Sound The Trumpet

We know that Adam and Eve realized they were naked and were ashamed.  One could argue that they were ashamed because of their sin.  Certainly, they were ashamed of their sin and how they disappointed God.  However, as we examine Scripture, we can see that revealing the body, outside of marriage, also reveals one’s shame.  If it is shameful to show nakedness, it would be unreasonable of God to set a standard for us without defining that standard.  So, how does God define naked?  Answering this question will solve many of the problems we face as a result of the indecency we see around us today.  If you go to the typical beach in America during the summer and ask the people if they are naked, they will quickly tell you no.  As much as it reveals, a woman’s bathing suit still reveals much of the woman’s body.  No one on the beach would admit they are naked.  In fact, you may even be able to find many who are quite proud of their bodies and are showing them off.  Is this God’s plan?  Does God approve of this?

Isa 47:3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.

God is saying that their nakedness shall be uncovered and their shame revealed.  In other words, God is saying that revealing your nakedness is revealing your shame.  So, what is nakedness? How does God define nakedness? Before we answer that question, ask yourself this:  Regardless of what the standard turns out to be, do you want to walk around naked or would you be willing to dress in a way that pleases God?

Exo 28:42 And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach.

In this passage of Exodus, God is giving instructions to the priests about how they are to dress when they come before Him.  We do not have to dress like a Hebrew priest.  Rather, the point here is to see that God defined as covering ones nakedness.  This passage speaks of linen breeches.  Breeches are a garment worn by men – today, we call them trousers or pants.  God is instructing the priests to cover their nakedness with a garment that extends "from the loins even unto the thighs."  As we see in the next verse, this garment (which came to the knee) covered their nakedness.

Isa 47:2-3 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. (3) Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.

We just looked at Isaiah 47:3, and how revealing ones nakedness also reveals their shame.  Isaiah 47:2 defines what nakedness is by saying, "...make bare the leg, uncover the thigh ... thy nakedness shall be uncovered..."  What is the Lord saying here?  He is telling us what nakedness is: uncovering the thigh.   The thigh is the part of the leg that extends from the hip to the knee.  In other words, it is the leg from the knee up.  In fact, it is not just the top of the knee where the thigh begins, it is the bottom of the femur (thigh bone).  The femur and the tibia / fibula bones (lower leg bones) meet in the knee.  We could argue that the thigh extends to the middle of the knee where these bones meet.
If we take God's Word as our absolute standard, as we should, would a skirt that only covers part of the thigh be revealing your nakedness?  What about a pair of shorts that do not completely cover the thigh?  What about a bathing suit that does not cover the thigh at all?  Do you walk around naked?  

God was not surprised when he found Adam and Eve hiding in the Garden of Eden.  After all, how can we hide from God?   It is not Santa Claus that knows whether you have been good or bad, it is the omniscient (all-knowing) God who sees every action we take and knows every though that crosses our mind.  God was not surprised when Eve was tempted, He was not surprised when Eve ate the forbidden fruit and he was not surprised when Adam followed Eve’s leadership. God knew that man had sinned and that they now knew of good and evil.  God knew that Adam and Eve were naked and hiding.  God even knew where they were hiding. 

 

Gen 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

 

When God found them hiding, God also found them in their need.  Adam and Eve had made themselves aprons in an attempt to cover themselves.  However, their efforts were not enough.  The aprons they made for themselves did not cover their nakedness. 

Gen 3:21  Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

When God found them, God killed animals and took the skins of the animals and made coats for Adam and Eve.  An apron may only cover from the waist down, the word translated as “coats” from the original Hebrew means “to wrap around” or “to cover.”  The coats God made did not just cover their private parts, these coats literally wrapped around them and covered their body.   

Omniscience, or being all-knowing, is one aspect of God.  We see God’s character when we realize that Adam and Eve could not hide their location or their sin from God.  However, this is only one aspect of God’s character.  Another aspect of God is His pure sinless nature.  As you study the book of Genesis, you quickly see that there are severe consequences for Adam and Eve’s very simple sin.  They ate a little fruit and it resulted in God giving them a death sentence. Not only were Adam and Eve sentenced to death, but all of humanity was sentenced to death.  That is certainly a harsh penalty for sin.  However, God also provided a payment for sin.  As a result of sin, God required the shedding of blood to pay for sin.  Ultimately, Jesus would become the Lamb who would shed His blood to pay the debt for the sins of Adam and Eve as well as all of mankind.  However, many people lived and sinned before Christ shed His blood.  How were their sins dealt with? Just as Adam and Eve were physically covered by the skins of animals, the animal’s shed blood was symbolic of the blood Christ would shed for our sins.  These coats covered Adam and Eve’s nakedness but more importantly, it covered their sin as well.

