Thou shall not wear ornaments?

The old generation Pentecostal/Brethren Churches in Kerala and other parts of the country prohibits a believer in wearing ornaments and teaches that your destiny will end up in hell if you wear ornaments. An overseer of Church of God [full gospel] in India even ventured to write a book against the practice of wearing ornaments by believers. But it is a known fact that he accumulated wealth disproportionate to his known source of income. However the new generation Pentecostal churches do not think that it is a sin. It is not their agenda to preach against wearing ornaments. As a result they attract huge crowd for their meetings.  Wear or not to wear ornaments baffle at least some of the sincere believers. Hence this article tries to find the Biblical truth on the heart burning question of many innocent believers. You can decide whether to wear [gold] ornaments or not.  In 1 Cor 13:11 we read that ‘but when I became a man, I put away childish things’. Some of the churches behave like Pharisees. ‘for they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers’. Mat 23:4

Quotations from Bible where ornaments [gold] are not condemned by God

	Reference	Verses	Comments
1	Jer  2:32	Can a virgin forget her ornaments or a bride her attire?  Yet my people have forgotten Me days without number.	God reminds a truth.
2	Gen 2:12	And the gold of the land is good	But it is too bad for many.
3	Gen 13:2	Abraham was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold	Abraham, you should not have accumulated silver and gold
4	Gen 24:35	……..he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold…………..	Flocks and herds are OK, Why silver and gold?
5	Gen 41:42	Then pharaoh took his signet ring off his hands and put it on Joseph’s hand	We are Pentecostals we will accept anything except a ring.
6	Gen 24:30	When he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister’s writs	Rebecca, you are not eligible for baptism and we will not admit you to our church either.
7	Ex 3:22	But every woman shall ask of her neighbor…….articles of silver, articles of gold…………..	We will ask anything except silver and gold.
8	Ex 28:36	You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it like the engraving in a signet ‘Holiness to the God’	Why waste too much money,  a wooden plate was  enough
9	Ex 35:22	They came both men and women as many as had a willing heart and brought earrings and nose rings and necklace, all jewelry of gold, that is everyman who made and offering of gold to the Lord	God accepted gold ornaments, but we are very allergic to gold. However there is no harm in keeping fat deposit in the bank.
10	Deut  8:13	………and your silver and your gold are multiplied………	Lord, multiply anything except silver and gold, we have denied everything for you.
11	Ps  45:13	Her clothing is woven with gold	We won’t allow this, we will not solemnize your marriage
12	Is 61:10	………..As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments And as bride adorns herself with her jewels…………	It seems that he/she is not born again
13	Ezek 16:11	I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, and a chain on your neck	Please don’t do this, we preach against wearing  ornaments
15	Dan 5:29	They clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck	Daniel is an old testament person. We will accept anything except gold chain
15	Hag 2:8	‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts’	It is wonderful, but is it true Lord?
16	Matt 2:11	They presented gifts to Him: gold , frankincense, and myrrh	Baby Jesus was innocent in the issue. But his parents were responsible for accepting gold.
17	Luke 15:22	Put a ring on his hand	Father, don’t play with a ring. A ring is not acceptable to me, since I have joined in a Pentecostal denomination.
18	II Tim 2:20	But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver………..	We don’t construct such a great house, hence no question of gold and silver vessels.
19	Jam 2:2	Man with a gold rings	We will not entertain anybody with gold rings in our church.
20	Rev 1:3	Girded about the chest with a golden band	Why Lord with golden band?
21	Rev 4:4	…..and they had crowns of gold on their heads.	We cannot accept the  elders with crown of gold
22	Rev 21:18	And the city was pure gold like clear glass	It can’t be gold, it may be some other unknown metal.

The above verses expressly show that there is nothing wrong in keeping /wearing gold ornaments and God is not averse to Gold. The following verses are quoted by anti- ornament protagonists. Decide yourself on the issues pointed out.

Quotations from Bible, helpful for the anti ornaments campaign

	Reference	Verses	comments
1	Gen 35:4	So they gave Jacob al the foreign gods which were in their hands and earrings  which were in their ear’s and Jacob hid them under terebinth tree which was by Schechem	Earrings were associated with foreign gods and that is why Jacob dealt with it in an unusual way.
2	Ex 33:4,6	They mourned and no one put on his ornaments. So the children if Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.	The people were showing their repentance after they were convicted against the sin of making a golden calf. When sad things happen we will also deny the comforts of life for some time.
3	Ezek  7:19	They will throw their silver in to the streets ,And their gold will be like refuse; Their  silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord	In the judgment day of God, none of the material things including silver and gold will save us.
4	Act 3:6	Silver and gold I do not have	Peter was a chosen Apostle and he could do great things for God. He was least bothered about the comforts of the world. But he was concerned with the money hidden by Ananias and Sapphira though he had no gold and silver [Act 5:9]
5	Jam 5:3	Your gold and silver are corroded…… you have heaped treasure in the last days	It is also told that ‘Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten’ Jam 5:2. What about investment in real estate and bank deposits?
6	1Tim 2:9	That the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing	Paul also talks about braided hair and costly clothing. How many of us visit beauty parlor and wear costly clothing. What about our marriage functions?
7	1 Pet 3:3	Do not let your adornment be merely outward arranging the hair, wearing gold or putting the fine apparel………precious in the sight of God	Peter also talks about the same thing

When the Brethren/Pentecostal movements came to India especially to Kerala the preachers craved for equality among believers. So many people from lower segment of the society were attracted to the new movement and due to their ignorance, accepted the anti-ornament theology. Now the climate has changed, most of them accumulated wealth and find it very difficult to hide it from the public. On an ultimate analysis of the above verses it is clear that there is nothing wrong in wearing ornaments.  In fact God is concerned with our material and spiritual well being.   God is looking to our heart and attitude towards accumulation of wealth.

noel

30.11.2013