Beckham "grazes in rose-like pastures"

Beckham tattoos Song of Solomon

The latest pop icon to dabble in Jewish mysticism is British "soccer" star David Beckham and his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria Adams. MSNBC reports that Beckham's latest tattoo is a Bible verse: "The tattoos are from the Old Testament's Song of Songs and says, in Hebrew: "I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me, who grazes sheep in rose-like pastures."

There's nothing Christian about Beckham's new body ink. Kabbalah is a mystic form of Judaism that rivals Scientology as the flavor-of-the-month spirituality (some say occultic) for entertainers. Like Scientology, Kabbalah is big business with a cult-like mentality. An expose in the British Evening Standard said this about its chief proponent, Philip Berg: "it was in the United States that Berg - with his new wife Karen - set about popularising Kabbalah's mystical teachings. They have attracted millions of followers by promising that Kabbalah can offer " fulfilment in every aspect of your life: relationships, business, health, and more". This last sentence might as well have been written about evangelicalism's "health, wealth, and prosperity".

Kabbalah also shares with Scientology an apparent hunger for dominating its adherents. The Evening Standard reports: "past followers have told the Standard alleging relentless pressure to donate money, threats that "bad things" would happen if they left, and an expectation that they would change their names and abandon partners or families at the centre's behest." This sounds eerily similar to charges made against Scientology, especially in the notorious case of Lisa McPherson who died after Scientologists checked her out of a Florida hospital.

Like Scientology, which was founded by satanist L. Ron Hubbard, Kabbalah's mysticism includes occult-like beliefs, as evidenced by the Beckhams' bodywear: "Both David and Victoria have been seen wearing the red string bracelets worn by Kabbalah devotees to 'ward off evil spirits'."

A more appropriate Solomonic verse for Beckham would be "...I kept my heart from no pleasure... and behold, all was vanity..." (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11). But more importantly, because Kabbalah is an adaptation of Judaism, the Messianic orientation of the Song of Solomon is missed, ignored, or denied. It's only partly true that "the Old Testament extract chosen by the Beckhams is used to explain how God loves the Jewish people like a shepherd who is so devoted to his flock that he would graze them in rich pastures." This side of the resurrection we *must* interpret the OT through the resurrection. Because Christ is THE comprehensive source, object, and subject of Old Testament revelation, it is He of whom the Song of Songs speaks. Were Beckham to rightly understand the nature of his tattoo, he would recognize that it speaks first and foremost of Christ and His love for the church.

And he would discern not only that "I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me" is Solomon's poetic personification of God's covenantal promise to Abraham "I will be their God and they will be my people", he would place his faith and trust in the One who placed Himself in the Solomon story (John 10:14 is Christ's interpretation of "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine"), the ultimate Bridegroom of whom it is spoken in Revelation 21:3: "They will be His people, and God himself will be with them as their God."