A Pilgrim's Journal

This was so inspiring to me that I need to quote the Beatitudes right here.

I'm being bold here, and titling this post "Jacob's Ladder" because of the following verse:

	And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
	Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God
	ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
	   John 1:51

In cross-references, this verse is linked to the story of Jacob's ladder, where angels were "ascending and descending" on the ladder. This seems to me like a picture of Jesus as the Way to heaven, the Way to God.

And when I read the Beatitudes in this light, I see it as a ladder as well. This is the path that Jesus walked. This is the example He gave us. He is our ladder to heaven and back -- to heaven ourselves and back again to bring more folks with us. And He is the One that works these steps in us. There is no other Way.

	3 Blessed [are] the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   
	4 Blessed [are] they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
   
	5 Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
   
	6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
	for they shall be filled.
   
	7 Blessed [are] the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
   
	8 Blessed [are] the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
   
	9 Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called
	the children of God.
   
	10 Blessed [are] they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
	for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   
	11 Blessed are ye, when [men] shall revile you, and persecute [you],
	and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
   
	12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great [is] your reward
	in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
   
	   Matthew 5

My small personal experience with Japanese culture is also favourable. Their respect for their elders takes things to a new level that just seems completely out of fashion in the west. I found that there was a lot to learn from the simple example of just one Japanese student's life.

Your Don Knuth comment made me chuckle. It's true; it would be hard not to love him. Maybe if more Christians lived like that, we wouldn't be "taking the Lord's name in vain" and giving God a bad rep in the world.

If God exists, who do you think He would be more angry at: a person who makes over a million dollars a year, who may even claim to be a Christian, and still has most of it in his bank account at the end of the year; or a poor Haitian who practices voodoo?

I think this is a difference that a lot of us "religious wackos" miss. If we are somehow blessed with plenty in the western world, that is not evidence that God is rewarding us for something good we've done. Rather, it is proof that we are doing a piss-poor job at the responsibility God has given us to take care of the poor. And if any of these Christians read the Bible, they should take note of the parts that indicate that rich people who don't share are actually storing up judgment for themselves in the very wealth they take comfort in. Their riches are their judgment. That cool thousand, million, or billion in the bank will be a liability at the last day.

Don't assume someone is a Christian just because they claim to be. And by that same token, don't assume that God is pleased with Christians just because they claim He is.

If I understand the Bible correctly, North America could easily be more hell-worthy than Japan or Haiti, in the same way that Jerusalem in Jesus's day was more hell-worthy than Sodom and Gomorrah.

These lies are so pervasive that they have become part of our thinking. Even Christians believe these lies, although they might not consciously know it. I know I have often believed these lies at one time or another as well. It is only through scripture, and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we can discover what these lies are.

The numbers I use to label each lie are not in order of importance. They are just in the order I'm presenting them and discovering them in my own life.

Lie #1

Oh well... I guess I've sinned already. I might as well keep going, and finish it, and enjoy it at least.

This is a devious lie, because it plays into our desire for sin, and gives us a seeming plausible reason to keep sinning. After all, we can't go back in time and undo what we've done, right? What difference does it make what we do now?

But this is a lie designed to keep us in bondage, and keep us serving sin.

What does Jesus say?

	10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman,
	he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath
	no man condemned thee?
   
	11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do
	I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
   
	   John 8

Go, and sin no more! Not quite what the world says, eh? The world even gets confused by the simplicity of the command. After all, we have years of history of our own failures to cause us to doubt what Jesus says. But if we're going to overcome sin, believing what Jesus says is the first step and the only way.

What does Paul say?

	1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace
	may abound?
   
	2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any
	longer therein?
   
	   Romans 6

And later:

	15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law,
	but under grace? God forbid.
   
	16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,
	his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death,
	or of obedience unto righteousness?
   
	17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but
	ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was
	delivered you.
   
	18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
	righteousness.
   
	   Romans 6

By believing the lie, we continue serving sin and continue as its slave. But the truth is that, even though we have sinned in the past, that is no reason to sin in the future. The truth is: stop sinning, confess that we have sinned, receive God's forgiveness, leave sin behind, and start obeying.

Note that to "give the lie" means to show that something is not true.

The Lie
Sir Walter Raleigh

Go, Soul, the body's guest,
Upon a thankless errand;
Fear not to touch the best;
The truth shall be thy warrant:
Go, since I needs must die,
And give the world the lie.


Say to the court, it glows
And shines like rotten wood;
Say to the church, it shows
What's good, and doth no good:
If church and court reply,
Then give them both the lie.


