Let's Talk About Holiness
Notes
Transcript
Let’s Talk About Holiness
Let’s Talk About Holiness
Intro
Intro
Jingle Jumble
Jingle Jumble
“The Quicker Picker Upper”
Bounty
“Don’t Leave Home Without It”
American Express
“Betcha Can’t Eat Just One”
Lay’s
“There Are Some Things Money Can’t Buy. For Everything Else, There’s...”
Mastercard
“Good to the Last Drop”
Maxwell House
“When It Rains, It Pours”
Morton Salt
“Breakfast of Champions”
Wheaties
“Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands”
M&M’s
And that’s it for Jingle Jumble!
Lesson
Lesson
Biblical Truth Should…
Biblical Truth Should…
Be clearly stated in Scripture
Be practiced by the early church
Produce positive results in the believer
Gender Distinction
Gender Distinction
The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
“A woman must not put on men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. Anyone who does this is detestable in the sight of the Lord your God.
Unisex clothing wasn’t invented until the 1960s.
The first unisex perfume/cologne was made in 1994.
The shift away from gender distinction has been an observable phenomenon in the last 65-100 years. There have ALWAYS been distinguishable mens and womens clothing.
Robes?
Robes?
So a question people have quite often is: didn’t they all wear “robes” in biblical times? How do robes give any distinction between sexes when both men and women are wearing them???
Even though robes were common in Biblical times, they were not identical for men and women. In fact, even from great distances, observers could determine gender.
As gender distinction has been obscured, we cannot always accurately do this from short distances today.
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
What About Pants?
What About Pants?
Alright… big question.
What’s the deal with pants? Why do we see Apostolic women wearing skirts and dresses when most women in the world are wearing pants?
The truth is… “most women” wearing pants today is a stretch. Much of the world still has women wearing very feminine clothing.
Pants existed in some form as far back as 500 years before Jesus was born. However, they were more rare in Jewish culture, except for the priesthood.
The priesthood was exclusively male during the Old Testament (no doubt about that), but the word “breeches” or trousers for them is where we get the word “britches” or “pants” today.
So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests.
And you shall make for them linen trousers [breeches (KJV)] to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs.
“PASSAGE PERMITTED ONLY TO WOMEN DRESSED MODESTLY: LONG DRESS (LOWER THAN KNEE LENGTH - NO SLACKS), LONG SLEEVES (ELBOW LENGTH), CLOSED KNECKLINE.”
Israeli (Jewish) Sign, National Geographic, July 1985
Do Pants Pertain to a Man?
Do Pants Pertain to a Man?
Important question to answer.
First, nearly all restroom signs distinguish gender by showing a picture of a figure in pants (men) and a figure in a dress/skirt (women).
Also… in the transgender movement, as men have “transitioned,” very commonly, it is the feminine choice of a dress or skirt that men use to show that they are identifying as a woman.
What Happened?
What Happened?
It wasn’t until World War II that it became societally “acceptable” for women to wear pants. Why is that?
As they worked factory jobs, many individuals began pushing the narrative that a factory environment necessitated women to wear pants. But the truth is… pioneer women in the U.S. had settled the west and worked farms in dresses for many years! It wasn’t the work that required it; the culture did.
This didn’t shift back after the war was over, and by the 1960s, pants were common among American women. Further on, bikinis, pant suits, and unisex fashion were rising in popularity (all invented by men).
Maybe female fashion was better before men were so involved…
Jewelry
Jewelry
Initially, it was considered a gift from God/primarily used as currency:
And the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold. The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!
Remember the moment of idolatry with the golden calf and the repentance after:
When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes. For the Lord had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you. Remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.” So from the time they left Mount Sinai, the Israelites wore no more jewelry or fine clothes.
It would go on to say:
All whose hearts were stirred and whose spirits were moved came and brought their sacred offerings to the Lord. They brought all the materials needed for the Tabernacle, for the performance of its rituals, and for the sacred garments. Both men and women came, all whose hearts were willing. They brought to the Lord their offerings of gold—brooches, earrings, rings from their fingers, and necklaces. They presented gold objects of every kind as a special offering to the Lord.
A Negative Connotation
A Negative Connotation
I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the Lord.
The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality. A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.” I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement.
But What Does the Bible Teach?
But What Does the Bible Teach?
I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; in like manner also, that the 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.
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
Here is where we are really hearing the heart of God toward these things.
Hair
Hair
Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
Defining the terms:
SHAME = atimia = dishonour, reproach, shame, vile
LONG = komao = “To let the hair grow” = Uncut
The Witness of History
The Witness of History
In Corinth, pagan priestesses of Aphrodite cut and burned their hair as an act of idolatrous worship. Paul addresses this by clarifying God’s design for men and women; when their culture didn’t align with Kingdom culture, Paul corrected their behavior.
But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.
The practice of women cutting their hair did not arise from revival of revelation; it emerged in the 1920s flapper era, promoted by cultural rebellion rather than godliness.
“Bobbed hair soon became synonymous with the flapper—that figure that turned on its head traditional notions of femininity. The flapper was a good time girl; she drank, she smoked, she partied and she came home late.”
British Newspaper Archive
Wearing Makeup
Wearing Makeup
Wearing makeup was never a Jewish custom, and scripture only refers to it being performed by backslidden Jews or pagan people. The Egyptians would paint their eyelids, and historically, wearing makeup was not accepted among the church until the 1900s with Hollywood and film.
When Jezebel, the queen mother, heard that Jehu had come to Jezreel, she painted her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window.
And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, Though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; Thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
Furthermore, they have defiled my Temple and violated my Sabbath day! On the very day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they boldly came into my Temple to worship! They came in and defiled my house. “You sisters sent messengers to distant lands to get men. Then when they arrived, you bathed yourselves, painted your eyelids, and put on your finest jewels for them. You sat with them on a beautifully embroidered couch and put my incense and my special oil on a table that was spread before you. From your room came the sound of many men carousing. They were lustful men and drunkards from the wilderness, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your heads.
“Women are not to wear dyes and paints. They must not make their faces white or their eyes black.
Whatever is born is the work of God. Whatever is plastered on is the devil’s work.”
Clement of Alexandria // Tertullian, AD 195 and AD 200, respectively
The 1900s Changed Everything. Has it Been Changed for the Better?
The 1900s Changed Everything. Has it Been Changed for the Better?
In the last hundred years of human existence, societal views on gender distinction, hair, jewelry, and makeup have radically shifted.
Did it shift for a positive, Biblical reason?
Did it shift because of new revelation?
Or… did it shift because of the carnality of people who weren’t living for the Lord?
The argument for pants on women, wearing makeup and jewelry, and cut hair for women is not based on biblical principles. It is also not based on historical norms; neither is it based on church tradition.
It is based on the cultural preferences of a society that has become increasingly anti-God in the past century.
Why should we live in a way to gain the approval of those who hate our God and His Word?
Conclusion
Conclusion
