Are We Just 'Splitting Hairs'?

 

ARE WE JUST ‘SPLITTING HAIRS’?
The Hair Controversy

 

Some think it doesn’t matter what you do with your hair and that if you say anything concerning it, you are just ‘splitting hairs.’

The phrase ‘splitting hairs’ means ‘ to make peevish objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant.

So, is what we do with our hair minor, unimportant, or irrelevant?  Does God care what we do with our hair?

Jesus’ Himself said in Luke 12:7 and Matt 10:30-31
           But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

The Disciples were asking Jesus concerning what the signs would be of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple as they knew it. 

Jesus gave some unsettling and fearful signs warning them of what was soon to come.  (Luke 21)  But then He offered some comfort… “But there shall not an hair of your head perish.”  (Luke 21:18)

Jesus could have merely said, “don’t worry, you’ll be safe” but instead He said “not a hair of your head shall perish.”

This shows us God does care about our hair. 

He numbered every hair on our head.

He knows exactly how many we have and which ones fall out.

Proverbs 16:31 calls the grey hair a crown of glory…IF it be found in the way of righteousness.

It amazes me today that young women are trying to dye their hair grey and look old while older women are trying to dye their hair so they look young.

Because some have come to accept dying of the hair as long as it is just to cover the gray, we now have some even in ministry teaching and believing that it’s ok no matter if you want to dye it purple or pink or orange.

Remove not the ancient landmarks. 

It is God Who gives us these grey hairs.
He did not create people with purple or pink or orange hair.
Grey hair is a glory…if it comes from God and is not man-made.
It’s part of living and aging.

Lev 19:32 instructs:

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary (grey) head
and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God….

Modern terminology would mean we are to show honor and respect to our elders.  A person who was grey headed and aging was to be honored.

Proverbs 20:29, a proverb written by the wisest man, wrote:

The glory of young men is their strength
but the beauty of old men is the gray head.

God spoke in Isaiah 46:4 saying:

And even to your old age I am He;
and even to hoar (grey) hairs will I carry you:
I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

God cares about us so much that He’s numbered every hair on our head and said He’ll carry us even when our hair is graying.

As the Gospel of Jesus Christ was being spread throughout the then known world, questions arose about various issues.

One of those issues was a question about hair which the Corinthian Church sent a letter to Paul concerning. 

Let’s look at what Paul’s response was in I Corinthians 11:1-16.

Paul starts out by admonishing them to follow him as he follows Christ Jesus.  (verse 1)

He instructs them to keep the ordinances that he has delivered to them.  (verse 2)

He then addresses the divine order of creation and authority. (Verse 3)

The next few verses reveal that Paul was responding to questions the Corinthian Church must have been asking concerning whether head coverings were necessary for women whenever they were praying or taking part in a Church service. 

Verse 4 - Every man praying or prophesying having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.

**dishonoureth means ‘to shame down, i.e. disgrace or put to the blush, make ashamed.’  (see Strong’s #G2617)

Paul is instructing the men not to cover their heads saying it would be a shame for them.

Verse 5 - But every woman that prayeth or phophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

Shaven means to shave or shear the hair with a razor down to the skin   (see Strong’s #G3587)

Verse 6 - For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn:  (shorn means ‘to shear’ - G2751) but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her covered.

If you have ever seen a sheep after it was sheared, there was still
a slight covering of wool.  It was cut close to the skin but not
shaved completely bald.

In today’s society, women have shaved their heads bald or cut the hair close to the scalp….and to many, that’s acceptable. However, we can’t go by what society says is okay or not okay.  We have to line up with the Word of God.  We could name many things that society says is okay and acceptable yet is contrary to God’s Word.

Important note: These Scriptures are not addressing those who have lost their hair due to cancer or some other disease. It is addressing those who deliberately shave or shear the hair of the head.

Since the beginning of creation, it was a shame for a woman to shave her head bald or cut the hair so short it was barely covering the scalp.

God created gender distinction - our hair reveals (or is supposed to reveal) whether we are a man or a woman. 

Paul said in Verse 6 that if a woman shaves or shears her head, then let her put on a covering for it is a shame to her.

Verse 7 - For a man ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

Verse 8 - For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.

