About Jesus Steve Sweetman

About Jesus Steve Sweetman

Senseless Deception

Hosea 6:11 says, "Ephraim (northern kingdom of Israel ) is … easily deceived and senseless, … now turning to Assyria". Why would God say His own people are "senseless and easily deceived"? Well, in no uncertain words, He warned Israel to stay clear of the pagans in Canaan or else disaster would overtake them. Despite this stern warning, Israel formed social, political, and economic alliances with their pagan opponents. Worst still, she committed spiritual adultery by incorporating Baal worship into the worship of Yahweh.

When this alliance soured, Israel should have turned to their God in repentance, but she didn't. Instead, she sought help from Assyria , a long time enemy. Help never came. What did come was the Assyrian army. To borrow a relevant phrase from Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Assyria "wiped Israel off the face of the earth". Israel's union with pagans and her cry for help from a long time enemy was "senseless". She was "easily deceived" into thinking that merging with pagans would actually bring her peace, prosperity, and security.

In Romans 15:4, Paul tells Christians that we should learn from such events, but we haven't. Like Israel of old, in the name of peace, prosperity, and security, we're allying ourselves with Islam, a long time opponent of the Christian gospel. It's called Chrislam. In the words of God Himself, this is "senseless", and those forming this alliance are "easily deceived".

One aspect of this alliance is seen in "Muslim friendly Bibles". Since the Koran teaches "Allah has no sons", in some of these Bibles, all references to God being Jesus' Father, and Jesus being His Father's Son, are removed. I realize translating the Bible from old Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, is no easy task. It's a science. Translators have their own philosophical and technical methodologies, but this is simply "senseless".

Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 28:19 to go into all nations, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". (NIV) Some of these Islamicized Bibles say, "… cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah, and the Holy Spirit".

Note the word "Son" in the NIV. It's translated from the Greek word "huios", meaning, "child or heir". A male child, who Jesus was, would rightly be a son. "Huios" is better translated as "Son", not "messiah", and especially not "Allah's messiah". Also, "Father" is translated from the Greek word "pater" that basically means "father", not Allah, and not even God. Besides this, Allah is not portrayed as a father in the Koran, so why should "pater" be translated as "Allah"?

Note the word "cleanse" replaces the word "baptize". I "might reluctantly" ignore that, but I can't ignore that "Allah" replaces "Father", and "His (Allah's) messiah", replaces "Son". The Wycliffe Bible Translators defend such translations when they say that "in the Arabic language, “Allah” is the primary term used for “God.” The use of the term “Allah” should be considered the same as translating the Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic terms for God into English". (quoted from their web site) http://www.wycliffe.org/SonofGod/QA.aspx

I understand Wycliffe's reasoning, but it's faulty. Allah is associated with all things Islam, so when one reads Allah in this Islamicized Bible, he thinks of Islam, not Christianity. Allah is known to be the god of Mohammad and Islam, whom the Bible says is no god. The God of the Bible is known to be the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, which the Koran says can't be God because "Allah has no sons". Therefore, Allah of the Koran and God of the Bible aren't one in the same. Logic thus dictates that you cannot substitute God with Allah when they're not the same god. Substituting Allah for God is no different than Israel substituting Baal for Yahweh. It's "senseless".

When you replace the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ with Allah, you create a different god than what the Bible portrays. A different god leads to a different Jesus. A different Jesus leads to a different gospel, and those who promote a different gospel can expect "eternal condemnation". (Galatians 1:8)

The myth that Allah and the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ are one in the same is being propagated on all fronts these days, including these Islamicized Bibles. I believe God views this as "senseless". Like Israel , those who are "easily deceived" by this myth will be swept away by those to whom they unite. It's simple. Give yourself to those who traditionally oppose you, and those who traditionally oppose you will eventually do you in.

I've mentioned one reason for this delusional trend before. Little by little, Christians are removing the Lord Jesus Christ from their vocabulary. We speak more about God than we do about Jesus. This isn't a trivial matter. I've done surveys. You try. Listen to some preachers, either in a meeting, on TV, on the radio, or on the internet. Don't worry about the content of the message. Simply count how many times they say God and how many times they say Jesus. Inevitably, God wins by a long shot. If Jesus is removed from our vocabulary, somewhere down the line, He will be removed from our theology and from our lives. I think that's happening now. All that is left is an all-purpose, unisex, generic god. One god fits all. Allah of the Koran and God of the Bible are one in the same. This makes the Christian message meaningless. We thus join the ranks of the secular world in believing in a god of our own creation.

Everyone must know that Christians serve God, who is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we leave Jesus out of the conversation, people will assume we're talking about their generic God because that's all they know these days. The Lord Jesus Christ distinguishes us from everyone else. Leaving Him out of the equation, or exchanging Him for someone else, proves that we have become "senseless and easily deceived".

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