Author's Note: All previous volumes of this series are here. The first 56 volumes are compiled into the book "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible." "Part Two," featuring volumes 57-113, was published in December 2022.
Thanks for spending part of your Memorial Day weekend with the Word of God. Remember that the holiday’s solemn purpose is not celebrating summer or shopping at Lowe’s for a fancy new grill. However, the holiday is about the joy of wearing shorts, flowery sun dresses, and the dreaded bathing suit. Just kidding, except about the bathing suit, and likely why a Bible study about clothes popped into my head.
A related topic, “What the Bible Says About Appearance,” was addressed in Vol. 201 on January 21, 2024, so there is some overlap. We can’t escape our culture but must rise above from a godly perspective. Fair or unfair, what you wear influences how others perceive and often judge you.
Baby boomer readers (especially women) might recall the influential best-selling book “Dressed for Success” and its impact on our professional wardrobes. Published in 1975, author John T. Molloy conducted scientific research about how clothing affected workplace success for both sexes, giving rise to the term “power dressing.”
But enough about “the world,” let’s read what the Word of God says about clothing. With so many references, we need two weeks, starting with the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and next week the New Testament.
The “Genesis of clothing” begins after Adam and Eve ate food from the forbidden tree:
“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).
Clothing was necessitated by Adam and Eve’s need to cover their sin and shame. Then, a few verses later, the second Genesis clothing-related passage reads:
“And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).
Although Adam and Eve did not ask, God gave them more durable and practical garments to cover their shame. While researching this study, I found an insightful explanation:
“Their hastily constructed fig leaves would not be adequate to continue to cover their nakedness. In clothing them, God demonstrates that it is right for them to be clothed. In order to make this clothing of skin, though, an animal had to die.” Now the best part:
“This is the first recorded physical death in Scripture, even of an animal. No death is explicitly recorded until after human sin. God Himself is the one who takes the animal's life to provide warmth and covering for the humans. Later in Genesis, God will require the sacrifice of animals to provide a blood covering for human sin. Eventually, Jesus Himself would bleed and die to provide a final covering for the sins of all who would trust in Him for salvation.”
That explanation demonstrates how, in the Bible, everything is connected to Jesus!
Later in Genesis Chapter 37 is the story of Jacob. Loving his son Joseph more than his other sons, Jacob gave Joseph “a robe of many colors.” The brothers’ jealousy set Joseph’s life on a tragic, powerful journey culminating with one of my favorite verses, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). (For more about Genesis 50:20, see Vol. 31 and Vol. 221.)
Clothing is mentioned throughout the Bible, confirming identity and establishing the low or high status of the wearer. For example, in Exodus 28, the entire 43-verse chapter records God as “creative fashion designer” of the exquisite priestly garments. God also dictates the “manufacturing manual” that Moses must follow. The second and third verses read:
“And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You 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” (Exodus 28:2-3).
At the chapter’s end, God speaks about the holy and lasting nature of the priestly garments worn to serve Him:
“Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die. “This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants” (Exodus 28:43).
Today, robes are worn by Judeo/Christian religious leaders, influenced by Exodus 28, since God attached great importance to the garments worn to glorify him. Perhaps we should think more about what we wear to church. Often, I cringe at the clothes worn to worship God at His house.
In the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), both Leviticus and Deuteronomy record “you shall not” commands concerning clothing:
"You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material” (Leviticus 19:19). Repeated in Deuteronomy:
“You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together” (Deuteronomy 22:11). Why, you ask? Read more here.
Also in Deuteronomy, God makes a “culturally political clothing statement” warning about cross-dressing:
“A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 22:5).
As I wrote in last week’s “Isaiah’s Greatest Hits” study, there are always verses about whatever topic we cover, so here are two about clothing. First, in the context of helping the poor:
“Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:7).
The second is about wearing “garments of salvation.” In Vol. 81, we discussed how St. Paul’s famous “Armor of God” was influenced by Isaiah from this passage and others:
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10).
At the other extreme, the prostitute's dress is recorded in Proverbs:
“And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart” (Proverbs 7:10). And now back to divine-like dressing:
“Covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent” (Psalm 104:2).
Speaking of clothing and light, there is Daniel’s prophecy:
"As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire” (Daniel 7:9).
In the New Testament, Revelation 1:14 mirrors Daniel, but more on that in next week’s “What the New Testament Says About Clothes.”
Now I am off to expand my collection of summer dresses to glorify God, of course!
Myra Kahn Adams is a conservative political and religious writer. Her book, "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible," reprints the first 56 volumes of this popular study. "Part 2,” reprints Vols. 57 –113. Order it here.
She is also the Executive Director of the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit, dedicated to building a future permanent Shroud of Turin exhibit in Washington, D.C. Join our effort! Click to attend a major Shroud conference July 31- August 2 in St. Louis. Contact: <MyraAdams01@gmail.com>