This might be one from last year but I believe it highlights something which many folk don’t get to appreciate until they come to use a King James Bible.
For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you…And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
Leviticus 26:9, 11
Mr M comments correctly that the word “you” is found 5 times in these two verses, plus there are 7 more in the chapter. He asserts that this highlights the fact that God “deals with us always as individuals” and in doing so Mr M uses the words “intensely personal”. We all agree with Mr M that God has provided a means of salvation to the world (John 3:16) but individuals have to appropriate it and we agree that God’s personal interest in us as individuals is amazingly wonderful.
As I was writing this my teenage son entered the room and seeing what I had written up to this point commented that he also had read the calendar. My son then proceeded to tell me in his own words exactly what I am about to say! He had spotted it too.
As well-meaning as Mr M may be, he has based his whole comment on wrong interpretation. When “you” is used in the King James Bible it signifies plural [more than one] hearers. In the same way “ye” is used in the King James Bible to signify the hearers are plural. For singular [just one] hearer the King James uses “thee, thou, thy and thine”. This of course is one of the beauties of the wonderful King James Version. When we read in Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. . . you can see that the Lord was saying that while Satan was wanting to sift all of them (“you”) He [the Lord] had prayed for Peter (“thee”) that he wouldn’t fail . . Read it through again now that you know this and see what a different meaning it all takes on.
Mr M has fallen into the trap of presenting precious truth based on the wrong verses. He is not the only one to do this and have it printed by the calendar publishers. The verses he has chosen, by using the word “you” would actually suggest all those benefits mentioned in the verses to be with a group of people. And of course that is exactly what the truth is – God had established His covenant with a group of people.
So where has this well-meaning man gone wrong?
He has read the Bible verses as if they were written to him in the language of 2011. But they weren’t! This in itself is a trap commonly fallen into by Charismatics and Pentecostals who believe they can apply anything they like from anywhere in Scripture. We all need to remember that when we read the Scriptures it is like when we are reading someone else’s letter.
Firstly, the verses in question were written to the Children of Israel, a group of people, with a specific meaning intended. They were not written with me in 2011 in mind – apart from any secondary implications that the Lord, who knows everything, wanted to attach to the verses.
Secondly, just because we often say “you” today and use it to speak to an individual doesn’t mean that’s what God was intending in His message of Leviticus 26:9 and 11. He has specifically chosen to have it written in a plural form [i.e. intended for a group of hearers] – so I have no right to interpret it otherwise.
It appears Mr M has read the verses and spiritualised them. But why would you? If you’re looking for something to show that God’s dealings are with the individual, then why not choose verses that definitely show that?