Long ago, before there was sin, God made Adam and Eve naked. Some today (namely those in the “Christian Naturist” movement) argue that this is still God’s ideal and something we can strive for. This article, however, shows that such thoughts are neither Christian nor natural.

Sin Changed Things

Before sin, “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Gen. 2:25). But the moment they sinned, they instantly and instinctually knew something changed: “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Gen. 3:7). This desire to clothe themselves wasn’t a mistaken or sinful concept, either. Because God also affirmed their (new) need to be clothed: “And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21).

Adam, Eve, and God all agreed they now must be clothed, but Adam-Eve’s clothing was a poor fit (only lasting until fig leaves withered), whereas God’s clothing was more permanent: they were clothed in the sacrificial life of another. I think of it this way:

  • on our own before God, we will are judged as guilty if we come naked
  • the best of our works is like fig leaves and does not provide a true covering (“all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment”, Isaiah 64:6)
  • but God provides a true covering in Christ (who was sacrificed so we can be clothed in Him before God when we receive the gospel)

This picture holds steady throughout Old and New Testaments. Our nakedness before others and God is considered shameful (except in private between man and wife), but it needs to be covered God’s way, not ours. Just as the marriage between husband and wife is true in the natural AND speaks to an eternal reality with Christ, so our nakedness-covering is true in the natural AND speaks to an eternal reality in Christ. We tend the physical and spiritual simultaneously. We get covered in Christ and wear clothing, as we shall see.

Old Testament Clothing

I think this concept can be seen in virtually every book of the Old and New Testament, but here is a sampling from the Old Testament, first:

  • Gen. 9:20-27 – Noah’s son (Ham) left his dad in his “nakedness” and it was a shameful thing to do, which brought a curse on Ham’s son (Canaan). In contrast, Noah’s other sons covered his father’s nakedness and received a blessing for doing that. Whether the “nakedness” refers to Noah himself being naked or maybe has a reference to his wife being naked, the point remains: nakedness left uncovered (outside of husband-wife relationship) is shameful, even if it’s your own dad and/or mom.
  • Gen. 27:15 – Jacob was able to trick Isaac by wearing the garments of Esau. This tells you that wearing garments, not being naked, was normal life for them.
  • Gen. 37:3 – the sign of Jacob’s love for Joseph is giving him clothing (a “robe of many colors” Gen. 37:3), not leaving him naked
  • Gen. 39:12-13 – Joseph’s garment was grabbed by Potiphar’s wife and he ran. Clearly (and thankfully) he was around her with clothing.
  • Gen. 41:14, 42 – Joseph had clothing in prison, but that was exchanged for better clothing when he was released. Then he received even better clothing when he became second in command (Gen. 41:42).
  • Throughout God’s Law, He says things like:
    • “You shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.” (Exod. 20:26)
    • Husbands have to provide clothing for their wives (Exod. 21:10)
    • “Tell them [my people] to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations” (Num. 15:38; Deut. 22:12) – God expected them to always wear garments, and they would be in violation of the Law (in wearing tassels) if they didn’t
    • “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak…you shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together. You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself.” (Deut. 22:5-12) – these commands all emphatically show God expected them to clothe themeselves
  • God gives very specific clothing regiments to priests and High Priests (Exod. 28; 39; Lev. 8; etc.). What you notice is that the closer one gets before God, the more they are to be clothed. In fact, read Leviticus 16 and see the Day of Atonement. There, the High Priest needs to have a lot of clothing exactly right in order to live in God’s presence. Clearly, this is the exact opposite of God telling them to come in naked.
  • Ruth 3:3 – Ruth (a type for Gentile converts) dressed in her most beautiful garment in order to win the favor of Boaz (a type for Christ)
  • 1 Chron. 15:27 – David, the Levites, the singers, and all around the Ark were clothed.
  • Esther 5:1 – Esther entered the king’s presence and won his favor while putting on “her royal robes”
  • Ecc. 9:8 – “Let your garments always be white” – pretty hard to do if we don’t wear garments
  • Is. 20:2-4 – Isaiah is instructed to be naked as a sign of shame for their sin
  • Is. 47:3 – Similarly we are told, “Your nakedness will be uncovered, Your shame also will be exposed; I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.”
  • Is. 61:10 gives the contrast of the shame-nakedness. Here there is restoration where they will be clothed in God’s righteousness (a sure sign of the gospel), just as husband and wife adorn/clothe themselves for each other when they get married. Think of that a moment. When we meet Christ our Bridegroom, we should be properly clothed as a sign of love. More on that later.
  • Ezekiel 16 shows a shameful situation where the people of God are pictured as naked and disgusting. But God “covered your nakedness” (v. 8) as a sign of His love for them.
  • Lamentations 1:8 – “Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, for they have all seen her naked; she herself groans and turns away.” Note that great sin is compared with nakedness, not the other way around.
  • Proverbs 5 shows that the naked body of a wife is meant for her husband, not another man
  • The theme is repeated elsewhere: sin and shame is compared with nakedness, not clothing (Hosea 2:3; Amos 2:16; Nahum 3:5; Hab. 3:13)
  • Habakkuk 2:15 – “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink…in order to gaze at their nakedness!”

