Godly Garments

Series: Modesty: Does God Really Care What I Wear?

Leslie Basham: If God were to dress you each day, if He were to choose your wardrobe, what would you be wearing today? This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss for Wednesday, May 25th.

Getting new clothes can be fun, but the first time new clothes were ever given, when God clothed Adam and Eve, it wasn't fun at all. Here's Nancy continuing in a series on Modesty.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Whose idea was it to wear clothes anyway? Why did they think of it? What is the purpose? Do clothes really matter?

Those are some of the questions we want to look at today. In order to get the answers, we need to go back to the handbook for life--the handbook that tells us who we are and why we're here and why we were made and how life works. That's the Word of God.

So, let me ask you, if you have your Bible, to open to Genesis 2 and let's just go back to the beginning and see how all this clothing stuff got started.

I want us to see in this passage a four-part progression, a sequence of events that took place back in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. It actually has a lot of bearing on how we got to where we are today.

Now in Genesis chapter one and in the first part of chapter two, we have the whole story of creation. It says at the end of chapter 1 that God looked at everything that He had made and it was good. Beginning in verse 20 of chapter 2 there's a description of God making a helper suitable for the man. God made the woman and gave her to the man.

That was good, too, and at the end of chapter 2, verse 25, after the man and woman had been united; they had been given to each other. We read: "And the man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed."

Here's the first phase in the whole development of clothing. The first phase is: there was no clothing, and there was no shame--no shame, no guilt, nothing wrong with it. They were in a sinless condition so there was no shame. They had never tasted of evil. They had no knowledge of evil so nakedness prior to the Fall was innocent. It was shameless.

Now then, we come to chapter 3 and we see the entrance of the enemy, the serpent, the devil. He challenges the woman and then the man, who follows suit, to disobey the commandment of God about not eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

One of the things he promises in verse 5 is he said to the woman: "God knows that when you eat of this fruit your eyes will be opened." So verse 6 tells us that "the woman saw that the tree was good for food; it was a delight to the eyes . . . so she took of its fruit and she ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate." This is the first human sin.

God said, "No."

Eve said, "Yes."

God said, "Don't."

Eve said, "I will."

Now what's the very next thing that happened? Immediately in verse 7, "Then the eyes of both were opened." Isn't that what the serpent had said would happen. Your eyes will be opene, but their eyes were opened in a way that they had not anticipated.

Their eyes were opened to experience, for the first time, evil and shame. Their consciences were rudely awakened because they had gone against the Word of God. Then it says that they knew. Now that word in the original language means that it was not a dawning realization. They did not gradually realize. It's a word that means suddenly, immediately. They had instant perception. All of a sudden they looked and they realize-- we're naked. Innocence was replaced with shame and guilt.

So we have the second phase, which is, (there are still no clothes) but now there's shame; there's guilt; there's embarrassment. Sometimes when you're in a room and someone accidentally comes in, and you're not fully dressed, what is your immediate reaction? Embarrassment.

That's what Adam and Eve were. The first thing they learned after they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was that they were naked. Now they were ashamed. Now let me point out from this point on in the Scripture, nakedness in the Bible is always referred to as shameful, except in the context of a husband and wife. So now they have no clothes, and they're ashamed.

Now we come to the third stage of development, and man has a plan. We read this in verse 7. The first thing they learn after they sinned was that they were naked.

The first thing they did after they sinned was to make some clothes. Verse 7 says "that they sewed fig leaves together and they made themselves loincloths." The first thing they did was try and deal with their shame or their guilt by covering up their nakedness.

Now the word loincloth is translated differently in different translations, but it's a word that means aprons. It's a belt for the waist. What Adam and Eve did was to cover up their private parts. That was man's plan. It was man's plan without God. They did this on their own. They didn't ask God, "What should we do about this problem?"

However, as we go on in the passage we realize that apparently Adam and Eve realized those fig leaves were not adequate for covering because when we come to verses 8, 9, and 10, they're still embarrassed; they're still afraid.

Verse 8 reads: "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God." You know, someone walks in the room and you're not fully dressed and the first thing you do is immediately pull up a sheet or something. You say, "I want to cover myself."

That's what Adam and Eve did instinctively. They were embarrassed. They were afraid. They began to hide.

