Contending for What True Beauty Is! (Part: 2)

God's View on Beauty
In the last paragraph in the previous blog I quoted 1 Samuel 16:7 and Proverbs 31:30 to contend that God sees beauty in a much different light than we do. The world values physical youth and beauty, whereas the Lord values the inner beauty of the heart that is yielded to Christ. Physical beauty has a short life span, but inner beauty will endure for time and eternity. Now is God against people who are beautiful? Nope, not at all. To prove my point, consider twelve people from the Bible who were noted for their beauty.

The Word of God mentions eight women who were known for their beauty and four men who were known for their handsome appearance, which gives us a total of twelve people in the Scriptures who were considered either beautiful or handsome. Who are these people mentioned in the Bible? They are as follows:

(1.) Sarai [Sarah], a woman beautiful in appearance (Gen. 12:11, 14).
(2.) Rebekah, was very beautiful in appearance, a virgin (Gen. 24:16; 26:7).
(3.) Rachel, was beautiful of form and face [of appearance] (Gen. 29:17).
(4.) Joseph, was handsome in form and appearance (Gen. 39:6).
(5.) Saul, a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel, even taller than any of the people (1 Sam. 9:2).
(6.) David, was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance (1 Sam. 16:12).
(7.) Abigail, the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance (1 Sam. 25:3).
(8.) Bathsheba, the woman was very beautiful in appearance (2 Sam. 11:2).
(9.) Tamar, Absalom's sister, was beautiful in appearance (2 Sam. 13:1; 14:27).
(10.) Absalom, now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no defect in him (2 Sam. 14:25).
(11.) Queen Vashti, a woman beautiful in appearance (Esther 1:11).
(12.) Esther, now this young lady was beautiful of form and face [of appearance] (Esther 2:7).

God has entrusted the gift of physical beauty in men to reveal the heavenly Groom, the Lord Jesus Christ, and physical beauty in women to outwardly reveal the Bride in all her glory as the Church. Also, physical beauty in men and women shows us that God is a God who makes all things beautiful in their time despite the damage that sin has caused in the world. The Lord of life has never meant for physical beauty to reign as a god in the hearts of men and women, but rather the gift of physical beauty was to point men and women in praiseful hearts to God who has made all things beautiful.

Now despite these twelve people in the Scriptures who were recognized for their beautiful appearance, nevertheless they were flawed. For example: Rachel was guilty of idolatry; Saul was guilty of lying to Samuel the prophet and disobedience to God's Word; David was guilty of adultery and murder; Absalom was guilty of murder and conspiring against his father, David, to take the throne of Israel for himself. Lastly, Queen Vashti was guilty of disobedience to her husband and king's command. These beautiful people may have been beautiful on the outside, but they were not always so attractive in the inside. So the question could be asked, Where is an example of what true beauty is like?

The Lord Jesus Christ is the absolute opposite to the twelve beautiful people mentioned above. Jesus was not known for his handsome appearance like king Saul or David were. It is interesting, however, to see how the world views Him. Many artistic paintings depict the Lord Jesus Christ as a handsome thirty something man. Yet this is not how the Holy Scriptures portrays Him. The Bible paints a totally different picture of what Jesus looked like. "He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him." (Isa. 53:2). To put it bluntly, Jesus was not an attractive man. Nevertheless, there is no person in all of human history who can match Him in the beauty of His Holy Person! His matchless beauty is unfading and untainted by man's sin. The Lord Jesus' beauty is to be praised and emulated in our lives!

Contending for What True Beauty Is! (Part: 1)

The World's View on Beauty
A number of years ago, I had a taste of the modeling and fashion business for a short while. It was an interesting experience. A model's physical appearance and health is essential for the photo shoots, promos, and for the model's building a good portfolio for potential work opportunities. Also, the model, whether male or female, had to have good social skills in working with people in the modeling industry in order to ensure success.

