.
†. Gen 3:21 . . And the Lord God made garments of skins for Adam
and his wife, and clothed them.
The exact cut and design of their garments isn't specified, and the words
kethoneth (keth-o'-neth) and/or kuttoneth (koot-to'-neth) just indicate a
shirt, or covering; as hanging from the shoulder. Modern shirts aren't long
enough to provide an adequate covering of Man's body. Theirs were
probably more like a knee or calf-length dress. A shirt implies that Eve's
topless days were over; although that wouldn't necessarily rule out the
possibility that she may have become the Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel of her
day and created some interesting necklines.
The garments weren't for the Lord's sake; but theirs. Frontal nudity isn't
forbidden in the Bible, nor does God himself feel particularly offended by it.
Exposure is forbidden during religious services like in Ex 20:26 and Ex
28:42; but that's not really for God's sake but rather for the worshippers.
After all, God created Man totally disrobed; and that's the way Man lived for
an unspecified time in the garden until he became sensual and developed
self-consciousness coupled with a guilt complex over sex and the human
body.
The garments actually facilitated the people's association with God. They
were unbearably uncomfortable around their creator in the buff and that was
principally the reason they hid from the Lord when He came calling.
However, fig leaves aren't very durable; they're merely an expedient. God
showed them a much better way-- and actually, one they would never have
thought of all by themselves because nobody had ever killed an animal
before and who would have guessed their skins could be used for clothing
until God showed them how?
That day, homo sapiens learned something about the advantages of leather
goods. Most leather is produced from cattle hides: calfskin, goatskin,
kidskin, sheepskin, and lambskin. Other hides and skins used include those
of the horse, pig, kangaroo, deer, crocodile, alligator, seal, walrus, and of
late; Python. Human beings have used animal skins for a variety of practical
purposes since ancient times, and to this good day leather is still a useful
material all around the world. Precisely what species of animal God killed in
order to make Adam his first suit of leathers is unknown.
The point to note is that the clothing creation's God made for the Adams
didn't cost them one red cent nor did they have to contribute even the
slightest bit of labor in its design and manufacture. God slaughtered the
animals, treated their hides, and fabricated the garments Himself; and gave
the clothing to them for free, out of kindness, as a gratuity; free of charge. I
believe God went to all that trouble because He didn't want anything coming
between himself and Adam. In other words, Adam's felt-shame over frontal
nudity was a barrier between him and his creator so God showed him a
really good way to overcome it: a way much superior to Adam's limited
degree of human ingenuity.
At some point in the future, everyone will be required to stand before God
and face an accounting. Apparently some will be just as disrobed as Adam
was in the beginning.
†. Rev 3:18 . . I counsel you to buy from me white garments, that you may
be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.
The white garments aren't for covering one's nakedness so much as their
intent is to prevent the feelings of shame resulting from being disrobed;
which is exactly what Adam's leathers were intended to do for him and Eve.
If there is anything to learn from Adam's experience it's that even people
who are usually comfortable nude-- e.g. exotic dancers, nude bathers, and
porn actors --are not immune to feeling shame in the presence of God. In
other words, though people may be comfortable naked in front of people;
they won't be so comfortable naked in front of the Almighty. It's somehow
different in a way that I don't know how to put in words but when those
people stand before God in the buff, they will be anxiously looking about for
something to hide behind just like Adam did.
†. Gen 3:22a . . And Yhvh God said: Now that the man has become as
one of us, discerning good and evil,
Man didn't become one of the us, he became "as" one of the us; in other
words: homo sapiens became a race of gods.
†. Ps 82:6a . . I said: You are gods,
Man's status as a god is problematic because there is only one true god (John 17:3,
1Cor 8:4-6). Therefore man is a false god; and subject to the condemnation of
idolatry; viz: self reverence.
†. Gen 3:22a . . discerning good and evil,
Isn't that what gods do? Yes; that's what gods do; viz: they develop their
own ethics in accordance with their own personal perception of what's right
and what's wrong. Talk about a clash of the Titans! From that point on, God
and man have been at odds with each other fighting over which of the gods
is going to set the standards for everybody else: the god of heaven; or the
gods of the earth? Well; gods are supposed to be eternal; but men die like
flies.
