This weekend I attended a prophetic training conference. I love these particular classes because they stretch me out of my comfort zones and teaches me new ways to hear from God and to minister to people. These classes also remind me how easy the prophetic is when we trust God to speak to us and then through us to others. Just simply saying what we hear the Father saying.
At the end of the conference I glanced over and noticed a woman’s tattoo, it was a flower and 2 letters in the middle of the flower on her wrist, and I “saw” a Hebrew word on it. When I looked a second time I noticed it wasn’t a Hebrew word at all but I knew what God had shown me was the Hebrew word “bo” in the middle of the flower. I’ve had that happen before where I see words that aren’t there… it was God was showing me what was going on behind the scenes of a situation. Giving me insight.
I walked over to the woman and asked her what the tattoo was. She got a bit embarrassed and said it was a tattoo she got before she was saved. I asked her what the letters in the middle were and she said it was the Hindu word “ohm”. She went on to tell me how much she dislikes the tattoo and you could tell from her expression and the fact that she pulled her arm from me to hide it, that it caused her great shame. While it may at one time have represented who she thought she was, it now no longer defined her.
I apologized for making her feel uncomfortable and then proceeded to tell her about the word I saw in the flower. Honestly, I am probably the least likely candidate to prophesy over a tattoo. I don’t even like tattoos!! LOL! I love that about God though…. if we stay compassionate towards people, and if we seek after His heartbeat and desire to release His love and who He is, then we make ourselves available to Him in EVERYTHING. I love co-laboring with Him.
God is not for or against tattoos. He is for people… ALL people…. believers and unbelievers (or as I now like to say “pre-believers”.) And He is against bondage…..He’s against the devil and how he tries to enslave people in condemnation and guilt over things we did before (and sometimes after) we knew Jesus.
Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago and purchased our freedom. We have been set free from the condemnation and guilt of sins, choices, mistakes, etc. of our past. He forgave us completely… of ALL past, present and future sins. This tattoo was causing guilt and shame to this woman… this daughter of God that Jesus had completely set free.
The word “ohm” has a meaning in Hindu. It means an eternal sound, the seed of creation, the sound of creation, truth, the name of Divinity, the origin of the universe. It also means the place from where everything has come, in what everything dwells, and into what everything will dissolve into. Wow! What a lie from the pit!! What a bondage from the devil!
No wonder God zeroed in on this particular tattoo. There were several tattoos in the room and no one was going around prophesying over tattoos… it wasn’t part of the class info. God was just focused on this one. Contrary to religious thinking, He wasn’t angry about the tattoo… He didn’t see it as wicked, evil, or wrong… He didn’t even tell her to get rid of her tattoo…God simply renamed her tattoo. What a beautiful expression of His redemptive power! He is a good Father and He cares about what we care about. His love envelops and consumes every area of our lives.
Words are powerful and carry the power of life and death. I believe He simply didn’t want the “power” of this Hindi word speaking to her mind and thoughts any longer. So he chose a simple Hebrew word “bo” to redeem this marking.
Bo in the Hebrew is a command meaning to come. The verb “come” means, to move from a far position to a position nearby. The King left His throne (a far place) to earth to redeem us back to the Father. We who were once far from Him came to Jesus when the Father drew us. And then He came and made His dwelling place our hearts. Now we are one with Him. He told us to come to Him and He would give us rest. His yoke is easy and never burdensome or heavy.
This word that He chose for her tattoo speaks of her oneness in Him and about the freedom, He purchased for her.
She was so thrilled that God would do that and she lovingly put her hand on the tattoo, the one that she had just a few minutes before tried to hide, and she said: “this is my bo tattoo.” Oh, Abba Father You continue to astound me!! You are truly the God of restoration…. of ALL things.
He can even turn tattoos that exalt a false god into ink for Jesus.
~ Robin
It Is Finished 