HAIRY STORIES IN THE BIBLE

                                                        

HAIRY STORIES IN THE BIBLE

We don't ordinarily think of hair as a Bible subject. But I had one of those moments where things clicked in my head about hairy men in the Bible. And two hairy women. Their hair represented who they were. In Esau's story, his hair brought him a lot of grief, but not because he was ugly. The story of Jacob and Esau was wrapped in deceit. Absalom's story begins with a handsome, young man with unusually long, thick hair, but his hair led to his demise. Samson's strength was in his hair. He could whip a thousand men with a donkey's jawbone (Judges 15:15), but it was a woman named Delilah who cut the seven braids of his hair and his life was downhill from there. Elisha, the prophet, was bald. As he was walking, a group of boys from a nearby town started making fun of him yelling, "Get out of here, Baldy!" Forty-two boys died as a result. Nebudchanezzar thought he was king of the world until he proclaimed it loudly from a rooftop. He was transformed immediately into a grass-eating, crazy man with hair like eagle's feathers and claws. There's more to each story. Following are shortened versions.

Esau and his twin brother Jacob were born to Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was born hairy and stayed that way. To make a long story short, Esau was the oldest by a few minutes so he was promised the greater inheritance as was the custom in those days. Isaac loved Esau best because he was a hunter. Rebekah liked Jacob best because he was more of a home body. Esau went hunting to get some wild game. Jacob was close to home cooking a pot of beans. When Esau was finished, he was famished. He asked Jacob for some of the beans and Jacob told him he would trade him some for his birthright. Esau took him up on his offer, probably thinking it was a joke. If it was a joke, it still came true because when it came time for Isaac to declare the birthright to Esau, and because he was blind, he fell right into a deceitful plot. Rebekah told Jacob to get some sheepskins and put them on his arms and pretend to be Esau. Somewhat unwillingly, he did so and received the greater blessing. God meant for Jacob to have the greater blessing, but was very displeased that the time and method was stolen from Him. It's a long and tangled but interesting hairy story with twists and turns and payback deceit, Jacob's dream, his fight with the Lord, his name change and the subsequent 12 tribes of Israel.

The next story has a sad ending. Absalom was King David's son. He was a handsome prince with long, thick hair. It grew longer and thicker compared to other men's hair. But he had eyes on his father's throne. His dad began to weep when he learned of his son's plan. Both King David and King Wannabe Absalom gathered troops and both were ready to fight. David advised the troops to be gentle with Absalom, his son. Blood is thicker than water, after all. The battle ensued and was brutal. Twenty thousand men died in one day. Absalom happened onto some of David's men while riding a mule under a large oak tree. His hair was so long it got caught in a tree and he was left hanging in midair while his mule kept going. Joab, one of David's men, learned about Absalom's plight and took 3 javelins and plunged them into Absalom's heart, then ten armored men surrounded him and attacked him and he died. David was grief-stricken but was advised to show happiness that his people and family members were now safe or the people would turn against him.

Samson was raised under the Nazarite vow. He was consecrated to serve the Lord. He could not cut his hair, consume any grapes or grape products and could not touch a dead body. His story is a long one full of violence and bizarre behavior on the part of Samson. He had what we call today a superpower which was his great strength. He tore a young lion apart with his bare hands and killed a thousand Philistine soldiers with the jawbone of a donkey. The Philistines wanted to know where he got his strength so they threatened a beautiful young lady named Delilah to persuade him to tell her. He tricked her twice but the third time he gave up his divine secret. He wore seven braids because he had so much hair after not cutting it all his life and Delilah cut them off while he was sleeping. He was shackled, carried off as a prisoner and his eyes were gouged out. Eventually his hair grew back out and he regained some of his strength. A great crowd had met at the temple and they had Samson brought out to entertain them. He entertained them, alright. In fact, he brought down the house. He was chained to two columns of the temple and when he pulled on them with all his strength, the temple came down on top of the people. There's so many more shocking stories about the life of Samson that I had to leave out.

The story of Nebudchanezzer is a fascinating one. He was king of Babylon and during his reign he overtook Jerusalem. God allowed it because the people had turned away from Him. He later took Jerusalem and Judah into exile. Years later Nebudchanezzar had a troubling dream. He sought Daniel out to interpret it. In the dream was a mighty tree that was chopped down. The tree represented King Nebudchanezzar and his pride. Daniel described what would happen to him in the future. A year later the king was on his roof relishing in his power and greatness. He felt like king of the world. Then a voice from heaven reminded him he was not and from that point on he lost it all. He lived out in the field, ate grass, his hair became like eagle's feathers and his fingernails were like the claws of a bird. He lived in this mentally ill state for about seven years, then his mind cleared and he turned to God for help. God forgave him and gave him back what he had lost. God's forgiveness has no bounds when the person repents. Nebudchanezzar issued a decree over all his kingdoms that God rules.

Elisha was a prophet who followed Elijah, both before and after Elijah's death. He had no hair in his old age. He went up to Bethel and as he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. 25 And he went on his way to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.