Anne

Men’s Hair
by David and Tamra Lee

     Hair is an immensely personal thing, yet it is also a clue to the individual wearing it, and the culture around them. Today's Western public seems to feel it is no one's business but their own how they dress (or don't dress) and how they wear their hair. But Christians do not live by the flesh; they live by the Word of God and its directives. With that in mind, this article will examine the subject: Does the Bible teach that men are to have short hair?
     "Jesus had long hair, and so do I!" many proud young hippies used to brag in the 1960's.  That sentiment has been repeated so many times, that it's taken for granted. No one even questions it. Where did those hippies get such an idea?  They got the idea from Catholic paintings, which influenced how Bible movies are made in Hollywood.
    The classic Roman Catholic artists gave depictions of Christ as a weak, effeminate, long-haired man who couldn’t swat a fly sitting on the loaf of bread at the Last Supper. It is no accident that men like Da Vinci and Michelangelo gave the imitation Jesus long hair. These artists were homosexuals, and in that day it was a “coming out” sign for a homosexual man to have long hair. So these were homosexual artists painting and sculpting a homosexual “Christ”!
     Historic sculptures and paintings of Greeks and Hebrews depict short-haired men. One could not tell Jew from Gentile apart, because it was understood that it was masculine for men to have short hair.
   Jewish men were only allowed to let their hair grow when they were keeping a Nazarite vow. The Lord Jesus was not a Nazarite. He drank grape juice/wine, something Nazarites were not allowed to do. He also touched dead people, to raise them back to life. A Nazarite could not touch the dead while under his vow. 
     Ezekiel 44:20 says, "Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads." Oh - but that was for the priests!, some object.  Yes, that verse was written for the priests, but because "they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." (vs 23)  In other words, the priests were an example to the people of Israel, not only in teaching the Torah, but also how they lived, dressed, and so on. Please note: they were not to be skinheads, neither were they to allow their “locks” to grow long…no, not even the side-locks that many of the Orthodox men wear today! (That is an invention of the Mishnah.)
     The Talmud (Ta'anith 17a) affirmed Ezekiel’s writing, and requires men to get monthly haircuts, in the style of the Caesar “Julian.” (Sanhedrin 22b).  
     “So we know how male Greeks and Jews in the First Century usually wore their hair. I’m an American Black/Hispanic/Asian Christian man. Those things don’t matter to me.  I’m not under the Old Testament law; I’m under grace.”
     Those who dismiss the Old Testament need to read what is written in the New Testament.  While we are not under Old Testament law, we are still to take examples from it. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says, “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” And Peter gives a specific instance that is for our example: “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.”  God’s opinion about sin has not changed since the Old Testament, so we can still understand His holy character and His opinion about various moral issues from Old Testament verses.  We can also still derive comfort from Old Testament passages like Psalm 23 and 91; and be challenged by Joshua 24:15. Why shouldn’t we use the Old Testament to direct our understanding of hair and dress?  Let’s not forget that ““All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Tim 3:16)
     Therefore, let’s consider 1 Corinthians 11:14: “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?”
     “Oh, but that says it’s ‘a shame’ for him.  It doesn’t say it is a sin!”
     The word “shame” in the Greek (which the New Testament was written in) is “atimia.” This Greek word means “infamy…disgrace, dishonour, reproach, shame, VILE.”  “Atimia” is the same word used in Romans 1:26-27 for homosexual sin. God says that a man who has long hair is vile. Long hair on a man is offensive to God like homosexual sin!
     I challenge you, Brother in the Lord Jesus Christ, to lay down your culture and preferences and quickly get to the barber shop. Order a military cut – in obedience to King Jesus!  
     Don’t dishonor the Lord by looking vile, imitating the homosexual. Look masculine, capable of doing the work the Lord needs a man to do!  
http://www.godrules.net/library/strongs2b/gre819.htm