Exegesis Matters
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Author unknown
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Yesterday a new video popped up on “recommended
for you” YouTube. I thought, “Why not?” On came Ben and Jodie Hughes of “Pour
it Out.” They have 114,000 subscribers, 26,225 people have viewed this
particular video in 3 days, there are 1.3K up votes, and only 22 down votes. The
video is entitled: What Really Occurs in the Spirit Realm When You Speak. It
begins:
Jodie: “You know, Job 22:28 says: You shall
decree a thing and it will be established. And we are in a season where God is
anointing our voice to new levels of authority that your voice and your faith
is shifting the earth.”
Ben: “Are you ready to make decrees in your
life, your circumstances, your church, [and] your family that are going to
shift things? You are about to do that? We are excited about this show. Let’s
do it “Pour it Out.””
Ben: “We are talking about one of our
favorite things, what a surprise. Today we are talking about decrees: the power
of decrees and the power that is in your mouth. I want to say this: I think we
all know the verse – we may have heard it some time or another – where it says
that there is the power of life and death in the tongue. The power of life and
death is in the tongue. We, of course, want to focus on the life part today.
But the important thing is that we have such power in the words that we speak…”
I painfully listened to this 28 minute video,
while the Ben and Jodie Hughes embarrassingly mishandled the Word of God. While
preparing to write Confronting the Wind,
I studied what the Bible says about the power of mankind’s words for well over
a year. The two scriptures Ben and Jodie began with (Job 28:22 and Proverbs
18:21) were both taken out of context and therefore their meanings were changed
from God’s intent. They further used these two opening scriptures as the
backdrop for their entire message which, as stated above, receive 1.3K up votes
and over 26K views!! Incredible that so many in body of Christ are so
completely without a biblical knowledge. As God said about the Ninevites, so
are Christians who buy into this doctrine, they are persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left.
Believing things that aren’t true is not only counterproductive, but also destructive.
Here is the truth about those two scriptures:
First, Job 22:28 as Jodie accurately quoted,
says: “You will also decree a thing, and
it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.” Following
is an excerpt from Confronting the Wind
(Amazon):
Eliphaz: An Exercise in Exegesis: Job 22:28
“You
will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will
shine on your ways.”
“Decree a thing and
it will be established for you” has become the emphasis of many Charismatic ministries.
Since I first wrote this study I have seen whole conferences devoted to
decreeing and declaring. To whom are they decreeing and declaring? That is a
good question. For example, let’s say I need money to pay unexpected bills. If
I believe there is creative power in my declaration and decree, then my actions
will be to declare and decree into the heavens or into the atmosphere or to the
devil or … to God. I would say, “Release money to me. I command that all my
needs are met, in Jesus Name.” Now, of course, there are a great number of
scriptures I can quote in my decree and declaration. But, is this the biblical
pattern—to speak into the atmosphere? Is this what Jesus did? The apostles? If,
however, my paradigm is that God is the keeper of all my answers, the One
who hears all my prayers, and who meets all my needs, then I will, instead
of declaring and decreeing, simply ask.
In a meeting I
attended, a leader’s message was on decreeing and declaring. The point the
leader was making was that we can decree a thing as the church or as an
individual and it will be established for us. So, in the meeting people decreed
things they wanted done. Maybe even things God wanted done? Consider if it is
true that we can declare/decree a thing and it will be established, then
something or someone is establishing it—for it will be established for
you. Meaning again, there is a silent agent. We must conclude therefore
that the silent agent is either God, the words themselves, man’s own resident
supernatural power, some unseen unmentioned force, or the devil. Who or what
is, in reality, empowering the words?
Think about it...
Getting back to the
meeting… I already had reservations about declaring and decreeing things and
the power of people’s words, so the sermon did not set well with me. I went
home and looked in the Bible for “Decree
a thing and it will be established for you.” There it is in Job 22:28,
spoken by Eliphaz the Temanite… oops… Let’s look at God’s opinion of Eliphaz.
God said to Eliphaz in Job 42:7, It came
about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to
Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two
friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job
has.” Therefore, to use Job 22:28 in the way many do, is completely against
sound Biblical exegesis. We cannot pull from Eliphaz’s words to establish a
doctrinal position any more than we could Satan’s words. For example, why is it
that we never see cards with “Therefore if
you worship before me, it shall all be yours”? Because the source was
Satan. He said this when tempting Jesus. We cannot build upon Eliphaz’s words
any more than we can Satan’s. Both do not speak according to what is right.
Now let’s look at Proverbs 18:21. Following
is another excerpt from Confronting the Wind:
Concerning Proverbs 18:21
Now
let’s tackle Proverbs 18:21, Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
I cannot remember a time when I heard this
scripture quoted in its entirety, and therefore presented accurately. To
surmise that people have power to command life and death with their words is
not what this scripture is saying. First of all it is a proverb. We cannot form
a doctrine on a proverb. Furthermore, the focus of Proverbs 18:21 is on “those
who love the power of the tongue.” It is pointing to the speaker—the speaker is
the reaper of the words. “Those who love it” is the speaker; “will
eat its fruit,” meaning those who love to wag their tongue will reap the
consequences of their own words. The New Living Translation (NLT) provides clarity, The tongue can bring
death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Of the
eight commentaries I looked at, all agree with the NLT’s translation.
Additionally, Proverbs 18:21 aligns perfectly with Matthew 12:34-37.
In
Matthew, Jesus also said it was the speaker who would receive the ramifications
of what they say.
“You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what
is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 The good
man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out
of his evil treasure what is evil. 36 But I tell you that every careless word
that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned.” Matthew 12:34-37
Words are the window into the heart. In
the Garden, Satan told Eve she could be like God if she ate the fruit. Could it
be some Christians are falling for the same lie Eve believed in the Garden?
God’s words are creative. He can create something out of nothing just by
speaking. Can a man do that? Can the devil? Or is this a uniqueness belonging
only to God? Some have purported procreation proves mankind has creative
ability within himself. Is procreation creating? God said the seed was within
itself (Genesis 1:11-12). So do plants have creative power? Do cows or horses
or cats or dogs have creative power? This, then, would be the logical
conclusion, would it not?
Usually—almost always—clarity of scripture comes from its context. My two
excerpts above are only small samples of my book and therefore only glance at
the subject. Speaking things into existence is a characteristic that belongs
only to God. Many people quote Romans 4:17 to justify speaking things into existence.
But what does Romans 4:17 say? …(as it is
written, “I have made you [Abraham] a father of many nations”) in the presence
of Him whom he believed — God, who gives life to the dead and calls
those things which do not exist as though they did. So we see from this
scripture that it is not mankind who calls things into existence, rather it is
God!
Please study your Bible.
Please don’t buy into false doctrines.
Please don’t believe what Ben and Jodie are
feeding people.
So many believe this doctrine. It is
dangerous and tips into a heresy that began in the Garden between the serpent
and mankind. Seems he hasn’t changed his strategy much.
