Crystal Writes A Blog

A Very Bad Hair Day

Kelly Has Crazy Hair by Flickr User Jonathan McPherskesen, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike
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Whether it’s one wild hair, a cow lick, or a head full of unruly locks, we’ve all had days when we just couldn’t get the keratin on top of our heads to cooperate. Models make wild hair look good, but for most of us, a look like we’ve just walked through a tornado isn’t exactly our goal. Of course, the eighties punk look with spikes and rainbows might be an exception, but I’m sure even those who sported that look had bad hair days. I mean, too much hair spray and a low ceiling and one of those wild spikes might just pop right off, right? I don’t know for sure since I’ve never truly been “en vogue” with that or any other cultural style.

In today’s reading from Deuteronomy 32:40 through Deuteronomy 32:43, we continue the poetry and lyrics from the Song of Moses, and we find out why it could be scary to have a bad hair day. These verses are back to a shorter section, so I will paste it here from The Complete Jewish Bible…

For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear,
“As surely as I am alive forever,
If I sharpen my flashing sword
and set my hand to judgment,
I will render vengeance to my foes,
repay those who hate me.
I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
my sword will devour flesh —
the blood of the slain and the captives,
flesh from the wild-haired heads of the enemy.”

Sing out, you nations, about his people!
For he will avenge the blood of his servants.
He will render vengeance to his adversaries
and make atonement for the land of his people.

This follows up from yesterday where God declared Himself the One and Only God. He is speaking to those who would create or worship false gods, and He is definitely not happy. We see God here as a warrior, and He is arming Himself for a battle against those who hate Him. His picture of the enemy with wild hair shows that He sees them more like animals than people. And, since He could see their hearts, maybe they were more like that.

The next few lines show us that these wild-haired enemies have been making victims of God’s people. If you have ever been a victim, or known a victim, of someone who just seems to have no concept of the value of human life or dignity, you can understand why God would take the warrior stance described here. Even though His own people have not been faithful, He will not stand for their being victimized. He promises He will avenge all the attacks against them.

Something came to me as I read these verses. God did not create people for unkind and uncaring behavior. Every person alive is, at the core, made in the image of God, and God is love, so anything outside of love is not His will. When He looks at us and sees people destroying and dishonoring that image, it hurts Him. Like a protective Father or Big Brother, He is ready to take vengeance both for His image and His children.

I don’t like violence or punishment, but I know it is sometimes a necessity–even from a God of love. We’ve gotten the definition of love mistranslated to mean allowing people to destroy the image of God without any judgment whatsoever. But God’s image is holy, and those who destroy it by hurting others or themselves, need to pay a price as a deterrent. God, in His love and mercy, knows when someone acts out of ignorance and simply needs to be lead in a new direction. He also looks at hearts and knows when He has found a very real and unchangeable darkness in that person’s heart. I don’t believe He destroys anything or anyone that is redeemable, and I am certain He doesn’t destroy anyone just because they’ve had a very bad hair day.

September 25, 2014 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | bad hair day, Bible Commentary, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, Deuteronomy, God's image, lyrics, poem, Scripture, song of Moses, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, vengeance, wild hair | Leave a comment