By T.C. Lo; November 16, 2018
Inasmuch as original sin is a mystery (Ref. 1), the literal meaning of the record in Genesis (3 : 6-7) is easy to understand. God gave our First Ancestors one and only “restriction” which said “…but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:17).” Then they were tempted by the devil. Sadly, they succumbed to it as described below:
Genesis 3:
(V. 6) When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
(V. 7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
These two Bible verses seem to have no major difficulties on the surface, but after taking a second glance, they are not without perplexity in the understanding of the meaning of nakedness.
- The first understanding is that Adam and Eve were actually naked prior to their disobedience against God, but they were not aware of their naked condition until after they had sinned.
- Another possible interpretation is that Adam and Eve were not naked at all before their disobedience. They were only changed into the state of nakedness after committing the act of disobedience and they immediately recognized such changes.
The author believes that the first speculation is unlikely. If they didn’t even know their condition of nakedness – such a simple thing – how could they have the intelligibility to understand God’s injunction set for them? How could they freely have conducted meaningful communication with God? As “creatures with a living soul” made in the image of God, how could they have such a large deficiency in their self-understanding?
The second argument is more conceivable because, first, the Bible time and time again talks about that people in the eternal state have some kind of glorious covering to drape over their bodies. But after the Fall, Adam and Eve discovered that the special kind of covering was gone. I believe that our First Ancestors were in this “eternal state” before they had committed the original sin. Now, let’s consider a few verses to sustain the covered-bodies argument:
(Matt 22:11-12)
(V. 11) But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
(V. 12) ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
Here the “wedding clothes” represent the righteousness of Christ. This “glorious clothing” function to conceal the unholiness of the elected.
(Rev 21:2)
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
The bride represents the church. She is not naked but wears beautifully decorated clothes.
Quite clearly, this kind of covering for the bodies is a kind of beautiful and glorious draping. On the Mount of transfiguration, the clothes Jesus, and even Moses and Elijah, wore were as white as the light, representing unspeakably glory. (Matthew 17:2)
So we can imagine that Adam and Eve had some glorious covering when they were in the state of innocence.
On the contrary, in hell, people are believed to be naked as implied by the following verse.
「Death is naked before God; Destruction (Abaddon) lies uncovered. (Job 26:6) 」
In the case of the underworld, the great artist Michelangelo painted on fresco in the Sistine Chapel, The Last Judgment, which has such an imaginative depiction.
Once Adam and Eve sinned, their eyes were opened; they could clearly see the thorns in other’s eye (but they couldn’t see the big beams in their own eyes). So when they were interrogated by God, they repeatedly shirked the responsibilities and blamed on others. Their iniquities in front of God had made them unfit to wear the glorious clothes which God took away from them. Adam and Eve then keenly realized that they were naked.
They took the leaves of the fig tree and made skirts for themselves in order to cover their shame. Why were they shameful to be naked? Adam and Eve were husband and wife before the Fall, and they were still married after the Fall. At that time, there were only two of them. Why did they feel shameful of their nakedness? I think their “shame” is not because they saw each other naked, but because of their own sin.
The sin itself, no matter how you feel about it, is an objective shame; but when you are remorseful of your sin, the objective sin becomes a subjective guilt feeling. This guilt was the source of the shame for Adam and Eve. Not only did they lose the beautiful covering, but they also exposed their shame, because an uncovered body was shameful.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see (Rev. 3:18).
The subjective guilt feeling of Adam and Eve indicated their repentance based on which salvation came upon them.
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
The leather is taken from the dead animal that represents a sin offering. It foreshadowed Jesus as a priest who offered Himself as also the sacrifice. People cannot save themselves. Here we see that salvation is solely from God and is the work of Christ’s grace wrought on the cross. It is important to note that Jesus was also naked on the cross to bear the shame of our sins.
The ESV Study Bible also takes this view: “Crucifixion, performed naked and in public, and inflicting prolonged pain on the victim, was intended to cause shame as well as death” (comment on Hebrews 12:2).
Open nakedness in public is a manifestation of shame to the utmost.
The nature of a fallen man is not to rely on God, but to rely on his own abilities to solve his problem. Therefore, in consternation, the First Couple quickly used the leaves of fig tree to make clothes for themselves. When God walked in the garden and called them, they were very afraid, and they hid in the trees and did not dare to face God—this is a showing of shame. When the cool breeze blew over, the skirts of leaves were neither able to keep them warm nor completely covered their shamefulness. The self-help policy of the people is hopelessly in vain. But God has abundant grace, and He actively extends the hand of redemption to His children.
Now let us hark back to what God did for Adam and Eve before the Fall: God first gave Adam a partner and set up the holy matrimony for them. (Genesis 2:22-25):
(V. 22) Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
(V. 23) The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman, ‘ for she was taken out of man.”
(V. 24) For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
(V. 25) The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
The words in verse 25 are the description of Adam and Eve’s condition in the context of marriage before they sinned. Obviously, the “nakedness” here refers to the exclusive intimate relationship between husband and wife. Because of the demand of exclusivity, it follows to mean that they are not running naked in their ordinary daily life. In the sacred marriage, “nakedness” is meant to be a gift from God to fulfill God’s purpose for them: “To multiply and fill the earth,” so they were not ashamed of the God-ordained purpose. Here again, we see that nakedness could be realized in their mind and their eyes were bright to be conscious of their nakedness—no need to wait until they have sinned The nakedness within the marriage is exclusive, which points to the need of clothing in public life. We all need clothing now and glorious covering in eternity.
I hope this article may inspire readers to think about some of the so-called simple verses and discover the Bible’s inexhaustible treasure. This kind of reflection brings a new sense of awe in our faith in God.
(Ref. 1) //www.hocl.org/blogs/tincheelo/?p=742