†. Ps 82:6-7 . . I said: You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most
High. Nevertheless you will die like men, and fall like all other princes
†. Gen 3:22c . . what if he should stretch out his hand and take also
from the tree of life and eat, and live forever!
The tree of life didn't contain enough nutrients to give Adam eternal life. It
couldn't even give him immortality. But the tree could have given Adam
perpetual youth; but even then, only so long as he supplemented his diet
with regular doses of it; for example: I have an under-active thyroid gland
that if left untreated would eventuate in my untimely death. But so long as I
continue to supplement my diet with a prescribed daily dose of a medication
called levoxyl, I can expect to live to a normal old age.
However; I can't get by on just one dose of levoxyl, nor can I take a lifetime
of doses all at once. Levoxyl has to be taken a little at a time on a daily
basis. What I'm saying is: as long as Adam supplemented his diet with
leaves from that tree on a regular basis; he wouldn't die of natural causes;
thus he had the potential to remain forever twenty-one. But that was not to
be since God had already decreed that man must die for eating the
forbidden fruit.
†. Gen 3:23-24 . . So Yhvh God banished him from the garden of
Eden, to till the soil from which he was taken. He drove the man out,
and stationed east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and the fiery
ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
In order make the warning of Gen 2:16-17 a reality; all that God had to do
was deny Adam access to the tree of life and let nature take its course.
The cherubim and the fiery sword didn't actually guard the tree-- they
guarded the way to the tree. That's a curious situation and strongly suggests
that there is but one route to the tree rather than a variety of routes.
The sword itself almost seems to be a sentient form of life, turning in every
direction, threatening and warning all who dared approach. At night its eerie
glow lit the sky, and in the daytime, passersby observed its eternal flame
burning perpetually like the bush Moses saw in the desert. Brrrr. What a
creepy sight that must have been.
Cont.
/
†. Gen 3:21 . . And the Lord God made garments of skins for Adam
and his wife, and clothed them.
The exact cut and design of their garments isn't specified, and the words
kethoneth (keth-o'-neth) and/or kuttoneth (koot-to'-neth) just indicate a
shirt, or covering; as hanging from the shoulder. Modern shirts aren't long
enough to provide an adequate covering of Man's body. Theirs were
probably more like a knee or calf-length dress. A shirt implies that Eve's
topless days were over; although that wouldn't necessarily rule out the
possibility that she may have become the Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel of her
day and created some interesting necklines.
The garments weren't for the Lord's sake; but theirs. Frontal nudity isn't
forbidden in the Bible, nor does God himself feel particularly offended by it.
Exposure is forbidden during religious services like in Ex 20:26 and Ex
28:42; but that's not really for God's sake but rather for the worshippers.
After all, God created Man totally disrobed; and that's the way Man lived for
an unspecified time in the garden until he became sensual and developed
self-consciousness coupled with a guilt complex over sex and the human
body.
The garments actually facilitated the people's association with God. They
were unbearably uncomfortable around their creator in the buff and that was
principally the reason they hid from the Lord when He came calling.
However, fig leaves aren't very durable; they're merely an expedient. God
showed them a much better way-- and actually, one they would never have
thought of all by themselves because nobody had ever killed an animal
before and who would have guessed their skins could be used for clothing
until God showed them how?
That day, homo sapiens learned something about the advantages of leather
goods. Most leather is produced from cattle hides: calfskin, goatskin,
kidskin, sheepskin, and lambskin. Other hides and skins used include those
of the horse, pig, kangaroo, deer, crocodile, alligator, seal, walrus, and of
late; Python. Human beings have used animal skins for a variety of practical
purposes since ancient times, and to this good day leather is still a useful
material all around the world. Precisely what species of animal God killed in
order to make Adam his first suit of leathers is unknown.
