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What Does God Think Of Nudity?
As a Christian, I want to please God. In today's world with cable TV and videos that include so much nudity, I set out, to find what God really does think of nudity.
First I searched the Bible to see if God ever does condemn nudity and erotic dancing. I searched for every occurance of the word "naked" in the Bible at biblegateway.com.
First in Genesis I found where Adam and Eve were naked. Then they sinned, when they ate from the tree, and then they felt naked and wanted to hide from God and so they covered themselves with fig leaves. But God did not say their nakedness was sin.
Instead, God punished them for eating from the tree and God kicked them out of the garden and God cursed them and God cursed the ground and the animals. God knew they would need protection in the now hostile world they would live in, so God created garments for them made from animal skin.
Next I found where Noah cursed his son Ham because Ham belittled him when he was drunk and naked.
In Exodus 20, after God gave the ten commandments, God gives some instructions on how to make an offering from stones. Then God says in Exodus 20, verse 25, “And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'” When someone was making their offering to God by placing the goat or cattle or sheep on the altar, God did not want everyone to be able to see their nakedness. So God said the altar should not have steps. God didn't ask them to wear different clothes, but instead God said the altar should not have steps. We can learn from this verse that the clothing they wore at that time made it easy to see their nakedness. I have often wondered how the Jews knew who was circumcised and who was not circumcised. From this verse it appears the clothing did expose their nakedness easily, or at least when going up stairs. It would seem their nakedness would also be exposed when sitting.
In Exodus 22:26-27, the Old Testament law says, “26 If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, 27 because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”
Apparently the cloak was the only covering they had for their body and when you made a pledge you took off your cloak and gave it to the other person who needed to return it to you by sunset so you could sleep in it. So apparently you were naked during the time your neighbor had your cloak.
In Genesis 39:12, when Joseph is unsuccessfully seduced by the Kings wife the Bible says, “She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.”
It appears Joseph had to run out of the house naked, as his cloak was in her hand. Later when the Kings wife accuses Joseph of attempted rape she says in Genesis 39:18, “But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."”
Then in Deuteronomy 28:47-49, God says, “47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.”
As part of their punishment for not serving God they will be hungry, and thirsty, naked and poor as they are forced to serve their enemies.
In Job, his friends accuse him of stripping people naked and taking their possessions. Job 22:6 and 7 says, “6 You demanded security from your brothers for no reason; you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked. 7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.”
Isaiah 57:8 talks about looking on nakedness but it is in the context of adultery which we all agree would be sinful. Isaiah 57 verse 8 says, “Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked on their nakedness.”
Again Isaiah 57:8 is figuratively referring to an adulterous nation of Israel who looks on the nakedness of her lovers. So this passage is not talking about nudity in general but is mentioned here because at times it has been misinterpreted to condemn nudity in general.
In 2 Samuel 6:14 David dances with only an ephod on. An ephod appears to have only covered part of his upper body. We know it did not cover much because David's wife condemns him for showing off his body like an erotic dancer to the maidens. (See marriageromance.com/stories/11763965840.htm) 2 Samuel 6:14 says, “And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.”
In 2 Samuel God punished King David by having David's son Absalom have sex with David's wives and concubines in public.
2 Samuel 12 verse 11b reads, "Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight."
A study of secular history reveals that erotic dancing with nudity and semi-nudity was common beginning in Egypt and all the way through to the New Testament. The book, “The Maxi Mounds Guide To The World Of Exotic Dancing”, By Maxie Mounds has an excellent description of ancient erotic dancing during Bible times.
This book mentions that erotic dance is referred to in the Bible – especially Song Of Solomon.
Conceivably Song Of Solomon would have been sung by a group of erotic dancers.
Remember Israel lived in Egypt for 400 years. During that time they learned the culture of the Egyptians.
When the Israelites left Egypt the women danced. Exodus 15:20 reads, “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.” This dancing may have been a form of erotic dancing which would explain why King David danced half naked to the Lord in 2 Samuel 6:14.
The Israelites also picked up the Egyptian culture of worshipping idols. That is why they built a golden calf when left alone for a short while.
