Revelation Chapter 22 Verses 18-19

18 I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Tampering with the word of God is serious business. Those who add to the words in this book by teaching things in Christ’s name that Christ never taught will find themselves sharing in the horrible plagues described in this book. And those who take away from the words in this book the parts they disagree with or the parts that don’t fit with their theories will lose their share in the tree of life and in the holy city.

What? You mean the right to the tree of life can be taken away? Yes, and we have already seen that one’s name can be blotted out of the book of life. What does that tell us about the doctrine of “once saved, always saved”?

Whenever I read these verses I think of the Reader’s Digest condensed Bible that was released in 1982. The Old Testament was cut by 55% and the New Testament by 25%. Except for Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude, every book in the Bible was condensed to some degree. (Apparently those four were short enough already. I guess Obadiah had some fluff!) I have always wondered if verse 19 made it into the condensed Bible but I have never taken the time to find out.

But with all humor aside, let me ask a serious question — do we effectively use an abridged Bible? Are there parts of the Bible we never study either because of neglect, or worse just because we don’t much like what they say? Do we neglect some books just because they are too long to fit into our carefully tailored curriculum? When was the last time we had a class on Isaiah?

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