Exegesis Matters

Exegesis Matters

Author unknown

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.