OracleX said:
Thanks for everyone's input.
BT - There are a lot of rules and laws that in in Leviticus that do not apply to NT times. Do you believe this is one?
Took me awhile to figure this one out.
Ok, so, a custom among the heathen nations at the time of the writing of the law was to cut themselves as an outward sign of their love for one who had died. They would whip themselves, make cuts on their chests, and even brand themselves. Along with this the heathen nations would also make cuts on their bodies for the dead or each other (living, or their nation etc.) and smear ashes into the cuts, hence making the first tattoos.
So the issue behind this law is like that of many others. To be seperate. God wanted His people to be different from the heathen nations. There are many laws such as this that were given to maintain separation. God has always called His people to be distinct, to be set apart (holy) from all other nations.
Now the issue at hand, tattoos in our day. If tattoos are a common practice of the unsaved (which I would say they are), we must avoid them. God still calls us to be seperate. The idea of being holy because God is holy (which is to be set apart) continues throughout the Bible.. see:
Leviticus 11:44 For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and
ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Leviticus 11:45 For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God:
ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Deuteronomy 14:2 For
thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee
to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
1 Peter 1:16 Because it is written,
Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Deuteronomy 14:2 For
thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee
to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
While a tattoo may not defile you in the strictest sense, as it defiled the Israelites under the law. The principle remains true, that you must seperate yourself from the heathen. We understand that this does not mean that we go live in log cabins in the woods. Rather it extends to "not doing what they do", or "not being like them". The great tragedy of Christianity today is that we have adopted many of the heathen customs, and tried to "Christianize" them. In this we have tried to convince people that we are not odd (seperate), we are not differnt (seperate) from them. We have worried more about pleasing and catering to the world than we have worried about pleasing and catering to God.
To wrap up; I would say that even if the Law has passed, the meaning behind the Law stands.
Hope that helps.
BT
