Paul could say to the Ephesians, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Whatever God gave him, he gave to them. This is a difficult matter as some subjects are sensitive and difficult to cover. As people get further from the Bible, they grow increasingly animalistic and heathenistic. The approach of our society to nakedness is a case in point.
What Is Nakedness?
Many simply define nakedness as the absence of clothing. Yet, the Bible defines it as the absence of sufficient/appropriate clothing. This truth is borne out in the word’s historical use in the English language—nude, bare, empty, but also not fully clothed. Anything less than sufficient clothing was considered nakedness.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-4, Paul spoke of a promise of future clothing—a glorified body. He was already clothed “in this tabernacle” (2 Corinthians 5:4), but that clothing was insufficient in heaven. Paul desired “to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked” (2 Corinthians 5:2-3). Based on the context and truth stated, naked did not mean the absence of clothing, but rather inadequate/insufficient clothing.
Numerous passages teach nakedness is not merely the absence of clothing. Exodus 20:26 warned about adding steps to get to God’s altar and how doing so could cause “nakedness” to be “discovered thereon.” In other words, a priest going up steps could cause those below to see underneath his robe, exposing nakedness. To solve this, God commanded Moses to “make them [the priests] linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach” (Exodus 28:42).
The word breeches is the historic word for pants. The idea was that there was a breech in them or a divide between the legs creating what was historically known as a bifurcated garment or something akin to pants. Not only were the priests to wear these pants under their robes, but they had to cover “from the loins even unto the thighs” (Exodus 28:42). That said, even as far back as Exodus 28:42, God established a MINIMAL rule for covering nakedness. Clearly, the priest was to cover his loins (including his buttocks and his privy parts) and his thighs which would extend from his loins to his knees. Anything less was nakedness!
To make things simple, God offered a fool-proof eye test. If anything above one’s knees (thighs, buttocks, hips) is exposed, the person is naked. If this is true, and it is, there are some shorts that are scripturally acceptable on a man and others that are not. If a man wants to be within God’s bounds, he would need to wear long pants or test his short pants by sitting down to see if anything above his knee is exposed from any viewpoint. If this test exposes skin above the knee, he is naked. If he desires to please the Lord, he would not wear such shorts unless alone or only in his wife’s presence.
The Bible gives multiple witnesses when conveying God’s standard of nakedness. As already stated, exposing anything from the loins to the thighs was considered nakedness in Exodus 28:42. The same is true in Isaiah 20:2 where the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.” Offering another witness, Isaiah 47:1-3 states, “Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground…uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh…Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen.”
Consider Satan’s cunning work in people’s minds and hearts. Long ago, he convinced many who wore full-length garments at all times in public (pants for men and dresses or skirts for ladies) of the unfashionable nature of doing so. Today, one who wears such garments is deemed as extreme, fanatical, or awkward by the world. These “awkward” lengths were traded for shorter lengths, albeit they were lengths that still covered nakedness, even when seated. Some time back, Satan expanded his work, this time convincing the masses that the shorter pants for men and shorter skirts or dresses for women were awkward in length and unfashionable. Once again, the lengths were shortened, but this time nakedness was exposed, if not at all times, certainly when seated. Mission accomplished!
The Shame of Nakedness
Sadly, many believers no longer care what God desires. The solution to this is a right heart! If our hearts were right, we would deal with nakedness much like two of Noah’s sons dealt with his nakedness when he was drunk and insufficiently clothed. While much is assumed as to what Ham did to his father, the Bible says he “saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without” (Genesis 9:22).
Some may want to read more into that, but a literal interpretation dictates that what Ham “had done unto him [Noah]” and what got his offspring in trouble was simply looking on his father’s nakedness. Shem and Japheth, on the other hand, “took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness” (Genesis 9:23). That is some serious caution!
Your conscience’s purity and empowerment depends upon you! Some might argue that this is all law and does not apply, but there was no law of Moses when Shem and Japheth knew it was sin to look on their father’s nakedness. Their consciences showed them that nakedness was SHAMEFUL. This is true on two fronts: (1) it is shameful for one to expose nakedness to others, and (2) it is shameful for one to view nakedness exposed by others—even in most familial circumstances.
The Answer for Nakedness
As it pertains to the scripture, consider the man possessed with devils in Luke chapter 8. One of the outward manifestations that the man was possessed with devils was that he “ware no clothes” (Luke 8:27). This man was naked and unashamed of his nakedness. Why?
Obviously, his conscience had been too defiled and his devil possession so strong that he was unable to feel remorse for his lack of clothing. However, as soon as the devils were cast out of the man and he enjoyed a relationship with Christ, he was found “sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind” (Luke 8:35).
The description of a devil-possessed man first emphasized his nakedness and the first descriptive statement of a man sitting at the feet of Jesus emphasized his wearing of clothes. Obviously, this issue is more important to God and more closely associated with biblical Christianity than most realize.
In short, the answer to nakedness is not merely the adorning of more or appropriate clothing, but a repaired conscience and a closer walk with the Lord.
