Dear Readers: Thanks for the heartfelt, inspiring, and celebratory emails I received about last week’s 200th study. Now, I say “forward march” to all soldiers in the Lord’s army…….and raise your hand if you care about your appearance.
Annually, mega-millions are spent on skincare, hair dye, plastic surgery, spa treatments, designer clothes, and that’s just the men! Generally, in the professional world, appearance matters and can enhance credibility. However, in some fields, how you look is everything. Then, whenever you hear about a con man or woman, someone who got ripped off usually says, “He/she always dressed well and looked good.” And that brings me to a true story.
In my former life as a video producer, one of my clients was a very successful real estate developer. (You would know the name if you live in the Washington D.C. metro area.)
The founder had passed away, and his then-still hard-working widow (I will call her “Gloria”) was a mega-millionaire. She was feisty, intelligent, authentic and did nothing to hide the ravages of time or enhance her appearance.
One day, the marketing VP told me about Gloria’s visit to Palm Beach, Florida. Dressed in her usual Walmart-style pastel polyester attire, Gloria stopped by a Rolls Royce dealership. Since she did not fit the buyer profile, the salesman ignored her. And he kept ignoring her until Gloria approached the salesman and said, “I’ll take that one.”
We know appearances can be deceiving. Yet, they are a fact of life and warned about in His Word, as recorded in 1 Samuel 16 when the Lord told the prophet Samuel:
“ ‘I have chosen one of his [Jesse’s] sons to be king.’ ” Then, when Samuel saw Jesse’s oldest son Eliab, Samuel was impressed by Eliab’s physical appearance and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” Instead, the Lord taught Samuel a lesson that has stood the test of time:
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him [Eliab]. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart ’ “
Hearing the Lord, Samuel ultimately chose David, the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons. However, due to David’s youth, Jesse thought David was so inconsequential that he did not initially present David to Samuel. But when Samuel knew that the Lord had not chosen any of the seven, he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” David, who was tending sheep, was sent for: “He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.” Read all the details in 1 Samuel 16:1-13.
The “Gloria” and David’s selection story show that what we wear, our age, and how we look can make false impressions that lead to faulty judgments.
Moving on, here is what the Lord had to say about a very modern issue. (Will I be “canceled” for even quoting this verse?) :
“A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 22:5). And again with this next verse, I am putting myself on shaky ground:
“You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28). Enough about cross-dressing and tattoos! Next, we read an inspiring verse about the Lord’s appearance:
“Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking” (Ezekiel 1:28). If you want to know more about what “the voice” said, start reading Ezekiel 2.
Turning to the New Testament, Peter teaches about exterior versus inner beauty. The older I get, the more I like this verse:
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:3-4).
Timothy has some beauty advice for women:
“..likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire (1 Timothy 2:9). (Guilt question: Should I return that “costly” dress I recently bought?)
Here is what Jesus says about appearance and life in general:
“Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes ’ ” (Luke 12:22-23). (I will tape this verse to my refrigerator and closet door.)
We conclude our appearance Scriptures with a famous “controversial” passage dear to Messianic Jews like myself that I wrote about way back in Vol. 3. What follows is an Isaiah prophecy believed to describe Jesus’s appearance at his crucifixion and what He endured for us:
“He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”
“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:2-5).
Thank you, Jesus! Amen.
Lastly, another “Gloria” story. In the 1990s, at their corporate office again, Gloria said, “Come here; I want to show you something.” (Not her Rolls Royce.) Next, I saw an enormous tabletop building model, and in her twang, Gloria said, “I’m gonna build me a chapel!” She has long passed, but if you live in Northern Virginia, you might have visited Gloria’s mega “chapel” — much more than a chapel, all to His glory.
Myra Kahn Adams is a conservative political and religious writer with numerous national credits. Her book, “Bible Study For Those Who Don’t Read The Bible,” reprints the first 56 volumes of this popular study. “Part 2,” with the same title, reprints Vols. 57-113. Order it here.
Myra is also the Executive Director of SignFromGod.org and the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit. Both are educational donor–supported ministries dedicated to building a permanent Shroud of Turin exhibit in Washington, D.C. Visit the life-sized Shroud replica in D.C. Contact: MyraAdams01@gmail.com.
