Yeshua and Tattoos

by Lonnie Lane

There are many people with tattoos these days. They seem to be “in vogue.” However, there’s a teaching going around claiming that “Yeshua has a tatt,” too. The teaching is that when Yeshua returns He will be the bearer of a tattoo on His thigh that says, “Lord of lords and King of kings.” There are at least a few reasons why that cannot be true. For one, if Yeshua were to have a tattoo, He would be in violation of Torah. He came to fulfill the Torah, to bring it to its highest level, so to ascribe something to Yeshua that Torah forbids, would that be equal to blasphemy?

The expectation of Yeshua coming with the tattoo is derived from the verse
that speaks of His return: “And on His
robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF
LORDS” (Revelation 19:16). The command against tattoos is this: “You shall not make any cuts in your body
for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:28). The KJV says not to “make any cuttings in your flesh nor print
any marks upon you” and does not use the word tattoos, while the Amplified
Version makes clear that the word used indicates marks, prints and tattoos: “You shall not make any cuttings in your
flesh for the dead nor print or tattoo any marks upon you; I am the Lord”
(Lev. 19:28). How clear is that? We will address the matter of “for the dead” below, but first lets deal
with the primary issue of concern.

The idea that Yeshua would have any tattoo on His body at
all is in direct violation of Leviticus 19:28 as quoted above. And since He is
in fact both the “I am” and “the Lord” who gave the commandment, He
would be in conflict with Himself if He were to have a tattoo. Since that is
impossible, He cannot have a tattoo under any circumstances.

It may seem at first glance as if it’s a small matter, but
there is a rather significant issue involved here. It is this: If there is one
tiny abrogation of the Word of God, that is to say one command no matter how
seemingly small and insignificant that would be abolished, annulled, repealed,
rescinded or terminated, then the whole of God’s character of perfection would
fall apart. It would undermine His faithfulness and His immutable Word. And I
would go so far as to say, should there be one contradiction between Yeshua and
any of the commandments in Torah, it would invalidate His Messiahship, His
being the Anointed One of God, and, therefore, it would invalidate His
atonement as well! If even one verse was violated or invalidated by Yeshua, He
would have not been sinless and therefore He would not have been acceptable to
God as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

Scripture clearly
tells us this about Yeshua’s qualifications as our Redeemer: “…knowing that you were not redeemed
with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life
inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished
and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18, 19, emphasis added). Unblemished! Spotless! Each lamb or animal to be sacrificed under
the Old Covenant had to be perfect and without blemish of any kind in order to
qualify as a sacrifice for atonement of sin. Each was a prophetic type of Yeshua
as the final sacrifice being without “spot or blemish” spiritually, and
undoubtedly physically as well, I would imagine. He was (cross) examined by the
high priest on the Passover at the exact time that the sacrificial lambs were
being examined by the priests, and was found faultless – without blemish.
Nevertheless, He was sacrificed on the cross at the same time the lambs were
sacrificed on the altar in the temple. He was indeed the perfect sacrificial “Lamb that takes away the sin of the world”
(John 1:29).

If He had to be perfect and without blemish as required by
God for His death, would He be any less perfect or without blemish in His
resurrected Body? A tattoo would be a cut, a gash in His body, His resurrected
Body. That makes no sense. And who would have done the tattooing if that were
the case? Certainly not God for He is against tattoos. Would Yeshua need a man
to inscribe such a title upon Him? It’s ridiculous to even consider. For
something so carnal and physical to be of any reality in the heavenly realm or on
His perfect heavenly body, let alone on King Yeshua, just doesn’t make Biblical
sense, no matter what it would say in the tattoo.

Now, let’s look at some explanations that may help to see this correctly.
The Book of Revelation in which is found the announcement of Jesus having “King
of kings” on His thigh, is now thought by many scholars to have been written
first in Hebrew, rather than Greek. John was writing to the congregations which had significant Jewish
memberships so he’s writing to Jews who can explain what is being said to the
non-Jews. Jews would have understood the Revelation much more easily than most
of the church ever has for the simple reason that almost every verse in the
Revelation has reference back in the Old Covenant. It would not have been
mysterious to them as it is to those who are unfamiliar with the Old Covenant teachings.

Here’s where
we get into some Jewish roots lessons. The verse in Revelation 19 leaves us to
believe that Yeshua’s thigh is exposed so that the wording is visible to all to
see. However, to the Jews, a person whose thigh was exposed was considered to
be naked. Scripture gives many “thou shalt nots” about whose nakedness you are
not to look upon or see. Take a read through Leviticus and you’ll find
twenty-one of them. Nakedness is
listed as one of the curses in Deuteronomy 28 ( verse :30 to be exact). Avoiding
nakedness or the exposure of one’s flesh was one way to maintain a high moral
standard in the community, thereby eliminating a great many troubles, trials
and temptations. For those of you who just reacted to that last statement,
thinking it was prudish or legalistic, it wasn’t; it was one way of living in
holiness before the Lord and each other. (How shocked would Moses be today with
what many deem as acceptable dress? Or should I say acceptable exposure? To
have one’s thigh exposed would be considered being naked and forbidden. If
Yeshua were to have a visible tattoo on His thigh, that would be equal to being
naked in a public setting which, as we see, is wholly unacceptable to God.

