Right Division
God showed me something that needs to be shared regarding bible translations. I’ve learned that the Holy Spirit teaches and reveals things in His word that are hidden, mistranslated, or misinterpreted. For years, I have been taught that the following passage is read like this:
“If you say in your heart, “These nations are greater than I—how can I dispossess them?” Deuteronomy 7:17 MEV
Most bible translations present it as in the above passage, but in the KJV, there are no quotations, and it’s presented like this:
“If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?” KJV
Here, God is speaking the statement in the first person without quotes, so what He is saying should be read like this:
“If thou shalt say in thine heart, ‘These nations are more than I, how can I dispossess them?”
A semicolon indicates a pause and connection between related independent clauses.
So when God said this, He paused after, “These nations are more than I.” Then He said, “How can I dispossess them?” He was asking a question here. So basically, it’s not only what we speak out of our mouths that greatly affects our lives (death and life are in the power of the tongue), but this passage illustrates the power of what we believe and speak in our hearts. These heart-formed thoughts and words will eventually become what we speak out loud (out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks). In this passage, God specifically says, “If you say in your heart,” showing us that our thoughts are voices from our hearts and have power. A subtle or seemingly innocent thought can stop God from being able to do anything on our behalf, and we can limit God in certain cases. According to scripture, the Israelites so often did limit God through their rebellion and disobedience, “How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel.” Psalms 78:40-41 KJV
This explanation from God about this scripture (Deut 7:17) goes to show me that when we spend time with Him in His Word, He will supernaturally apply the proper exegesis and put in place the necessary hermeneutical principles needed to fully understand exactly what He is saying to us in His Word, even if it is presented or mistranslated. He preserves His Word, and when we seek Him with all of our hearts (and lean not on our own understanding), we will find Him through paths directed only by Him.