Verse 9 - Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

We can see from these verses that a man is not to cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God.

Next verse:  Verse 10 -
        FOR THIS CAUSE (because of this) ought the woman
        to have power on her head because of the angels.
                   **Power means ‘delegated influence’ (see Strong’s #1849)

Verse 11 -
        Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman,
        neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
        For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man
        also by the woman; but all things of God.

Contrary to what the feminist movement would like to spread and propagate …….the man needs the woman and the woman needs the man.

We need each other - That’s Bible!

Verse 13
           Judge in yourselves: is it comely (suitable, proper)
           that a woman pray unto God uncovered?

Verse 14 -
           Doth not even nature itself teach you,
           that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him.

Verse 15 -
           But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her:
           for her hair is given her for a covering.

Paul explains that a woman’s hair is given to her ‘for’ (meaning: ‘opposite, instead of’ Strong’s #G473) a covering (something thrown around one, i.e. a mantle, veil  Strong’s #G4018)

In other words, a woman’s long hair is given to her instead of a mantle, a veil.

Paul is expounding in verses 14-15 that a woman is not required to wear a veil, because her long hair is her covering.

While it is the opposite for the man: it is a shame for him to have long hair that would be like wearing a veil.

However, Paul is not saying a  man cannot wear something on his head such as a prayer cap. The Jewish men wear a prayer cap and a prayer shawl on their head when they pray.

If he was saying it’s a sin for the men to wear something on top of their head, then the Jewish man who places that prayer shawl on his head is sinning when he prays.

Verses 14 - 15 explains what Paul is really referring to….our hair.

Nature itself teaches that a man is not to have long hair.

Did Jesus have long hair?

Paintings depict Jesus and His disciples with hair draping over their shoulders.  Many believe this to be true and use it as an excuse for men to have long hair. But that popularly held thinking is inaccurate Biblically and historically.  

God's Word is not going to teach that men are to have short hair and women are to have long hair (1 Corinthians 11) only to have Jesus contradict God's Word by going around flaunting long hair on men. Can you imagine Jesus wearing a 'man' bun? 😳

I am not being hateful or mean nor am I attacking anyone by saying this.   That sly ol' fox has been trying to blur the distinction between male and female for years and now has many so confused that they can no longer define what a baby is nor a female.  The devil is a master at deception and a twister of Truth.

So, back to the question: did Jesus have long hair?

Biblically, the answer is No!  Jesus was the Word made flesh (John 1:1-10) and is not going to contradict Himself nor His Word. Paul knew the Word of God and taught on it in 1 Corinthians 11.

What about historically? History also proves that Jesus did not have long hair, so again, the answer is No!   Look at Sculptures and carvings from that era.  The men had short, cropped hair which was above their neck. 

   

Historically and Biblically, it is proven that no, Jesus and His disciples did not have long hair.  God did not create Adam with long hair.

When the lines of Truth and what is right versus what's wrong become blurred, confusion ensues.  God is not the author of confusion, but the devil is. 

The paintings of Jesus with long hair are inaccurate.              

But if the woman have long hair, it is a GLORY to her.

Since the beginning of creation, a woman was blessed (yes, blessed) with a crown of glory on her head…her long hair.

Paul said a woman’s hair is given to her for (instead of) a covering (a veil).

And it is a glory to her… Glory means dignity, honour, praise (see Strong’s # G1391)

Some women have asked, “but what’s the definition of long?” because their hair doesn’t grow very long due to hormonal imbalance, surgeries or medicines that have messed up the health and growth of the hair, etc.

Sometimes, the hair doesn’t grow due to our own doing such as the over-processing of hair by straighteners, curling irons, or harsh chemicals from perms or hair dyes which causes severe damage and breakage.

This is not saying it is a sin to use straighteners or curling irons.  There are, sadly, women who will deliberately hold the straighteners and curling irons on their hair or get perm after perm in order to cause their hair to break off and appear shorter. 

Our hair is our glory - we need to take care of it as best we can.

There are some cultures whose hair does not grow very long.  So what does it mean by ‘long hair’?

