When we became Naked

by Glen on 2001-03-05 00:12:27

Genesis 3:7-11; “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made thmselves aprons. And 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 among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

What happened? One minute Adam and Eve were oblivious to their physical situation, and the next – after they sinned – they could suddenly see their earthly state.

Some other verses of an opposite experience may give us a clue… Exodus 34:29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

Luke 9:29 And as he was praying,
the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment [became]
white [and] dazzling. And behold, there talked with him two men,
who were Moses and Elijah; who appeared in glory, and spake of
his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:23 And the city hath no need of the sun, neither
of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof [is] the Lamb. And the nations shall walk
amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory
into it.

From these verses, we can conclude that men in the presence of God, and God himself, shine brightly with His glory. This is a condition never indicated for animals, plants, or any other part of earthly creation. With their physical eyes, Adam and Eve adapted from seeing the “shining” presence of God and each other, to looking at the normally illuminated garden around them. They had never truly “seen” themselves as we do today – the glory of God on/in them had always prevented that.

After Adam and Eve sinned, the glory shining from them departed (just as it did from Moses). Their physical nakedness was not the thing they were REALLY ashamed of – it was the lack of glory which revealed their disobedience. They were scared because they knew they could not hide their sin, and they knew they would be found out.

The “naked” condition of mankind continues today, even though we clothe ourselves to hide our condition. We have lost the glory of God that once shone from us, because of the sin that seperated us from him.

The road to recovery is with Jesus. Because he died for our sins (death was the penalty God stated for eating from the forbidden tree), Jesus has made a way for us to regain close friendship with God, just like we once had when we walked with him in the cool of the day.