Transcription

Connor:
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways. Well, good morning.

Jeff:
Where a couple of friends talk about the Bible.

Chris:
In fun and practical ways. Fun and practical ways. You know what? I’m in the mood to be fun and practical.

Jeff:
Okay, and I’m feeling mildly friendly today.

Chris:
Mildly friendly. That’s great.

Jeff:
It’s creeping up on me. Hey, you know what?

Chris:
Give me a minute. At least you’re honest, right? You know, it’s important. Self-awareness, Jeff. Good job. So anyway, well, hey, today we are starting with a segment that we, it’s a rare segment. Um, uh, but when people write in at times, sometimes they write in questions that they want to know the answer to, and then they call that segment, they give it to us and they call it stump the pastor. Yes. So anyway, before we get into this, let me just say that if you would like to email us at info at thebibleguys.com, we would absolutely love to consider your question for a future segment. Right. Yeah. So, or, you know, right, you can give us your feedback on YouTube and all that kind of good stuff. So, hey, you want to tackle it?

Jeff:
Okay, so Ivy B. Hi Ivy! We’re so glad that you wrote this in and this is a great question. I bet you lots of people wonder about this. It says, I stumbled on this verse while reading the Bible and was wondering, are tattoos a sin? According to Leviticus 19.28, it says, do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord. If so, does it not conflict with Revelation 19, 16, where it says, on his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, talking about Jesus. So there you go. There it is. There you have Leviticus 19 versus Revelation 19.

Chris:
Oh, how about that? Head to head. Leviticus versus Revelation. Head to head. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. That’s funny. So, yeah, so first of all, let’s just comment on the fact that 2024, I think we could all agree tattoos are pretty much everywhere.

Jeff:
Yeah, they’re everywhere.

Chris:
Yeah, they’re everywhere. Everybody has a tattoo. Just about. Most pastors I know. A lot of them do. A lot of them do, yeah. I’m not sure if most, but I bet you it’s close to most.

Jeff:
Yeah, everybody under 40.

Chris:
Hey, everybody, that’s exactly it. That’s exactly it. It’s anybody under 40. That’s why it’s most right. It’s more most at the order we get. That’s funny.

Jeff:
So everybody else got the mark of the beast.

Chris:
So what do you say when you don’t like something you say? Oh, no.

Jeff:
Oh, no. Oh, no.

Chris:
By the way, if I ever tell a funny joke and it’s right on the cutting edge and Jeff goes, oh, no, that is him subconsciously separating himself from my statement.

Jeff:
Don’t laugh. Don’t smile. Don’t let it touch your face. Don’t send any approval. Yeah, you do that often. My wife does that all the time. She says funny things and I go, oh no. And then she mocks me for it too. That’s so funny.

Chris:
So, okay, let’s tackle the verse, or let’s tackle the issue. So I think the short answer is this. The short answer is in Leviticus, Jesus was giving specific laws to a Jewish culture for a very… But Moses was giving. Oh, excuse me. Sorry. Did I say Jesus? I obviously know that Jesus wasn’t the one giving.

Jeff:
He’s the word. Jesus is the word.

Chris:
Hey, by the way, I saw a podcast yesterday that talked about, you know, so, you know, we’re talking about Moses, right? So God, it says that he wrote the stone tablets with his finger, right? And then Jesus, when the woman was caught in adultery, he stooped and he wrote in the dust in his finger. And he said, I wonder if he wrote, thou shalt not commit adultery or whatever. And he said, but either way, he said, it is the same finger, right? Because God and Jesus are one. So technically, theologically- But Jesus is the word.

Jeff:
Yes, that’s right.

Chris:
In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. So theologically, I think I could say that Jesus had a part- But Moses is the one who wrote Leviticus. So anyway, but it was given to a very specific Jewish culture for specific reasons. And it was also largely connected to the customs and perceptions of that day, which is why it says other things like, you know, they’re not supposed to take a razor to any hair on their head. Right?

