the polynesians called it 'tatau'

it has been around for over 5000 years. the bronze age...every country at one point used tatoos for various reasons.

some tribal as you saw

i will give you two points that I know is out there. one argues due Leviticus.

The first is Leviticus 19:28. It states, "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord." It's kind of difficult to argue with a Scripture like that when it states it in black and white terms like that.

 "We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."

if you jump down to verse 21

"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

so some say they are not under the law anymore and can get tatoos....

I have no inclination unless certain nonchristian symbols are use...prior to being save...it is a embarrassment to some who get saved of what they had put on their bodies.

A guy friend of mine who got a tatoo when he was in the armt  is now paying the price for something done over 30 yrs ago.  He has noncurable rare form of hepatitis and they trace it back to that moment...  He was also in the 911 catstrophy...so they found it when checking his blood for other poisons....In this day and age it is still possible but rare...

One fella in prison ministry used Isaiah 49:16 to suggest that God tatooed Himself. That was when the Lord gave me insight into the human fingerprint as an identifying mark to distinguish one person from another. It is as though our prints are "engraved," and perhaps this is what the Lord meant when He said that He had "graven" us into His hands. Imagine. All the DNA of humanity marvelously registered into the hands that took the nails.

 

To me, that's a far far far cry from the selfishness displayed in a tatoo.

what a marvelous thought...kiki hmmm...

Engraved! <o:p></o:p>

by Jerrie Abshire<o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

Last night, I took a good look at my hands. You ever do that? Don't laugh at me! I'm serious. I noticed how age is imposing itself on the skin of my hands. My mom's hands looked like that when I was growing up. Now, hers are even more imposed with age...and I reckon if the Lord don't come before too much longer, age will impose itself even more on mine.

 

But I just seemed to linger on the looks of my hands. I checked the palms to see if age had done its nasty business there, too, and I discovered all kinds of stuff to notice in the palms of my own hands! I mean, the lines etched in places where the skin has to fold; the scars of traumas past that involved my hands; and the ridges, the bazillion tiny ridges that form my unique fingerprints. I even compared my thumbs to see if I could tell the difference in the pattern of one thumbprint from the other with my own eyes. I could not.

 

It was then that I realized the awesome power of the computer program that police use to be able to identify a person by their unique prints. The tiny differences just between one finger and another seemed to be too hard for my eyes to catch. How that program can do it is just a marvel to me. How awesome is the technology they have to even use the tiniest strand of DNA to identify an individual. It occurred to me that God as much as stamped our very name all over our bodies, creating unique marks that identify us and distinguish us from someone else: DNA, fingerprints, retinal patterns, voice patterns, even dental imprints!

 

I stared at my fingerprints again and marveled at how the lines are even closer together than the decorative ridges engraved on my wedding band! That’s when the word engraved reverberated in my head - for it brought to mind a verse that I never quite believed like I should have:

 

Isaiah 49:16
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

I always chuckled inwardly at this verse because it caused me to conjure up an image of God in my mind with these huge hands, all tattooed with the names of the redeemed. But as I stared at my hands, I realized that the hands of that Carpenter were probably very close to the dimensions of my own. And within the bazillion tiny ridges of those hands are plenty enough room for one strand of DNA from every person that He ever created!

 

And then I just couldn't contain my tears! Yes! I AM engraved into the palms of His hands! And He is continually aware of all that defines my limitations. Oh, the sweetness of the thought that I am forever placed in the hands of a living God!

 

<o:p> </o:p>

And that should be a seperate post topic my dear...Holy Ghost goose bumps...Oh ..how he talks to us so very tenderly...showing us how amazing it all is...He catches those tears as well.  Our Father is so magnificant and His ways are so far beyond our knowledge yet he shows us...his mysteries..entrusts them to us...

In my culture a tattoo is called a 'moko' (not mow-kow, as in mow the lawn but o as in book).

 

Facial moko tells a story of hierarchy and/or family history.

 

My people didn't have Leviticus 19:28 when they were tattooing themselves and even now that we do have it, I don't believe it is relevant.  We don't cut or mark our bodies for the dead.

laughing..I know that verse well...how about needles for medication....and operations...i guess that is more a necessaty than just plain decoration....I would not get a tatoo. Seeing others with them do not bother me...

I am sorry I hit send too fast

 

 

 

 

Thank-you!