The definition of long hair means ‘To wear tresses of hair’
           (see Strong’s G2863)

Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines ‘long’ this way:
            Komao = signifies to let the hair grow long

Paul addressed it as a shame for a woman to use cutting instruments on the hair to shave or shear the head.  Shorn is the past participle of the word shear.

Shear (according to Google’s definition) means:
           “to cut off (something such as hair, wool, or grass) with scissors
             or shears.” 
           “Break off or cause to break off, owing to a structural strain.”

Therefore, a woman is not to cut off her hair with scissors or shears. 

Nor is she to deliberately break off her hair or do something to damage the hair knowing it will cause it to break off. 

History even supports this. 

Down through the pages of history, women who professed to be Christians did not use any cutting tool on her hair…regardless of denomination.

It wasn’t until the 1920’s when women began to cut their hair into ‘bobs’ and began wearing the immodest flapper dress. 

It was reported that many women fainted when the scissors were first put to their head.

Schools and churches rallied against the “flappers” for acting like and looking like men.

Cutting of the hair was always seen as ‘masculine’ by those who professed Christianity up until the last 100 years.

Long hair was considered feminine and a sign of godliness. 

Those who cut their hair proclaimed short bobbed hair made them look ‘smarter’ rather than beautiful…..which was the goal of that day.

Those who were for ‘bobbing’ of the hair looked at long uncut hair as a ‘shackle’.

Isn’t that just like the devil to deceive people into thinking that a woman’s long uncut hair is a shackle?

It’s not a shackle - God calls it our Glory!  If God says it’s a glory to us, then who are we to despise it and call it a ‘shackle’?

On the contrary, there’s freedom when we obey and follow God’s Word.

By not cutting her hair, a woman is showing submission and obedience to God’s Word and His order.  Her obedience in not cutting her hair is a testimony against the fallen angels who left their created role in rebellion.

That’s what Paul was referring to in Verse 10 -
        FOR THIS CAUSE (because of this) ought the woman
        to have power on her head because of the angels.
                   **Power means ‘delegated influence’ (see Strong’s #1849)
                   **the angels who followed lucifer left their creative order
                       in rebellion.
                   **In the garden, the woman was deceived.

God instructed Adam - Adam later instructed Eve concerning what God had said after she was created.  (Gen. 2:15-23)   Eve was deceived by the fallen angel, but Adam was in disobedience to God’s Word.

If Eve had listened to her husband’s instruction, she wouldn’t have been deceived into sinning and then caused her husband to sin.  Because of this, God has placed delegated influence over the wife as a covering.

Paul concluded in verse 16…
         But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom,
         neither the churches of God.

In this statement, Paul is not saying that if anyone wants to argue concerning what he has written, then so be it ….. Never mind …. Disregard everything he’s previously written. 

Especially since he started out saying in verses 1-2…
        Follow me as I follow Christ….and…..Keep the ordinances
        as I delivered them to you

On the contrary, Paul is addressing the issue of contention.

Contention is always the result of pride.  Proverbs 13:10 instructs…

Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

He is saying we do not have a custom of contention and arguing within the Church.

Paul has delivered the Word of the Lord, explaining the way they are walk more fully.

They were instructed to heed it.

When a woman is obedient to God’s Word and allows her hair to grow uninhibited, she is covered.

Because she is covered, she is then free to pray and prophesy and be used by God within the Church services however He chooses to use her.

A woman’s prayers can be powerful tools to break the strongholds of satan when she’s in alignment with God and not in rebellion.

The devil wants women to think they’re shackled, but really we’re free when we obey the Truth in the Word of God.

 

 

 

 

 

1 Timothy 2

9 – In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.

10 – But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

 

1 Peter 3

1 – Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that if an obey not the Word, they also may without the Word be won by the conversation of the wives;

2 – while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

3 – Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

4 – but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in the which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

5 – For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands.

 

Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines these words this way.

Broided = means ‘braided hair’ which can signify as ringlets, curls

‘Broided’ is to be distinguished from ‘broidered,’ which means to adorn with needlework (not to plait).

‘Plaiting’ the Hair = means to intertwine the hair in ornament.

In these passages of Scripture, Paul was not saying that a woman should not braid her hair or curl it.  He is addressing elaborate hairstyles that were intertwined with gold and jewels which drew undue attention to a woman as it sparkled when she moved.