Risky misquoted bible verses

Most Christians are familiar with Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness in Matthew 4, but I don’t know that everybody is aware of how risky it really was for Satan to misquote scripture to Jesus.

Matthew 4
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

The devil knows the bible, better than most of the people of the world and even better than many Christians, unfortunately.   He’s really clever and very bold.  Just look what he did!  He deliberately misquoted 2 verses out of Psalms.

Psalms 91
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Devil –      He shall give his angels charge concerning thee:
God – For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

So the devil left out the word “for” at the beginning of verse 11, and left out the phrase “to keep thee in all thy ways” at the end of the verse.  In addition, he changed the word “over” to “concerning”.  Not so trustworthy, is he?

Let’s look at the next phrase.

Devil – and in their hands they shall bear thee up
God – They shall bear thee up in their hands

Here in verse 12, the devil speaks 9 words, but God’s corresponding and original word has only 8 words in it.

Secondly, the devil rearranges the order of the words of God. You may say that there really is no difference, but when you consider that God’s word is perfect, if you make any changes to it, then you no longer have perfection. You have imperfection. That’s a subtle, but extremely critical error.

I still believe the devil’s greatest trick is to mix lies with the truth. That way he establishes his credibility with the truth and deceives you with the lies based on the trust he has already established with the truth. Very crafty indeed.

Another very important note to make is that by rearranging the words of the word, you can actually change the meaning and emphasis of the verse and destroy figures of speech, many of which depend upon a precise order of words in order to convey the truth and impact.

Devil – lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone
God –  lest                      thou dash thy foot against a stone

Notice what the devil did this time – he added the words “at any time” to God’s word. If you add to perfection, then you no longer have perfection left, but a corrupted word instead.

No surprise or coincidence here!  It was Lucifer in the garden of Eden who deceived Eve to add a word, change a word, and delete words from what God had said. The consequences were absolutely catastrophic!

It was Eve then who was deceived and who convinced [not deceived] Adam to go along with the changes and they took action on this corrupted word. The result was that Adam had transferred all the power, dominion and authority that God had given him to the devil. That makes the original sin, at least from a legal viewpoint, treason.

Furthermore, look at what God says about making any changes to God’s word!

Deuteronomy 4:2
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Revelation 22
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Look at the importance God places on not adding to or subtracting from his holy word!  He didn’t bury these words in the middle of an obscure prophets’ words in the old testament that hardly anybody has even heard of, [let alone find].  No.

In the very last 4 verses of the last book of the entire bible, God’s final words were a warning to not add to or subtract from his holy word.  That speaks volumes.  And no wonder.  Look what God says about his word in psalms.

Psalms 138:2
I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

Out of all of God’s works, including the incomprehensibly vast and complex universe, God still holds a higher opinion of his word that anything else.

Finally, look at the incredible boldness of the devil!  Not only did he add to, subtract from, and change God’s word, but he also performed a very daring deed indeed.  Look at the very next verse he misquoted!

Psalms 91:13
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Lion, adder, and dragon are all direct or indirect references to the devil and his offspring!  So the devil misquoted 2 verses in the old testament that was only 1 verse away that spoke about the devil’s defeat!   How daring or stupid is that?

Jesus legally defeated Satan, only not by quoting this verse, but another one instead.   So although Jesus Christ didn’t actually speak this verse to Satan, he ultimately carried it out and won the battle.

II Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

Colossians 2:15
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.