THE BEREAN
CHRISTIAN
Searching the Scriptures
By Gary Ray Branscome
Those at
There is nothing Satan wants more than to keep people from listening to what
the Bible says. To that end he has, throughout history, used made up stories,
passing his religious fiction off as the Word of God. We see one example of that
in the seventh chapter of Mark, where Christ rebukes the Pharisees for
“Teaching for doctrine the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-13). Substituting
man’s word for God’s Word was common among the ancient Jews, it was common in
the middle ages, and it is common today. But it is not the will of God! On the
contrary, God wants you to search the Scriptures to see if what you are being
taught is what the Bible actually says (Acts
As an example, consider the so-called “Gap Theory”. Those who hold that view
claim that the words of Genesis 1:2, “And the earth was without form, and
empty,” should be translated, “And the earth became without form, and empty”.
Now, if we were just talking about whether the Hebrew word hayah
should be translated “was” or “became” we would be talking about
interpretation, because, properly speaking, to interpret is to translate not
make up explanations (John 1:38 and 41, 2Peter 1:20). However, when
gap-theorists then go on to make up a story about a long period of time
transpiring while “the earth became without form,” or a story about Satan and
his angels living on the earth and even fighting wars during that time, that
story has nothing to do with the words of the text. It is nothing more than
religious fiction! It is a story that was invented to get around what the Bible
says about the age of the earth. And because it was invented by man it is just
the figment of someone’s imagination. Furthermore, because God has forbidden us
to add such made up stories to His Word, we know such stories are not of God.
They are either of the flesh or of the devil or both, but they are not of God.
For that reason they should be rejected (Mark 7:6-13, Proverbs 30:6).
Daniel Chapter 2
The second chapter of Daniel describes a dream that Nebuchadnezzar (king of
At present there are many who claim that the, “kingdom, that will never be
destroyed,” spoken of in that prophesy, is a future earthly kingdom. But, is
that what the Bible says? The Bible tells us that God set up that kingdom “at
the time of those kings,” not thousands of years after their time (Daniel
As to the claim that the kingdom in question is an
earthly kingdom, Jesus specifically said, “The
That should settle the matter. Nevertheless, those who want to believe that God
will set up an earthly kingdom make up stories aimed at getting around what the
Bible says. During the cold war many were claiming that European Common Market
countries were the toes of the statue (in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream), that the
Common Market was a revived
Daniel Chapter 9
In the ninth chapter of Daniel, we are told that the angel Gabriel brought
Daniel this message. “Seventy weeks are decreed concerning your people and your
holy city, to bring an end to rebellion, and a finish to sin, and to make
reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm
the vision of the prophets, and to anoint the most Holy.
Know therefore and understand, that there will be seven
weeks and sixty-two weeks from the time the command to restore and rebuild
In interpreting this statement, the “weeks” spoken of are usually understood to
be seven year periods. There is some support in Scripture for that
interpretation, and it approximates the length of time from the return of the
Jews to Christ. However, the claim is also made that the seventieth week is yet
in the future, and that thousands of years separate it from the first
sixty-nine weeks. But, is that what the Bible says? No! There is absolutely
nothing in the text to even suggest such a period between the sixty-ninth week
and the seventieth. In fact, if the total length of time involved was more than
seventy weeks (of years) then the prophecy would be false. The idea that the
desolation spoken of in verse 27 points to a future antichrist flies in the
face of the fact that it had to take place during the seventy weeks. Any
attempt to lengthen that period of time does not come from the Bible, but from
someone’s imagination.
[NOTE: If God departed from the
1 Thessalonians 4:16
In Paul’s first Epistle to the Thessalonians we read, “The Lord himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first: Then we which are alive
and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord
in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord,” (1Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Although that passage is a clear description of what will happen when Christ
returns, many are claiming that this will happen long before the last day.
However, is that what the Bible says? Not at all! That claim flies in the face
of what Christ Himself said, for He plainly told His disciples that He would
raise up believers on the “last Day,” not before (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54
and John 11:24). Furthermore, if they would just look at the context they would
see that is what the passage itself is saying. In the very next verse we read,
“Now when it comes to the times and the seasons, brethren, you do not need me
to write to you. For you know perfectly well that the day of the Lord
will come like a thief in the night. For when they are
saying, Peace and safety; destruction will come upon them suddenly,”
(1Thessalonians 5:1-3). In case you did not notice, the last sentence in
that quote tells us that on “the day of the Lord,” the “rapture,” will
be followed by “destruction”. Furthermore, Peter tells us that on the “day
of the Lord… the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are
therein shall be burned up,” (2Peter
[NOTE: Those who believe in a pre-millennial rapture
often quote Matthew 24:40-41. In those verses we read, “One shall be taken, and
the other left,” and they assume that those who are left will continue on with
life. But Luke tells us that Christ is comparing those left behind to the
people of
Revelation 4:1
The fourth chapter of the Book of Revelation begins
with the words, “After this I looked, and saw a door opened in heaven: and the
voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet; said, Come up here, and
I will show you what must take place after this.” Although the sentence just
quoted was spoken to John, many are claiming that the words “Come up here” are
being spoken to all believers at the time of the “rapture”. But is that what
the Bible says? Not at all! First of all, John tells us that the voice he heard
is the same voice he “first heard speaking to” him “like a trumpet” (Rev. 4:1);
the same voice that he heard in chapter one, verse ten. And the words spoken by
that voice were spoken to John alone. That is important because there is
absolutely no justification for the claim that this voice is calling believers
from the grave, or that the rapture will take place at this time. Do not take
my word for it, read the verse. These words are words that John heard in a
dream or vision almost two thousand years ago, not some voice in the future.
