In Leviticus 19:28, the Lord said to Moses "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you; I am the Lord." In other modern Biblical translations, the phraze "nor print any marks upon you" is replaced by the phraze "nor tattoo yourselves". The original Hebrew word used here is the word qa`aqa` (pronounced kah-ak-ah) which literally means "mark and inprintment". The modern word, tattoo, comes from the Tahitian word tattau, which means "to permanently mark" and has it's origin traced to the Imperalist explorer James Cook. The Lord specifically told Moses this commandment and others within the same chapter in order to purify and purge his chosen people from the lifestyles they experienced as slaves in Egypt. In fact, do a word study on the word Egypt and you will discover that this word actually means "the world, strongholds". This process of getting the mentalities, lifestyles, abominations, etc of Egypt out of his chosen people continued throughout the Old Testament and was dealt with by Jesus via his death at the cross and his resurrection three days later. In fact, tattoos have been discovered on the preserved bodies of the Egyptian and Nubian mummies that are dated as far back as 2000 BC. Therefore, the tattoo was a mainstay in Egyptian culture that was used as skin decoration, determination of social status, completion of religious rituals to the idols, and the displaying of certain rites of passage into manhood, marriage, and warfare. In fact the concept of tattoo was discovered both by the Pilgrims on the American Indians where tattooing was done along with the building of totem poles to celebrate the spirits of the dead and discovered by the Imperialistic explorers (James Cook) when they first set foot on what is now Polynesia, Fiji, and Tahiti. Therefore, based on the stories of the Bible, there may be reasons to believe that the concept of tattooing may have existed at the time man tried to reach the heavens by building the Tower of Babel and this concept was scattered throughout the earth when God scattered the people to all corners of the earth and changed the dialects of their languages.
In Revelation 14:16-18, the scriptures talk about another mark known as the mark of the beast. In these scriptures, the future is foretold where anyone who does not receive this mark will not be able to buy or sell without this mark. We see in Chapter fourteen, verses nine through eleven that whosoever takes the mark of the beast will drink the wine of God's wrath and be tormented in fire and burning sulfur with no permanent relief. The Greek word used in these verses is Charagma (pronounced khar-ag-ma) which literally means "imprint, stamping, tattooing, carved images, graven images, and idoltry". Like the Hebrew word listed in the previous paragraph, the Greek word has similar meaning and similiar application. The art of tattooing shows in essence the idolotry and humanistic nature of one allowing themselves to be physically marked to in tribute to the ways, thinkings, and strongholds of the worldly system and it's pathway to totem in order to be like the world. If I may interject a statement here; the purpose of this article is not to debate exactly how the mark of the beast will be applied. Some say a tattoo, some say a computer chip or other subdermal implant. No one really knows how this will happen. God never marked people physically, He sealed them spiritually while setting them apart from the world. Whether it was Abraham's covenant, Jacob's wrestling match, circumcision, the blood on the doorposts at Passover, washing of the blood of Jesus at Calvary, or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, the sealing showed the authenticity of the covenant we have with Jesus, our Advocate with our heavenly father.
In the tattooing process, the human skin is punctured and scarred with a needle that is connected to a hand-held tool that moves the needle up and down at a rate of several hundred vibrations per minute (modern tattooing machines operate very similar to the mechanical workings of a sewing machine on a much smaller scale) and penetrates the skin by about one thirty-second of an inch. The needle (solid, not hollow like a medical syringe) is dipped into the permanent ink and the vibrations of the needle roughs the skin up to where absorption of the skin to the ink is made easier to where the permanent markings are left on the skin. In fact, the ink that is inserted is not applied to the outer layer of skin known as the epidermis. The needle penetrates through the epidermis and the permanent ink is then applied to the next layer of skin under the epidermis called the dermis. The cells of the dermis are remarkably stable so the tattoo's ink will last, with minor fading and dispersion, for your entire life! The dermis is very spongy and absorbent in nature to where the ink actually soaks in approximately one-eighth of an inch deep in the dermis. The reason why the dermis of the skin is colored and not the epidermis is due to the fact that the epidermis is the layer of skin that we see and the layer of skin that gets replaced constantly. Human beings lose epidermis cells every day through the shedding of skin and germs when we bathe ourselves in the shower. If one becomes sunburned to the point of seeing their skin peel, the peeling of the skin is the epidermis that has dried up and died. The soaking of the sun and the tanning of our skin is actually done in the dermis layer of our skin. Therefore, if one was to tattoo the epidermis, the tattoo would not last since the epidermis is constantly being replaced.
