Revelation on Hair. Some members of the early Church had come out of a tradition requiring that men always be clean-shaven and believed this to be the correct order, whilst others believed in legalistically observing the Hebrew customs in the Law of Moses to the letter. This revelation shows that under the New Covenant considerable freedom is given in the matter of how men and women should wear their hair, and underlines the New Covenant truth that a man is justified in what he does provided he seeks to sincerely honour God in his appearance and does not contradict what has already been revealed in the New Covenant Law. Legalistic observance of the Law of Moses is a perversion of the Gospel. Rather, a man is enjoined to obtain the grace of Christ and, thus equipped with a power not his own -- the Holy Spirit -- live the completed Law of Christ in its fullness, devoid of all the shadows and types of the Law of Moses which pointed to the New Covenant Law [Frogner, Oslo, Norway].

1. The Word of the Lord concerning the propriety of the sons of Israel shaving or growing beards:

2. There are some of you who suppose that the customs of the Hebrews obtain in this day and have allowed their hair and beards to grow long because they seek to honour the Scriptures and thus God.

3. Blessed is the man who seeketh to honour Me, saith the Lord, for I shall surely have regard for him and number him amongst the righteous.

4. But more blessed is the man who seeketh after more Light and conformeth himself to the greater intelligence, for hisreward shall be greater, and he shall be a greater blessing unto mankind.

5. Let all be satisfied in their own minds and hearts as to how they shall wear their hair and not impose their will on others, that all may arise according to free agency and a clear conscience.

6. I, the Lord, told the Israelites to do many things outwardly on account of their carnal natures and because they chose a lesser, outer Law, and to separate them from their Gentile neighbours.

7. Behold, My people Israel in their fallen state yearned after the ways of the surrounding nations because they would not conform themselves to the ways of God.

8. And because they were carnal and unspiritual, I heaped upon them many outer forms and regulations that they might not be lost entirely.

9. But they were a stiff-necked and rebellious people and hearkened not unto the Law given through My servant Moses.

10. It mattereth not unto Me whether ye wear beards or not, saith the Lord, for God judgeth according to the heart and the inward man.

11. It is better that a man not grow his hair too long for the crown of a woman is her hair and ye have been commanded not to be effeminate in any of your ways (1 Cor.6:8).

12. Shaving is an emblem of cleansing and purification and many of My servants have shaved their hair as a token that they are renewing their covenants (Num.8:7; 6:9; Ac.21:23-26; 18:18).

13. But shaving may also be an emblem of mourning (Job 1:20) and those who were diseased under the Law giventhrough My servant Moses were likewise required to shave (Lev.13:33), but were thereafter to allow their hair to grow long (Lev.13:40-45; 14:8-9);

14. But a shaven head may also be an emblem of rebellion.

15. In every age and in every culture the children of men ascribe a different meaning to hair, whether it be long or short, according to their traditions and customs.

16. My servant Joseph [son of Jacob] shaved his hair because this was the custom of the Egyptians (Gen.41:41).

17. Righteousness is predicated upon a pure head, saith the Lord, and not on a man's hair.

18. Nevertheless ye have been comm- anded to be clean and tidy (NC&C 30);

19. Therefore let each man be satisfied as to how he honoureth God.

20. But let his motives be pure, for some grow their hair and beards long merely to court attention; such is born of vanity and is not pleasing unto Me.

21. Likewise let not the women ex- cessively adorn their hair for the praises and attention of men, or to glory over their fellow sisters, for such is born of vanity and is not pleasing unto Me.

22. But let all seek to honour God and those who are their spouses or parents, for righteousness' sake.

23. Some of you have asked about the Order of Nazirites which was an order of the Law given unto My servant Moses for those not of the [Levitical] Priesthood (Num.6:21).

24. This was a covenant for a fixed period of time only, being not an eternal covenant, and required he who hadentered into into this Order to abstain from alcohol and meat, to refrain from touching dead bodies (according to the Law given unto My servant Moses) and to refrain from cutting his hair.

25. They who were faithful received a promise; those who were not faithful, like Samson (Judg.16:19), who broke the covenant, were cut off from their spiritual blessings and the protection of Heaven.

