At the end of the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, the Lord gives a stern warning to anyone who would try to change His Word.  We read in Revelation 22:18-19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”  The warning here is that no one is to add to or take away anything that is written in this book.  We have a similar warning found in Proverbs 30:6, “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” We also have Deuteronomy 4:2 which says, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”  How serious it is for someone to attempt to alter the words and message of the Lord.”  Although Revelation 22:18-19 speaks specifically of this book, we see that the same applies to all of the Word of God. 

Can we improve God’s Word?  Can we add anything to it and make it better?  Can we take away parts of the Word without taking away the complete truth of God’s Word?  Absolutely not!  Proverbs 30:5 tells us, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”  The object here is to guard this book against being corrupted. We are appropriately warned:

If one adds to the words of this book, “God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.”  What plagues does the Lord mean?  Let’s consider a few of the curses mentioned in the book of Revelation.

  • Revelation 2:22, “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.”
  • Revelation 16:1, “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”
  • Revelation 19:20, “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

After considering these curses mentioned, surely we can get a concept of interfering with God’s Word by adding extra texts to it.

If one takes away from the words of this book, “God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”  How are we to understand this?  What is this book of life?  Does it mean the Lord will take away our eternal life if we do this?  I believe our answer is found in examining this title…Book of Life.  To answer this question about the book of life, I will quote from a previous answer from Answers From the Book:

“What is this ‘book of life’?  As I understand it, a register was kept in ancient cities of all their citizens.  The names of the dead were of course erased or blotted out at the time of one’s death.  That is not unlike the census that is taken every few years now to keep track of who is living, where they live, and if and when they die.  Let’s go back and read Revelation 3:1, “And to the messenger of the assembly in Sardis write: These things saith he who is having the Seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I have known thy works, and that thou hast the name that thou dost live, and thou art dead.”  Here, in this church of Sardis, there were those who professed to be spiritually alive, but were in reality dead.  Certainly, because they were actually dead, their names would be stricken or blotted out of the book of life.  Concerning those who had rejected the Lord, we read in Psalm 69:28, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”

To those who were true believers (overcomers), there is the wonderful assurance that their names would not be blotted out of the book of life.  These are those who are true heavenly citizens and heirs of eternal life.  The little word ‘not’ in this verse carries a lot of weight!  The Greek word is ‘οὐ μή’ and means: a double negative strengthening the denial; not at all.  This same word is translated as “shall in no wise” (Matthew 5:18), “shall in no case” (Matthew 5:20), “by any means” (Luke 10:19), and “never” (John 4:14).  This shows the strength of the meaning of the verse.  Let’s read Revelation 3:5 from the NAV to show just how strong the sense is, “He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I WILL IN NO WISE blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”  What security is found in this verse!  There are those who profess to have life, but do not and their names will be blotted out of this book of life.  True believers IN NO WISE, IN NO CASE, NEVER will have their names blotted out of the book of life.” 

This part shows that those who would willingly and purposefully remove any part of God’s Word is not truly a believer, but a false professor who would change God’s Word for their own gain.  Oh, the seriousness of tampering with the truth and completeness of the Word of God.  May we learn it well so that we can detect if someone seeks to change it by adding to or taking away from it.  (CC)  (592.2)