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What Does It Mean That Adam And Eve Were Naked And Not Ashamed?

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What Does It Mean That Adam And Eve Were Naked And Not Ashamed

What Does It Mean That Adam And Eve Were Naked And Not Ashamed? Genesis 2:25 says, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” The Biblical book of Genesis in its first chapter narrates the creation week in which the Almighty God created the Heavens and the Earth and filled both with creatures that will fulfill His plan and purpose. Genesis 2 focuses on how God created the first man and woman, and the concluding statement of all this creative activity is, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). The Bible teaches us that both Adam and Eve were innocent, having no sin or guilt and as a result had no sin. The Fall of Man in Genesis 3 helps us understand how valuable it was for Adam and Eve to remain in an innocent state.

The Lord God Almighty clearly warned Adam in Genesis 2:16-17 that, while Adam had the freedom to eat from nearly any tree, he was not allowed to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The consequence of eating from that tree would be death. Genesis 3:1 talks of how the serpent tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Eve fell into the temptation of the serpent and did not only eat the forbidden fruit but also convinced Adam to eat it with her. The Biblical account further reveals that after they had both eaten, their eyes were opened in a way they had not been before. Following this, for the first time, they recognized that they were naked (Genesis 3:7a). Before this, Adam and Eve had no guilt. They had not sinned against God, so there was no reason for any shame.

What Does It Mean That Adam And Eve Were Naked And Not Ashamed?

It was after violating God’s word, that Adam and Eve realized that they had guilt. Behold, they had sinned against their Creator, and they sensed that guilt and were ashamed of their nakedness. This was not the case when they had not yet sinned. The Bible tells us that in their initial state of innocence, they were naked and not ashamed. It is when they sinned that the feeling of guilt brought shame to them. Note that as long as Adam and Eve had no sin, they sensed no need for any covering. Likewise, there was no judgment or scrutiny for them. But when they had sinned, they became aware, in guilt and shame, that they were exposed. As a result, they fashioned from fig leaves clothes to cover their loins, or their genital areas (Genesis 3:7b).

What’s observed in Genesis 3:7 is Adam and Eve trying to cover up their guilt and shame with the product of their own efforts. This very act is described by Biblical Scholars as the remarkable first attempt at work salvation. A situation whereby Adam and Eve sought to be free from guilt by covering their nakedness on their own. In Genesis 3:10, God called out to Adam, and at first, Adam hid because he knew he was naked and he was afraid. From Adam’s time till today, nakedness has been associated with shame (see 2 Samuel 10:4–5; Isaiah 47:3; Ezekiel 16:39; 23:29; Hosea 2:3; Nahum 3:5; Revelation 16:15). The Fall of Man has affected all of us. We all have an inborn sense that we need a covering. Just like Adam, being exposed makes us feel vulnerable, afraid, and uncomfortable.

The Promised Redeemer

From the Genesis narrative, it’s evident that our own efforts to cover ourselves can’t redeem or save us from our guilt and shame. Adam and Eve were both under the penalty promised in Genesis 2:16–17. On that day they had died; meaning they were no longer able to live with God as the close fellowship that they had with Him was broken. At this stage, Adam and eve experienced spiritual death which was the broken fellowship with God and physical death later followed (Genesis 3:19). Despite the sin of Adam and Eve, God in His loving kindness promised hope for humanity. In Genesis 3:15, the Lord God announced that one day the seed of Eve would crush the head of the serpent.

In later promises, the Lord God is even more specific about the coming Savior who would not just cover guilt and shame, but through His own blood, by the Loss of His life, he would fully pay the penalty required so that those who had been guilty could become righteous before God, Father of Creation. Scripture holds it that the blood of this Savior would cover once and for all the guilt and the shame of humanity. Although this plan of salvation was not revealed in great detail in the Biblical book of Genesis, by the time of Cain and Abel (Adam and Eve’s first children), there was already a good understanding that without the shedding of blood there is no covering for sin. Abel offered to God a sacrifice of a slain lamb, and God accepted it (Genesis 4:4).

More on the Promised Redeemer

In the time of the Mosaic Law, the Lord God Almighty prescribed animal sacrifices so that the people would understand the awfulness of sin and the incredibly high price that had to be paid in order to deal with it: life itself, illustrated in the pouring out of the blood of the sacrifice. While we were all separated from the Lord God because of sin, the Savior took on our guilt and paid the price with His own blood (Isaiah 53:6). Talking about the Savior of humanity, it is none but Jesus Christ, beloved Son of God (John 3:16). His blood restored the broken fellowship between God and humanity. Through His blood, we can enjoy a close fellowship with God as it was designed to be from the beginning (Ephesians 2:13). His blood brings grace through which the Lord God frees us from our guilt and shame.

The blood of the Savior, Jesus Christ, washes away the sins of all those who come to Him. All that is expected from us is to believe, or put our trust in Him and not in our own efforts. Believing in Jesus Christ and keeping His Teachings leads to the Forgiveness of Sins and brings Eternal Life. Just as God provided a covering for Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, God in His mercy provides a covering for all those who come to Him in repentance and faith: “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10; cf. Ezekiel 16:8). Likewise, in Heaven, the disgrace of our sin and the shame of our nakedness will be covered with “fine linen, bright and clean” (Revelation 19:8).

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