On The Road To Damascus
Let us look at what happened to Paul the Apostle on the road to Damascus. Jesus appeared in a bright light and spoke to Paul. In Acts 9:7 the Bible states that Paul said: "the men that were with him, heard the voice, but saw no man". In Acts 22:9 the Bible states that Paul said: "the men that were with him saw the light, but did not hear the voice". Now which is right? Did the men with him hear the voice of Jesus speaking or not? Is this a mystery of the scripture that was to be made known by the Angel of Revelations 10:7?
One day during a question and answer session on August 30, 1964, someone asked William Branham to explain this apparent contradiction in the scriptures, but he couldn't do it. William Branham said: "I can't explain it, the Lord will have to reveal it to me and I won't know until He reveals it to me". As far as I can determine, William Branham never did receive the revelation of the truth of these statements, so the poor person who asked the question and was puzzled by this, may never have received the understanding that they was searching for.
This should not be reflected as something negative towards William Branham, because God did not commission him to be a revealer of these mysteries, or a Teacher or a prophet, his commission by God was to do the work of an Evangelist and preach the Gospel of Salvation.
God had a reason why He didn't reveal the truth about those scriptures to William Branham. He saved it for this day to prove that His Messenger for this day is receiving His revelations. And now I can testify to you that the Lord has revealed to me why this difference in Paul's testimony exists. The problem was caused by the Translators of the Bible, when they translated the original text into English..
One day during a question and answer session on August 30, 1964, someone asked William Branham to explain this apparent contradiction in the scriptures, but he couldn't do it. William Branham said: "I can't explain it, the Lord will have to reveal it to me and I won't know until He reveals it to me". As far as I can determine, William Branham never did receive the revelation of the truth of these statements, so the poor person who asked the question and was puzzled by this, may never have received the understanding that they was searching for.
This should not be reflected as something negative towards William Branham, because God did not commission him to be a revealer of these mysteries, or a Teacher or a prophet, his commission by God was to do the work of an Evangelist and preach the Gospel of Salvation.
God had a reason why He didn't reveal the truth about those scriptures to William Branham. He saved it for this day to prove that His Messenger for this day is receiving His revelations. And now I can testify to you that the Lord has revealed to me why this difference in Paul's testimony exists. The problem was caused by the Translators of the Bible, when they translated the original text into English..
The Controversy
About
Paul's Account
of
Jesus Appearing
About
Paul's Account
of
Jesus Appearing
There has for a long time been a controversy about Paul's two accounts of what occurred during the time that Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus road. On one occasion in the ninth chapter of Acts, the scripture states that Paul had said: "the men who were with him heard the voice of the Lord" as He spoke to Paul. During the second accounting, which appears in the twenty second chapter of Acts, the scripture states that Paul had said: "the men with him didn't hear the voice" of the Lord.
The two scriptures are quoted as follows:
Acts 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Acts 22:9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spoke to me.
Now many have explained the difference by saying that the Greek word that was translated into "voice" also means "sound" or "noise". Thus in chapter nine, it should have been translated as "sound", meaning that the men did hear a sound of some sort; and in verse twenty two the translation to "voice" would have been correct, meaning they had heard a sound but did not recognize it as the voice of the Lord.
Now one can accept that explanation if they desire to, but I can see no difference in the two verses, that one should have been translated "noise or sound" and the other translated "voice". Again, there is no indication that in both verses the Greek word should have been translated to anything other than the English word "voice".
I can recall that even when William Branham was questioned about these two verses, stated that God had not revealed to him why this difference exists or what it means. But I have good news for you. Even in this day, being the last days when all the mysteries should be made known, God has revealed the mystery of why these two verses are saying two different things. The Holy Spirit is still doing what Jesus said it would do; reveal to us the truth of His Word, that is, if we are willing to open our minds to this truth.
Verse four states that when the light appeared, Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice speaking to him. The English word "voice" was translated from the Greek word "phone". Now admittedly, the Greek word "phone" could be translated into the English words: "voice", "sound", or "noise". But a sound or a noise does not speak, only a voice speaks, and Saul heard a voice speaking to him.
Then the scripture goes on to tell about those men who were with him. Saying that they heard a voice, but saw no man. It doesn't say that they didn't see the light, nor does it say that they heard no voice. As a matter of fact it states that they did hear the voice of the Lord speaking to Saul. Once again the Greek word "phone" is translated into the English word voice.
Now one can accept that explanation if they desire to, but I can see no difference in the two verses, that one should have been translated "noise or sound" and the other translated "voice". Again, there is no indication that in both verses the Greek word should have been translated to anything other than the English word "voice".
I can recall that even when William Branham was questioned about these two verses, stated that God had not revealed to him why this difference exists or what it means. But I have good news for you. Even in this day, being the last days when all the mysteries should be made known, God has revealed the mystery of why these two verses are saying two different things. The Holy Spirit is still doing what Jesus said it would do; reveal to us the truth of His Word, that is, if we are willing to open our minds to this truth.
Verse four states that when the light appeared, Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice speaking to him. The English word "voice" was translated from the Greek word "phone". Now admittedly, the Greek word "phone" could be translated into the English words: "voice", "sound", or "noise". But a sound or a noise does not speak, only a voice speaks, and Saul heard a voice speaking to him.
Then the scripture goes on to tell about those men who were with him. Saying that they heard a voice, but saw no man. It doesn't say that they didn't see the light, nor does it say that they heard no voice. As a matter of fact it states that they did hear the voice of the Lord speaking to Saul. Once again the Greek word "phone" is translated into the English word voice.
Acts 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Now we will go to the twenty second chapter where the encounter is described for the second time. Again the scripture tells us that Saul heard a voice speaking to him. The Greek words "phone lego" means that a voice was saying something to him, not a sound or a noise, but a voice speaking.
Acts 22:7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
Then as we go to verse nine in this accounting, we see the scripture stating in English that the men who were with Saul heard no voice. But when we display the English and Greek verses together we see that several words were added. Instead of it saying what it should: that the men saw the light and heard the voice, it states that they heard not the voice. We see that the translators used the word "but" instead of "and", and added the words "not the".
Acts 22:9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spoke to me.
It’s almost as though two different men translated verses nine and twenty two and either didn't communicate or had different opinions about what happened. Or it could be that Satan caused this contradiction to appear to somehow discredit Saul's testimony or the truthfulness of all the scriptures. Or it could have been that God Himself allowed this to happen, in order to vindicate the revelation of the truth of the scriptures by the Holy Spirit in these last days.
This is just another example as to why we cannot literally take the words of the bible to be accurate and why God puts teachers in the church to uncover these types of translation errors.
This is just another example as to why we cannot literally take the words of the bible to be accurate and why God puts teachers in the church to uncover these types of translation errors.
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