Have you checked the mirror lately and seen those wrinkles forming on your forehead? We might like to think of them as evidence of the wisdom we have gained over the years, but the truth is that they are far more likely to be just the evidence of the years themselves!
It is amazing how ancient cultures used that part of the face in various ways. Easton’s Bible Dictionary mentions that it was common among the Orientals to color their foreheads to indicate their devotion to various pagan deities. You could look at their foreheads and see immediately which god they served.
When God revealed the attire of the high priest (Ex. 28:36-38), there was a plate of purest gold which covered his forehead engraved with the words, “Holy to the Lord.” He wore it every time he served our holy God in any holy, priestly function. Without this diadem his sacrificial offerings would have been rejected. His forehead indicated whom he served.
The instructions given to parents in Deuteronomy chapter six shows what God intended for the “attire” of the Jews. God told them to write His commands on their hearts. He then turned His attention to their forehead. Some Jews overlooked the word “as” in what He said and applied it literally. He said that His words should be “as frontlets between your eyes.” Think of the implication of His words. As holiness to Jehovah was in the forefront of the attire of the priest, so His words were to be foremost in the attire of His people.
Jeremiah described the ungodly hearts of the nation headed to Babylon. “You have had a harlot’s forehead; you refuse to be ashamed” (Jer. 3:3). Like the brazen display of the harlot in her solicitation to her lovers, Israel had unashamedly brought a pretense of service to God. Outwardly she was serving God, but she had the heart of a whore!
That figurative mark of the beast in Revelation was on the forehead of the ungodly. What many have overlooked in this book is another mark—the mark of God on the forehead of the righteous (Rev. 7:3). God knows His people, and they bear His mark.
God uses the forehead, both literally and figuratively, to indicate what is foremost in the human heart. The pagans showed their allegiance by the paintings on their foreheads. The high priest literally showed his devotion. Israel should have had His words figuratively on their forehead but developed a harlot’s adamant forehead.
What would your forehead look like if it literally displayed the foremost desire of your heart? Think about it!