Biblical Stories on Clothing and Relationships

CLOTHING WEEK II

GENESIS 2:20-25 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.22And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.23Then the man said, This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

GENESIS 3:6-7, 20-21 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ... 20The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.21And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

GENESIS 37:2-3 2These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.3Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors.

GENESIS 37:18-24 18They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him.19They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer.20Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams. 21But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life. 22And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father.23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore.24And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

GENESIS 39:11-18 11But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house,12she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.13And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house,14she called to the men of her household and said to them, See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.15And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house. 16Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home,17and she told him the same story, saying, The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me.18But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.

GENESIS 41:37-42 37This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants.38And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God? 39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are.40You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you. 41And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. 42Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck.

EXODUS 28:1-5 1 Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.2And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.3You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.4These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests.5They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

JOB 1:20-21 20Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.21And he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

ISAIAH 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

LUKE 2:1-7 1In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.2This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.3And all went to be registered, each to his own town.4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

MATTHEW 6:28-33 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

MATTHEW 27:27-31 27Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.28And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,29and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 30And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.31And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

JOHN 19:23-24 23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom,24so they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be. This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,3if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

GALATIANS 3:27 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. = to put on/ to clothe

REVELATION 3:18 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

REVELATION 7:9-14 (PART 1) 9After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,10and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,12saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.

REVELATION 7:9-14 (PART 2) 13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come? 14I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

REVELATION 19:6-8 6Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Because of our sin, nakedness is no longer a state of perfection but a state of shame and vice. To be naked is a sign of our sinful estate and the fall of man from perfection and paradise. We, as imperfect humans, are incapable of sufficiently covering our own nakedness and shame. Our true clothing must come from God! God is the one who must clothe us, not with shame and sin, but with holiness and righteousness. This is the white garment which is given to us in our baptism. Even further, the Christian life is one of putting on or clothing ourselves with Christ. We wear Christ like a garment, that is, his righteousness, holiness, and perfection. This is the life of Sanctification... Being further clothed with Christ.