A Crazy Parable

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.   2 Peter 1:20-21

“Sam, what part of the Bible do you like best?” “Well, sir, I like the New Testament best, Sir.” “What book in the New Testament?” “What book sir? What book? I think it’s the book of parables, Sir.” “Would you kindly relate one of those parables to this council?”

Poor Sam was up against it, but there was a possibility that the members of the council knew no more about their Bibles than he did. He decided to make a bold attempt, and proceeded as follows:

“Once upon a time a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves and the thorns grew up and choked that man and he went on and he didn’t have no money and he met the Queen of Sheba, and she gave that man - she gave that man, sir, a thousand talents of gold and silver and a hundred changes of raiments. And when he was driving along under a big tree, his hair got caught in a limb and left him a hanging there. Yes, sir. And he hung there many days and many nights and the ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink. And one night while he was hanging there asleep, his wife, Delilah, come along and cut his hair off, and he dropped and fell on stony ground and it began to rain and it rained forty days and forty nights. And he hid himself in a cave. And the man went out into the highways and byways and compelled him to come in. He went on and come to Jerusalem and he seen Queen Jezebel sitting high up in the window and when she saw him she laughed and he said, “Throw her down out of there,” and they threw her down. And he said, “Throw her down again,” and they threw her down, seventy times seventy times and the fragments they picked up were twelve baskets full. Now whose wife will she be in the days of judgment?”

There was no one on the council who felt qualified to question the candidate further, and he was passed.

What about you?  How well do you know the Bible?  Could you tell if someone was misinterpreting the Bible?  Sometimes people honestly misquote the Bible when they think it really does say something in particular.  Maybe they have been told all their lives, the Bible says….  But there are those that purposefully misinterpret the Bible.  The Bible actually warns us about false teachers.  Christ himself tells us: Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  Matthew 7:15-17 Yes, there are those wolves in sheep’s clothing that will intentionally lead you astray but this verse says their fruits will give them away.
Other people quote common phrases they believe are Bible verses:

■"God helps those who help themselves"—yeah, this sentence mentions God and sounds vaguely Proverbs-ish, but this particular gem was imparted to the world by Ben Franklin, not Solomon or Jesus.

 ■"Money is the root of all evil"—this one isn't technically a misquote, but it's missing a part of the sentence that radically changes the meaning. The full phrase is "The love of money is the root of all evil." Three tiny words, one big difference in meaning!

Study the Bible, meditate on God’s word and arm yourself against the wolves.  Satan loves to catch a Christian in the snare!

Scripture to Claim:
What it says is this: "God's message is near you, on your lips and in your heart"---that is, the message of faith that we preach.  Romans 10:8