The Israelites also picked up the Egyptian culture of having parties with eating and drinking and revelry. Exodus 32 verse 3 reads, “So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
God condemned them for making the golden calf. God did not condemn them for eating and drinking and revelry.
The book of Esther is a story about a drunk King who disposes of his Queen because she would not display her beauty to his guests. The King searches for the most beautiful woman in the Kingdom and picks Esther who becomes the new queen. Most likely as part of her duties as queen, she had to display her beauty to guests when her husband was drunk, which most likely included some form of erotic dancing and nudity.
Here is the verse in Esther 1:10-12, "10 On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carcas- 11 to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. 12 But when the attendants delivered the king's command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger."
In Ezekiel 16 verses 7 and 8 is an allegory where God is the male and the nation of Israel is the female. In the allegory God marries the nation of Israel. Ezekiel 16:7,8 says, “7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare. 8 " 'Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.”
In the same allegory God turns against Israel because they are unfaithful and so God says he will strip their clothes off and expose their nakedness. Ezekiel 16:37 says, “therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness.”
In Amos 2:16 16, God says, “Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day," declares the LORD.” Over and over in the Old Testament God uses stripping someone naked as a form of punishment.
Micah 1:8 says, “Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.”
Nahum 3:5 says, “"I am against you," declares the LORD Almighty. "I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame.”
In Habakkuk 2:15, God condemns people who get someone drunk in order to look at their nakedness. Habakkuk 2:15 says, “"Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies.” This verse does not say looking at nakedness is wrong, rather it teaches that it is wrong to look at someone's nakedness without their consent.
Apparently whenever people became drunk they ended up exposing their nakedness. Noah did this and then again in this verse (Habakkuk 2:15) we see this.
In the New Testament on the night of the betrayal of Jesus, again we see that the people did not wear much. They only wore a cloak or a garment. Mark 14:51-53 says, “ 51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.”
In John 21:7, the disciple Peter was fishing naked. John 21 verse 7 says, “Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.” (KJV)
In Acts 19:16 some non-Christian men were copying the apostles and casting out demons. But then this one man with a demon confronted the non-Christians and attached them as they ran out of the house naked. Acts 19 verse 6 says, “Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”
The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:27 that he has been naked before. 2 Corinthians 11:27 says, “I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” Paul also mentions having to have been naked for Christ in Romans 8:35.
According to a sermon I heard from the great preacher John MacArthur, he said that during Jesus day, slaves were sold naked in the market place. From watching the history channel in Roman culture nudity would have been common at the public baths in the center of the cities as well as at the public toilets.
In conclusion it seems nakedness was common in the Bible.
First of all it seems their cloak or garment didn't cover very well. It exposed so much of their nudity that God did not want His altar to have steps on it because then people would be able to see the nudity of those making an offering.
Normally, nudity was not something people wanted to do because it was a sign that you were poor.
However it appears that during times of celebration such as when David danced, or when people got drunk, or when people made pledges - people took their clothes off.
And in Jesus day during the Roman Empire we know nudity was common.
So why doesn't the Old Testament or the New Testament have a dress code in it to condemn nakedness? What doesn't the Bible condemn erotic dancers that were common in the pagan cultures around the Israelites and possibly even in the Jewish culture?
The answer seems to be that the authors of the Bible did not see nakedness as sinful. What they did see as sinful is that it is wrong to look at someone's nakedness without their permission (for example when they are drunk).
They also thought it was ok for a husband to expose the nakeness of his wife if she had been unfaithful to humiliate her. This theme that God would expose the nakedness of Israel because Israel was unfaithful, seemed to be the most common use of the word "naked", when I searched for all the Bible verses with the word "naked" on Biblegateway.com.
Since God mentions using "nakedness" over and over in the Old Testament as a way to accomplish a goal, such as humiliate and punish, and God seemed to be very relaxed with sexual issues such as allowing men to have multiple wives and concubines and take sex slaves from the spoils of war, coupled with the fact that God never condemns nudity in the Bible and God allowed the erotic song and possibly dance of Song of Solomon to be in the Bible, it seems God would certainly not condemn a married couple for using "nakedness" in their marriage, as a way to help their sex life. For example when a husband and wife watch an erotic video together to help them get in the mood for sex.
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