TATTOOS – Should God’s children go have tattoos?

I was at a Barnes & Noble bookstore not long ago and was surprised how many magazines are devoted to “body art” – or tattoos specifically.  I paged through a few of the magazines and some of the models were covered from the top of their heads to their feet with tattoos.

And when you go to the beach or a beachside resort, what do we see? Men and women and even teens with tattoos.  You’ve probably seen some people tattooed from head to toe! 

What does YHVH say about tattoos?  What does God’s holy word say about it?  Would Yeshua ever have had a tattoo?  Or does having a tattoo break God’s law? 

It has become a worldwide craze.  What was once the realm of navy sailors, gangs or certain ethnic groups or tribal custom, is now being practiced by a wide swath of humanity.  I’ve been in locker rooms where men have tattoos in very private parts. I hear the same is true for women. And of course once tattoo is done, it’s very difficult and painful to try to un-tattoo.  I’ve heard it can be done, but how painful it must be.

I’m writing on this not because it’s the most important thing to talk about. It isn’t. But it IS important enough that GOD talks about it. Did you realize that? Anything HE says IS important just so we know His mind on a topic.  And I am concerned because I suspect more and more believers are also starting to get tattoos.

What does our Father in heaven say to his children?

Click on “Continue reading” to the right of this page, to find out what our Abba, our dear heavenly Daddy, who is also Almighty God, has to say to His children.

Leviticus 19:28
“You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am YHWH”.

Leviticus 19:28 (Holman)
“You are not to make gashes on your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves; I am YHWH.”

Your body is the temple of the Shekinah glory of God. I have a recent sermon on that.  Almighty God says NOT to mark his temple – your body. The verbiage in Deuteronomy 32:5 is also very interesting. Read it. What do you think that means? Look at it from different translations if you can.  It speaks of spots, defects, blemishes and He’s not happy about it.

Sin is going against what YHWH tells us. It’s the transgression of his teachings, his law (1 John 3:4). 

If you have already had tattoos, repent of it – and move on. I am not recommending you go through the painful process of trying to remove them.  Like any sin or transgression, we confess, say we’re sorry, quit doing the transgression, turn from the wrong way and walk in His way from this point forward.

God’s children can sometimes have a mark put on them by God himself, but that’s his prerogative. In Ezekiel 9, we read of God putting a mark identifying certain ones as God’s people; the ones sighing and crying over the abominations in the land.  We have the seal of the Holy Spirit placed on us.

We also know that in the very last days of this age, the political “beast” power will require everyone to have a mark placed on their forehead and right hand (Rev. 13:16-17; 14:9, 11, etc.).  Whether that’s literal or symbolic mark – it’s a mark.  Some of God’s children will be beheaded for refusing to be marked with the “Mark of the Beast”, whatever that ends up being (see Revelation 20:4).

So, if you’re a child of God, AND thinking of having a tattoo – please don’t.