TATTOOS - IITB 10.07

 

Chapter 10.7

Tattoos

Heathen Tattoos - Forced Tattoos – God’s Tattoo – Body Art

End of Times Tattoo - Tattoo of the Beast – Mark of ownership

Tattoos Today – Self-expression - Should a Christian get a tattoo?

 

 

First Word

     Tattoo:  A mark made by pricking and inserting pigment under the skin.  An artificially inflicted sign on the body in the form of incision, tattoo, stamp, special sign or brand.

     Wikipedia: Many tattoos serve as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, tribal identification, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, magical amulets and talismans for protection.

     Forced tattoo were marks or tattoos placed as punishment on outcasts, slaves and convicts.  The Nazis introduced the practice of tattooing identification numbers on the Jews at Auschwitz in 1941 in order to register them and finally identify the remains of those that had died in the concentration camp.

 

Bad Boys

     The first time I saw a tattoo was when I was in high school; the “BAD BOYS” took their knife and cut a symbol of a cross with quotation marks around it on the web of their hand between their thumb and index finger, then took a ballpoint pen and put blue ink in it t this First Class TATOO was the symbol of the Gang of five that could CHEW and SPIT.

     Now grant you this was in the mid 50’s and the badness was sitting on a wall smoking a cigarette and passing around a single hot beer and making hooting sounds at the girls.  They were super bad when they put a potato in the exhaust pipe of a teacher’s car, or hoisted a commode up on the flag pole, or when all five of them drug a teachers VW Beatle around sideways in its parking space.  They were tough and had the TATTOO to prove it.

 

Background

     Very early in the Bible we find references to the “heathen”; those that did not recognize the one God of Israel.  They would make cuts in their flesh and rub colored clay in it to make it stand out.  This Tattoo was a “sign of a covenant” with others to protect them against their enemy, much like the gangs today.  When you mess with me you mess with all of us in the covenant gang.

     Tattoos were associated with pagan cults who tattooed themselves when they mourned for their dead.  Archeologist have found tattoos on preserved skin dating back to 6000 BC.

     In order to SET APART the chosen people of Israel, the moral and ceremonial laws instructed them to do everything possible to NOT look the same as the heathen.[1]  Cutting or tattooing themselves was therefore forbidden.[2]  A Christian should not look the same as the Worldly Heathen.

     I’ll say it another way; Tattoos represent the ways of the heathen world; those NOT chosen by God to be a people Holy to Him.

The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 AD, banned all body markings as a pagan practice.[3]

 

Tattoo of the Beast

     We find in the end times that men will not be able to buy or sell without the TATTOO mark of the beast.[4]  This mark is used to control the person and clearly identifies that this person is a worshiper of the “image” of the Antichrist.  It is a mark of allegiance and loyalty to the world leader.

     This is a perversion of the Mark of God that is placed on the 144,000 Jews who will testify of Christ.

     Please NOTE; if you receive the mark of the beast, you cannot reverse your decision.  I don’t know what this sounds like to you, but to my BS, it says that if you were tattooed with the MARK OF THE BEAST, you have refused the Holy Spirit.  You have entered into the zone of the “Unpardonable Sin”.  Repentance is too late; there is no choice on “smoking” or “non-smoking”.

 

Revelation 14:9-11 -Tattoo of the beast an Unpardonable Sin

9 If ANYONE worships the beast and his image and

RECEIVES HIS MARK on the forehead or on the hand,

10 he, too, WILL DRINK OF THE WINE OF GOD'S FURY,

which has been poured FULL STRENGTH into the cup of his wrath.

HE WILL BE TORMENTED WITH BURNING SULFUR

in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the

11 SMOKE OF THEIR TORMENT RISES FOR EVER AND EVER. There is NO REST day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or FOR ANYONE WHO RECEIVES THE MARK OF HIS NAME."

(NKJV)

Exception

     Good News; when we become believers, we are forever marked with the SEAL OF GOD.[5]   Seals are placed by the owner as his mark of ownership.[6]  It’s the mark of God’s approval, a deposit of what is to come.[7] There is another mark that is the exception to the rule that occurs in the Tribulation period when God places His mark on 144,000 EVANGELIST[8] so that the Heathen world will take notice.  There will be no doubt as to whether they are a servant of the most high God or a servant of the worldly Beast.[9]

     In the last days God will Tattoo the redeemed Christian with His mark on their foreheads.[10]  This is not just any mark; it’s the NEW name of God tattooed on their foreheads.[11]  Note: The Tattoo of protection;[12] the mark of God’s ownership[13] IS PLACED BY GOD, not by man.[14] 

    

 

 

The Take Away

     The tattoo today has undergone a dramatic redefinition and has shifted from a form of defiance to an acceptable form of expression; it’s now called Body Art.

     Health risks including infection and allergic reactions have been associated with Tattooing. Infections can be transmitted through the use of unsterilized equipment or contaminated ink.  These infections include surface infections of the skin, fungal infections, some forms of hepatitis, herpes, simplex virus, HIV, staph, tetanus, and tuberculosis.

     Interestingly 72 percent of those polled with face, neck, hands, or fingers tattoos have spent more than three days in JAIL, compared to just 6 percent of the non-tattooed population.

