SHOULD A CHRISTIAN MAN WEAR JEWELRY?

Men through the ages have worn various types of jewelry and other adornments made of precious metals and/or gemstones. In recent years it has become almost commonplace to see men with earrings, even multiple pairs, rings through their noses, and body piercing in just about every possible area of their anatomy. Along with these apparent "excesses" comes the question of what types of ornamentation a Christian man should wear. Even whether a Christian man should wear any jewelry at all. Opinions abound and doctrines are taught, often contradictory. What does the Bible have to say about male adornment? THE PURIFICATION OF JACOB'S HOUSEHOLD Gen. 35 presents the first account of male jewelry in the Bible. A strong indication of a proper biblical perspective on this subject confronts the reader. The first four verses read: Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother." And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone." So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem. (The New King James Version is used throughout this article.) Here God tells Jacob and his household to purify themselves. One of the prominent aspects of this purification is the putting away of foreign gods and apparently connected with them (v. 4) was the wearing of earrings. Does this constitute a condemnation of earrings? Not necessarily, since it does not specifically mention such a connection, but it appears that earrings were quite possibly associated with the worship of foreign gods. While the absence of information does not prove something, and "guilt by association" is also not proof, context and multiple "witnesses" can assist in gaining a clearer picture. THE GOLDEN CALF Following the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (and, among other things, the taking of much jewelry from the Egyptians), another incident specifically mentioning the wearing of jewelry by males appears. Exod 32:1-4 mentions: Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." "So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!" Here earrings of gold were taken off by both men and women for the purpose of making an idol and worshiping it. The wearing of the earrings was not condemned, but the use for which they were turned certainly qualifies as contemptible. ISRAELITES IN THE WILDERNESS Immediately following this incident another account appears which includes the wearing (or not wearing) of jewelry by the Israelite men. Ex. 33:1-6 states: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' "And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. "Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way for you are a stiff-necked people." And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the children of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.'" So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. Again there appears to be a problem with the wearing of jewelry. God specifically tells the men to remove their ornaments, this time apparently connecting the wearing of jewelry with their stiff-necked attitude. While again there is no specific condemnation related to the wearing of jewelry, the context is definitely a negative one in that regard. THE SABEAN MEN A third account appears in the book of Ezekiel. In Ezek 23:42-49 is written: "The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. "Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, 'Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?' "Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women. "But righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands. "For thus says the Lord GOD: 'Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder. 'The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire. 'Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness. 'They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.'" Once again, there is no specific condemnation of the wearing of jewelry by men, but once again it is specifically mentioned in a very negative context. Nothing is mentioned of the Sabeans' dress, their hair length, or facial hair, but their wearing of jewelry in a context of adultery, shedding of blood, idolatry, and lewdness adds nothing to support the wearing of jewelry by men. POSITIVE MENTIONS OF MALE JEWELRY Following the Ex 33 account, the preparations for the tabernacle in the wilderness commence. In this process, male jewelry again appears. Ex 35:22 states, They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the LORD. Here, finally, is a positive reference to male jewelry; however, the reference is not to the wearing of it but rather to the "sacrificing" of it for the tabernacle. In our opinion, the plundering of gold and other jewelry from the Egyptians was primarily to serve the purpose of providing materials for the tabernacle and later the temple. Another positive reference appears in Num 31:50-54 which follows a battle with the Midianites. This account reads: "Therefore we have brought an offering for the LORD, what every man found of ornaments of gold: armlets and bracelets and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD." So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments. And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the LORD, from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. (The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting as a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD. Again, the account, while positive, does not refer to the wearing of this jewelry, but rather to the offering of it. But are there any truly positive accounts which include the wearing of jewelry by men? Yes, there are. The first one is found in Gen 41:42 which says: Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph's hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. Pharaoh presented Joseph with a ring and placed it on his finger and gave him a gold neck chain to wear as symbols of his office and authority. Since there is no mention of any objection by Joseph or a refusal to wear them, this indeed sheds positive light on the wearing of jewelry by men. It must be noted, however, that they were not mere ornaments but signs of his governmental position. A similar account appears in Esther 8:2: So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman. Like with Joseph, the king presented Mordecai with a royal signet ring which apparently was accepted and worn. It served as a token of his office and authority. An account of its use is found in v. 10 which states: And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king's signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steeds. Another example is found at the end of the account of Job's experience. In Job 42:10-11 is found: And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. Apparently these rings were accepted by Job and quite possibly worn. Since these are not specifically mentioned as signifying any particular office or authority, it is quite possible they were merely ornamental in nature. In Hag 2:23 God Himself likens Zerubbabel to a signet ring, a symbol of authority: 'In that day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,' says the LORD, 'and will make you as a signet ring; for I have chosen you,' says the LORD of hosts." The account of the "Prodigal Son" provides another mention of the wearing of a ring. In Lk 15:22 Christ stated: But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.' The father in this parable is representative of God Himself and the placing of a ring on the son's hand provides a positive reference to the wearing of a ring by a man. Finally, James admonished Christians not to respect people according to outward appearances when he wrote in Js 2:2-4: For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool," have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? There is no condemnation of the wearing of gold rings by a man, but there is condemnation of showing such a man more respect than a poorer brother merely because of the one's apparently greater wealth and station in life. CONCLUSION While the wearing of ornamental jewelry by men receives no specific condemnation in the Bible, the only references beyond the wearing of rings and "official" trappings are extremely negative. Given nothing but negative company, the apparent conclusion is that the wearing of anything other than rings and symbols of office or authority should be avoided by a Christian man. The wearing of other forms of jewelry such as earrings, nose rings, necklaces, and bracelets are mentioned positively in the Bible only in the context of feminine adornment. Another aspect of this subject is the purpose of the jewelry. Is it worn to honor God? Or is its function to attract attention to the wearer? It is one thing to wear, for example, a wedding band and/or a class ring but an entirely different matter to wear a ring on every finger. Is the jewelry worn solely to improve one's appearance? Or is it worn to "protest" the frowning upon it by society (and apparently by the Bible as well)? God equates rebellion with witchcraft (1 Sam 15:23), a capital offense! While the answers to these questions are a subjective matter best answered by each individual, the purpose of such adornment should be assessed carefully. God, of course, knows the heart and every individual will answer for his decisions.   Copyright © 1997 by Lighthouse Congregation of God. All rights reserved.