 

Modest attire is one of the hardest struggles that a Godly lady faces.  There is a very delicate line a lady must walk to avoid drawing attention to her body while still showing her God-given beauty and countenance.  Sadly, the standards of dress we see today, even in churches, are horrible.  Women today seem to have lost even the very basic sense of what is modest and decent.

As you learned from the definition of the word modest, there are many aspects to being modest.  For many, the primary idea of modesty has to do with dress and how the body is revealed.  We will see more about other aspects of modesty later in this study.  It is true: how a person is dressed will say a lot about her.  Because of this, society has placed a large focus on the way we dress.  Popular styles tell us that the body should be revealed.  This is typical for the Devil.   He is a liar.  He is trying to establish an opposite to everything the Bible tells us.  The Devil would have us believe that revealing the body is necessary to attract a spouse.  That revealing clothes are glamorous and nakedness is natural.  One of the Devil’s goals is the destruction of every human on the face of the planet.  The Word of God offers us a very simple contrast:  outside of marriage, revealing the body is an open shame. 

Gen 2:24-25  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.(25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

In this passage, we see the beginning of the first family in the creation.  Adam and Eve were the first husband and wife, they were naked together and they were not ashamed.  This passage is often referred to when explaining the physical relationship between a husband and his wife.  However, that is not necessarily the only context here.  At this point, they were not ashamed because they had not sinned.  They did not know what shame was and they did not understand the concepts of nakedness, sin and shame.  They had not eaten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  We cannot understand what it would be like to live without a sin nature or exist without the knowledge of "good and evil."  This concept is impossible for us to comprehend.  However, this is the state Adam and Eve were in at this point.  Just as we could not comprehend living in a completely sinless state, they had no comprehension of good and evil, of sin or of right and wrong.

Gen 3:1-6  Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.(4) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (5) For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.(6) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

To begin, let’s parse, or take apart, this passage.  In verse one, we see the serpent.  Today, we know snakes as a sly, subtle animal.  It is able to sneak up on its prey and quickly strike.  Sometimes, a snake's strike seems to come from nowhere.  Likewise, the devil is a subtle creature.  The devil sneaks up on us and deceives us with lies and half-truths. That is just how it all begins here.  The devil lies to Eve by telling a partial truth.  Eve answers the devil explaining that they can eat of every tree except one.  She adds that they cannot even touch that tree.  Now, here, she is adding to God's command.  God never told them they could not touch anything.  In fact, they were the keepers of the garden.  How could they keep the garden if there were trees they could not touch.  Satan's reply is an outright lie. In Genesis 2:17, the Lord commanded them that they would surely die if they ate of the tree of knowledge.  The devil went on to add that their eyes would be opened and they would be like gods knowing good and evil.  At this point, it was only God and the angels who knew good and evil, Adam and Eve did not.  Eve believed the lies of the devil, ate the fruit and fed it to Adam.  Their eyes were opened, and they did now see good and evil.  They did not sin by being naked.  This was how God created them.  However, now that they could see good and evil, they realized that there was shame in being naked.  Consider the next verse:

Gen 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

As soon as they ate this fruit, their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked.  Later, we will see that God compares nakedness to an open shame.  They realized this fact before God inspired the first letter of the Word of God to be penned.  Once they realized they were naked, and ashamed, they attempted to make coverings for themselves.  They sewed together fig leaves to make themselves aprons.  Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary defines an apron, in this context, as a garment tied around the waist.  In all likelihood, these aprons covered the "vitals," but were they sufficient?   By any definition, an apron would never be considered to cover ones nakedness. In fact, Adam did not even consider himself to be clothed sufficiently.

Gen 3:9-10 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? (10)  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Just a few verses after Adam and Eve realized they were naked and sewed themselves aprons, God cam looking for them in the garden.  As God was looking for them, they hid themselves.  Adam told God they were hiding because they were naked.  Did their aprons cover any more of their bodies than the modern bathing suit?