Jeff:
The verse right before this says, don’t trim the edges of your beard and don’t cut the sides of your hair. So this is why even today, Orthodox Jews, you’ll see the men will have the big long curls on the side. Oh, that’s why. Because of that verse right before this verse. Right. Right. And then that’s why they grow, you know, they’ll grow longer beards and the older the men are, the longer their beards are a lot of times. Right. In that. And that’s why is because the very specific laws to the Jewish people at that time. So, yeah, there’s a difference between moral law. Don’t kill. Don’t steal. Right. Jesus is really clear. He didn’t come to banish or change moral law. As a matter of fact, he re-ups all of the moral laws. What Jesus came to do, though, is he fulfilled all of the Levitical laws. So then the question is on this one, what is the purpose? So, do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. Traditionally, there were a lot of pagan rituals where they would cut themselves, shed their own blood, they would have scars on their body, acknowledging and representing the fact that they’re carrying their dead people with them or something like that. And then the same thing with the tattoos. The tattoos would often either define their religious worship of dead, which there’s cultures all around the world that still worship their dead, right? And so that, or they would do the tattoo to acknowledge the ownership of the God. that they have in their life that owns them, right? So that would be a big part of that. As opposed to decorative tattooing today, might be a little bit different. But I would say that this probably falls, I think most theologians would say, this falls within the Levitical laws, not the moral laws. Moral laws have to do with you and God and you and people. Love God, love people. Don’t kill don’t have any other gods before me, those kinds of things, right? But when it comes to these kinds of things, this is probably more about the don’t have any other gods before me. It’s a pagan thing. But if you really want to get into it, and I think we were talking about this right before the show started, In Romans 14, Paul says, you know, there’s a lot of those kind of laws that, you know, should you eat meat that’s offered to idols or shouldn’t you, right? And so these are non-Jewish people. So they’re not bound by Jewish law. And he was a Pharisee. Right. The apostles had already determined this in the book of Acts that the Gentiles weren’t bound by Jewish law, per se. The moral code, yes, but not the Jewish law. And so, Paul is saying here then in Romans 14, just don’t sin against your conscience. And in, what was it? I just wrote it down here a minute ago. 1 Corinthians 6, he says, in verse 12, he says, everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Right. So that’s really the issue is, okay, on the one side, don’t sin against your conscience. He says, for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. So if you’re doubting, gee, maybe I shouldn’t, then you shouldn’t. right? Because you’re not able to do it by faith. And then not everything that is good, or not everything that we can do, we should do. Not everything that is permissible to us is beneficial to us. And so I think you have to weigh those things. I personally don’t believe it’s sinful. I do think that there are advantages and disadvantages to tattooing. And so it just depends on your conscience with regard to that one. Is that consistent with what you believe?

Chris:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then let’s tackle, yeah, that’s exactly what I believe. In fact, I would then add my personal feeling on it as well. And I believe because tattoos today, and again, a lot of it has to do with culture. So I would imagine that back then tattoos were most likely only on pagan worship leaders like this. And so, and so if you saw a tattoo, then you probably almost, you know, in the streets, you would probably say, well, that’s a pagan worship leader, right?

Jeff:
Whereas today it is… Or that you were a participant. Participant in a ritual. Because we know throughout the ancient peoples they had tattoos.

Chris:
Yes, yes.

Jeff:
So most of the time, a lot of times, tattoos were identified slaves. So then people would tattoo themselves to demonstrate that they were a slave to their gods. So yeah, there are all kinds of reasons.

Chris:
Never thought about that, yeah. But because tattoos culturally are not perceived that way at all, and because of what you said, which is, you know, being under the Levitical law and all things are, you know, beneficial and expedient and all those things, I personally think that tattoos can be something that’s really positive. So I actually like them a lot. I have often thought about getting a tattoo, I just can’t bring myself to do it. Not because of conviction, because of the pain involved. So, I just don’t want it.

