Why I Left the Message by Jennifer Hamilton: Difference between revisions

There are quotes back and forth from Bro Braham on the issue of women cutting their hair.  The quote read that ‘Thus saith the Lord, a man has the right to divorce his wife if she cuts her hair’ was when I began researching what exactly Bro Branham and the Bible said about the issue.  Bro Branham said:

1.      women shouldn’t cut their hair ‘at all’ many times

2.       That it was okay for the girls to cut their bangs (his daughter was 24 years old when he mentioned her in this), 64-0830

3.      Questions and answers session where he said he had no scripture to back up that women couldn’t trim their hair.  64-0830

4.      A man has the right to divorce his wife if she cuts her hair 53-0729

5.      There is also photographs of Bro Branham’s wife and girls with bangs and trimmed hair.[[Image:Rebekah's bangs.jpg|thumb|250px|right]]  

So I started studying hair and women in the Bible, and 1 Cor 11 used the Greek word of “cutting close to the head” as something women shouldn’t do. They were just commanded to have long hair, not long ‘uncut’ hair.  The only scripture for not cutting the hair ‘at all’ was the Nazarite vow in the Old Testament (Numbers 6:1-21) in which:

1.      It was for a season of time

 

2.      It was for both men and women

 

 

4.       Would not drink any juice or eat from grapes

5.       They would not be around any dead person, even deceased family

 

 

The question in my heart was, “Why would something that wasn’t in scripture, and something that Bro Branham went from one extreme (allowing divorcement over to it) to another (okay to trim) become such a huge doctrine in the Message?”

 

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Women wearing modest dresses and that God requires clothing-styles in separation of genders

a.      The Bible outlines feminine modesty as: “women should adorn themselves modestly and appropriately and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with elaborate hair arrangement or gold or pearls or expensive clothing” 1 Tim 2:9. At this time of scripture, and when Deut 22:5 was written, men and women both wore the same type of garment, a long tunic to the knees or lower and a mantle to cover the head.  From a distance, men and women would look exactly the same.  Modesty in the New Testament is outlined as sensibly and not gaudy or expensive which might make others around you feel inferior.

b.       If Deuteronomy 22:5 says that “the woman should not wear that which pertained unto a man…for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God” KJV, then why stop at pants for a woman?  Every garment would need to be researched.  Ties were uniform for teachers in the earlier centuries, stockings and hosiery were first worn by men, t-shirts were military undershirts designed in the 1920s, hoodies, baseball caps, tennis shoes, etc.  Where would it end?  BUT, the KJV is very different from the translated Hebrew for that verse.  The word pertaineth in “that which pertaineth” is translated from the Hebrew word “keliy” which means “article, utensil, vessel” which in other scriptures in the old testament, “keliy” is translated into “weapon, armor, or instrument”.  The word “man” in this specific scripture is from the Hebrew word, “geber”, which means “Strong man or warrior”.  One of the pagan temples in Moses’ day required women to dress up as warriors to enter the temple, which better defines the Hebrew translation that a “woman should not put on the armor of a warrior… for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God”.  

c.       When God made clothing of skins for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is recorded that God made them “kethoneth”, which in Hebrew means “a long shirt-like garment”; they were not gender-specific clothing styles

I still remember my first service I went to at the non-Message church my husband and I now attend.  I expected to find the absence of God.  I expected to only glean “nuggets” of truth from the sermon and to “spit out the pits”.  Instead, I found His beautiful presence.  God was there!  I found love and joy.  The pastor spoke from the heart, rebuked in love, and encouraged with scriptures.  There was outreach to the lost souls of the community.  They fed the hungry and poor.  They opened their doors to the hurt and broken.  They extended grace, not judgement.  I then realized what the “fruit” of a Believer would look like.  They are Christ-like, being a friend and a light to the sinner as Jesus was.  Not standing off with a passive approach that if a sinner is “seed” they’ll come to us with questions.

Since leaving the Message, I have been shunned, mocked, and de-Christianized by some Message Believers.  But, instead of falling away from God as so many believe, I’ve found a deeper relationship with Christ than I ever have had before.  I’ve fallen back in love with my Bible, which has become a new Book to me.  I have found healing for hurts that I have experienced in my life.  I’ve discovered that it’s only God’s grace and His grace alone that saves and redeems me and fills me with His spirit.  Thank you Jesus!  I am such a broken human mess that could never be deserving of Him without the sacrifice of His son for my sins.  I didn’t receive salvation or the Holy Ghost because I believed the words of William Branham, but because they are a gift from God to every soul on earth who will accept that Jesus died for their sins.  My prayer is that each one would search for truth as God commands us and be blessed beyond measure!  If you are searching your scriptures and also have questions, I would love to meet with you!