Aids to Beautification - Biblical Blueprints

Jewelry • 1JewelryPrecious stones and aromatic resin (see perfume below) weredeliberately created for the benefit of mankind before Adam andEve were even created (Gen. 2:12). Not only were they created,but the gold was said to be good (Gen. 2:12); everything increation was declared to be very good (Gen. 1:31) and all wasgiven to Adam and Eve.God’s DesignIf we are to approach life from a simply functional viewpoint,then much of Scripture seems superfluous. Why did God giveAdam and Eve precious and beautiful stones? Why was Heconcerned about perfume? Why did God decorate the temple solavishly? When God made clothes for Aaron why did He givethe dual purpose as “for glory and for beauty” (Ex. 28:2,40).Why did He give Scripture in so many literary styles? Why didHe make the tree of the knowledge of good and evil desirable tolook upon? Why did God give us taste buds rather than make useat out of toothpaste tubes? He obviously has an interest ingiving us pleasure through beauty.Perversion of PurposesWearing jewelry is treated as evil by many people because ofthe way the ungodly lust after jewels and pervert the beauty toungodly ends. Before Satan fell he was “full of wisdom andperfect in beauty” (Ezek. 28:12). The fact that he allowed thebeauty to sinfully get to his head (Ezek. 28:17) did not mean thatthe beauty was bad.Proper PerspectiveWhen 1Timothy 2:9 warns about the dangers of costlyclothing, it does not mean that all beauty is spoken against.Otherwise we charge God with folly in creating both the beautyand the desire for beauty. We must remember that God declared