There’s irony in this gag. It’s all about surface.
We live in a superficial world. Of course, this is how the deceiver would like it. If we would judge people based on their inner beauty, we would be seeing with the eyes of the Father. But we don’t. We look at the surface and go with that.
Recently, I asked a 14 year old young man what kind of woman he was going to marry. He instantly said, “Someone HOT!” Pretty typical of a teenage male mindset. I too thought that way. I’d be lying if I said I was above being drawn to physical beauty. I’m human, guilty as charged. This is, of course, our carnal nature. And we all know what happens when we let our bodies make our decisions for us…
Image is everything
Earlier this year, while walking through the mall, I realized a correlation between our current society and the Egyptian society: both are heavily made up. By that I mean that they both use make up and wardrobe to enhance their appearance. Now I’m just going by what hieroglyphics tell me, I wasn’t in ancient Egypt. But it’s obvious that appearance was a big part of their society. They had style and valued beauty. However, look at the Israelites in comparison. God’s people have never been known for their style. In fact, God doesn’t want his people to be haughty. And fashion, at it’s core, is haughty by nature.
We know that Yeshua wasn’t necessarily aesthetically pleasing. The prophet Isaiah said, “There is no beauty that we should desire Him.” Yeshua is the embodiment of what God wants us to be. Personally, I don’t necessarily think we need to “uglify” ourselves in order to be Godly – there are some religious sects that believe this and that’s their belief. But we should tread carefully when getting “done up.” There’s a fine line between looking presentable and getting hot.
Egypt now?
There’s no doubt in my mind that we are in a form of Egypt. It’s a state of mind rather than a state of land. Egypt is pride. Egypt is lust. Egypt is power. Egypt is self-reliance. Egypt is a bunch of things that Israel is not. And that’s why we need to be holy… separate and apart. The closer we get to God, the further we get from the world. This is at the heart of the teaching “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” Repent turning back to Torah. The Kingdom of Heaven is our citizenship under the Father’s reign. We can’t serve two masters. The world’s gotta go.
But Egypt is creeping in. That prideful Egyptian mindset to build big, look good, and go to the tomb with the most toys is alive and well. Take an analytical look at the media through the eyes of God. Is this the way He’d want us to look and behave? I better stop before I get into my southern preacher voice.
Below the surface
A rule of humor is that if you have to explain the joke, it’s not a good joke. I agree. The gag in the comic is right there on the surface. Unfortunately, we don’t think we’re superficial so we don’t look at the superficial as superficial. How superficial.
