Beauty
as the world sees it:
1.
Focus
on outward appearance
- Size/weight (tall or short, heavy or thin,
etc.)
- Body shape (small waist, long legs, etc.)
- Facial features
- Hair
- Makeup
- Clothing
- Jewelry
2.
Changes
with time and place
- Renaissance Europe – Larger, full-figured women
- Nineteenth century – Pale
- Late twentieth century – Thin, tan, etc.
3.
What
does the Bible say about this outer beauty?
- Although we should take good care of our
bodies, we should not focus our time and attention on our fleeting outward
beauty.
Proverbs 31:30 -- Charm is deceitful and beauty
is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
1 Peter 3:3 -- Do not let your adornment be merely
outward -- arranging the hair,
wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel.
1 Samuel 16:7b -- For the Lord does not see as man
sees; for man looks at the outward
appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
- Often a beautiful exterior covers an ugly,
sinful heart.
Proverbs 6:20-26 -- 20 My son, keep your father's command, And do not forsake the law
of your mother. 21 Bind them
continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck. 22 When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will
keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you. 23 For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of
instruction are the way of life, 24 To
keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering
tongue of a seductress. 25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids. 26 For by means of a harlot
A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.
In
the passage above, Solomon warns his son not to be drawn away by an evil woman
just because she is pretty
and says flattering things. Note that this woman is outwardly
beautiful and has done
herself up with makeup, but she is called a harlot and an adulteress.
Proverbs 11:22 -- 22 As a ring of gold in
a swine's snout, So is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.
One
of the first thoughts that comes to mind as I read Proverbs 11:22 is “What a
waste!”
Can you imagine how out of
place a gold ring would be in a pig’s nose? God says that a woman who has physical beauty but no
discretion is just as much of a mismatch.
Genesis 6:1-7 -- 1 Now it came to pass, when men began to
multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for
themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And
the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is
indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." 4 There were giants on the earth in
those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters
of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of
old, men of renown. 5 Then the LORD
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And
the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His
heart. 7 So the LORD said, "I
will destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the
air, for I am sorry that I have made them."
There is some speculation as to who the sons of God and the daughters
of men spoken of
in these verses were. One
clear explanation is that the sons of God were godly men and
the daughters of men were
worldly women. When the godly men chose to marry the
worldly women, the result
was that their children and descendants became so evil that
God decided to destroy the earth. We need to be careful that we and those we choose as
our mates are godly and not
just physically beautiful.
Isaiah 3:16-24 -- 16 Moreover the LORD says: "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, And walk with outstretched necks And wanton eyes, Walking and mincing as they go, Making a jingling with their feet, 17 Therefore
the Lord will strike with a scab The crown of the head of the daughters of
Zion, And the LORD will uncover their secret parts." 18 In that day the Lord will
take away the finery: The jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents;
19 The pendants, the bracelets, and
the veils; 20 The headdresses, the
leg ornaments, and the headbands; The perfume boxes, the charms, 21 and the rings; The nose jewels, 22 the festal apparel, and the mantles;
The outer garments, the purses, 23 and
the mirrors; The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes. 24 And so it shall be: Instead
of a sweet smell there will be a stench; Instead of a sash, a rope; Instead of
well-set hair, baldness; Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; And
branding instead of beauty.
The women here called the daughters of Zion were proud women, and it seems that their pride was largely based on how they looked and what they wore. Their outstretched necks seem to me to be showing off or perhaps looking haughty. Wanton eyes means that they were looking around perhaps carelessly or more likely lustfully. They wore anklets that made noise to draw further attention to themselves. However, God said that all of their good looks, nice clothes, expensive jewelry, perfume, etc. would be taken away and replaced with baldness, sackcloth, a bad smell, etc.
Jeremiah 4:30 – 30
And when you are plundered, What will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson,
Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, Though you enlarge
your eyes with paint, In vain
you will make yourself fair; Your lovers will despise you; They will seek
your life.
Outward beauty would not be enough to save evil or proud women from a horrible fate. Those spoken of in Isaiah would be destroyed by God. Those in Jeremiah would be hated and perhaps even killed by the men they were trying to please with their fine clothes, gold jewelry, and makeup. All of this outward adornment would be in vain.
Beauty
in God’s eyes:
1.
Focus
on inner beauty
1 Samuel 16:7b -- For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward
appearance, but the LORD looks at the
heart.
We saw in the first half of this lesson how man often focuses on one’s outward appearance. Now we will see how differently God views us as He looks on our hearts.