Gen 3:21  Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Again, Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary gives us a definition to consider for the word coat: an outer garment worn on the upper body and varying in length and style according to fashion and use.  Clearly, a coat covers the upper body and extends below the waist to different lengths.  We can assume that whatever God made, it covered whatever God defined as naked. 

Since we are dealing with modesty, we should define the word modest.  The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth Edition, copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company) defines modesty as, “Reserve or propriety in speech, dress, or behavior.” Noah Webster defined MODEST in the 1828 version of the American Dictionary of the English Language as:

1. Properly, restrained by a sense of propriety; hence, not forward or bold; not presumptuous or arrogant; not boastful; as a modest youth; a modest man.
2. Not bold or forward; as a modest maid. The word may be thus used without reference to chastity. -- The blushing beauties of a modest maid.
3. Not loose; not lewd. -- Mrs. Ford, the honest woman, the modest wife.
4. Moderate; not excessive or extreme; not extravagant; as a modest request; modest joy; a modest computation.

Few would argue that a Christian should guard her speech and behavior.  However, for many it would seem that modesty has lost its definition. Followers of Christ should also demonstrate God-like character in every aspect of their lives, including their appearance. When you think of modesty, what images come to your mind? Do you think about a woman who is dressed a certain way or do you think about other things?  Modesty is revealed in a sense restraint, in not being bold or boastful, in having a sense of chastity.  In other words, modesty is much more than just the clothes you wear, modesty is revealing nothing but Christ.

Every day we make choices. The clothes we wear may not seem all that important in the grand scheme of life to anyone other than ourselves. Our clothes, however, speak volumes about us. Complete strangers may be able to surmise our gender, age, ethnicity, economic status, education, vocation, personality, and even character based upon what we wear. Employers, teachers, parents and peers will all take notice of our attire. The adornment of our bodies can either reinforce or change their ideas about each of us. The way we dress just may make the difference in obtaining a job, receiving an “A” on a school presentation, or making a good first impression and quickly earning the respect of our friends. Before we decide what we should wear tomorrow, let’s consider what God has to say on the subject of modesty.

Many of us will spend time gathered around a cake celebrating the anniversary of a loved one's birth. We will have a cake, perhaps some gifts. But all in all, someone's birthday is a special occasion.

Now, suppose today was your birthday. Everyone shows up for your party. Oh, there is a lot of food, and gifts. Oh, wow, gifts piled high almost touching the ceiling. You think, "Just look at all of this stuff. People must really love me." Then, all of a sudden, someone yells out, "Let's open presents." Your heart races. After all, it is your birthday, all of those gifts must be for you, right? Names are called and gifts are passed out. One by one, everyone gets a gift but you. "Where is my present. It's my birthday," you wonder.

What must Jesus wonder on His birthday? We spend the weeks leading up to Christmas hurrying about putting up decorations, shopping for presents for everyone on the list and going to parties. Some even deliver their child to an image of an antichrist in the form of a bearded, obese man in a red suit (that, my friend, is another article). Where is Jesus in all of this? When we take time to recall what Christmas is really about, we must remember that Christmas is not a season of gifts, it is the season where we should celebrate the greatest gift ever given - the gift of eternal life.

We would all say that Christmas is about Christ. we can see that even the atheists know this simple truth. They fight Christmas with a passion. Why? Because Christmas should be about Christ and they know it. Yet, so many of our Christian brethren take Christmas to a new commercialized depth. My friend, take time to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Romans 6:23b ... the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I must also ask if you have accepted that gift. There is no better time than the Christmas season to accept the free gift of eternal life and there is no better gift you can give Jesus than to allow Him to save you.

Those of you who know me know that I have the attention span of an ADD gnat. If you're from the south, you know just how annoying a gnat can be. They will flit around in your face darting back and forth so quickly you cannot smack them down. Likewise, it often seems as though I change direction as often as these gnats.

I have been working on a series entitled, "What To Look For In A Church." That series is far from complete, but it is coming. In the meantime, I will be posting a series which is complete and which addresses a dire need in society.

Sadly, even in churches, we see the need for sound teaching on the topic of modesty.  So, stay tuned and enjoy the forthcoming series on modesty.