Jeff:
Chris is a touch delicate.

Chris:
Yeah, so my wife actually makes fun of me and she goes, really? She goes, that’s why? She goes, that’s the reason why? And I said, well, no, it’s partly the reason why, you know. But it’s probably partly because I’m 50 and it’s like, I’ve waited this long. Why do it at 50, right?

Jeff:
Yeah, that’s right. Well, why would you ruin this incredible canvas?

Chris:
Yeah, this canvas. But anyway, so I actually think that tattoos are pretty awesome, and I think that they a lot of them I don’t want to say that all tattoos are awesome right like the guy who put the Lombardi trophy and said lines Oh, yeah, yeah, that was terrible 2024 bad choice

Jeff:
But a cross or something like that, right, where it’s a testimony thing. So I would go back to the one phrase. I would not dismiss any of the Old Testament laws as being cultural. I think that that happens sometimes. So it’s not because it was just a cultural thing back then and culture has changed today.

Chris:
I just was pointing out that the culture is different.

Jeff:
Right, right. So culture doesn’t change God’s Word. God’s Word should change culture, right? But what I’m saying is, in this context, it was written specifically for the Jewish society, right? It was written for them, to them, as an act within the Levitical portion of the law. not the moral code, but within the Levitical portion of the law, which had to do with being set apart from the rest of the world. The Jews were set apart from the rest of the world. They were supposed to be God’s holy people. They were supposed to be different in every way, which we are too, certainly, right? Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. And Paul reaffirms that idea. So we’re not supposed to be just like the world all the time. If you’re doing it so that you’re like the world, that would be, I think, wrong. If you’re doing it for the purpose of testimony or because of some significant event in your life, and it’s not that you’re identifying with a pagan thing, I think as Gentiles, we are not bound by that Levitical law. That would be the thing. So it’s not a cultural thing. It’s are we bound by that portion of law or not? And for some people, I think, and for all of us, I think it can be a little confusing when you look into that. So that’s why Paul would say, especially, you have to do it by faith and don’t sit against your conscience. And then consider, is this the beneficial thing for what you’re trying to accomplish in your life?

Chris:
And then it also says, the second verse, which is Revelation 19, 16, because she asks a follow-up question.

Jeff:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it’s Leviticus 19 versus Revelation 19.

Chris:
Today, today, today! Yeah, that’s right. And so she’s saying, how does it not conflict with this verse? And again, it says, on his, which meaning Jesus’ robe, and on his thigh, he has the name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Jeff:
I would just say… Some people would say Jesus has a tattoo.

Chris:
Right. Which, by the way, it doesn’t say tattoo. I’ve actually, whenever I’ve read that verse, I’ve always pictured war paint. Yeah. Because, you know, it’s, it’s in that, you know, him coming again. Right. So yeah, that’s, that’s what I was. It’s on his robe.

Jeff:
It could be a logo. Yeah. A name tag, something like that. But it doesn’t say it’s a tattoo. It could be a Sharpie marker for all we know.

Chris:
Yeah, Sharpie. Right.

Jeff:
Also, it doesn’t say on the skin of his thigh. Right. Right. So it could be on his robe at his thigh. Right. It could be that. It could be henna or something where it’s just a temporary tattoo. It could be that he used charcoal.

Chris:
Explain for people what henna is.

Jeff:
It’s a temporary tattoo. That’s what I said.

Chris:
I know. It’s common in India.

