RASTAFARIANISM and The Law of the Nazirite – NUMBERS 6. Achimota must appeal
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When either a man or woman [a]consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,3 he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4All the days of his [b]separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.
5‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6 All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. 7He shall not [c]make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. 8All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the LORD.
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9‘And if anyone dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting; 11 and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other…….
13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 14And he shall present his offering to the LORD: one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish as a sin offering, one ram without blemish as a peace offering, 15 a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their drink offerings.
16 ‘Then the priest shall bring them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering; 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 Then the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting,…
21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the LORD the offering for his separation, and besides that, whatever else his hand is able to provide; according to the vow which he takes, so he must do according to the law of his separation.”
The verdict is out – do you see Rastafarianism in the above scripture?
1. This is a commandment to the children of Israel ONLY,
2. It is for adults ONLY, men and women, not boys and girls.
3. It is voluntary decision to consecrate oneself to God.
4. It is for a period after which the hair is shaven, and the person returns to normal life, 5. It is not even a cult within Judaism, let alone a religion or basis for a religion, 6. The unshaven hair is not the only prescription of the Nazirite law, It is just one of many. 7. No alcohol
8. No vinegar. Combining 7 & 8 could mean – not to touch fermented stuff like kenkey. Lol. 9. Nothing to do with the dead. I do not know what happened when Bob Marley died, 10. It does not include smoking of marijuana.
Rastafarians can believe whatever they want but cannot tell me Numbers 6 sanctions their lifelong unkempt hair. That is simply not true. Dreadlocks is not a prerequisite for any Bible-based faith.
Rastafarians disingenuously equates Nazirite to Nazarene (from Nazareth) and infers that Jesus of Nazareth was a Rastafarian. That too is a lie. Nazirite is not geographical; it is non-locale.
Confused Africans decided to adopt a 4000year old exclusive but obsolete Jewish practice, some are saying the locks are authentic African hairstyle and condemn low hair cut as Caucasian colonial legacy. In fact, some even say it is a Christian imposition. Hey Africa!! The last time I checked, all school children in China cut their hair low. China is neither Caucasian nor Christian. What is the common link? Hygiene and discipline through uniformity.
There is no basis to accept dreadlocks as religious dressing. Achimota must appeal. Tswa omanye aba.
Opinion: Dr. Nii Amu Darko
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