The Baptist Pillar © Brandon Bible Baptist Church 1992-Present www.baptistpillar.com
"...The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
I Timothy 3:15
My Son Wants an Earring
Pastor Tim Reynolds
The family is enjoying dinner when a young voice says, "I'm thinking of getting my
ears pierced."
Today that notice might come from your son! There are three good answers that every
parent
should memorize for such an occasion:
1. No!!!
2. That's the stupidest thing
I've ever heard of!
3. Just what you need, another hole in your head!
Athletes, movie
stars, rock and roll idols, and various miscellaneous perverts have popularized the
style of males wearing female jewelry. The effeminate fashion of multiple rings on
fingers, ears, and other parts of the body seems attractive to your son because his
friends are doing it, his heroes are doing it. and it drives you crazy!
Before you
react violently to your son's unsettling statement, realize three things:
1. It is
against the law to kill him.
2. One day he could father grandchildren - and you wouldn't want to miss that.
3. God has given us principles in the Bible to deal with this issue.
Earrings Were Only Worn By The Women Among God's People
In Isaiah 3:17-20, the daughters of Zion are said to wear earrings. Ezekiel 16:12
pictures Israel as a beautiful wife who is the object of God's love. He is heard
saying. "I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears." Again portraying
Israel as a beautiful woman betrothed to God, Hosea 2:13 says "She decked herself
with her earrings and her jewels."
Israel Picked Up Bad Habits From The Egyptians
In
Exodus 32, the people of Israel sank into idolatry while they waited for Moses to
bring down the law of God from Mt. Sinai. Aaron supervised building the golden calf
for Israel to worship, a form of idolatry learned in Egypt. They had picked up other
bad habits from the Egyptians.
While the men of Israel had not stooped so low as to wear earrings, their sons had! The young men of Israel had been influenced by a heathen society to wear what pertained to women. When Aaron wanted gold, he told them to, "Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me." (verse 2).
So that no remembrance of the perversions learned in Egypt might remain, Moses burned
the golden calf, ground the remains into powder, put it in water, and made Israel
drink it (verse 20).
Israel Picked Up Bad Habits From The Canaanites At Succoth In
Gad
In Genesis 33, Jacob's family had been drawn to the ways of the Canaanite city
Shalem. While Jacob built an altar to the Lord, his children were attracted to heathen
ways. The result was that Jacob's daughter Dinah was defiled, her brothers killed
the Canaanites, and they took the spoil of the city. In Genesis 35:24, Israel was
to give up the spoil of the city Shalem.
They were commanded to put away strange gods, be clean, and change garments. This tells us that they possessed Canaanite idols, Canaanite perversions, and ungodly Canaanite garments, for their response was to give Jacob the idols and their earrings, and he buried them under the oak.
Where did they get their earrings? From the Canaanite men they killed in Shalem.
Gideon
Prevented Israel From Picking Up Bad Habits At Succoth
In Judges 8, after Gideon's
three hundred men had defeated the Midianite army, he sent them out to the carnage
of the battlefield to remove gold from the enemy dead and give it to him. The dead
could be identified by earrings. The Israelites, the children of the promise, had
no earrings; their enemies, referred to as Ishmaelites, who were not the children
of the promise, had earrings.
Verse 24 tells us, "For they had golden earrings, because they, were Ishmaelites."
All these earrings were to be brought to Gideon, so there would be no temptation
for the men of Israel to wear them. The lesson to be learned is that male heirs to
the promises of God do not wear earrings, while males of those who are not heirs
to the promises of God do wear earrings.
What should our sons learn from these Old
Testament lessons which are given for our instruction? Just this: lost boys wear
earrings; saved boys do not.
Besides, why would you want another hole in your head?