Jeff:
Sure it was. It’s common all over the Middle East. My wife got one in Morocco on her hand. It’s really pretty. Um, but the, the idea being, it does not say it’s a tattoo and does not say it’s in his skin or that it’s permanent. Right? So I know sometimes people would want to use that as justification. It’s not. So it’s not like we’re pitting Jesus tattoo against whether or not you can have a tattoo. Then it also doesn’t say just because Jesus has his name on his right side, doesn’t mean you have to have your name on your right thigh. Then if you’re going to get really specific and say, well Jesus has his name on his right thigh, I should be able to get a tattoo too. Okay, then you have to put your title on your thigh. That’s all. That’s the only thing to be permissible, right? So if you’re going to start parsing words or using specific things like that, well then it has to be precise. So if he’s the king of kings, then you’d have to be the prince of princes. Right? You know what I mean? What could you write? If you’re going to just justify, because it’s not saying he has a picture of, I know a guy who was having a rough night and went and got a tattoo of, what’s that Looney Tunes guy that spins? Tasmanian Devil. Tasmanian Devil. Yeah, yeah. And then nothing in his life would indicate that he would get a cartoon character for a tattoo. He was just drunk. He got a dumb tattoo, right? So, it’s not that we can just go put anything on our bodies if you’re going to try to use Jesus’ name on his thigh as being a justification for it. So, it’s a slippery slope if you’re going to try to use that as proof.

Chris:
So this segment went long, we had to move on, but before we do, it is radically interesting that you mentioned Tasmanian Devil with tattoos, because when I was in Bible college, a friend of mine who’s still a pastor, his name’s JJ, he came to me, because I draw a little bit, and he said, I want you to draw the Tasmanian Devil for my tattoo on my arm. and I want you to have him flex like this.” Because he had some guns, right? And he said, I want him to be in his tornado, but I want him to be flexing. So I drew that and he took it to a tattoo artist, got it on his arm and still has it. And then like instant messaged me and was like, Hey man, remember this? Like 30 years later, he’s still got it.

Jeff:
That’s the nature of tattoos. If you did it 30 years ago, you still got it.

Chris:
Right, right. But it’s interesting, I forgot all about it. Because for me it was a 20 minute thing of me drawing something. For him it’s a 30 year thing.

Jeff:
So summarize, it’s a Levitical law directed right at Jews. You probably are a Gentile, not bound by that law. So then is it going to be beneficial to your life and are you sitting against your conscience to be the two big ones? And I think the Jesus argument is irrelevant.

Chris:
Alright, well let’s move on because we have scriptures to tackle.

Jeff:
So the good news is we could take a long time on that one because this passage, we’re going through the 250 events in Jesus’ life. And while every event is important, this one doesn’t have a ton of depth in it. We’re going to read three passages, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And here’s what it says in Matthew chapter 26, one through five. It says, when Jesus had finished saying all these things, remember all the things he’s been teaching every morning and every afternoon in the temple. When he said all these things, he said to his disciples, as you know, Passover begins in two days and the son of man will be handed over to be crucified. At that same time, the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. But not during the Passover celebration, they agreed, or the people may riot. In Mark chapter 14, verse 1, it says, It was now two days before Passover and the festival of the unleavened bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and kill him, but not during the Passover celebration, they agreed, or the people may riot. And then Luke chapter 22 says, the festival of unleavened bread, which is also called the Passover, was approaching. Leading priests and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people’s reaction.

Chris:
So there you go. So Passover would have began on a Monday? No, Saturday, right? It would have began on Saturday?

Jeff:
It would have begun on a Friday evening.

Chris:
Friday evening? And goes till when? Saturday evening.

Jeff:
Because Sabbath begins on Friday and ends on Saturday.

Chris:
The Passover week was only two days?

Jeff:
No, the Passover week’s a week.

Chris:
That’s what I thought.

Jeff:
I was like, what are you talking about? But the Passover would have been that

Chris:
that Sabbath, the Sabbath of Passover would be… Okay, so there’s a difference between the festival, which is a week-long celebration of it, and the actual observance of Passover, which would have taken place on the Sabbath.

Jeff:
There’s the Sabbath that is the culmination of the Passover, I think is what I was trying to say.

Chris:
Yes, okay. So it begins a week earlier. Right.

Jeff:
Okay, so what’s interesting about this is that… So all the teaching that we’ve done for the last, what, two, three weeks, happened in the first four days of the Passover celebration. Right. Right? So we’ve been teaching for weeks on what Jesus says in the first four days, and then now Jesus is on his fifth day saying, hey, in two days is the Passover.

Chris:
That’s that’s why I was confused. Yes.

Jeff:
Okay. So the whole week is Passover week, right? But he’s saying hey in two days Passover begins

Chris:
Okay. Which is why I was asking, which by the way, that itself is worth the price of admission. There you go. Right. So, and so anyway, so they’re plotting to kill Jesus and it says that they’re meeting in Caiaphas’s house. Isn’t it true that you got the opportunity to go to Caiaphas’s house?

Jeff:
No, it was closed when we were there. Oh no. Yeah. We went to the ancient city of David instead, which is right near there.

Chris:
Okay, so I had the opportunity to go into Cuyffs’ house, and there’s a lot of, you know, they always rate the accuracy of the sites, you know, they always give it like a 1, 2, and 3, and they rated Cuyffs’ house as a 1, and they said that They said that they were certain that this was the house of Caiaphas for these reasons, blah, blah, blah. And, you know, it’s just a magnificent structure. And back then, a lot of the houses would be sort of, they utilized cave structures and they utilized the cool of, you know, the rock around them, which by the way, it’s amazing, isn’t it? How you could be out in 120 degree heat and then you could walk down into this cave And you would think that it’d be hotter in a cave, but it’s actually really cool. Like, to the point where, hey, do you have a sweater? Yeah. Like, isn’t that crazy, by the way? But anyway, so a lot of Caiaphas’s house was actually slightly built into the rock. And so you get to sort of see where that dwelling was. It was magnificent and big, but there was also this like spiral staircase that was built later that you were able to walk down into the dungeon where prisoners were held before trial in Caiaphas’s house. So when Jesus was taken to trial and he was being held at Caiaphas’s house, he would have been there right before he went through the crucifixion. Wow. And so it was actually extremely emotional. Yeah. So, you know, you have to go down the spiral staircase and you’re standing in this, this pit made out of a cave and you’re looking up and you’re thinking, this is the only dungeon in Caiaphas’s house where prisoners are held before trial. Jesus was there, which means Jesus was pretty certain that Jesus was here in this pit awaiting his crucifixion. Right. So, and by the way, and I’m talking like it was not wide. It was like, it was, I don’t know how to say it. It’s maybe five by five. Yeah. Right. So, um, but it was around and, uh, it was actually pretty emotional.

Jeff:
It’s a really powerful thing to be able to walk into places that you knew Jesus was standing. Let me read this note as we wrap up this episode today. Luke 22, verse 1, the note in the Life Application Bible will bring clarity to the conversation we were just having a second ago. I misspoke a little bit. It says, all Jewish males over the age of 12 were required to go to Jerusalem for the Passover festival, which was followed by a seven-day celebration called the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Right? So there’s the Passover, and then there’s the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which was still what they would call the Festival of the Passover, right? So it kind of gets a little convoluted there, but it was followed by. So Passover begins, and then the seven days follows the beginning of Passover. Does that make sense? So I was saying it was ahead, it’s after. Um, uh, for these festivals, Jews from all around the Roman empire would converge on Jerusalem to celebrate one of the most important events in their history. Right. And we’ll talk more and more and more about this because now, now that we’re entering in everything has significant symbolic meaning, right. All connected to the Passover. So we’ll be talking about that over the next couple of weeks for certain.

Chris:
Yep. So, okay, well that’s great. We spent a lot of time on the stump the pastor, but again, them plotting to kill Jesus isn’t new, right?

Jeff:
Yeah, this has been, this is a theme.

Chris:
Yeah, this is a theme. But the only new information here is, is that they didn’t want to do it when the crowds would riot, right? But it turns out that they eventually get to the place to where they’re going to have Jesus crucified right on the tail end of this. Correct. So, all right. Well, that’s all the time we have, and we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.