Tell potentates, they live
Acting by others' action;
Not loved unless they give,
Not strong but by a faction.
If potentates reply,
Give potentates the lie.


Tell men of high condition,
That manage the estate,
Their purpose is ambition,
Their practice only hate:
And if they once reply,
Then give them all the lie.


Tell them that brave it most,
They beg for more by spending,
Who, in their greatest cost,
Seek nothing but commending.
And if they make reply,
Then give them all the lie.


Tell zeal it wants devotion;
Tell love it is but lust;
Tell time it metes but motion;
Tell flesh it is but dust:
And wish them not reply,
For thou must give the lie.


Tell age it daily wasteth;
Tell honour how it alters;
Tell beauty how she blasteth;
Tell favour how it falters:
And as they shall reply,
Give every one the lie.


Tell wit how much it wrangles
In tickle points of niceness;
Tell wisdom she entangles
Herself in overwiseness:
And when they do reply,
Straight give them both the lie.


Tell physic of her boldness;
Tell skill it is pretension;
Tell charity of coldness;
Tell law it is contention:
And as they do reply,
So give them still the lie.


Tell fortune of her blindness;
Tell nature of decay;
Tell friendship of unkindness;
Tell justice of delay:
And if they will reply,
Then give them all the lie.


Tell arts they have no soundness,
But vary by esteeming;
Tell schools they want profoundness,
And stand too much on seeming:
If arts and schools reply,
Give arts and schools the lie.


Tell faith it's fled the city;
Tell how the country erreth;
Tell manhood shakes off pity
And virtue least preferreth:
And if they do reply,
Spare not to give the lie.


So when thou hast, as I
Commanded thee, done blabbing--
Although to give the lie
Deserves no less than stabbing--
Stab at thee he that will,
No stab the soul can kill.

I had little interest in the King James Version until I understood some of the following points. It was only then that the peculiarities started to make sense to me, and even started to be useful. The light first started to dawn when I read Berend de Boer's article on the King James Version.

So for those who are interested, here is a list of helpful facts that I have learned over time, which may be enlightening to the new reader.

• Thee, Thy, Thou, Thine - These are the singular forms of personal pronouns. For example, if I were talking directly to my friend, in modern English I might say: "I think I have your magazine." But in reality, I am only talking to one person, so the use of your is somewhat ambiguous. I could be more specific by saying: "I think I have thy magazine." This extra care to separate singular pronouns from plural is important, because the original languages that the Bible is translated from have these same distinctions.

• Ye, Your, You - These are the plural forms of the same pronouns. If I were talking to an angry mob outside my barn, I might say: "I am hoarding my grain, and you can't have any!" In modern English, it is unclear whether I am talking to a single person or a mob. But in King James English, it is obvious I am talking to a group, because you is plural.

• Thy, Thine, and My, Mine - When used in connection with another noun to show possessive, these are similar to the articles a and an. For example: "a tree" and "an apple." You will often see things like: "thy land" or "thine eye"; or "my land" and "mine eye." This rule doesn't always hold true, such as in Genesis 16:11 where you read "thy affliction." But it mostly holds, and gives the wording a more flowing rhythm when read out loud.

Here's a brief summary of the above pronouns, and how they relate to each other. You can see another table on Wikipedia.

• -eth, -est - In modern English, when using a singular pronoun, the verb will end with an s to match in number. For example, "He receives the payment daily" vs. "They receive the payment daily." In KJV English, there are now two forms of singular pronouns: Second Person and Third Person. Modern English only has Singular Third Person. So in KJV English, the endings of the verb now also must match the person of the subject. For example, instead of the modern style of "He speaks loudly," the KJV would say "He speaketh loudly" in order to match the third person. But if I were speaking directly to the man, using the singular second person, I would say: "Thou speakest loudly." This holds true for many verbs that are used in connection with "Thou." For example, "Thou art," or "Thou hast" or "Thou receivest," or in the past tense "Thou receivedst." These all end with a t or st, because they are being used with the subject Thou. Likewise, when used with singular third person pronouns, you will see examples like: "He is," or "He hath," or "He receiveth," or the past tense: "He received."

• Imperitive commands - In modern English, I could give you a command by saying, "Go into the store and buy me a loaf of bread." The subject you is implied, and not written. This is the case in KJV as well, but sometimes you will see a pronoun right after the verb, similar to the "buy me" above. For example, "Go thou into the store and buy me a loaf of bread."

