Sid: I can feel the Spirit of God just bubbling up right now. I believe that there’s going to be such a move of God’s Spirit. My guest this week is Bill Morford, and I’m talking to him about his translation of the New Testament it’s called “The Power New Testament.” Trust me, I mean you will read concepts in this New Testament translation that you have read previously but you have never understood it, and why? Because there’s these Hebrew expressions that if you take them literally you’ll come up with one conclusion, but they’re really idioms which means they should be taken differently that everyone understood at the time. On yesterday’s broadcast we talked about the expression “Raining cats and dogs.” Well it’s not “raining cats and dogs” but you understand what that means. So there was no need to explain these idioms at the time this was penned, but today the church doesn’t understand the Hebraic understanding; they don’t understand the Jewish customs of the day; they don’t understand their Jewish roots. Bill Morford you’ve done such a service, such a valuable service I think it’s gonna become our Mishpochah’s favorite reading Bible. Let’s give an example from Romans 16.
Bill: Yes that’s one of my favorites and Paul writes “And I am introducing our sister Phoebe to you, since she is also a minister of the congregation in Cenchrea, so that you would welcome her in the Lord as befitting the saints, and you would stand by her in whatever matter she would have need of you: for she has also become a patroness of many, even of me.” See now most translations call her a servant. Well why on earth would anyone need to send a servant to Rome where probably half the population were slaves? She was a minister of the congregation in Cenchrea and a patroness set over even Paul. So this was a woman of real authority who went to Rome to be of assistance to the believers there. It’s a very different impression than you normally get in reading Romans 16. Actually in that chapter there are a number of women, several of others that are named, but their names are not recognized as being feminine. So women had a lot more to do,but here was a really a truly powerful woman in that congregation.
Sid: Why do you think the other translations didn’t catch that?
Bill: I think it’s just modern male chauvinism, that’s my guest.
Sid: Now on yesterday’s broadcast we talked about your wife being promoted, and you went through a tough time, which understandably so. How long were you married?
Bill: Forty-nine years and 10 months.
Sid: So you had your first occasion to speak and the prophetic mantle and deliverance mantle just really raised to a higher level. I am so excited about the revelation you got when Moses said to God “Who should I say is sending me?” God said “Say that I AM that I AM.” Explain that.
Bill: “Eh-yehashair Eh-yeh” is the Hebrew. The word “Eh-Yeh” is on the cover of “The Power New Testament.” That’s one of 3 different Hebrew words translated “I AM.” The other 2 are “Ani” which simply means “I AM,” and “Anokhi” which is “I AM” with an attitude. Because when He uses the anokhi God is saying I have deliberately purposed to do this thing whatever it is. The first time He uses that is with Abram in Genesis 15:1 and He says “I AM, I have purposed I have set Myself to be a shield for you.” Before that the first thing He says is “Do not fear I have purposed and set Myself up as a shield for you for your reward will be great.” But to go back to start with “do not fear” that is the negative imperative, a command in Hebrew that you absolutely cannot fear because fear is the opposite faith. You have to absolutely take in faith that God is your protection; that God is looking out for you with all that you have. When we get that in our spirit and we truly walk without fear in the firm conviction that God is my protection, then we know that our reward will be great, and that is really a powerful verse. That we just walk past it time after time not realizing what the Lord has put into that.
Sid: Bill that is so important I want you to say this again, but do it in a different way. What does that “do not fear I AM your shield,” what does that mean to you?
Bill: Well it means He has setup protection over me. My goodness I can think back to times maybe in college, or in the service when I was in some kind of physical danger that I was miraculously saved. One time in Korea I was a helicopter crew chief and we were stalking a mountain top that was just a listening post for the Army, and the helicopter had an engine problem and the pilot said “We’re going down, we’re going down!” Miraculously it just pulled out and we didn’t go down. You know just one of those miraculous things. Anokhi is used in a total of 26 verses…
Sid: That means “I AM.”
Bill: That’s the “I AM” yes but the “I AM” with an attitude.
Sid: I like the way you say that “I AM” with an attitude because you mean that God says “I AM deliberately purposed to do what I say.” Like the last example you said “I AM your shield” that means that He’s deliberately purposed to be a shield all around you. That no weapon formed against you can prosper. Tell me about that Hebrew word “Anokhi” which means “I AM.”
Bill: Well there’s 3 verses where He doubles that, and of course it’s a Hebrew idiom that when you double a word you’re making it a superlative. So when He doubles “Anokhi” I don’t know how you can express that superlative in English. It means “I really have deliberately purposed to do this and nothing will deter Me.”
Sid: Well tell me some of the things He’s deliberately purposed to do for us that nothing’s going to deter God.
Bill: The first one is in Isaiah 43:11 and that is “He is our savior.” That means, like Jesus says in John 6:44, Jesus says “No one comes to Me unless the Father who sent me, draws and attracts and gives him the desire.” So God draws people and see my wife was a good example of that. She was in a family that did not go to church; her parents fought like cats and dogs; separated when she was 5, and yet there was a church 2 blocks away that when she was 7 and 8 years old she walked down to herself because she just needed God, and so she went to church every Sunday, and was carrying the Bible that was given her for consistent attendance to college with her and wrote in it the date she really committed her life to the Lord. That’s amazing, God did that He was determined to be her savior.
Sid: What else is God determined to be?
Bill: In Isaiah 43:25 “He is the Who erases our rebellious sins.” Those are the worst sins, those are sins committed with the purpose of angering God, and yet His desire is to erase those. Isn’t that awesome those are gone. Looks to me like the only unforgivable is to turn your back on the Lord because even sins that are committed deliberately to anger Him He is willing to forgive.
Sid: Give me another example.
Bill: That’s Isaiah 51:12 “He is our comforter.” Boy I am example of that how He brought me out of grieving for my wife who had been promoted to heaven into a fullness of His Spirit just an energy and vitality that I never expected to have at my age. To be 75 years old and stand up and be preaching and prophesying for 4 and 5 hours at a time it’s just awesome to me. That I do and feel good and feel refreshed at the end of the service. He is my comforter.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth