Jewels
In the book of Isaiah we can see a stern warning against the rebellious people of Judah. The sins of the inhabitants of Judah are many, and among their sins was a love of fine jewelry made by the hands of man:
Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. . . . Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. . . . And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats. . . . Morover the LORD saith, Because the daughters oof Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, the rings, and nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. . . . Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. (Isaiah 2:6, 8, 18-20; 3:16-24; 5:11-14, KJV)
Needless to say, in Isaiah’s time the children of Zion were arrogant—walking proudly, throwing lascivious looks, gossiping, and flaunting jewelry made by their own hands (nose jewels, rings, leg ornaments, tinkling foot ornaments, earrings, bracelets, chains, et cetera). They made idols of silver and gold with their own hands, admiring and even worshipping the work of their own fingers. They followed the soothsaying ways of the Philistines and indulged in sexual immorality; they drank all day and partied at night, having no regard for the work of the LORD and giving no consideration to the operation of His hands. In other words, instead of gazing at the wonders of the night sky and contemplating the great handiwork of the Holy One of Israel, they raised glasses of wine in callous reverie and obsessed on manmade handiworks such as various and sundry veils, bonnets, and other fashion accessories. Instead of appreciating the bounty of God’s food and water, which He prepared for them, they raised glasses of wine in callous reverie and admired each other’s tinkling manmade ornaments. Instead of worshipping the Maker of the cedar trees, they raised glasses of wine in callous reverie, smoked their pipes, shook to the exotic sounds of the viol and the tabret, and languished proudly on the precipice of hell. In fact, we learn, multitudes of the rebellious children of Zion in Isaiah’s time exulted in their lack of knowledge, proudly revelled in the sounds of their tinkling manmade ornaments, ignored their Creator’s handiwork, and descended into hell.
What began with a study of the folly of nose jewels and tinkling foot ornaments actually revealed a very important facet of Scripture in Isaiah 5:11-14. Indeed, ignoring the God of Israel is tantamount to ignoring the God of creation—ignoring the works of the LORD and ignoring the operation of God’s hands are sins of omission, yes, but they are also sins of commission because the one who ignores the God of creation invariably entertains and idolizes all manner of manmade idols instead. This brief study of nose jewels and tinkling foot ornaments well demonstrates that an unholy love of manmade idols can take one’s heart away from the God of creation, potentially placing him or her on the brink of hell itself. Is it possible that the “catwalks” and MTV videos of today—which flaunt the manmade underwear and manmade jewels and manmade headbands and manmade gold chains while ignoring the holy purpose for which young men and women were created—could be a runway to hell in a repeat of the times of Isaiah? Fortunately, in Judah, King Hezekiah heeded the words of the prophets and reordered his kingdom so that his people were given a measure of protection (from God) for a time. Unfortunately, the sins of the children of Zion eventually did recur in Jeremiah’s (and Ezekiel’s) time and Judah and Jerusalem were sacked by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., and the children of Zion were taken into captivity in Babylon for a period of 70 years.