At the time, the modeling experience was good for me because I learned a lot from it. Eventually I moved on to do other things. Over the years since then, this got me thinking about the world's view and obsession with youthful beauty. I have heard, read, and watched many sad stories of the pressure put upon female models and women in general to look their best. This has sadly resulted in a number of women committing suicide, suffering from annorexia, drug abuse, etc. Society's message is clear to our young women that if they don't lose weight and look beautiful they will never truly be loved, accepted, and valued as a person. This of course is a lie. Below are four points among many of the the world's value of beauty.

(1.) The first problem is the world is obsessed with physical youth and beauty. Just consider for a moment many of the commercials on T.V. and the internet that advertise products aimed at women to help them stay young and beautiful. Also consider how many women and men get cosmedic surgery each year. It's a multimillion dollar industry. Many young women know that there is social power and status associated with being beautiful. They also enjoy the social influence they have with men. They know their beauty draws men to them, which presents opportunities for a potential mate. This of course drives many women to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on products to maintain their youth and beauty.

(2.) The second problem with beauty-- I'm talking about physical beauty here-- it is only skin deep. Since we are all subject to aging, youth and beauty eventually fades. Not only does beauty fade with age, it is also fragile. For example: a young woman can be beautiful today and tomorrow have that beauty taken away in her prime through disease, a car accident, or by a bad burn received through a fire she got rescued from. No wonder the author of Proverbs 31:30 wrote, "beauty is vain." Youth and beauty should never be trusted and relied upon for success in life. Only the beauty of one's character can be trusted for true lasting success.

(3.) The third problem with the world's obsession with youth and beauty is that it encourages the person to focus far too much on our outer appearance, instead of the inner beauty of the heart. If the inner garden of the heart is left unattended, it can be quite an ugly mess of weeds, thorns, and thistles of self centredness, pride, and vanity. And we all know that such people are not easy to be around.

(4.) The fourth problem with the world's obsession with beauty is the false image it presents to the public. Today many popular fashion magazines and books have high tech publishing companies that can air brush or digitally manipulate photos [eg. Photoshop] of men and women to look flawless in their beauty. This of course gives a false representation of the person on the cover of the book or magazine. It in no way portrays the real person in the photo. This can be seen in the photos of many well known Hollywood stars. However, if one were to see the Hollywood star or model in person, we would see a totally different individual portrayed. We would see the real person instead of the false image of that person represented in the picture on the cover of some magazine. I am happy to say that over the past decade or so, a growing number of well known actors and actresses and models have spoken out against this false image that the fashion media has portrayed in photos of them. There is no such thing as a man or woman who is a flawless beauty. No one can live up to this false image that the fashion media presents to society.

Please keep in mind, I am not against being attractive, fashionable and looking good. I'm just against the unhealthy obsession that the world has placed upon the social value of beauty. In today's world physical youth and beauty has become a form of idolaltry. Yes, you read that correctly; physical beauty in today's society has become a form of idolatry. The world worships youth and beauty. Noted author, John Eldredge says it best, when he wrote:

"If you think I exaggerate, simply look around. Look at all the art, poetry, music, drama devoted to the beautiful woman. Listen to the language men use to describe her. Watch the powerful obsession at work. What else can this be but worship? Men come into the world without the God who was our deepest joy, our ecstasy. Aching for we know not what, we meet Eve's daughters and we are history. She is the closest thing we've ever encountered, the pinnacle of creation, the very embodiment of God's beauty and mystery and tenderness and allure. And what goes out to her is not just our longing for Eve, but our longing for God as well. A man without his true love, his life, his God, will find another. What better substitute than Eve's daughters? Nothing else in creation even comes close."¹

So what does God have to say about the subject of beauty in His Word? To begin with: "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7, NASB). You see, the Lord values inner beauty in the heart above outer beauty. God is more interested in the beauty of our character than our outward beauty that is subject to corruption. Concerning God's value of a woman's beauty: "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised." (Prov. 31:30, NASB).

¹ John Eldredge, Wild at Heart, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2010, pg.118.