The Perfect Bible Verse for You

Brother Cash: Good morning! Thank you for tuning into the radio show where you can find the Proof Text from the Bible for any question, problem or self-serving doctrine you want to believe. This is Brother Evan Lee Cash, your host, and the lines are open and ready, so give us a call. For just $9.95 a verse I will provide you with a passage from the Bible to help support what you are looking for.

Bro, Cash: Oh, look I see we already have our first caller. Hello, this Brother Even Lee Cash what can a I do you for.

Peggy Sue: Hi, Brother Cash this is Peggy Sue and I’m having problems with my lazy, good for nothing husband. I have six kids and need some help around the house. And he says that he cannot help with the dishes because that is work God gave women to do. He said it is in the Bible. Is that true? Isn’t there a verse showing that men are to help out with the dishes.

Bro. Cash: Well, Peggy Sue I am so glad you called. Now, I do not rightly recollect as of this moment a passage your husband, might be referin’ to. But I do have one you can share with him, so he can start helping you with the dishes. In 2 Kings 21:12-13 the Bible reads, ‘Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I …will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.” Now I realize, Peggy Sue that is from the old King James Bible, but if it was good enough for Matthew, it should suit you just fine.

Peggy Sue: Oh, Thank you so much! I will be sure to share this with him right now!

Bro. Cash: Folks, there you have another satisfied customer. Isn’t the Bible wonderful? It is filled with helpful verses to make your life easier. And you are indeed blessed to have me here on this here radio program to help you find these nuggets of divine wisdom. So please continue to support this ministry by calling in for your verse today.

Bro. Cash: Wonderful, I see we have another caller. Good morning! What verse are you looking for today?

Jimmy: Howdy preacher, this is Jimmy. First time caller and long time listener. I really need your help. I work hard all day to support my family. And when I come home all sweaty and tired, my wife Peggy Sue expects me to help out by washing the dishes. Isn’t there a verse in the Bible to show that us poor henpecked men will one day have a relief from all naggin’ from the women folk.

Bro. Cash: Jimmy, son, you are in luck. I have the perfect verse to help ease your troubled soul. Why accordin’ to the Book of Revelations there will be no women in heaven to boss us men around. Revelation 8:1 says, “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”

Jimmy: God Bless you Brother Cash. You just made heaven a little more nearer and dearer.

Bro. Cash: Now good listeners, I am sure that there are many other men and women out there who could use a little hope for a brighter tomorrow. And for just $9.95, I can provide a passage for the Word of God guaranteed bring hope and comfort to your weary soul.

Bro. Cash: Oh, look another caller already. Hello, you are on the air with Brother Evan Lee Cash.

Peggy Sue: Now you look here, preacher, this is Peggy Sue again. What do you mean giving my husband a passage saying there is gonna be no women in heaven. Now he is telling me: “if God wants him to do women’s work he is just going to have to have a second wife to help out with the dishes.” He said it is the wisest thing a man could do. “After all Solomon was the wisest man and he had a thousand wives.” I need me a passage from that there Bible showing Jimmy that polygamy is a sin.

Bro. Cash: Now just calm down little lady. Jesus has you covered for such a marital crisis as this. He warned against polygamy Himself when he said in Matthew 6:24 on the sermon on the Mount “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” So you best run along now and share the verse with ole Jimmy before he runs off and becomes a Mormon or Muslim.

Bro. Cash: Well, now that appears to be all the time we have today. We want to wish Jimmy and Peggy Sue the best in their marriage. And encourage you all to tune into “The Perfect Bible Verse for You” and call us tomorrow. This is your host and favorite spiritual advisor Brother Evan Lee Cash. Remember, Praise the Loot!…I, I meant to say “Lord.”

One of the biggest blunders a Bible student can make is to practice proof-texting as is illustrated by the story above. Using such methods one can “prove” just about anything from the Bible. A professor once warned, “A text without a context is a pretext for a prooftext.” Just ignore the context and twist the passage to prove you point regardless of the author’s original intent.

Many passages are being abused and misused today by proof texting. For example, whenever someone is rebuked for sinful conduct, they will quickly quote from memory Matthew 7:1. It says, “Judge not, that you be no judged.” However, a closer look at the context will reveal that Jesus is not condemning all judgment, but hypocritical judgment. Read the context. Another example is the Mormon church using 1 Corinthians 15:29 to support their doctrine that living family members can be baptized for their dead relatives. But read the context and the great context of the Bible on the subject of baptism. The most common use of proof-texting is in support of salvation by faith only. Many running to John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” However, notice the verse does not use the term “only” or its equivalent. Yet there is a passage which does use the phrase “faith only.” Though it does not prove one is saved by faith only. “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24).

This is not to say, a Bible student can never look for a passage to support their beliefs. In fact, the writers of the New Testament were constantly using passages of Scripture to prove God’s Will. Jesus’ Himself used scripture as proof He was the Son of God, the Messiah of promise.

You see there is a big difference between using a passage from the Bible in context to support Truth and pulling a passage out of context to make it support a doctrine of men. A wise and careful Bible student must learn the difference. So, search the scriptures daily to find out whether the passage being used is really proof of what one claims.

– Daniel R. Vess