26. Verily, verily, thus saith the Lord: the Order of the Nazirites hath been taken into the Greater (Melchizedek) Priesthood and the former hath been brought to completion, even as the Mosaic Law hath been brought to completion, for Priest- hood is open unto all, and there is no need for any lay Orders.

27. Some of the covenants of the Nazirites belong unto that part of the New Covenant Priesthood which pertaineth to the Holy Order, and are known unto some of you; but that which remaineth, pertain- ing unto the law of outer commandments, hath passed away and is nailed to the Cross of Calvary.

28. For now ye abide under grace through faith in Christ, and this is sufficient for your daily walk.

29. It is not My will that the saints be burdened with excessive outer rules, reg- ulations, practices, and ordinances, for I have brought the schoolmaster Law given unto My servant Moses to completion and usshered in the Higher Law which is after inward grace.

30. Nevertheless, so long as ye are in your carnal state ye cannot entirely be free of outward forms, and thus I have preserved a few outward ordinances for your salvation.

31. The more spiritual shall rise above these by-the-by; nevertheless let all be subject unto them, for the sake of the weak, that all may be joined together in love in one Body, forever united as the Bride of Christ.

32. Ye must rise above that which is temporal and have no regard for the sin of Hanun in its outward form (1 Chron.19:4) but look upon the works of the inner man wherein abideth the eye of God.

33. It was the custom of woman taken captive to shave their heads and pare their nails when they were taken captive (Dt.21:10ff) as a token of their slavery.

34. For this cause shall a woman grow her hair long as a token of her freedom in Christ Jesus and, if she is married, as a token of the love of her husband for her and of her love for her husband.

35. Nevertheless let each woman be satisfied as to how long she groweth her hair1, for it is a question of agency and conscience as I have already spoken;

36. Let her do what she doeth in freedom and let none exercise unrighteous dominion or pass judgment.

37. I say unto you again that I, the Lord, look on a man's or woman's heart and not upon the shortness or length of their hair or beards (1 Sam.16:7).

38. Be ye not yoked to outer forms but be ye conformed to the righteousness of the Son of Man, for it is not expedient that I, the Lord, should command you in all things, but that ye seek Christ and be taught by the Light.

39. The day of the Levite hath passed away, for the Order of the Son of God hath come.

40. Ye shall not be bound by the former regulations which say that a Priest shall not shave the edge of his beard, nor make tonsures (Num.6:9).

41. There are some who suppose they should live the laws and regulations pertaining to these things, but I say unto these people:

42. If ye do not live all the Laws given through My servant Moses, then ye shall be condemned!

43. But ye cannot live all the Laws given through My servant Moses, nor any man; and for this cause was Israel condemned.

44. But now cometh the freedom of a perfect sacrifice, yea, by the Infinite and sinless God;

45. Ye are not made right with Me, saith the Lord, through legalistic observance of all the outward forms;

46. Rather He who hath received the Son shall do all things by grace, becoming obedient to that which hath been retained in the Law of Christ out of a love for his God.

47. For the old way of securing righteousness through the compulsory observance of all these outward laws, to thereby be made righteous before God, hath been done away with and is no more.

48. Therefore why do ye seek to burden your souls with shadows and types when the Son of Man {the ante-type} hath already come and fulfilled them?

49. Know ye not that ye deny the Great Atonement2 in seeking to justify yourselves through legalistic observance of the Law given through My servant Moses?

50. Why must ye ever seek material and carnal forms? Know ye not that I, the Lord, am spiritual, and that he who worshippeth Me must do so in spirit and truth (Jn.4:24)?

51. How many times must I tell you these things before ye will understand?

52. Therefore cast aside your carnal thoughts and desires and seek ye after My grace3, which is pure and undefiled, and which is true meat indeed.

53. And he who cometh unto Me and seeketh grace shall never hunger but be eternally filled, being fully equipped to live the Law of Christ in its fullness.

54. Turn ye away from the incomplete forms and shadows of the House of Israel, even the former Law, and unto spiritual Israel which abideth in a man's heart.

55. This is the Word of the Lord unto Israel of the New Covenant and it sufficeth Me. Amen.