     A Tattoo shows “Ownership” of your body, scripture teaches that Tattoos on God’s chosen people BRING SHAME TO THE NAME OF GOD.[15]  It’s in the Book

     Image of God: Christians should make every effort to NOT look like the rest of the world; like those that have rejected Christ.  We are SET APART and should strive to conform ourselves to the image of God’s only begotten Son; Jesus the Christ.[16]

     We are known by our fruit:[17] Does your SPEECH and SONGS glorify God or glorify the world?[18]  Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth SINGS.[19]  Are you a Believer or just a Make-Believer going through the motions with just a form of Godliness? [20]

      Is a person damned if they have a tattoo? Absolutely not; our salvation is NOT based on whether or not we have a tattoo; it’s based on our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our personal Savior plus nothing else.  The New Covenant of Jesus Christ has set us FREE from the 613 Laws of Moses.[21]

     Thinking about getting a tattoo; forget it.  Got a Tattoo; don’t get anymore.  Should you try to have a tattoo removed?  It only matters to you; God looks on the heart[22] not the color of your skin.  Tattoos under the NT are NOT A SIN, but we would do well to honor God by not getting any.

 

Life is certainly choice driven

 

     I saw a young lady at the beach with a tattoo of a yellow butterfly outlined in brown in the small of her back.  It was striking and kept my attention; I really, really liked it.  After this study, I realized that that’s how life is; I am drawn to what is just opposite of God’s will, the Apostle Paul said it best;

For what I am doing,

I do not understand; for I am NOT practicing what I would like to do,

but I am doing the very thing I shouldn’t.”[23]

 

The Real Question is; are you as Believer[24] or a Make-Believer?[25]  

 

Where is your HEART?[26]



[1] Deuteronomy 14:1-2 – DO NOT CUT YOURSELVES  FOR YOU ARE A PEOPLE HOLY TO THE LORD:  THE LORD HAS CHOSEN YOU

[2] Leviticus 19:28 –DO NOT cut your bodies for the dead, and  DO NOT MARK YOUR SKIN WITH TATTOOS  -- Jeremiah 16:6 – Cut NOT yourselves for the dead

Deuteronomy 14:1-2 – DO NOT CUT YOURSELVES  FOR YOU ARE A PEOPLE HOLY TO THE LORD:  THE LORD HAS CHOSEN YOU

 

 

[3] Leviticus 21:5-6 – Christians MUST NOT CUT THEIR BODIES they are SET APART AS HOLY to their God and MUST NEVER BRING SHAME ON THE NAME OF GOD

[4] Revelation 13:16 – The Mark; the Tattoo of the Beast on their RIGHT HAND or on their FOREHEADS

[5] Ephesians 1:13 – Christians HAVING BELIEVED, WERE MARKED WITH A SEAL, THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT

[6] 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 God has set His tattoo, His  SEAL OF OWNERSHIP ON US

[7] 2 Corinthian 5:5 – Christians have a GUARANTEE of what is to come; HE HAS GIVEN US THE SPIRIT AS A DEPOSIT, -- John 6:27 - Christians have the seal of God’s APPROVAL

[8] Revelation 7:3-4 – God seals with a tattoo 144,000 EVANGELIST

[9] Ephesians 4:30 –Christians are sealed for the day of REDEMPTION

[10] Ezekiel 9:4 – In the end times, GO THROUGH THE MIDST OF THE CITY and PUT A MARK ON THE FOREHEADS of the Believers

[11] Revelation 14:1 – GOD’S NAME is tattooed on their foreheads.

[12] Genesis 4:15 – God’s Mark, His Tattoo is of PROTECTION

[13] 1 Kings 20:41 – The Prophet was marked on his forehead

[14] Revelation 3:11-12 – GOD WILL TATTOO ON THE BELIEVER HIS NEW NAME-- Revelation 22:4 – Believers shall see his face, and HIS NAME SHALL BE ON THEIR FOREHEADS

 

 

 

[15] Leviticus 21:5-6 – Tattoos BRING SHAME on the name of God

[16] Romans 8:29 – We are to be CONFORMED to the image of God’s Son

[17] Matthew 7:20 – You will be known by your FRUIT

[18] Luke 6:45 - FOR THE MOUTH SINGS and SPEAKS WHAT THE HEART IS FULL OF

[19] Matthew 12:34 – FOR OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART THE MOUTH SINGS AND SPEAKS

[20] 2 Timothy 3:1-5 - They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

[21] Acts 13:39 – The NEW COVENANT sets us free from the Law

[22] Acts 15:8 – God knows the HEART

[23] Romans 7:15-25 –PAUL CONFESSES; I DON’T REALLY UNDERSTAND MYSELF, FOR I WANT TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, but I don’t do it. INSTEAD, I DO WHAT I HATE.  But if I KNOW THAT WHAT I AM DOING IS WRONG, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; IT IS SIN LIVING IN ME that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I WANT TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, BUT I CAN’T.  I WANT TO DO WHAT IS GOOD, BUT I DON’T.  I DON’T WANT TO DO WHAT IS WRONG, BUT I DO IT ANYWAY. WHO WILL FREE ME FROM THIS LIFE; THE ANSWER IS IN JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD

[24] Romans 10:10 –WITH THE HEART ONE BELIEVES unto righteousness, and WITH THE MOUTH CONFESSION is made unto salvation

[25] Matthew 7:23 – God will say to the Make Believer; I NEVER KNEW YOU

[26] Jeremiah 17:10 – God searches the HEART and examines the mind to REWARD EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO THEIR CONDUCT

 

 

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