When one experiences dysfunction, sin, etc., he or she is "spiritually tattooed" with the ink of their sins (a.k.a. poor choices, generational curses, etc.) as the needle of the actions committed penetrate their outer covering "spiritual epidermis" and permanently roughs up the inner coverings "spiritual dermis" in order for the ink of sin to become more absorbed and leave indeliable markings in their inner covering. If the spiritual condition of the spiritual tattoo only occurred on the spiritual epidermis, then the humanistic mind could wash away the skin through some spiritual clensing similar to a shower or spiritually dry the skin off in order to peel the spiritual epidermis away. In fact some cults see cleansing in this matter. Their mockery of "cleansing" is applied to the spiritual epidermis and the indeliable ink of sin soaked into the spiritual dermis is undealt with. In fact, they tattoo further the spiritual dermis. Therefore, to deal with the spiritual tattoo, the spiritual inner layer of the dermis needs to be attended to and dealt with.
If the visualization of needles in your skin does not make you cringe, the thought of the pain this processes causes may make you cringe. Many people who have experienced physical tattooing have described the process as "a million of simultaneous beestings, pricking, worse than a dentist's drill" etc. These descriptions and their effects may be different depending on the pain tolerance level of the individual, the skill of the tattoo artist, the quality of his equipment, and the actual anatomical location of the tattoo. The lower back and ankle are popular places for tattoos but it's much less painful to get one on your chest or upper arm. This is because skin right above your bones tends to be more sensitive to needles while there's extra body mass in the upper arm or chest to cushion the bones. Some professional tattoo artists are now using mild anesthesias to partially numb the pain during the tattooing process. After the tattooing is done (sometimes in multiple sessions), one has to take proper medical precautions to ensure that minimal infection does not set in while the skin begins a incomplete and dysfunctional healing process.
Unfortunately, when one experiences spiritual tattooing, one is so numbed by his past sins that the person does not realize the pain associated with the tattoing processes until after the tattooing was done. Because of the spiritual numbness, the spiritually dysfunctional person experiences more, heavier and deeper states of "tattooing" to the point where the markings, scars, and torments can be seen both physically and spiritually to the discerning one. One who knows someone that has been tattooed by alcoholism usually sees the spiritual emptiness within that person and the scars and the pain of the events that they tried to mask away. One who knows someone involved in sexual sin sees the bondages of becoming one with many people only to see the voids of depravity become deeper and wider while never experiencing true love. No matter what the spiritual "tattoo" is, the infections of their cravings and the recompenses of their actions manifest spiritually and physically via their actions and personal choices.
Along with the risk of infection after receiving the tattoo, there is a risk of receiving infection during the tattooing process due to unsterilized equipment, poor use of antiseptics on the skin, etc. In fact, there exists a high risk of obtaining syphilis, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis and possibly HIV. Allergic reactions to pigments that color the ink are also a risk. None of the 50-plus colors and shades of pigment used in tattooing are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Therefore, U.S.F.D.A. procedures are not required in the manufacture of these inks and therefore, can increase the risk of infection to the individual.
In the lives of the spiritually tattooed, the physical after effects of spiritual acts manifest. Many promiscuous people experience sexually tramsmitted diseases via the contact of bodily fluids because of their sins and / or the inability to be intimate with the true love they find and end up marrying. Many drug addicts experience hepatitis through the sharing of needles transmitting bodily fluids or experience damaged brain cells through snorting cocaine. Many alcoholics experience cirrosis of the liver and the killing of their brain cells. There is a heavy price for the poor choices we make and the sins we commit. The scars of our actions remain implanted and we sometimes feel that we can not see ourselves rid of both the spiritual tattoo and the aftereffects of the tattoo. It really does not matter how the tattoo was performed, all that matters is that the spiritual tattoo is present and it needs to be dealt with.
Click here for part three of Tattoo to Temple.
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