The claim that the rapture will take place at this time is just a made-up
story. Because the Book of Revelation says absolutely nothing about a
pre-millennial rapture, those who want to believe it just make up a story about
it taking place at this time, even though there is absolutely nothing in the
text to support such a claim. In other words, if the Bible does not say what
they want to hear they supplement what the Bible says with religious fiction.
Revelation Chapter 7
In chapter seven, the sealing of the Jews is followed by the sealing of a great
multitude “that no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds,
and people, and tongues,” (Rev. 7:9). We are also told that the “great
multitude” are, “Those who have come out of great tribulation, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14).
Even though John saw the “Stars of heaven” fall to earth, and the sky departing
“like a scroll” in Chapter 6, those who believe in a pre-millennial rapture
ignore that fact and claim that the tribulation and sealing described in
Chapter seven will take place right after the rapture, during a seven year
period long before the end of the world. But is that what the Bible says? Not
at all! There is no mention of seven years in this passage. The “great
tribulation” that is mentioned in chapter seven is persecution. Those
“who have come out of great tribulation,” have come to faith in Christ in the
face of great persecution. And, that has been going on throughout history. Paul
spoke of it when he said, “We must through much
tribulation enter into the
The idea that this “tribulation” takes place during the seven years following
the “Rapture,” is just more religious fiction. They get the seven years from
their interpretation of Daniel 9:27, which I have already dealt with. They just
arbitrarily stick those seven years into this prophesy. Worse yet, they claim
that the great multitude, “who have come out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” [Rev. 7:14],
will be saved after the Holy Spirit has been withdrawn from the earth, even
though the Bible plainly tells us that, “No one can say that Jesus is the Lord,
but by the Holy Ghost” (1Corinthians 12:3). Everything that they say about this
“tribulation” being limited to seven years, about the Holy Ghost being
withdrawn from the earth, and about people being saved through “the blood of
the Lamb” without the Holy Ghost being involved is nothing more than religious
fiction. And, when confronted with these facts they often just brush them aside
by saying, “Well that is what we believe,” as if there is nothing wrong with
lying in God’s name [i.e. passing religious fiction off as the Word of God]
(Proverbs 30:6).
Revelation Chapter 20
In verse four we read, “I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for
their testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God… and they lived and reigned
with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4). This verse is clearly talking
about believers who have died, and it says that they will reign with Christ
during this period. However, this verse says nothing about Christ having an
earthly kingdom, or about them reigning on earth. On the contrary, Christ
plainly told us that He would not have an earthly kingdom when He said, “My
kingdom is not of this world” (John
Those who claim that Christ will have an earthly kingdom usually claim that the
next verse, “The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years
were finished. This is the first resurrection,” is teaching a physical
resurrection before that last day (Rev. 20:5). However, Christ not only told us
that He would raise up believers on the “last day”
(John
One of the fundamental doctrines of Scripture is summed up in the words “it is
appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews
That being understood, those who fail to understand this doctrine deny that
believers will be at the final judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15. But
is that what the Bible says? Not at all! The Bible tells us that “the dead,
small and great,” will “stand before God” (verse 12), and “whoever” is “not
found written in the book of life” will be “cast into the lake of fire” (verse
15). Therefore, the claim that believers will not be at the final judgment is
religious fiction, not something the Bible says. Moreover, because those who
hold this view cannot get around what the Bible says about believers being
judged, they make up a story about several judgments, and believers being at a
different place of judgment. That is all religious fiction. It is nothing more
a made up story invented to get around what the Bible actually says. Since the
word translated “judgment seat” in 2Corinthians
Conclusion
In this essay I have exposed several made-up stories that are being passed off
as the Word of God. But what does the Bible actually say. Well, it tells us
that the kingdom God set up was set up at the time of the fourth king in
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:34 and 44). It also tells us that kingdom is
not an earthly kingdom (John
The Bible also tells us that everyone who has ever lived will be judged
(Hebrews
Because the Holy Spirit has told us not to add to what the Bible says, we know
that all of the unbiblical stories, all of the religious fiction, that we have
looked at is not from God. “Whoever attempts to shed more light on dark
passages of Scripture than Scripture itself offers in its clear passages is
adding to God’s Word. And whoever obscures clear passages by bringing in
obscure passages is taking away from God’s Word.” (Christian Dogmatics, by Dr. Francis Pieper, pages 364-365). “In
whatever matter Holy Scripture has definitely spoken the Christian theologian
must suppress his own views, opinions, and speculations and adhere unwaveringly
to the divine truths revealed in Holy Scripture. In no case is he permitted to
inject into the body of divine truth his own figments and fabrications, and at
no time must he allow his reason the prerogative of doubt, criticism, or
denial, but every thought must everywhere be brought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ, 2 Cor. 10, 5.” (Christian Dogmatics by J.T. Muller page
39).