For one to inflict one’s self with baldness is to do away with his God-given anointing, power, and strength. This was the sad mistake of Samson, a God-made Nazarite before his birth, who wantonly allowed for his hair to be shaved off while he was having a nap in the lap of his Philistine wife, Delilah. (Judges 16: 17-21). Every Nazarite, coming after Samson, has learnt from his foolish and avoidable mistake. And that is why anyone, who vows the vows of Nazarites, holds in very high regard, his facial hairs, which he dedicates to God in His worship and service. In Old Testament times, soldiers who were defeated in wars were clean-shaved, as was their conquerors’ manner of disgracing and humiliating them. Was this to ensure that the powers of their defeated enemies were conclusively put out of operation? I very much believe this was the case. Or is the practice today, whereby people perceived to be deviants are decorated with so-called “identification haircuts”, a practice borrowed from that horrendous past? Is it so? Let me say that, no evidence can be found in the Word of God, where anybody desired to be made bald, for whatever weird reason. It was unthinkable for anybody to want to be robbed of his God-given facial hairs of wisdom, honor, authority, power, strength, and beauty. So why do we pay money to be made bald today? Many people today may not see all the preceding verses of scripture in this article, quoted from God’s Word, as being relevant to their lives. They may consider them archaic and of no relevance to modern-day lifestyles. But that is precisely our problem and hence our predicaments in finding solutions to our problems. Modern-day mankind seems not to know that God, being Eternal, His ways are also eternal. If from verses of the Old Testament quoted in this article, we see God give to mankind of that era, honor, wisdom, authority, physical power and strength, and beauty, in, through, and by his facial hairs, He does the same in today’s better covenanted New Testament. Does mankind, in ignorance of this fact lead himself, on a path of self-destruction, by removing all his God-given facial hairs? Does he, in acquiring the baldness of a plump pumpkin, at cost and great effort, throw away all the honor, wisdom, God-given authority, power, beauty, etc, God intends for him to have, as His representative on earth? How sad! In days of old, whenever people shaved off their facial hairs, it made big news –good or bad, positive or negative. You cannot forget the very sad news the shaving off of Samson’s hairs brought about, in his defeat by idol-worshipping and uncircumcised Philistines; and the joy his victory over these same enemies later-on brought, when his hairs grew-up. (cf. Judges 16: 1-30). One of the most handsome princes of Israel, Absalom, a son of David, made news every year when he cut (“polled”) his hair. When Absalom cut his hair, once every year, he always weighed it; tipping the scales at a staggering “two hundred shekels after the king’s weight” (Second Samuel 14: 25-26). Now, two hundred shekels is no mean weight: It is about 8.0 kilograms in today’s weight measure. No doubt, this weight of God-endowed living-hair on one man will attract the attention of almost all of today’s paparazzi and news-hungry pressmen, to report on it while it remained on his head, and or when it was gathered after shaving it off him. Whenever God had to let Israel be shaved of their hairs, it was always in punishment for their sins. (cf. Isaiah 7: 20, Amos 8: 10, Micah 1: 16). When disaster struck Israel in punishment for their sins, at the hand of their enemies, they shaved their hairs, in sorrow, mourning and repentance. (Isaiah 3: 24, 22: 12, Ezekiel 7: 16-22). God gave instructions as to how to the priests of the Old Testament were to perform the final cleansing-rites toward declaring a leprous person healed or clean. These included the shaving off of all facial hairs on the head, chin, cheeks, eyebrows, and eyelids. (Leviticus 14: 9). So what do today’s men, seek to gain by willingly inflicting baldness upon their heads? I am not sure, if by this self-inflicted baldness, men of this generation do show to God their sorrow and repentance from sin, or seek deliverance from some spiritual leprosy peculiar to our era. One of the most serious errors made by seekers of God’s salvation, in today’s Dispensation of Grace, is their beliefs that the Law-age is over, and that all its precepts and statutes are done away with, in the coming of the New Testament. However, every Heaven-minded seeker of God’s salvation in Christ must know and accept that, the Christian Faith which came in 30 AD was an evolved brand of Judaism, which God instituted for Israel, under the leadership of Moses. In fact, Judaism was the vehicle and mechanism that God used to prepare the way for the advent of the Christian Faith or Church-age, in much the same way that John the Baptist functioned as forerunner to prepare the way for the Messiah. Also, because it is Judaism which gave birth to the Christian Faith, the elements of Judaism must, as a matter of course, be seen in the Christian Faith. This is so in much the same way that all the attributes of God, who brought forth Jesus Christ as His Son, must be seen in him. Jesus Christ has said, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me;” (John 14: 11). This is a very thought-provoking statement; and indeed, anyone born of God, can also make the same statement without being accused of blasphemy. These truths of Jesus’ words can be said of the Old Testament being found in the New, and vice versa. In fact, the truth of God’s Word is that, when one sees the New Testament, one indeed has beheld the Old, since the New came out of the Old. The biological son of any father has all what can be found in his father. In much the same way, whatever can be found in any son, can be traced to and be found in the father. It must be understood by students of the Bible that, the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; in much the same way as the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. And so, the general notion held by most bible-students is that the Old Testament is the shadow of the New. From these revealed truths of God’s Word, we can understand that the tenets of both Judaism and the Christian Faith must be in existence forever, until the end of time. Of course, the Word of God in both testaments is Eternal, and therefore can neither change nor pass away. That is how the salvation-seeker should understand Jesus Christ, when he said in Matthew 5: 17-19 – “Till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”. In deed, the Word of God, is forever alive, always active (never dormant), razor-sharp, and forever potent; from Eternity to Eternity. The Word of God does the same work, from Creation to end of time. Therefore, from all these facts and the statement of Jesus Christ, the salvation-seeker must accept that, no seemingly small or unimportant aspect of the laws of Judaism could ever be done away with. In these same verses of Matthew 5: 17-19, we read of Jesus, say in plain words, about people being called “least in the kingdom of heaven”, those that break and teach others to break the least commandments of the law. Until what is commonly known today as Christianity, which came to contaminate the true Christian Faith of the apostles of Jesus Christ, every genuine adherent to the Faith, held reverentially to all the tenets of Judaism. In fact, all true followers of the Messiah of the immediate post-Ascension era were zealous in their obedience of the principles of Judaism. There is overwhelming evidence that, First Century Christians, led by the apostles who walked and talked with the Savior, continued to show submission and loyalty to tenets of Judaism, by making vows to God in consecrating their hairs in worship and service to Him. (cf. Acts 21: 20-24). So then, why do men of this generation treat their facial hairs with so much irreverence? Men of today do not seem to know about the contribution of their facial hairs to their image and likeness of the Creator. Men of this generation do not know they lose God-endowed power, authority, wisdom, honor, beauty, and many other blessings, when they willingly inflict themselves with baldness on their heads. All I can wish and pray to God for mankind, is that, he be delivered from his ignorance of God’s Will, to avoid the destruction ignorance brings. Shalom, dear reader. Chris Bapuohyele is a bible-expositor and author of the book: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE... His email address is: chrisbapuohyele@yahoo.com.

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