Again, this is only a sampling from the Old Testament, but it is clear and consistent: shame goes with nakedness, righteousness is attached to clothing (with the exception of the precious intimacy between a man and wife).

New Testament Clothing

The theme continues in the New Testament as shown in this sampling:

Before The Cross & Resurrection

  • Matt. 14:36 – the crowds begged that they “might only touch the fringe of his [Jesus’] garment”. Full stop. Jesus wore garments! He who we follow wears garments, so should we.
  • Similarly, Jesus taught things like:
    • Trust God for your clothing (Matt. 6:25-34)
    • Wearing cloaks and tunics was expected (Matt. 5:40)
    • There is eternal blessing on those who “clothed” Him when they saw Him naked (Matt. 25:36) and a curse on those who refused to clothe Christ when they saw Him naked (Matt. 25:43). He’s meaning here that people in his church were naked. Clearly this is a big deal to Him that they be covered.
    • There is eternal banishment for a man because he wasn’t wearing the proper “wedding garment” (Matt. 22:11-14). The indication is that he had a garment, just not the right one. This ultimately points to being clothed in Christ, but makes no sense if Jesus saw nakedness as a good thing.
  • In contrast, it was a noteworthy (and inevitably embarrassing) thing when one of Jesus’ followers had his garment stripped and ran away naked (Mark 14:51-52) and when a demoniac “had worn no clothes” (Luke 8:27). And Jesus Himself was stripped of his robes at the cross. This showed, again, that He wore clothes. And also shows that He is undoing the sin caused by Adam and Eve — He dies possibly naked, or at least with very little clothing — this is because nakedness speaks to sin and shame; and Jesus took our sin and shame at the cross. Not that we might be unclothed, but further clothed in Him (and with physical clothing).

After Cross & Resurrection

And the same picture continues unabated through the remaining pages of the New Testament, showing that nothing has changed in regards to nakedness and clothing ever since Adam and Eve first fell. Here’s a sampling:

  • 1 Cor. 7 – a husband’s body belongs to his wife and vice versa. Not to someone else, and by extension not for someone else to look on naked especially!
  • 1 Cor. 15:54; 2 Cor. 5:1-5 – Paul talks a lot symbolically of being “further clothed” not “unclothed”. This picture shows what God is after with us–not nakedness like before the fall, but eternal clothing.
  • 1 Tim. 2:9 women are told to dress themselves with “respectable apparel” not “costly attire”
  • 1 Tim. 6:8 – Paul says so long as we have “food and clothing” we can be content. Clothing was 1 of the 2 essentials we must have.
  • Jude 1:23 commands us to hate “even the garment stained by the flesh”. This is completely meaningless if the church did not wear garments.
  • Finally, this is a major theme of the book of Revelation:
    • Jesus rebukes the church of Laodicea calling them “naked” (among other things), Rev. 3:17. Like elsewhere, nakedness is not something to aspire to. It shows your sinful state outside of Christ, and this is why Christ could say, “I counsel you to buy from me…white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen” (Rev. 3:18). Sit on that for a moment. Christ is pleading with them that their nakedness “may not be seen”. Friends, this is emphatic and clear.
    • In contrast, the faithful of Christ have white robes, as a picture of being covered by the gospel (Rev. 7:14). Yes it points to something greater than wearing physical clothes, but it doesn’t point to something less than wearing physical clothes. We stayed married to our wife as a picture of our marriage with Christ and we wear clothes as a picture of being clothed in Christ.
    • Revelation 16:15 warns “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” Again, nakedness is compared to shameful exposure. The only non-shameful nakedness in the Bible after Adam and Eve sin is in private between man and wife. Even the pre-fall state of Adam and Eve was technically in private between man and wife (since no others were around).
    • This same picture is shown when the prostitute would later become “desolate and naked” (Rev. 17:16)
    • At the end of Revelation, we see a bride adorned (fully and beautifully clothed) for Christ, a picture of us being clothed in Him and his righteousness: Rev. 19:8; 21:2

In all this I hope it’s clear that nakedness outside of intimate, privacy of man and wife is shameful. While clothing is holy. Perhaps the picture could be added that when we are married to Christ and intimate with Him we can be fully exposed without shame, like being emotionally naked before Him (vulnerable, honest, etc.). I’m great with that, but again that is intimacy between Christ and his Bride. Outside of that, let’s “groan, being burdened–not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed” (2 Cor. 5:4). That is, let’s look forward to the day we have new, righteous bodies (the “further clothing” of 2 Cor. 5:4) by making sure we are fully clothed in Christ and the gospel…and keeping our shirts and pants (or whatever we wear) on, too! 😎