TATTOOS

Just so there are no misunderstandings, my goal is not to condemn but to inform. A person needs to have all of the information available before they choose whether or not to get a tattoo. It is between that person and God. I'm not the judge.

TATTOOS

Leviticus 19:28: "“Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord." That pretty much says it. "I AM the Lord" meaning I don't mean maybe. God, the great I AM, is Lord over all. He has no beginning or end and He never changes with the times as humans do.

Allowing tattoo marks to be put on your body is like consenting to putting graffiti on a temple, to which your body is compared in the Bible. Put another way, it would be like putting graffiti on a church building. But since New Testament times, "the church" indicates the people, not the building. If our bodies are temples, and we are part of the church body, we are not to put graffiti or tattoos on ourselves. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

Then there are the health risks. The following was taken from a Mayo Clinic internet site:

"How tattoos are done

A tattoo is a permanent mark or design made on the skin with tattoo ink. Usually, a tattoo artist uses a handheld machine that acts much like a sewing machine. The machine has needles that pierce the skin many times. With every puncture, the needles insert tiny drops of ink into the top layer of the skin.

Tattooing causes a small amount of bleeding and some pain. As they create tattoos, tattoos artists usually don't use medicine to ease pain, called anesthetic.

Know the risks

Granuloma

The process of getting a tattoo breaks the skin. That means skin infections and other health problems can develop afterward. The risks include:

• Allergic reactions. Tattoo ink can cause allergic skin reactions, such as an itchy rash at the tattoo site. This can happen even years after getting a tattoo. Red ink tends to be more prone to allergic reactions that other tattoo ink colors.
• Skin infections. A skin infection is possible after getting a tattoo. An infection might be due to contaminated ink or equipment that isn't sterilized correctly. Getting a tattoo at a studio that doesn't follow good safety steps also can raise your risk of a skin infection.
• Other skin problems. Sometimes an area of inflammation can form around tattoo ink. This is called a granuloma. Tattooing also can lead to keloids. Keloids are raised areas caused by an overgrowth of scar tissue.
• Diseases spread through blood. If equipment used to create a tattoo has infected blood on it, you can get diseases that are spread through blood. Examples include methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. To lower your risk, get vaccinated for hepatitis B before you get a tattoo.
• Skin reactions to an MRI. Rarely, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam may trigger burning pain in the tattooed area. Sometimes, tattoos can lower the quality of an MRI image.

You might need medicine or other treatment if you develop an allergic reaction, infection or other health problems because of a tattoo."

Tattooing often requires that multiple needles puncture the skin, oftentimes causing some bleeding.

 
By Leviticus rules listed in Chapter 13, verses 1-8: "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. 3 The priest is to examine the sore on the skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling skin disease. When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce them ceremonially unclean. 4 If the shiny spot on the skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days. 5 On the seventh day the priest is to examine them, and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to isolate them for another seven days. 6 On the seventh day the priest is to examine them again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them clean; it is only a rash. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 7 But if the rash does spread in their skin after they have shown themselves to the priest to be pronounced clean, they must appear before the priest again. 8 The priest is to examine that person, and if the rash has spread in the skin, he shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease." 

Does this sound like God approves of tattoos, considering the damage they do to the skin, which is part of your temple, a holy place, and considering also the health hazards tattoos pose. God didn't set that ritual in motion for no good reason. There are so many risks that, though not common, do happen. Nowadays we have HIV and Hepatitis C blood diseases, among many others.

I was asked to explain Revelation 19:16 - " On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

King of kings and Lord of lords."

My response was: I'm no theologian, but the way I see it is first of all, linens don't get tattooed. Secondly, if God said not to get tattoos, then Jesus would not get one. There are many ways to write a slogan without getting a tattoo. Thirdly, the slogan was being described as being written on the part of the linen that was in the area that covered the thigh. Jesus would never run around with his thigh exposed. There is so much symbolism going on in these verses that it's difficult to wade through it, but one thing is for sure: If God said not to get a tattoo, then Jesus would have obeyed His Father.

We are not to compromise our beliefs that are based on God's Word in order to impress the world or imitate those who are worldly. We are not to "fit in." We are not of this world. Romans 12:2: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

OTHER VERSES TO CONSIDER:

John 17:14

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

2 Corinthians 10:2

I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.

Colossians 2:20

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:

James 4:4

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

1 John 2:17

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 4:5

They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.

1 John 4:17

This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

--Becky Wall

beckyowall.blogspot.com