Oh, we endured the moaning for YEARS: Mommy, please, can I have my ears pierced, please, everyone else does; why can’t I, please! But Dad had spoken, and she would be waiting until she was sixteen, like it or not. Of course, old Mom was stuck in the middle, submitting to the authority of her daddy, all while listening to the complaints of my daughter. Enter older brother and his wife. Ten years separated their birth years, making that older brother his little sister’s avid protector, defender, and enabler. He and his wife had made a secret pact with this teenage young lady, they would take her out on a shopping date, a believable cover story for the real purpose of the excursion. When she returned home that day sporting pierced ears and new earrings, the Winkle household endured a few moments of, hmmm, let’s say, tenseness. My husband was ultimately vindicated, as the one ear was not done properly and would have to be redone, AFTER she officially turned sixteen.
Earrings have an interesting history, dating back to 3000 BC. Earrings have been a sign of status, and a sign of slavery. Some ancients believed that sickness and evil spirits could enter body orifices such as ears, so earrings, or amulets, were worn at these entryways as a form of protection. Egyptians would fashion earrings after their false gods, wearing those baubles in honor of those gods, a type of good luck charm inscribed with magical formulas. One Bible word translated earring infers a darker meaning, to whisper or conjure; to mumble as a spell: “In that day the Lord will take away…their tinkling ornaments…and the earrings.”
When Jacob returned to the land of promise, there he would build an altar and meet with his God. In preparation, Jacob was commanded: “Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments.” Jacob’s response may be a bit strange to our ears (no pun intended). Jacob collected any false gods, “and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.” Centuries later, the children of Israel would take “golden earrings which were in their ears,” brake them off, melt them down, fashion them with “a graving tool,” and make a “molten calf” to worship.
Does this mean that we should preach against earrings? Of course not, but we should be cautious of anything that prevents us from experiencing the presence of God at our own Bethel. We must be prudent to guard our spiritual cleanness, evicting anything from our lives that comes before our God. Jacob wanted to be well-prepared to meet with his God, and so should we.
Exodus 20:2,3 I am the LORD thy God…Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Lord, help me to be cautious of anything that could become a god in my life. I want to be clean in Your presence, wholly devoted to You.