June 23 Dressed for Disaster

Isaiah 3: 16 and 18 Moreover, the LORD said "Because the daughters of Zion are proud, and walk with heads held high and seductive eyes and go along with mincing steps and tinkle the bangles on their feet...In that day the LORD will snatch away their finery......

What a conundrum - do we just give up all things beautiful because we are Christians? In the New American Standard version of verse 18-23, it says the LORD will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands. crescent ornaments, dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, headdresses, ankle chains, sashes...finger rings, nose rings...festal robes, outer tunics...undergarments, turbans and veils because of their pride. It appears these women were all about appearances, outdoing one another. In chapter 4, we might infer from these words, "When the LORD has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion.," that God did not have the same opinion of their beautiful adornments as they did. Or did He?

I wonder if the issue really had nothing to do with all of these beautiful adornments but with the heart of the wearer.

Earlier I used the word conundrum or riddle in which a fanciful question is answered by a pun, a paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma. God made beauty; He surrounds us with beauty. He designed the temple and the priestly garments to be pleasing to the eye and heart. He created some of us with the ability to produce beauty and most of to appreciate it. So is He here telling women to get over it - to adopt an austere life style and way of dressing.

I don't think so. I think we need to take the Word of God in its entirety here: we are to care for the widows and fatherless, for those who have need. We are to glorify God in all that we do. We are to be good stewards of what God has blessed us with. All of that to say, the issue here seems to be more  that one of a group of women who cared only for themselves, for outdoing one another, for ornamentation as an end not a means.

Recently I told a student that she should remember that her dress says something, and she should consider the message she sends with her appearance. Certainly I think we can wear beautiful jewelry or clothing, but perhaps we must be careful about what we wear and where we wear it and what we are communicating through it.