A Covering for Every Age

The clothing of the ancients can help us ponder the gift of God’s covering.   We can be thankful that we don’t have to wear that rough itchy & sweltering clothing of our forbearers. We can wear blue jeans, dresses, shirts and blouses made with a myriad of comfortable materials.  But clothing itself points back to our initial deep-rooted problem with God.  Every other creature has a covering that comes naturally, but we must cover ourselves.  Why?

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. Gen. 3:7

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" Gen 3:8,9

He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, "Who told you that you were naked?  Gen. 3:10,11

Our first fore-parents sinned and their nature changed.  They lost their sense of being covered.  No longer at one with God in peace and innocence they became self-aware and felt shame. Then they did what we all do when we are ashamed: cover and hide.  They experienced the cold chill of all time, a complete and horrifying sense of disconnection from God, and from each other, a sense of isolation, & impending doom.  They lost a very special covering, the covering of God’s presence, His light, and His surrounding glory.  They felt exposed.  They needed to be covered. 

God immediately reaches out.  He initiates.  He calls. He seeks out the lost.  He presses through the isolating shame.

He instructs by questions. 

1)      Where are you? 

2)      Who told you that you were naked?

He lets them know He is not going to leave them in their strong preference to be alone. He lets them know that their shame is not His creation.  He gives them the strong truth of their condition, and something else, something brand new: the grace of clothing.

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Gen. 3:21

The Lord exchanged their fig leaves, with clothing born of sacrifice.  Innocent animals died to re-cover Adam and Eve.  An innocent Eternal Son would die to re-cover mankind in God’s glory. 

To this day we still hide, and He still calls. We hide behind our gifts, possessions and & presented identities.  For those who can hear His call, and are willing to come out from the bushes and exchange their fig leaves for His covering in the sacrifice of Christ, He has new clothing planned. 

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  Rev. 7:9 

Every generation has its clothing, all pointing back to our lost clothing of glory, our provided covering in God’s self sacrifice, and our final redemption when we will be clothed in the righteousness of God forever.