Adornment, 13

~ Head, 2 ~

 

Series Note ~ In this series we look at some of the Scriptures which mention human physical adornment—pretty much without comment.  These posts will include clothing, head (including hair and wigs), jewelry (including accessories), makeup (including tattoos), and perfume (including incense).  It is important to note that some of these passages are culturally related to a specific culture and time period. 

 

Two Principles ~ (1) Focus on the long-term: “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.  Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates” (Proverbs 31:30-31).

 

(2) Exercise modesty: “Women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works” (1 Timothy 2:9b-10).

 

Scripture For This Week ~ “Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, ‘Is it peace, Jehu?’  So he answered, ‘What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?’ …

 

“Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window.  Then, as Jehu entered at the gate, she said, ‘Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?’

 

“And he looked up at the window, and said, ‘Who is on my side?  Who?’  So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. Then he said, ‘Throw her down.’  So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot.  And when he had gone in, he ate and drank.  Then he said, ‘Go now, see to this accursed woman, and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.’  So they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.  Therefore they came back and told him. And he said, ‘This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as refuse on the surface of the field, in the plot at Jezreel, so that they shall not say, ‘Here lies Jezebel”’” (2 Kings 9:22, 30-37). 

 

Two Keys ~ (1) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

 

(2) “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

* * * * *

Opened Eyes

~ 3 Biblical Examples of Eyes Being Opened ~

To Their Sin And Shame (conviction)  ~  “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.  She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings” (Genesis 3:6-7). 

Depending on their reaction to their sin and shame then there is an either / or opening as seen below:

To Christ And Salvation (conversion)  ~  “And when we all had fallen to the ground, I [Saul—later the Apostle Paul] heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?  It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’  So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’  And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.  I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me’” (Acts 26:14-18). 

To Hell And Torment (Christ rejection)  ~  Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.  But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.  Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.  The rich man also died and was buried.  And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.  And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’

Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’  Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’  And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead’” (Luke 16:19-31).    

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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