"But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, 'Where are you?' And Adam said, 'I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.'" So even though they were covered with these fig-leaf aprons, they still felt that they were naked and instinctively felt that they needed to hide from God.

Now, it's interesting as I was studying this passage in preparation for this series, it occurred to me though nakedness was the first thing that they were concerned about, Adam and Eve, interestingly, it does not appear to be the first thing that God was concerned about.

You know why? It was not the heart of the matter. Now we'll see that God was concerned about their clothing situation, and He did something about it. But it wasn't the first thing God was concerned about.

I think we need to remember this as Christian women, as we try to reach women in our secular culture, who aren't clothed. Let's keep in mind that what they're wearing, or not wearing, is not the heart of the matter. It's not the most important issue. It needs to be dealt with in its time, but it's not the first issue to deal with.

Rather, God was concerned about the relationship that had been broken. "Where are you?" (verse 9) What have you done? He was concerned about the fact that they had disobeyed His Word and had broken His commandment.

God said to them in verse 11, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" God said, "Let's deal first, not with your nakedness but with our broken relationship, and then we'll deal with the nakedness." So we have in the rest of chapter 3 God talking to Adam and Eve and the serpent about the consequences of their disobedience, about the curse that would come on the earth and on the serpent.

He gives a wonderful promise that a Messiah would come, a Savior, one who would redeem them out of their fallen-ness. God starts the Gospel. Not with their clothing, but the clothing is not to be ignored.

When we come to the very end of chapter 3, or the very end of God's exchange with Adam and Eve, verse 21, after He's had this whole conversation, then God says, "I'm going to make a provision for you" (paraphrased).

Verse 21 tells us: "And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and he clothed them." God made garments of skins; this is God's provision. God is saying, "You cannot solve your sinful problems on your own, you need to do it my way. Your plan won't work. You made for yourselves these fig-leaf aprons, but I'm going to make a provision."

The word garments is the word that is translated elsewhere in the Bible coats, tunics. It's a word that consistently talks about a garment that covers the body from at least the neck to the knees, sometimes going down mid-calf or even all the way to the feet.

Then God clothed them. That word is a Hebrew word that means to wrap around, to put on a garment or to clothe someone. You see, Adam and Eve covered their private parts, but what did God cover? Their bodies.

God said that it wasn't enough that their private parts should be covered. Now that they had sinned, their bodies needed to be covered.

Of course, the major point of this passage foreshadows that when Christ would come He would be the Lamb of God who would be slain so that we could be covered in His righteousness.

The gracious work of God that required a sacrifice, but I think there's also an application here as it relates to this whole issue of clothing. You see, typically cultures that are built on godly principles cover the body.

The world today has its own idea of clothing and typically their idea is to uncover the body, to uncover thighs, breasts, bellies, backs. Just take it off. That's the world's idea of clothing.

But the godly woman is counter-cultural. She's willing to go against what is typical and say, "Look, these fig-leaf aprons are not sufficient. That's man's plan; that's not God's plan."

The godly woman is willing to submit to God's plan, to accept His provision and to say, "God's provision is what is really good."

Leslie Basham: That'sNancy Leigh DeMoss reminding us of the way God has met our every need. She'll be right back. During our current series on modesty, we don't just want to stress what you shouldn't put on.

We also want to remind you what you should put on, and that's found in Colossians 3:12. It says, "And so as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

We've created a tote bag that will remind you of these character qualities we all need to be putting on every morning. We'll send you the tote bag filled with Nancy's booklets The Look and Becoming a Woman of Discretion. Just order the Modesty packet when you call us at 1-800-569-5959, or visit Reviveourhearts.com.

Just how much of the world's philosophy have we bought into when it comes to physical beauty? We'll discuss it on tomorrow's program. Be sure to join us.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Thank You, Lord, for making a provision for us in our fallen, sinful condition. We know that the Lord Jesus is our supreme provision, the one who covers our sins and allows us once again to stand before You, not hiding, not cowering, not fearful but to come right out into the open into Your presence.

Thank You, Lord, that You've also given us a symbol and a picture of that covering, that provision, in clothing. I pray that You would help us to understand Your frame of reference in clothing and to see it as a covering, not just for the private parts but for our bodies and to realize that this is good because it comes from You. Thank You, in Jesus' name, amen.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is a ministry outreach of Life Action Ministries.

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