Psalm 90:17 -- 17
And let the beauty of the LORD our
God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish
the work of our hands.
The beauty we strive for should be the beauty that
comes from God as the Psalmist wrote.
1 Peter 3:3-6 -- 3
Do not let your adornment be merely
outward -- arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel -- 4 rather
let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle
and quiet spirit, which is very
precious in the sight of God. 5 For
in this manner, in former times, the holy
women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him
lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any
terror.
Our focus should be on an inner beauty rather than outward beauty. It is this inner beauty that is precious in God’s sight. Not only that, but it is also incorruptible, which means that unlike physical beauty that fades the inner beauty can last forever.
2.
Does
not change with time or place – We can see this by the consistency of passages
throughout the Old Testament and New Testament referring to the topic of inner
beauty.
3.
Cannot
be false or hypocritical
Matthew 23:27,28 -- 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed
tombs which indeed appear beautiful
outwardly, but inside are full of
dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28
Even so you also outwardly appear
righteous to men, but inside you are
full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Although you can paint a grave and try to make it pretty, this does not change the fact that it is a place for keeping dead bodies. This is what Jesus used as a comparison to show the scribes and Pharisees just how hypocritical and wrong they were as they put on a good show of being righteous so other people would think they were good, but inside they really had no desire to follow God.
Colossians 2:20-23 -- 20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of
The world, why, as though living in the world, do
you subject yourselves to regulations –
21 "Do not touch, do not
taste, do not handle," 22 which
all concern things which perish
with the using -- according to the commandments and
doctrines of men? 23 These things
indeed have an appearance
of wisdom in self-imposed religion,
false humility, and
neglect of the
body, but
are of no value against the
indulgence of the flesh.
Paul writes here about some Christians who had made up special rules about what they
could touch, eat, etc. in
order to make themselves appear very wise, humble, and
religious. There have been
others since then and still are some who make such rules. Yet
Paul wrote that these rules
only make one appear to be doing
something good when in
reality they are worthless
acts.
4.
Includes
a variety of characteristics:
- Praise
Psalm 33:1 -- Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
Psalm 147:1 -- 1 Praise the LORD! For it is good to
sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant,
and praise is beautiful.
- Incorruptible, a gentle and quiet spirit,
submissiveness
1 Peter 3:3-6 -- 3
Do not let your adornment be merely outward -- arranging the hair, wearing
gold, or putting on fine apparel -- 4 rather
let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle
and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this manner, in former times,
the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him
lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any
terror.
- Wisdom (compared to ornaments or jewelry)
Proverbs 1:7-9 -- 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools
despise wisdom and instruction. 8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; 9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.
Proverbs 4:7-9 -- 7 Wisdom is the
principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor,
when you embrace her. 9 She will
place on your head an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to
you."
Proverbs 25:11,12 -- 11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of
silver. 12 Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold Is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear.
Wisdom is compared to gold ornaments, necklaces, earrings, and crowns. Gaining wisdom will make our hearts as beautiful as jewelry would make our bodies beautiful.
- Righteousness and salvation (clothe us)
2 Chronicles 6:40-42 – [Solomon said] 40 "Now, my God, I pray, let Your
eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place. 41 " Now therefore, Arise, O LORD
God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests,
O LORD God, be clothed with salvation,
And let Your saints rejoice in goodness. 42
"O LORD God, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed; Remember the
mercies of Your servant David."
Psalm 132:9,16 – 9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your saints shout for joy…. 16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
Isaiah 61:10 -- 10
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For
He has clothed me with the garments of
salvation, He has covered me with
the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom
decks himself with ornaments, And as a
bride adorns herself with her jewels.
When we take time to remember just how ugly sin makes our souls – like taking a pure white shirt and dragging it through a mud puddle – perhaps we can really appreciate how beautiful we are to God when we throw off our dirty, sinful garments and are clothed instead with righteousness and salvation.
Job 29:7-16 – [Job said] 7 "When I went out to the gate by the city, When I took my
seat in the open square, 8 The young men saw me and hid, And the aged arose and stood; 9 The princes refrained from talking, And put their hand on their mouth; 10 The
voice of nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their
mouth. 11 When the ear heard, then it blessed me, And when the eye saw, then it
approved me; 12 Because I delivered the poor who cried
out, The fatherless and the one who had
no helper. 13 The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, And I
caused the widow's heart to sing for
joy. 14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. 15 I was eyes to the blind,
And I was feet to the lame. 16 I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not
know.
