Scripture
21 the LORD God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
Audio Commentary
Abstract
Here God’s mercy, until now hidden within His curses, is made plain: He does not abandon His fallen children but clothes them. The coming of sin brings the coming of clothing — strong and warm, but plain and humble, made of animal skins. And in those skins lies humanity’s first encounter with death: an animal sacrificed, its flesh given to God as a whole burnt offering and its skin given to man — a quiet first shadow of the atonement to come.
Brief Observations
-
Mercy made plain — God’s mercy, till now implicit in the curses, becomes unmistakable: having corrected His children and set consequences, He does not abandon them but clothes them.
-
Sin and the coming of clothing — With sin comes clothing, which serves real purposes in human relationship; the garments God made were strong and warm but plain and humble — untrimmed animal skins, not fine silks.
-
Fine clothing not sinful — This does not make fine clothing inherently sinful; and since both our food and our clothing belong to God, it is fitting to give thanks for them, as in saying grace before meals.
-
The first death, and the first sacrifice — Clothing them in skins meant animals had to die — likely Adam and Eve’s first encounter with death and a preview of what awaited them — the sacrifice divided between God, given the flesh as a whole burnt offering, and man, given the skins to wear.
Full Commentary
So far God’s mercy has been implicit but in this verse we see it plain as day. Yes He corrected our first parents and issued consequences for their disobedience, but here we see proof that He did not abandon them as His children. Much like the father of the returning prodigal, God receives Adam and Eve with care and with kindness. He gives them food to eat and gives them clothing of animal skins to cover their vulnerability. In this moment God didn’t want to kill Adam and Eve, which would have been justified considering their sin.
Notice how with the introduction of sin comes the introduction of clothing. Clothing serves a couple purposes in regard to our interpersonal relationships. It protects our vulnerabilities from people who may want to exploit us and it also hides our shame. These two defenses were not necessary before the Fall. Even today our clothing can symbolize many things about our character. It can broadcast our modesty if we dress appropriately for each occasion. It can also broadcast our sinful promiscuity if we dress in such a way that we know is tempting to others’ lust. Our clothing also has something to say about our vanity and our pride in riches.
The clothing God made for Adam and Eve was strong, warm, but plain and humble. It wasn’t made of the finest silks and satins, rather it was made of plain (probably untrimmed) animal skins. Contrast his humility with the pride of the daughters of Israel as they went on to flaunt accessories and ornaments good only for conveying their social status. If you have food and good clothing which protects you from the elements and facilitates your interpersonal relationships then you are just as well off as God positioned Adam and Eve. You should be content with these basics and stay away from the desire to dress for vanity.
Does this mean fine clothing is inherently sinful? Definitely not. I myself have made the case that pastors should wear suits because suits fit the seriousness of their work. The issue here is one of vanity. Wealthy people with fine clothing should never allow their adornments to justify poor character. They should never deceive themselves into thinking their clothing sufficiently covers their sin — not matter how expensive that clothing is. When Peter is giving instruction to wives for how they should conduct themselves with their husbands he says this:
1 Peter 3:3-4 3 Your adornment must not be merely external braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
Both our food and our clothing belong to God, so it’s fitting for us to give thanks for these things regularly. This is why we practice rituals like saying grace before meals. It’s just a reminder that God is the source of our necessities and we cannot live without His providence.
Their clothing being made from animal skins means they likely had to watch these animals die. This would have been their first encounter with death, and it was preview of what was in store for them. In this instance I think it’s safe to assume these animals were slain as a sacrifice and not merely as a natural resource. This sacrifice would be the first to typify the great atoning work of Christ — a sacrifice made once and for all. These animals which God used for skins would have been the first creatures to ever die, and it’s fitting they died as a sacrifice. They were a sacrifice slain from the establishment of the fallen order as we know it. This is a direct foreshadow of the person of Christ, who scripture calls the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But the thematic parallel doesn’t end there.
The animals sacrificed for clothing were divided between God and man. God was given the flesh as a whole burnt offering and man was given the skins for clothing. The skins covered Adam and Eve’s shame and vulnerability, offering them protection. In the same way Jesus was given up as an atoning sacrifice to God so that we could clothe ourselves in the righteousness of Christ as with a garment. The fig-leaves which our first parents made to try to cover themselves were insufficient to conceal their nakedness. In the same way our own human righteousness is not enough to cover our sin and our shame. We can only clothe ourselves in filthy rags, whereas the imputed righteousness of God serves as proper clothing.