How do we resolve this verse then? Well, here’s a very interesting Jewish
Roots Nugget. This goes back to the Revelation having been first written by
John in Hebrew. It now appears that the word “thigh” might be an alternative
meaning that came about because of a translation error. It is possible that the
Scribes who made copies of the Book of the Revelation may have made the tiniest
of errors which has resulted in an entire church doctrine. The word in the
Revelation for “thigh” is ragel, with
the first letter being a resh (ר). However, it
could have been the letter dalet (ד) in Hebrew which looks
very much like the resh. An
unfamiliar eye, such as yours perhaps, may not even be able to immediately tell
the difference in the Hebrew letters as they look almost identical. When the Revelation
was copied it would have been easy to see the Hebrew “d” (ד) as a “r” (ר), if the “d” was not
carefully written or drawn. If it were a “d” then the word would be dagel
and would have meant “banner” which makes much more sense than ragel which means “thigh.” If
that were the case, the verse would read “And on His robe and on His banner He
has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation
19:16 emphasis added). That certainly has more dignity to it and seems more in
keeping with Scripture and banners in warfare. And it would certainly eliminate
any thoughts about tattoos, wouldn’t it?

Now, as
for the words in Deuteronomy that say, “You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead” (:19:28), the reason for this and many other similar
commands was to be sure that Israel was distinguished from her pagan neighbors
who served demonic deities. The practice of making gashes on one’s face, arms
and legs following the death of a loved one or someone of stature was a common
practice among pagan societies. It was considered a mark of honor and respect
for the dead person. It was also a kind of offering or form of appeasement for
the deities who ruled over death to gash oneself and to insure the mark
remained.

Other
religions have practiced voodoo and other pagan or demonic rituals involving
tattooing as appeasement of gods or of status of belonging to one group as
opposed to another. You may have seen Hindus with a mark on their forehead for
the purpose of the status of one caste over another, something Israel was to
have no part in as all were to be equal before God. The Israelites actually adopted this tattooing superstition having
learned it from the Egyptians who were preoccupied with their fear of death and
trying to provide always for the afterlife. Although they turned from such
practices, in later “backslidden” times, Israel degenerated back into this
superstitious practice. (Isa 15:2; Jer 16:6; 41:5). You can see why God was
unalterably opposed to Israel participating in any practice such as this
tattooing of one’s body. Our bodies, to God who created them, are to be
regarded as holy and treated as holy. Not only were the motives for tattooing
demonically influenced, but the gashes are as a violation of the body, and any
harm to one’s body or the body of another person was disallowed.

Many have tattoos today but I am not addressing
those who have tattoos today. I was addressing a false teaching about Yeshua
and the implications of such a false teaching. The motive behind my search is
that I’m trying to find our way back to the effectiveness and power, the
faithfulness and commitment, the loving equality and unselfishness, and the undaunted
courage of the first century believers. I love the way they loved Yeshua –
entirely and completely, loving Him more than their own lives. I want that,
don’t you? I want to know Him that deeply. He is worthy of that kind of
commitment, don’t you agree?

Those who knew Him, those who were His followers
in the first century or so, were certainly Torah-observers and were just as
certainly not the least bit legalistic. They were free in Yeshua, yet walking
in what He embodied as the Word of God. He was the Torah and the prophets made
flesh. He lived the Word entirely by the Spirit of Grace and holiness as He
taught them to do, and as they were able to do by the power of the Spirit.

If you’re a reader of these articles, this is
not new to you. You likely share my quest for an authenticity in the Body of
Messiah that will reveal Yeshua in Spirit and in truth! Amen? I have great
expectations that we are even discussing this because God has plans for a
people who are preparing the way of the Lord. Along the lines of an old Jewish
proverb, I’m asking, “If not now, when? If not us, who?” If we believe we may
be the people who will see the return of Yeshua, then we should have a better
chance at being the people with His glory upon us as the New Testament folks did.
In questioning the reasons they were as they were, I see that it had to do with
the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit upon them, and how they followed
Torah as Yeshua did, by the Spirit of grace. They regarded it as valid for
their lives. Paul has this to say about the Old Covenant writings, because none
of the New Covenant writings were compiled as Scripture when he wrote this, “All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good
work” (2 Tim 3:16, 17). This shouts loudly that false teachings are avoided
by a reading of “All Scripture.”

Perhaps the error addressed above is an
example of how we can misinterpret Yeshua when He has been lifted out of the
context of the entirety of the Bible and we read selectively. We become what we
focus on. As we see Yeshua we will be like Him, but if we misinterpret Him,
because we have an incomplete picture of Him, then we will be powerless to
change our world in a time when the world is in desperate need. We are likely
to present pictures or images of Him that are incorrect and therefore do not
lead people to be truly saved. Even creation itself expresses its need – “For the anxious longing of the creation
waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19). Can we adequately be the sons and
daughters of God that the world needs, or even just that our city needs, or
those in our sphere of influence need, if our understanding of Yeshua is less
than He’s provided for us through His Word? Please let’s take the whole Bible
as seriously as we do the parts we like best. Allow God to reveal Yeshua to you
as never before, so we too would be without spot or blemish, in order “that He might present to Himself the church
in all her glory, having no spot
or wrinkle or any such thing;
but that she would be holy and blameless”(Eph. 5:27). And all God’s people
said….Amen.

Reprint of this article is permitted as long as you use the following; Use by permission by Messianic Vision, www.sidroth.org, 2010.

Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.  All rights reserved. Used by permission.