Job describes here some practical application of how we can clothe ourselves with righteousness. Put simply, we can do so by helping those who are in need. While our primary goal in living a righteous life should be to please God, we find in verses seven through eleven in Job 29 that other people will take notice of our righteous life as well and be affected by it.
Psalm 149:4 -- For the LORD takes pleasure in His
people; He will beautify the humble with
salvation.
We must remember that humility is a key element of righteousness.
- Peace
Romans 10:15 – 15
And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad
tidings of good things!"
- Strength and honor
Proverbs 31:25 -- Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to
come.
- Modesty and good works
1 Timothy 2:9,10 -- 9 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, 10 but, which is
proper for women professing godliness,
with good works.
We should behave ourselves in a godly manner with modesty, and our outward appearance should reflect the godly character we have and are trying to develop. This includes both modesty and propriety in what we choose to wear. Now, these verses from 1 Timothy 2 do not teach that it is necessarily wrong to fix our hair or to wear jewelry and nice clothes, but rather that our emphasis should be focused inwardly, not outwardly. Another point to consider from this verse is what the braided hair, gold, pearls, and costly clothing said about a woman at the time this book was written. According to some commentaries, these things were typical of the attire of prostitutes. As Christian women we need to be careful that our dress does not make us appear to be such ungodly women.
- Humility
1 Peter 5:5-7 -- 5
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of
you be submissive to one another,
and be clothed with humility, for
"God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the
mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Here again we see the importance of maintaining a submissive and humble attitude in all that we do. This humility will be rewarded.
5.
Inner
beauty and the characteristics associated with it are better than any earthly
adornment or beauty.
Proverbs 3:13-18 -- 13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding;
14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than
rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. 16 Length
of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor. 17 Her
ways are ways of pleasantness, And
all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her.
Proverbs 20:15 -- There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
Job 28:12-19 -- 12
" But where can wisdom be
found? And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its value, Nor
is it found in the land of the living. 14
The deep says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.' 15 It
cannot be purchased for gold, Nor can silver
be weighed for its price. 16 It cannot be valued in the gold of
Ophir, In precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold. 18 No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, For the price of
wisdom is above rubies. 19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor
can it be valued in pure gold.
No precious metal or jewel can compare to the riches of wisdom. Look back again at Proverbs 3:13-18. Wisdom brings such blessings as life, riches, honor, pleasantness, peace, and happiness. There are many people in this world who have an abundance of gold, silver, and jewels yet are not happy or at peace. How much better are the blessings of wisdom than any earthly treasure?
6.
Inner
beauty will be rewarded.
Malachi 3:16-18 -- 16 Then those who feared the
LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book
of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name. 17 "They shall be Mine," says
the LORD of hosts, "On the day that I
make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who
serves him." 18 Then you shall
again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God
And one who does not serve Him.
1 Peter 1:6-9 -- 6
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you
have been grieved by various trials, 7 that
the genuineness of your faith, being
much more precious than gold that
perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though
now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full
of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith -- the salvation of your souls.
2 Corinthians 5:1-5 -- 1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we
shall not be found naked. 4 For we
who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed,
but further clothed, that mortality
may be swallowed up by life.
Philippians 3:20-21 -- 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly
wait
for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who
will transform our lowly body that
it may be
conformed to
His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to
subdue all things to Himself.
We now live in a body that will one day be destroyed, but God has promised to clothe us in a
better body,
one that is eternal and glorious.
1 Corinthians 15:35-58 -- 35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with
what body do they come?" …38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its
own body. ... 40
There are also celestial bodies
and terrestrial bodies; but the
glory of the
celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial
is another. ... 42 So also is the
resurrection of
the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is
raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown
in
dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in
weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It
is sown a
natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural
body, and there is a spiritual
body. 45 And
so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The
last Adam
became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and
afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is
the
Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust;
and as
is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are
heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the
image of the
man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 50 Now this
I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God; nor does corruption
inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all
be changed -- 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet
will sound, and the dead will be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53
For this
corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So
when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and
this mortal has put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:
"Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O
Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your
victory?" 56 The sting of death
is sin,
and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us
the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, immovable,
always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in
the
Lord.
In view of all that God has done for us and has promised to those who are faithful to Him, let us take the advice given in 1 Corinthians 15:58 and be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Let us put on the characteristics that will make us beautiful women in the eyes of God and look forward to our reward that God has promised.