- The Nazirites represented the power of the Word in its outermost form. 223
In the book of Judges we read about Samson. He was a Nazirite from his
mother’s womb. His hair was the source of his strength. A Nazirite and a
Naziriteship in fact mean “hair.” Samson himself showed that his hair
was the source of his strength when he said,
No razor has come upon my head, because I am a Nazirite from my
mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me and I will
become weak and be like any other person. (Judges 16 : 17 )
Without knowing what a “head” means in the Word, we cannot
imagine why a Naziriteship that means “hair” would be instituted or why
Samson’s hair would be the source of his strength. A head means the
intelligence that angels and people have from the Lord through divine
truth. Hair, then, means an intelligence because of divine truth on the
lowest or outermost level. Since this was the meaning of hair, it was a rule
for the Nazirites that they were not to shave the hair on their head,
because it was the Naziriteship of God on their head (Numbers 6 : 1 – 21 ).
There was also a rule that the high priest and his sons were not to shave
their heads, or they would die and wrath would come upon the entire
house of Israel (Leviticus 10 : 6 ). Hair was so holy because of its meaning
(which comes from its correspondence) that even the hair of the Son of
Humankind(that is, the Lord in his role as the Word) is described. It was
as shining white as wool, like snow (Revelation 1 : 14 ). The Ancient of
Days is described as having similar hair (Daniel 7 : 9 ).
Since hair means truth on the outermost levels and therefore means
the literal meaning of the Word, we become bald in the spiritual world if
we despise the Word. On the other hand, if we value the Word highly
and hold it as sacred, we will have good-looking hair in that world.
This correspondence is the reason why forty-two youths were torn
apart by two she-bears for calling Elisha bald ( 2 Kings 2 : 23 , 24 ). Elisha
represented the church’s teaching from the Word. The she-bears stood for
the power of truth on the outermost levels.
The power of divine truth or of the Word exists in its literal meaning
because at that level the Word is complete, and people and angels of each
of the Lord’s kingdoms share in it together.
8. The Word has indescribable power. Nowadays scarcely anyone 224
knows that there is any power in truths. People think that the truth is
just something spoken by someone in authority, so it needs to be done;
they think the truth is only like a breath from someone’s mouth and a
§224 sacred scripture 299