Romans 1:18

Romans 1:18

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

a. NLT: But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness

b. NIV: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

c. Young’s Literal Translation: for revealed is the wrath of God from heaven upon all impiety and unrighteousness of men, holding down the truth in unrighteousness.

d. Amplified Bible: For God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative. 

e. Worrells Translation: For God’s wrath is revealed from Heaven against sll ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness;

1. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…”

a. For [1063 * gar] [Strong: a primary particle; properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensification; often with other particles):--and, as, because (that), but, even, for, indeed, no doubt, seeing, then, therefore, verily, what, why, yet.]

b. the wrath [3709 * orge][Strong: properly, desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind), i.e. (by analogy), violent passion (ire, or (justifiable) abhorrence); by implication punishment:--anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath.][Zodhiates: Anger as a state of mind.] [Bullinger: Anger together with the idea of revenge…the idea of revenge belongs etymologically to orge, orge is the abiding, settled purpose of wrath; orge is, as it were the heat of the fire; less sudden in its but more lasting.]

c. of God [2316 * theos] [Strong: of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with 3588) the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very:--X exceeding, God, god(-ly, -ward).]

d. is  revealed [601 * apokalupto; apo-from; kalupto-to cover, conceal][Strong: to take off the cover, i.e. disclose:--reveal.][Zodhiates: Literally, to remove a veil or covering exposing to open view what was before hidden.]

e. from [575 * apo] [Strong:  a primary particle; "off," i.e. away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative):--(X here-)after, ago, at, because of, before, by (the space of), for(-th), from, in, (out) of, off, (up-)on(-ce), since, with. In composition (as a prefix) it usually denotes separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal, etc.]

f. heaven [3772 * ouranos] [Strong: perhaps from the same as 3735 (through the idea of elevation); the sky; by extension, heaven (as the abode of God); by implication, happiness, power, eternity; specially, the Gospel (Christianity):--air, heaven(-ly), sky.]

g. against [1909 * epi] [Strong: a primary preposition; properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution (with the genitive case), i.e. over, upon, etc.; of rest (with the dative case) at, on, etc.; of direction (with the accusative case) towards, upon, etc.:--about (the times), above, after, against, among, as long as (touching), at, beside, X have charge of, (be-, (where-))fore, in (a place, as much as, the time of, -to), (because) of, (up-)on (behalf of), over, (by, for) the space of, through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), with. In compounds it retains essentially the same import, at, upon, etc. (literally or figuratively).]

h. all [3956 * pas] [Strong: including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole:--all (manner of, means), alway(-s), any (one), X daily, + ever, every (one, way), as many as, + no(-thing), X thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever.]

i. ungodliness [763 * asebeia] [Strong: from 765; impiety, i.e. (by implication) wickedness:--ungodly(-liness).]

j. and [2532 * kai] [Strong: apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:--and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

k. unrighteousness [93 * adikia] [Strong: from 94; (legal) injustice (properly, the quality, by implication, the act); morally, wrongfulness (of character, life or act):--iniquity, unjust, unrighteousness, wrong.]

l. of men [444 * anthropos] [Strong: from 435 and ops (the countenance; from 3700); man-faced, i.e. a human being:--certain, man.]

2. “…who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”

a. who hold [2722 * kateko][Strong:  to hold down (fast), in various applications (literally or figuratively):--have, hold (fast), keep (in memory), let, X make toward, possess, retain, seize on, stay, take, withhold.][Zodhiates: hold fast, retain, or hold down, quash, suppress.]

b. the truth [225 * aletheia] [Strong: from 227; truth:--true, X truly, truth, verity.]

c. in [1722 * en] [Strong: a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519 and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, + almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+ all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to, -wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly, one, X quickly, X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on), through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while, with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different) preposition.]

d. unrighteousness [93 * adika][Strong: (legal) injustice (properly, the quality, by implication, the act); morally, wrongfulness (of character, life or act):--iniquity, unjust, unrighteousness, wrong.][Thayer: injustice, of a judge, unrighteousness of heart and life, a deed violating law and justice, act of unrighteousness.]

1). Many Bible scholars are in agreement as to what, when, and where this passage of Scripture (Romans 1:18-32) is speaking about.

a). Finis Jennings Dake: Stages of world apostasy.

b). C.I. Scofield: Stages of gentile world apostasy.

c). Lester Sumrall: These Scriptures answer the question, “How did pagan religions begin?

d). Henry Morris: The tragic story of man’s decline from the true knowledge of God to

abominable idolatries.

e). The time period for this is from the end of the flood to the tower of Babel.

2). I personally believe the apostasy occurred over a period of about 340 years, from the end of the flood to the tower of Babel, the confusion of tongues and the scattering of mankind over the earth. These individuals deceitfully suppressed the truth. What truth?

a). One of the recorded truths we know they had was Genesis 3:15, the promise of the birth, suffering, death, and triumph of Jesus.

b). Another was Jude 14, 15 which is a prophecy of the second coming of Christ.

 

c). Also the truth suppressed, no doubt was the knowledge of God, preached by Noah (2 Peter 2:5).

3). But also the truth suppressed was the original revelation of the signs of the Zodiac, the revelation of “the glory of the incorruptible God” (Psalm 19:1-6), which they changed into astrological idolatry. This was the reason for the tower of Babel.

a). In Genesis 11:4 the words “may reach” are in italics, which means they were not in the text but were added by the translators.

b). “And they said, Goto, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top unto heaven;”

c). The tower of Babel was dedicated to heaven, i.e., the signs of the Zodiac.

4). There is also truth being suppressed today.

a). TIME MAGAZINE, Science, God and Man. (12/28/92):  “…one hallmark of 20^th century science, as it draws to a close, is how much fertile ground it has provided for bona fide theological speculation: speculation about whether the universe is a product of intelligent design, whether the human experience is part of some unfolding purpose, whether we were in any sense meant to be here.”

b). TIME MAGAZINE, Science, God and Man. (12/28/92) “One intriguing observation that has bubbled up from physics is that the universe seems calibrated for life’s existence. If the force of gravity were pushed upward a bit, stars would burn out faster, leaving little time for life to evolve on the planets circling them. If the relative masses of protons and neutrons were changed by a hair, stars might never be born,  since the hydrogen they eat wouldn’t exist. If, at the Big Bang, some basic numbers, the “initial conditions”, had been jiggled, matter  and energy would never have coagulated in galaxies, stars, planets or any other  platforms stable enough for life as we know it. And so on. Some physicists have tried to drain these coincidences of their eeriness with something called the anthroptic principle, which dismisses humankind’s perspective on the cosmos as inherently biased. It’s no surprise they say, that the universe is conductive to life. After all, if it weren’t, we wouldn’t be here to argue the point. For all we know there are zillions of other universes that don’t have the dimensions for life. Marveling at the exquisite fine tuning of physical reality is like viewing a winning lottery ticket as proof of God’s existence, forgetting about the less blessed tickets lying in trash cans all over town.”

c). Dr. Lewis Thomas, Chancellor of the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: “Biology needs a better word than error for    the driving force in evolution…I cannot make my peace with the randomness doctrine; I cannot abide the notion of purposelessness and blind chance in nature. And yet, I do not know what to put in its place for the quieting of my mind.”