Context is a big deal to me, especially when it comes to Bible study. As the refrain says, “A text without a context is a pretext for a proof text.”

I recently read an article about Christians and drinking; the article cited this verse from Habakkuk: “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies.” (Habakkuk 2:15) The author used it to say that the wine Jesus created in John 2 couldn’t have been alcoholic for Jesus wouldn’t have violated the command to not give alcoholic drink to your neighbor.

Of course, I’d recently been studying Habakkuk, as I mentioned in a post on this site. And I knew that Habakkuk 2 was a condemnation of Babylon, not a listing of sins by individuals. Looking at the context again, I noticed that the very next verse says that what Babylon has done, God is going to do to them! “You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the LORD’S right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.” (Habakkuk 2:16)

Now, I think we can all agree that getting someone drunk in order to shame them is a bad thing. Few people would condone that, even among nonbelievers. But that’s not what this verse is talking about! The drink that Babylon gave to his neighbors was no more literal than the cup that God was going to give to them.

Or recently I’ve been hearing Romans 13:3 a lot: “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.” This is applied as a universal truth, despite the fact that most of the Bible shows the exact opposite! We have example after example of righteous people suffering unfairly at the hands of the government, from Joseph in the book of Genesis to the thousands of martyrs in the book of Revelation. Or do we think that Jesus was a wrongdoer?

Romans 13 is about a very specific situation in a defined moment in time. It deserves to be studied and interpreted in that context.

Then there’s all the traditional ones. When you use Jeremiah 29:11 to tell someone that God has plans for them, don’t forget to include Jeremiah 29:10 and tell them that God’s plans may include 70 years of captivity. When telling someone that they can do all things through Christ, be sure to point out that the “all things” Paul was talking about ranged from living in abject poverty to enjoying material riches.

Reading verses in context doesn’t always make the Bible say what we want it to say. But it helps us come closer to seeing what the Bible itself is trying to say.