William Marrion Branham: THUS SAITH THE LORD! A Women Who Cuts Her Hair Should Be DIVORCED!

Transcription

1 William Branham claimed that God spoke directly through him, telling him to instruct the people that men should divorce wives who have cut their hair. Branham said that this came directly from God, as "Thus Saith The Lord." Most cult pastors avoid this doctrine like the plague. Not only do they know in their hearts that this is a false teaching contrary to the Bible, they know that if their congregations learn that this "prophet" spoke something as "Thus Saith The Lord" that did not come from God, they would quickly form an exodus. The plush lifestyles of the cult pastor would quickly turn into a parched, dry desert. Some might think that William Branham brought this false doctrine in 1965 when he struggled with mental illness, but the first time Branham brought it to recorded tape was almost ten years earlier, in 1956: "But let me tell you something. A lot of you women tonight would have an awful time doing that; you'd have to stand on your head to do it. Shame on you. The Bible said, "The hair is given to a woman for her glory." And the Bible rights gives any man a right to leave and divorce and leave his wife, that'll cut her hair. That's the Bible. That's THUS SAITH THE LORD. Too bad you got away from the old fashion trainings, isn't it?" Branham, E This was not a one-time slip of the tongue, either. Branham continued his teachings on women's hair not even being trimmed, and said that they should be divorced if they did so. Again in 1961, on recorded tape, Branham made the same statement. Only this time, Branham added a few more false teachings in the bundle: "I was speaking this morning of this woman--immoral woman, washing Jesus' dirty feet, wiping them with her hair. Some of our pentecostal sisters have to stand on their head to get enough hair to wash the feet. Cut it all off. See? That's right. It used to be wrong for you to do it. It's still wrong for you to do it. The Bible plainly teaches, if a woman cuts her hair, her husband has a right to John Collins Page 1

2 divorce her, put her away. Said if she cuts her hair, she dishonors her head, her husband. And a dishonorable woman should not be lived with. I better shut up now. I'll get you preachers right here... I'm only telling you the truth. You're going to face me with it at the day of judgment. That's THUS SAITH THE LORD, in His Word." Branham, Let's examine the main points Branham brings up in this false doctrine: 1. Women who cut their hair should be divorced. 2. The Bible is very easy to understand in this matter. 3. A dishonorable woman should be divorced. 4. You will face ME [William Branham] with this at the day of the judgment! When Branham preached regarding women's hair, he did not include most of the Bible in the teaching, nor did he include the Jewish custom. He never mentioned that Jewish women shaved their heads during mourning, or the Bible instructions regarding divorce. Though it is very dangerous to bring a doctrine from one single passage of scripture without reading the rest of the Bible, Branham's entire doctrine comes from 1 Corinthians 11. This is not a study on the subject of marriage and divorce, we simply want to focus on the first point raised in Branham's false doctrine regarding women's hair: 1. Women who cut their hair should be divorced. The only passage of scripture giving the full detail of the instructions regarding divorce is written in the Mosaic Law, Deuteronomy 24: "When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and becomes another man's wife, and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And John Collins Page 2

3 you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance." Deuteronomy 24 Accoding to the Mosaic Law, the husband must first not want her; she finds no favor in his eyes. This must be for a cause of indecency. But remember, Paul said that we are no longer under the Mosaic Law. Jesus said that this law, written by Moses, was only because of the hardness of the hearts of the children of Israel. "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." Matthew 19:4-6 Jesus said that what God had joined together, no man could separate not even William Branham. 1 Corinthians 11 compares the husband and wife to God and His Bride. It does not even say that the woman's hair cannot be trimmed, in fact it says quite the opposite. Verse 6 says that if a woman does not keep her head covered when she prophesies, that she should cut it! "For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short." (1 Cor 11: 6) So again, we find William Branham arguing directly with Paul. While Paul instructs women to cut their hair, William Branham says that they are immoral for doing so! Branham seemingly calls Paul a liar, saying that a woman who cuts her hair should be divorced, while Paul seems to be speaking against women who are praying with their long hair down! The question could be asked: how many woman in the cult churches pray with their long hair down, dishonoring their husbands? Have they not listened to Paul? Jesus compared the wife and husband to the Bride and Christ. Ezekiel John Collins Page 3

4 16 describes God and His Bride throughout the ages, and the Husband [God]'s everlasting and undying love for her. Though His Bride was a great whore, though she prostituted herself out to every passerby, though she lived as unclean and immoral as possible, God still loved her and claimed her for His own. Should we not be the same? Should not our husbands love their wives even if they do far, far worse? In study of the first point, Branham's claim that a woman should be divorced, we find that the second point is also false. The Bible is not easy to understand in this matter, and in fact the Bible says quite the opposite! God's Bride in Ezekiel 16 makes Branham's argument that a "dishonorable woman should be divorced" evident that no scripture was involved in this false doctrine. Branham never considered Hosea, whom God instructed to marry an immoral woman. When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord." So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Hosea 1 It is very clear that God does not intend for us to get divorced. He does not want us, as His example, to leave our brides. This doctrine is one of the worst false doctrines Branham brought into the church. The last point is very troublesome. Branham claimed that we will one day face him at the day of the judgment! These are not the words of a Christian who has studied his Bible, these are the words of an evil sorcerer attempting to instill fear into the hearts of those surrounding him. We will face God at the day of judgment, not William Branham. William Branham, contrary to the beliefs of many of his followers, is not God. Though William Branham claimed that Elijah of this day [himself] is the Lord Jesus Christ, he definitely was trying to lift himself into a power that was not his to take. The words of Jesus warn us of exactly this: For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:24 John Collins Page 4

5 As Christians, we should ask ourselves: Why did we allow us to be led astray by a false christ? Was it because we were led astray by a false prophet? Why did the men in those meetings not stand up for their wives, and call this false prophet a liar for his false bible teaching? Why did those who actually read the words in-between their leather bindings of the Bible not stand and call this man a false teacher? And worse, why do the pastors now, knowing the Truth, continue to hide under the tapes? John Collins Page 5