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!
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