“8 And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. 9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.” Acts 21:8,9, KJV
I haven’t researched this thoroughly but I think the New International Version (NIV) is the most widely read Bible among believers. But in verse 9 of the above portion of scripture, whereas the King James version says “virgins”, the NIV says “unmarried”. In other words, the NIV refuses to ACCEPT the possibility of all these four girls, who were sisters, being virgins, and instead chooses to label them as unmarried.
Such a possibility (virginity) is unthinkable, even UNACCEPTABLE, in the world. And sadly this worldly viewpoint is being forced into the church. But to think that the Bible could be used…
But there is no doubt about it here: the NIV has been used. Through a subtle shift in wordage, the NIV effectively sets out to ERASE the possibility of these girls being virgins. Sadly, the NIV essentially denies the power of God.
This is the problem that the true gospel of Jesus Christ has had to contend with in every generation; and it is no less so in ours also. In our age, actually, the gear mode is in overdrive. There is just too much human wisdom being injected into the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But human wisdom is a resource of the devil. It is one of his biggest tools/weapons against the gospel.
And the devil is no fool. He knows the vital points of the gospel as well as of the Bible. And it is these that he goes after.
This scripture (Acts 21:9) is certainly one of the most powerful verses in the Bible for in it we see the power that was there in the Early Church through the holy lives that its people lived. It shows the central role that the Holy Spirit played in the lives of believers. Imagine four sisters, and all virgins. Moreover, they all prophesied. That is simply incredible. It is too difficult to conceive of in our modern era. No wonder the crafters of the NIV thought some modification of this very difficult scripture was in order. The enemy used these noble souls to hit a death blow to one of the most powerful scriptures. No one reading the NIV translation can truly understand the power that was in the Early Church through the spirit of holiness.
“Unmarried” is certainly not “virgins”.
But that is not all concerning the Early Church. One other factor was that the Early Church went through much suffering and persecution. Just here, in Philip’s house, a prophet by the name of Agabus would come by and foretell in the Spirit about Paul’s persecutions by the Jews in Jerusalem.
So what is the connection?
It is that the Spirit of Christ is the spirit of suffering. This was the spirit that the Early Church carried and lived, and it was through this very suffering and persecution that the church was able to live a holy and powerfully superior life in the Spirit.
It is in the crucible of suffering that true holiness is formed. Not anywhere else.
This was the fact that the engineers of the NIV never saw. And through being devoid of the revelation of the spirit of suffering that is in the gospel, they used their intelligence and totally robbed the Word of God of its power.
In the final analysis, of course, it is the enemy at work here. I have always wondered why the church would need all the versions of the Bible that are on the market today. But now it’s clear: the enemy is using these ‘Bibles’ to strip scripture of its power. That is the simplest explanation; but it is also the truth.
It is spiritually dangerous to go the way of the many, or to seek out the easy road. Many Christians probably believe that the NIV is an easy read. And that is where the danger lies.
[Through this one singular scripture (Acts 21:9) – and probably in others also – the NIV translation denies the power of God]
Cross of Christ 