I was going through Mrs Bathfire’s drawers looking for a small hammer when caught my reflection in the mirror, and I got to thinking… “When God made Adam a little over 6000 years ago, it was generally agreed that this was a good thing and, as usual, He had got the design right first time and that everything was there for a purpose. For example, the opposable thumb that canbe stuck upright to signal to God in Heaven that everything is OK. (I know Ihave often given a quick “Thumbs Up” to the Almighty for the casual thanks fora small miracle such as finding another roll of toilet paper when the apparently last roll gave out) or men’s nipples that tell us if it is cold or not, which is why women are always asking men if they are cold but men never ask that question of other men.
And then there is nasal hair… Is it a mystery? The problem is not that men have it, the problem is “Why did God give men nasal hair andwhy does it only appear with age?”
I have heard it proposed that dust is the reason for nasal hair:
Ex:8:16: And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron,Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
But that would mean that young sons would breathe in lice,and so that can’t be the reason.
And likewise
Job:39:20: Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
gives some hope that there is glory in nostrils, but this verse is about a horse.
And then there is
Ex:15:3: The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
Ex:15:4: Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
Ex:15:5: The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
Ex:15:6: Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Ex:15:7: And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
Ex:15:8: And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
With God’s help, Moses has parted the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s army follows, and God uses His Most Perfect Nostrils to close the sea and drown the Egyptians. And only the blind will fail to see the significance of this:
God made us in His Image: He therefore must have hairy nostrils for He is in the form of a man and He is as old as time.
If God is to give a blast of His Holy Nostrils, then He first has to inhale. He does not want seawater getting up there, nor does He want the sand of the seabed or fish and seaweed getting up there. He needs hairs to filter out all the bits – only then can He give a blast. (A God choking on mud or seashells would not be impressive at all!)
And so, nasal Hair is a reminder to us from God of the Exodus that, over generations, gave rise to Jesus’s birth and the supremacy of men on this earth. He has granted this miracle of the hairy nostril to elderly men to serve not only to remind them directly that they are becoming more like Him as they approach the Gates of Heaven, but also as a living witness to His power and Jesus’s sacrifice for others.
Nostril hair should not be trimmed.