity, discomfort 2. (of a person, action or situation) make (someone) feel ashamed -- synonyms: humiliate, mortify, chagrin, embarrass, abash, chasten.

In other words, "shame" causes someone to feel inadequate causing distress by outdoing or surpassing them. A form of humiliation that leads to embarrassment. Is this the message our Lord God and Saviour Jesus the Christ wanted to portray? I say not, particularly when we read the rest of the scripture in context. From the King James version, we read:

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea] and things which are not -- to bring to nought things that are -- that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." (I Corinthians 1:27-28; I Corinthians 1:31; II Corinthians 10:17; Jeremiah 9:24)

You see, God chose the foolish and weak things, the base things of the world and the things which are despised by the world to "confound" the wise and mighty -- not through shame but through His wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption -- so that when we glorieth, we glory in the Lord. There is a significant difference.

Indeed, Jesus put it this way -- "I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and [He] to whomsoever the Son will reveal [Him]." (Matthew 11:25-27)

Get to know the King of kings and Lord of lords today. He invites you to enter into His rest -- through His precious Word -- to confound the wise and mighty so that when we glorieth, we glory solely in the Lord.

"Come unto Me all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls ... for My yoke [is] easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

Stand in the offering plate with Jesus.


No comments:

Post a Comment