Isaiah 43:7 King James Version (KJV)
7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Those three words, formed, made, created, do not mean the same thing. If they did, the verse would have said "I created him, I created him, I created him."
"Create" means to bring into existence something that never existed before. A thing can only be created once: after that you are merely making another one. "Formed" means pushed into shape, a much simpler action than creating or making.
We gain understanding in God's word by examining the meanings of words. Let us examine what God says about the words He uses.
Psalm 12:6-7 King James Version (KJV)
6 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
The first thing we notice here is that there is no such thing as a "furnace of earth". That is your signal that we have either a mistranslation or a figure of speech. It is a figure of speech. An ellipsis is where a word is used twice but omitted in one place. The original language makes this a lot clearer because "of earth" is plural to agree with "words", not singular to agree with "furnace". The verse should have been rendered "The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace: [words] of earth, purified seven times."
We should always remember that God uses words more perfectly than we do; He purifies the meanings. That is why we look up the first usage of a word in the bible to see what God's definition is. And because we sometimes assign a new meaning to a word, so does God. For that reason you check every use of a word to see if it is redefined at some point. For example, the word "rod" has three different meanings in the bible: it is first a weapon capable of causing death, then in Psalm 23 it is the thing with a hook that a shepherd uses to guide the sheep, and in Proverbs it becomes a more philosophical "rod of correction" to be applied to children and fools.
So don't try to tell me that the bible says to beat your children, because it says the same treatment for a fool. Don't be that fool!
7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Those three words, formed, made, created, do not mean the same thing. If they did, the verse would have said "I created him, I created him, I created him."
"Create" means to bring into existence something that never existed before. A thing can only be created once: after that you are merely making another one. "Formed" means pushed into shape, a much simpler action than creating or making.
We gain understanding in God's word by examining the meanings of words. Let us examine what God says about the words He uses.
Psalm 12:6-7 King James Version (KJV)
6 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
The first thing we notice here is that there is no such thing as a "furnace of earth". That is your signal that we have either a mistranslation or a figure of speech. It is a figure of speech. An ellipsis is where a word is used twice but omitted in one place. The original language makes this a lot clearer because "of earth" is plural to agree with "words", not singular to agree with "furnace". The verse should have been rendered "The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace: [words] of earth, purified seven times."
We should always remember that God uses words more perfectly than we do; He purifies the meanings. That is why we look up the first usage of a word in the bible to see what God's definition is. And because we sometimes assign a new meaning to a word, so does God. For that reason you check every use of a word to see if it is redefined at some point. For example, the word "rod" has three different meanings in the bible: it is first a weapon capable of causing death, then in Psalm 23 it is the thing with a hook that a shepherd uses to guide the sheep, and in Proverbs it becomes a more philosophical "rod of correction" to be applied to children and fools.
So don't try to tell me that the bible says to beat your children, because it says the same treatment for a fool. Don't be that fool!