COGR – Look Who Wants To Speak For God
January 31, 2024
Good day! I am writing a series of short reviews of abbreviated COGR video clips. I am looking for input and comments. If it makes it easier, I will be glad to supply a Word document so comments can be put in the document, and we can communicate directly. My email address is lattema@icloud.com. I hope you find these reviews helpful.
Transcript:
Jesus standing at the seven golden candlesticks says his voice is as many waters, yes? And that does represent the word of God, but it actually represents the word of God in people. In Revelation nineteen, you see the same thing.
“I heard a great voice as a sound of many waters and as a great multitude.” Actually, the voice of many waters is the voice of all nations, and it actually shows the fullness of all peoples coming into Christ and on the earth.
When Jesus speaks, you’re not hearing a voice of ethereal, intangible voice from heaven; you’re actually hearing the voice of all nations. In fact, the gentile, the gentile apostleship, is the voice of many waters. That’s correct, because in these twelve apostles are represented the gentile nations. And in our voice is the voice of many waters.
I think it’s beautiful. It’s absolutely beautiful.
Commentary:
The goal of the speaker was to present an argument based on Revelation 1:15 and Revelation 19:6 that shows the Gentile Apostles are actually the voice of all nations or the voice of Jesus.
The first reference to many waters comes from Revelation 1:15
Both the Nestle Aland and the Textus Receptus are identical.
και η φωνη αυτου ως φωνη υδατων πολλων
Stephen’s 1550 Textus Receptus: With Morphology (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2002), Re 1:15.
Barbara Aland et al., The Greek New Testament, 4th ed. (Federal Republic of Germany: United Bible Societies, 1993), Re 1:15.
It translates roughly to “AND THE VOICE OF HIS LIKE SOUND OF WATERS MANY.” The use of ως (like) is a simile or a comparison.
Robert Bratcher and others understand this phrase to be describing the voice of Jesus:
His voice was like the sound of many waters: see Ezek 43:2. The many waters may be a waterfall or the roaring sea. The Revised New American Bible has “the sound of rushing water,” the Brazilian Portuguese common language version “giant waterfalls,” and the Revised English Bible “a mighty torrent.” The figure, of course, indicates the volume of sound, not its quality. One may also say “his voice was loud like …” Robert G. Bratcher and Howard Hatton, A Handbook on the Revelation to John, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1993), 32.
This is unambiguously a description of Jesus’ voice.
The second verse comes from Revelation 19:6
6 καὶ ἤκουσα ὡς φωνὴν ὄχλου πολλοῦ καὶ ὡς φωνὴν ὑδάτων πολλῶν καὶ ὡς φωνὴν βροντῶν ἰσχυρῶν λεγόντων· Ἁλληλουϊά, ὅτι ἐβασίλευσεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς [ἡμῶν] ὁ παντοκράτωρ.
Barbara Aland et al., The Greek New Testament, 4th ed. (Federal Republic of Germany: United Bible Societies, 1993), Re 19:6.
Stephen’s 1550 Textus Receptus: With Morphology (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2002), Re 19:6.
Both the Nestle Aland and the Textus Receptus are identical.
The text translates
19:6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Note that in 1:15 we have a description using a simile to describe the voice of Jesus. However, in 19:6, we are no longer discussing Jesus, but there are voices from the throne praising God.
When commenting on 19:6 Addison Everett states that the voice heard was the voice of all nations. I won’t argue that here. It is enough to realize that this is not the voice of Jesus.
It is here that we go off track. Addison Everett states that when Jesus speaks, we are hearing the voice of all nations. What he had done was to mistakenly think that the voice of many waters was a noun, not a simile. He tries to say that in Revelation 1:15, the many waters = voice of all nations, but that simply is not true. The voice of many waters describes the quality or character of Jesus’ voice.
Even in 19:6, the great multitudes sound is described as many waters. It is a simile. It could be that some might think that the great multitude = voice of all nations but that does not advance the argument at all.
Addison steps in one more time and states that the gentile apostleship = voice of many waters. However, this is a nonsense statement on two counts. First, the Bible knows nothing about a Gentile Apostleship and second, the voice (sound) of many waters is an adjective modifying something. It is not a noun.
Therefore, Addison Everett’s claim that when Jesus speaks we hear not some ethereal, intangible voice from heaven but instead the voice of all nations or the Gentile Apostles, is false.
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