What’s with the focus on the forehead?
By Elizabeth Prata
Ezekiel 3:8, “Behold, I have made your face just as hard as their faces, and your forehead just as hard as their forehead.“
Isaiah 48:4, “For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.”
In Jeremiah 3:3 we read, “Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a prostitute’s forehead; You refused to be ashamed.”
What is with the focus on the forehead? What can it mean?
Topical Bible explains, “The forehead, in biblical literature, often symbolizes identity, character, and allegiance. It is a prominent part of the human body and serves as a visible marker in various scriptural contexts, both literal and metaphorical.”
The forehead is a most prominent feature of a person. It is what we normally see first. It is a representation of where the mind and thoughts reside, and thus, our focus and devotion. In the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary it is explained-
The Bible indicates that a person’s character can be determined by observing the forehead. A set forehead indicates opposition, defiance, and rebellion (Jer. 3:3).
Hardness of the forehead indicates determination to persevere (Isa. 48:4; Ezek. 3:8–9).
It has been used as a representation of Satan (Rev. 13:16–17).
At the same time, it stands for courage as when God told Ezekiel that He had made the prophet’s forehead harder than flint against the foreheads of the people (Ezek. 3:9). underlines mine.
The forehead is used as a very dishonorable word when read of the harlot’s forehead (Jer. 3:3), indicating utter shamelessness.
Shame is a long-lost emotion, in my opinion. People are shameless these days. In the case of the verse in Jeremiah 3:3 referring to a prostitute’s forehead, it indicates such shamelessness they don’t even blush, the forehead never reddens in shame or remorse. It was a metaphorical statement of Israel’s unashamed apostasy and faithlessness. It is the same sense in Ezekiel 3:7-8, Israel’s hard forehead of shamelessness.
Honor & Shame
Honor is spoken of frequently in the Bible. Honor is due God, authorities, parents, brethren. In Bible times, honor was the main measure of social status. A person could accumulate honor by inheriting via genealogy, having it ascribed to them from the community or synagogue, or acquiring it via deeds. For example, Job was living the fully blessed Hebrew life. He had accumulated wealth, family, health, and honor. His honorable height is what his seeming fall into the depths of shame was so shocking that his friends could not wrap their heads around it.
If honor was a highly blessed social currently in Bible times, its tethered opposite, shame, was a highly cursed standing. There were shame codes understood by all. Shame was associated with moral failure and sin, such as the woman caught in adultery. The Bible hints that Mary had the taint of shame all her life as a loose woman. (Mark 6:3; John 8:41; Matthew 1:19). The Woman at the Well was shocked that ‘The Prophet’ (Jesus) loved her despite her shame of so many husbands and immoral living situation.
Shame did not exist before the fall. Adam and Eve lived in a state of innocence and purity.
And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25).
Shame arrived after the first sin, (Genesis 3:7) and along with it, blame, guilt, and hiding.
In these days, shame is such a long-lost emotion that people do not hide any more. Abortions are touted. Adulteries are open and accepted. Bigamy is visible. Neglect of children is rampant. Is there anything that would cause shame any more?
Recently, the once credible magazine Christianity Today published an article rife with gossip, assumptions, and innuendo, claiming that Elisabeth Elliot was a bisexual in a lesbian relationship. The now departed Elisabeth Elliot was the widow of Christian martyr Jim Elliot, famously speared in the jungles of Ecuador. Elisabeth remained in the jungle after her husband’s death and ministered to the very peoples who had killed her husband and 4 other missionaries. She eventually returned home and wrote many devotionals and other books that have edified generations of women.
Elliot remarried 13 years later, and her second husband passed away from cancer. Four years after that she remarried and her husband of 38 years cared for Elisabeth in her final years as she passed away from dementia in 2015.
CT used to stand for biblical truth and propagating the Gospel. Speculations, assumptions, and even acknowledged that a key exchange between Elliot and her possibe paramour supposedly giving credence to the speculation may not even have happened at all.
What this adds up to is gossip. Shamelessly, after taking down the article due to sharp criticism, CT re-posted it publicly the next day. No shame at all. No journalistic integrity. Only a perverted agenda and seeking for clicks, at the expense of Elliot’s family.
For author Austen and CT to play kickball with Elliot’s reputation after her death (where she can’t defend herself) under the guise of ‘history’ is utterly shameless. This is a modern example of a hardened prostitute’s forehead as per Jeremiah 3:3.
CT has a prostitute’s forhead.
We don’t have as much of an honor culture nowadays either. Honor isn’t inherited so much based on a family name, although some are given honor due to that. Honor isn’t a word that’s discussed much.
Famously, in 2018, Beth Moore wrote an open letter to her Southern Baptist Brothers complaining she didn’t receive the honor she was due her ‘stature’ as a Bible teacher. Of course she didn’t frame it that way, it was embedded in a faux concern for ‘her gender,’ but the complaints were there. Complaining about not being honored is not a good look.
The only Person who has reason to lament a misplaced or missing honor is Jesus. He submitted to dishonor of the highest degree in order to fulfill God’s plan for redeeming His people. Jesus had nothing to be ashamed about yet died in the eyes of the world in shame.
“Perhaps the most vivid honor/shame text is Phil. 2:5–11. Jesus had unquestionable inherited, ascribed honor; yet He gave it all up and took the most humble of all honor bases (a slave) and died the most shaming of all deaths, crucifixion. However, God gave Him the highest of all honor positions and a name above all names on the honor scale, causing all to bow before Him. The honor code is thus defined by God instead of men.” Source- Warren, B. (2003). Shame and Honor. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary.
If you feel ashamed of a sin, an incautious word, a moment of misplaced anger, or something else, good. Peter was ashamed of his betrayal, and cried bitterly over it. Jesus restored Peter and demonstrated his trust in Peter by giving him the important task of feeding His lambs. The Lord is forgiving. Shame is a Holy Spirit indicator that your conscience is unsettled.
1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.“
Repentance is purifying and cleansing. We serve a gracious God who allows us to feel shame and wipes away the shame after repentance. Let your forehead be soft!
