Women’s hair

William Branham taught:

The Bible says: 

³Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. ⁴Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. ⁵And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head--it is just as though her head were shaved. ⁶If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. ⁷A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. ⁸For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; ⁹neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. ¹⁰For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.
¹¹In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. ¹²For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. ¹³Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, ¹⁵but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. ¹⁶If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice--nor do the churches of God."
I Corinthians 11:3-16

This scripture should be read and interpreted according to the culture and issues of the day. In Paul's day, women were to wear a covering on their head to show submission to their husbands. This covering did not mean hair. Her head was to be covered by a veil. There probably aren't many Message women who wear a veil in order to show submission to her husband. That's because it is not a part of our culture. A woman shows her submission in other ways, such as with a wedding ring and obedience to him. When Paul said that if a woman prays uncovered, it is as if she were shorn. In his day, a woman caught in prostitution was shaved. She lost her natural covering. Paul says that a woman who does not pray with her head covered with her veil, she might as well shave her head because she is presenting herself as a spiritual prostitute, not being under her husband's submission. That was the propriety of the day. The issue was cultural. There is no Law in the Old Testament that said that a woman should not cut her hair. 

Paul constantly taught that we are no longer under Law, but grace, so it would be an error to interpret Paul's advice in I Corinthians 11 to be a new law to the Christians right after we are freed from the Law of Moses! Today, hair cutting has no connotations of disobedience or prostitution whatsoever. Yes, sometimes women cut their hair in a way that looks ridiculous or even repulsive, but God knows their heart and motives for their styles. We are not to be their judge. Cultures change, but a heart obedient to the Lord will be pure in its motives.

Paul's emphasis was on the heart of the woman-her submission to her husband as the church is in submission to Christ. The Message has turned the emphasis on an act of legalism-hair cutting.