Leviticus 19:28 says Tatoos are a No No

[imoneru?]

Did you know that Liv.19:28 states that TATOOS are contrary to the will of God and thereby a sin? I didn't until I read it in the NKJV, MSG. and GW translations of the bible. Amazing how many of the 613 laws God gave to Moses to write down and pass on to the people that I don't know. how about you?

[Gabrielman]

This is why I don't have a tatto. I wanted one, a cross with the alpa omega on my back, but then I found out it was a sin. Good posting, I am not sure there is a thread adressing this yet, people need to know.
God bless!

[jlay]

Also says not to eat pork. How are you holding up on that one?

[ageofknowledge]

Way back in the day some of my friends did get tatted up. I said no to tats and took the clean sleeve approach. Being an intelligent sinner I realized they would work against my best interests making me more identifiable to law enforcement, increase my chances of arrestability if stopped and questioned, inhibit my ability to earn in straight society, narrow my relationship choices, etc....

Putting a big spider web on your elbow may seem cool at the time but later marks you as disreputable to LE and straight society.

Some interesting tats I've seen include a peacock on the arm of a close friend of mine, back in the day, who was high up in white fence. He was also a junkie. The reason why junkies get this tat has to do with it's origin they call "following the peacock." What it means is that, as a junkie, you want to dress smart and present yourself as best you can to minimize the chance of being arrested and incarcerated, looked down on derogatorily, etc... It's a philosophy of carefully presenting yourself to compensate for the destructive addiction. Of course, in the end the strategy always fails.

Anyways, I digress. Any Christian who asks God'to forgive them for their tats IS forgiven. That sin is cast into the sea of forgetfullness and lost for all time. Corrie used to say a no fishing sign is posted as well. You can then use them as proof of God's mercy upon us humans. Moving forward...

[Gabrielman]

Also says not to eat pork. How are you holding up on that one?

Ewwww.... pork is... well I don't like pork, lol!!!!

Anyways, I digress. Any Christian who asks God'to forgive them for their tats IS forgiven. That sin is cast into the sea of forgetfullness and lost for all time. Corrie used to say a no fishing sign is posted as well. You can then use them as proof of God's mercy upon us humans. Moving forward...

Great point, and one that needed to be made. I have seen at times chruchs treat people who have had tats in a negitive way, even if they repented of it and weren't proud of it. There was a sunday school teacher I knew who was fired after they found out he had tats, he tried to hide them, he wasn't proud of them. He got them before he came to faith, yet they couldn't let it go. He wasn't upset with them, but still, come on....

[imoneru?]

I realize that all of the laws that Moses was told to write down and give to the people are forgivable if broken, the only reason I posted what I did was because I was unaware that I was one of the few that didn't know that was one of the No No's, As for Pork Chops I like them and Ham also
And speaking of Tats I spent three years in the Navy and I am glad I never got drunk enough to get one.

[ageofknowledge]

I realize that all of the laws that Moses was told to write down and give to the people are forgivable if broken, the only reason I posted what I did was because I was unaware that I was one of the few that didn't know that was one of the No No's, As for Pork Chops I like them and Ham also
And speaking of Tats I spent three years in the Navy and I am glad I never got drunk enough to get one.

We had an old quartermaster whose body was covered with ink except for his feet, hands, neck and face. In the old days the Navy allowed that. Truthfully, in the old days, except for a couple of sideshow freaks at the circus, I never saw anyone, even carnies, tat up their hands, face, neck, or feet. It wasn't done.

Only in the late 70's when the punk kids started getting them did I start to see spiderwebs and whatnot people's faces and later in the early 90's tribal tats. The only other exception were gang members. They all have their clicque or set on their hand and later some tatted the neck and head. The last big group of them at Victory Outreach I talked to before leaving Los Angeles in 2004 had tats on their necks, heads, eyelids, etc...

[Gman]

I realize that all of the laws that Moses was told to write down and give to the people are forgivable if broken, the only reason I posted what I did was because I was unaware that I was one of the few that didn't know that was one of the No No's, As for Pork Chops I like them and Ham also
And speaking of Tats I spent three years in the Navy and I am glad I never got drunk enough to get one.

Pork wasn't allowed to eat back then because without proper refrigeration, the meat spoils rather quickly opening one to various diseases. As for tattoos, it's considered defaming the body, much like getting a brand new car and painting it with spray paint.

[jlay]

There were a lot of laws meant for the Hebrew people. They were meant to signify that they were set apart by the Lord. To be a picture to the world of the holiness of God. Tatooing was popular in pagan cultures, as were many other things the Hebrews were told not to do.

Does this mean if a gentile gets a tatoo that he has sinned? I would hesitate to draw that conclusion. I do not have a tatoo, but have Christian friends who do. Based on my upbringing, I see tatoos as something that indicates moral compromise. Does it? No, but that is the cultural influence in me.

[DannyM]

That's me in trouble: I've got a tattoo going from my right hand all the way up the arm and a little way up on my neck. A bit like Clooney in Dusk 'til Dawn. I've regretted going down my hand and up my neck ever since; should have kept away from these areas.

[jlay]

Guess what your resurrected body won't have Danny?

Knowing the permenance of tatoos is what kept me away from them. That and I don't like pain.

[DannyM]

Guess what your resurrected body won't have Danny?

Knowing the permenance of tatoos is what kept me away from them. That and I don't like pain.

Jlay, what won't my resurrected body have?

I thought nah, I'll never regret my tattoos (got another on my left upper arm). But what happened only a couple of years after? Yeah, I regretted it big time!

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

A born-again Christian can get all the tattoos and piercings and weird haircuts he/she wants to. We are under grace, not under the Law. Go and brand yourself like cattle if you wish. God won't care.

FL

[ageofknowledge]

That's me in trouble: I've got a tattoo going from my right hand all the way up the arm and a little way up on my neck. A bit like Clooney in Dusk 'til Dawn. I've regretted going down my hand and up my neck ever since; should have kept away from these areas.

Sounds like a full sleeve +. You should have hung around me back in the day. I made my guys all go clean sleeve. No tats = less trouble. Tat removal is expensive. There are numerous Christian organizations here in SoCal springing up offering free or low cost tat removal as a ministry now. I don't know where you are at but you should check into that. Here's an example: http://www.tattooremoval.org/Find%20a%20Provider.htm

Just getting hands, feet, neck and head clear is worth looking into removal. To be able to put on business casual or a suit and not have anyone know almost puts you back to square one. Peace.

[Canuckster1127]

Tattoos in the surrounding nations at the time of Leviticus' writing were culturally tied to and understood to be an indicator of idolotry, especially for priests of many of those nations and their idolotrous gods. God in the context of Leviticus however, didn't give us a rationale, so while we can try to conjecture, that all we can do in most cases. All I know is that the law was fulfilled in Christ, and while there is freedom and it may be good cause not to be tatooed, by believers, there's not a reason to assume that the OT stricture carries forward to today anymore than many of the other laws related to cleanness and uncleanness in Leviticus with diet and sanitary practices would carry forward. As to whether we'll have tatoos in heaven or not. I don't know, neither am I worried about it in the least.