Derech, thanks for the posts you have apparently worked hard on.
But let me ask a question or three.
Do you wear a watch or wedding band?
Do you wear neckties?
I don't believe Peter was saying that outward ornamentation should be shunned, but that we shouldn't be known by what we wear, whether it's jewelry, clothing, or how we fix our hair. It doesn't mean we shouldn't wear jewelry, clothing, or fix our hair, does it?
Nowhere in scripture is jewelry prohibited. In fact, God adorned His people several times with jewelry.
You mentioned a verse above in Revelation that speaks about a woman dressed in purple and scarlet wearing jewelry and holding a golden cup. Why do we focus on the jewelry but not her wearing purple and scarlet?
In
Ezekiel 7, the people were stripped of even their clothing and made to put on sackcloth. Yet we don't preach that wearing clothing is a sin, right?
God punished people for their attitudes, not what they were wearing. However, He took their possessions, even their clothing and jewels, as part of their punishment. He didn't take them because they were being worn at all.
In the Bible, jewelry was a sign of beauty. Solomon wrote several times about it, in addition to other writers. God even states how He adorned His people with jewels. When God took that away, He took their beauty away. Their possessions made them vain, and their attitudes were haughty. THAT is the issue. I cannot find any scripture where anyone was punished merely because they were wearing jewelry. Even in the context of the scriptures you post above, it was attitudes that cost the people their possessions, not having them at all.
But I do like how you laid it out, even if I disagree. And some points I happen to agree with.
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