• Punctuation - Pay special attention to punctuation in the KJV. Sentences tend to be longer in KJV than other translations, and the punctuation is more important than the verse markers. Much more important, since a single sentence, and therefore a complete thought, often spans multiple verses. Also, take note that the colon is used liberally in the KJV, not in the usual way that we are accustomed to today, to present a list of items, but very often to explain the section that came before. For an example of colon usage, read the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20 and pay special note to how the sections before and after the colons explain each other. In my reading and understanding, I have also found that the colon seems to take precedence over the comma and semicolon. For example, see verses 4, 5, and 6 of Exodus 20, where the final section of the sentence comes after the second colon and contains a semicolon of its own. There appear to be 3 main parts to the sentence: The details of forbidden graven images: the forbidden action with regard to graven images: and the reason why, which contains the two ways God treats those that love and hate Him.

• Extra words - Where the translators were unable to translate exactly word for word, or even word-into-many-words, sometimes an extra word needed to be inserted to retain the meaning in English. When this happened, the words are normally printed in italics, or sometimes put in square brackets. These words are not strictly in the original text, but can be faithfully implied by the context. In many cases, it is possible to read the sentence without the inserted word, and it still makes sense and has the same meaning.

You may wonder why so many pains were taken to translate so precisely. It depends on your view of God. If you believe that God's words are precise, and that every word and connotation and implication has meaning, then the more precise the translation, the more meaning you can gather from God's words.

I believe this was Jesus's perspective. (Matthew 4:4, and 5:18)

Yet even with this high level of care, it is hard to translate everything from the original texts into English. Take for example Numbers 25:

	1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit
	whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
   
	2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods:
	and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
	   Numbers 25

According to Nelson's King James Study Bible, the gender of the word they in verse 2 is feminine, although it is not possible to distinguish that from the English they. This gender implies that it was the women of Moab that lured the Israelites toward other gods. This is also clear from the context, but sometimes it takes an alert mind to see it, or (more likely) a helpful footnote.

Other translations, such as the NIV, may change the sentence structure in order to bring such points out more clearly in everyday English. And indeed, this is done in this passage. This is very useful. But in changing the sentence structure, sometimes the precise wording of the original is lost, and logical connections between passages are harder to see.

For example, the KJV may translate certain phrases directly, like "sons of Belial," while the NIV might translate the same phrase as "wicked men." Knowing both is helpful to understand what the phrase means, but seeing the KJV translation also allows you to make connections to Old Testament examples when reading Paul's question in 2 Corinthians 6:15: "And what concord hath Christ with Belial?" Suddenly now you have a few Old Testament examples to think back on.

In the end, it is helpful to compare multiple translations whenever you run into a difficult passage.

Now for some specific word differences:

• Meat and Flesh - In KJV English, the word meat is used to mean food in general. It can mean grain, bread, fruit, etc. If speaking specifically about the meat of an animal, the word flesh will be used. For example, in Leviticus, there is a particular offering described, where no flesh is given, but just grain in a certain prescribed manner. This is called a "meat offering" in the KJV, but does not actually contain any flesh. Also, you may read things like "when you sit down to meat," which is referring to sitting down to eat a meal.

• That and What - The KJV uses the word that rather heavily, compared to modern English. Many places we might use the words what, or which or even who where the KJV uses that. This can be confusing until you get used to it.

• Would and Want To - The KJV uses the older meaning of the word would which means want to, intend to, desire to, etc. The clearest example of this is to compare Romans 7 with the KJV and the NIV.

Here's the NIV:

	19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil
	I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing.
   
	20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I
	who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
	   Romans 7 (NIV)

Here's the KJV, which shows the older usage of both the words would and that:

	19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I
	would not, that I do.
   
	20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it,
	but sin that dwelleth in me.
	   Romans 7 (KJV)

• Wherefore and Why - The KJV often uses wherefore where we would use why. In almost all cases that wherefore is used as a question, you can read why instead. (For example, Genesis 26:27: "And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?") In other cases, such as in explanations, it is similar to therefore but with a more explanatory connotation.

• Conversation - Note that this word is very often used with the old meaning of "conduct or behaviour," not as two people talking. For example, 1 Timothy 4:12: "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." Here, "word" covers the speaking, and "conversation" covers the behaviour, that Timothy was to show as an example.

I hope this HowTo has been of help. Just writing it down has been a learning experience for me! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me, and perhaps I can update this document at a future date.

Edit #1: - added "conversation" section

Praise the Lord!

Near the end of the article, it mentions another man in the same situation, arrested for giving a Bible to another man. The threat of death under shariah law is there as well. They expect the case to come before a judge shortly, since they can only hold him for 30 days.

Please continue to pray for these men, and for the people who are working behind the scenes for their release.