The Two Who Were Naked
The following is an excerpt from Dan’s book The Two: Shadows of the Gospel.
Have you ever had the “naked dream?”[1] You know that dream in which you find yourself in a public place, and you discover that you have no clothes on!? You might not be surprised to discover that many people have had that dream. You may experience some very strong emotions in that dream such as fear, shame, and exposure. Why is that a common fear among so many people? Perhaps it is because we share the root cause of that dream deep in our soul — sin.
In the account of Adam and Eve, we encounter the discovery of nakedness. We are told in Genesis 2:25 that when Adam and Eve were created, they were naked. Why would Moses include that detail? It seems such an odd addition to this story. Did we really need to know that they were naked? Yes, we did. The point of nakedness here is not necessarily that they were without clothes, but that they “were not ashamed.” Again, they were naked and had no shame. Why did they have no shame? Before we answer that question, let’s keep reading in this story.
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sinned against God by eating the fruit they were told not to eat. As soon as they sinned, they had an immediate realization of their nakedness, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” (Genesis 3:7) When they sinned, they knew that they were naked, and the feeling of shame immediately came upon them. The newfound feeling of shame led them to cover up their nakedness. They attempted to cover their shame by using fig leaves. Covering their nakedness with fig leaves was not enough to erase their shame. They then tried hiding from God.
Dr. Ryan Hanley clarifies the Hebrew word that is translated shame. He writes, “The English translations, rightly convey the psychological sense of בושׁ, emphasizing the inner feelings or state of mind regarding shame. Yet, also emphasizes an external dimension, namely the idea of public disgrace. John Oswalt states that בוש means ‘to fall into disgrace, normally through failure, either of self or of an object of trust.’ Shame is thus the physiological response one has, or ought to have, when becoming aware of some deficiency in himself.”[2]
How could they go from having no shame to being ashamed? Sin changed everything in a moment. They went from walking and talking with God to hiding from God. This is what sin does to us in our core. Sin brings shame and a fear of exposure. When we are ashamed, we tend to hide ourselves from others and from God. We also try to cover up our sin by any means — usually some act of self-righteousness or an excuse for doing good works. We also are fond of blaming others for our sin and fail to take the appropriate responsibility. And that is exactly what Adam and Eve did. I’m not an oneirologist, somnoligist, or a psychologist, but I think the Bible tells us why we have the “naked dream.” I believe it is because we have a fear in being exposed of our sin and made to feel great shame. The shame of sin will not cease until we are made new in our glorified bodies in heaven.
Adam and Eve could not hide from God. He knew where they were and confronted them. He said to them, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" (Genesis 3:11) We can never hide our sin from God either. We must confess it to him for He already knows what we have done even before we have done it.
You and I are very much like Adam and Eve. In fact, our DNA goes all the way back to them. Not only does our DNA match theirs, but so do our sinful natures. At the core of this story is the human experience as we know it. The problem is that we are naked, and we know it. The knowledge of sin is what brings to us a fear of exposure. Like Adam and Eve, we try to cover our sin with inadequate substitutes. They tried fig leaves to cover their nakedness. Eventually the fig leaves would have worn out, and the leaves would have fallen off. This would have left them exposed again. The same is true whenever we attempt to hide or cover our sin. The more we try to cover our sin the more we are exposed. We should know that eventually our sin is always brought to the forefront. Moses wrote, “...you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.”(Numbers 32:23) We can only hide our sin for so long. We may try, but we will always fail. What we need to do is to go before God in our nakedness and let ourselves be vulnerable before Him. We must confess our sin and seek His forgiveness. The only way to have our nakedness properly covered up is by having the Lord clothe us.
The grace of this story is that God did not leave Adam and Eve in their nakedness and their inadequate fig leaf attire.“And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21) This might also seem like an insignificant part of the story, but it’s not. God made for them a “garment of skins.” The best way to understand this phrase is animal skins. Although Adam and Eve deserved to die, for that’s what God had said, He instead provided a sacrifice for their sins. He killed an animal and then clothed Adam and Eve with the skin of that animal. By this sacrifice, God covered Adam and Eve in the attire of the sacrifice thus taking away their shame. These animal skins were but a shadow of what God was planning to do through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Although we were the ones who had the shame of sin expressed through nakedness, it was Christ who was crucified naked on the cross for us. He took our shame, sin, and nakedness upon himself on that cross. The Romans crucified people naked as a way to humiliate them. However, God had another reason for Jesus to be crucified naked. Like the old hymn states,
He took my sins and my sorrows
And He made them His very own
And bore the burden to Calvary
And suffered and died alone.”[3]
This is what God does for those who place their faith in Jesus Christ. We sin and are naked with great shame before God. Because we have sinned (as Adam and Eve), God required the death of His Son (like the animal) so that our sin and shame (our nakedness) would be covered. We are then covered with new garments which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Those who believe in Jesus Christ do not stand before God exposed and naked. We stand before God with new clothes that will never fade away. We stand before God with the holiness of Jesus Christ.
One of my favorite hymns is Rock of Ages by Augustus Toplady. In his third stanza, he writes of our need of having our nakedness covered by the Lord.
“Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.”[4]
From the beginning of the Bible, we knew what to expect. We are naked and we know it. However, our shame that is caused by our sin can be taken away. The animal skins were the shadow of the true sacrifice that was to come that would take away the nakedness of God’s people forever.
This is the two. This is the gospel.
Jesus died and rose again!
[1] This question was asked in a class I took at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary by Dr. Ryan Hanley. It was this question that prompted the thoughts behind this chapter.
[2] Hanley, Ryan Cole. (2019). The use of nakedness imagery as theological language in the Old Testament. (Corpus ID: 198009425.) [Doctoral dissertation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]. repository.sbts.edu
[3] Words by Charles Gabriel (1905). Public Domain.
[4] Words by Augustus Toplady (1776). Public Domain.