The point to note is that the clothing creation's God made for the Adams
didn't cost them one red cent nor did they have to contribute even the
slightest bit of labor in its design and manufacture. God slaughtered the
animals, treated their hides, and fabricated the garments Himself; and gave
the clothing to them for free, out of kindness, as a gratuity; free of charge. I
believe God went to all that trouble because He didn't want anything coming
between himself and Adam. In other words, Adam's felt-shame over frontal
nudity was a barrier between him and his creator so God showed him a
really good way to overcome it: a way much superior to Adam's limited
degree of human ingenuity.
At some point in the future, everyone will be required to stand before God
and face an accounting. Apparently some will be just as disrobed as Adam
was in the beginning.
†. Rev 3:18 . . I counsel you to buy from me white garments, that you may
be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.
The white garments aren't for covering one's nakedness so much as their
intent is to prevent the feelings of shame resulting from being disrobed;
which is exactly what Adam's leathers were intended to do for him and Eve.
If there is anything to learn from Adam's experience it's that even people
who are usually comfortable nude-- e.g. exotic dancers, nude bathers, and
porn actors --are not immune to feeling shame in the presence of God. In
other words, though people may be comfortable naked in front of people;
they won't be so comfortable naked in front of the Almighty. It's somehow
different in a way that I don't know how to put in words but when those
people stand before God in the buff, they will be anxiously looking about for
something to hide behind just like Adam did.
†. Gen 3:22a . . And Yhvh God said: Now that the man has become as
one of us, discerning good and evil,
Man didn't become one of the us, he became "as" one of the us; in other
words: homo sapiens became a race of gods.
†. Ps 82:6a . . I said: You are gods,
Man's status as a god is problematic because there is only one true god (John 17:3,
1Cor 8:4-6). Therefore man is a false god; and subject to the condemnation of
idolatry; viz: self reverence.
†. Gen 3:22a . . discerning good and evil,
Isn't that what gods do? Yes; that's what gods do; viz: they develop their
own ethics in accordance with their own personal perception of what's right
and what's wrong. Talk about a clash of the Titans! From that point on, God
and man have been at odds with each other fighting over which of the gods
is going to set the standards for everybody else: the god of heaven; or the
gods of the earth? Well; gods are supposed to be eternal; but men die like
flies.
†. Ps 82:6-7 . . I said: You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most
High. Nevertheless you will die like men, and fall like all other princes
†. Gen 3:22c . . what if he should stretch out his hand and take also
from the tree of life and eat, and live forever!
The tree of life didn't contain enough nutrients to give Adam eternal life. It
couldn't even give him immortality. But the tree could have given Adam
perpetual youth; but even then, only so long as he supplemented his diet
with regular doses of it; for example: I have an under-active thyroid gland
that if left untreated would eventuate in my untimely death. But so long as I
continue to supplement my diet with a prescribed daily dose of a medication
called levoxyl, I can expect to live to a normal old age.
However; I can't get by on just one dose of levoxyl, nor can I take a lifetime
of doses all at once. Levoxyl has to be taken a little at a time on a daily
basis. What I'm saying is: as long as Adam supplemented his diet with
leaves from that tree on a regular basis; he wouldn't die of natural causes;
thus he had the potential to remain forever twenty-one. But that was not to
be since God had already decreed that man must die for eating the
forbidden fruit.
†. Gen 3:23-24 . . So Yhvh God banished him from the garden of
Eden, to till the soil from which he was taken. He drove the man out,
and stationed east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and the fiery
ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
In order make the warning of Gen 2:16-17 a reality; all that God had to do
was deny Adam access to the tree of life and let nature take its course.
The cherubim and the fiery sword didn't actually guard the tree-- they
guarded the way to the tree. That's a curious situation and strongly suggests
that there is but one route to the tree rather than a variety of routes.
The sword itself almost seems to be a sentient form of life, turning in every
direction, threatening and warning all who dared approach. At night its eerie
glow lit the sky, and in the daytime, passersby observed its eternal flame
burning perpetually like the bush Moses saw in the desert. Brrrr. What a
creepy sight that must have been.
Cont.
/
