.the Clothes Of Heaven Series

A taylor who used an apple as a trade mark was asked why he used that particular symbol. He

replied, "If it hadn't been for the apple, where would the clothing business be?" He had a good point.

The clothing business did start in the garden of Eden because of sin, and the need to cover the bodies

of those who had started sin by eating of the forbidden fruit. Clothing is not a part of the origin of

sin, but rather, a necessity to overcome the emotions set loose by sin.

God was the first taylor to create garments for man. Adam and Eve had sewn fig leaves together

to cover their bodies, but shortly thereafter we read in Gen. 3:21, "And the Lord God made for

Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them." From that point on, clothing has

played a major role in the life of man. Scripture is literally packed with references to clothes and

their significance.

Man is the only creature that God created who has a desire to adorn itself with clothes. No

animal has any appreciation for styles, and for a variety of clothing, or for jewelry. Males often wish

God would have made females more animal like in this respect. Wilfred Funk calls the daughters of

Eve the Insatiable Sex. He goes to great extremes to express himself in poetry.

If I scaled the heights of Venus

And ransacked ten million stars

Of their fineries--Orsinus,

Mercury, Arcturus, Mars.

Plucked the pleiades and hung them

Flaming on your ivory breast,

With the shining moon among them

As a diadem and crest.

Seized the Milky Way and tore it

From the skies to make a gown

For you, dearest, and you wore it

With Orion as a crown--

Would it help you? Would you try a

Little thrift then? No! my guess is

You would merely go and buy a

Dozen other hats and dresses!

Most of the humor directed at clothing is connected with women, but the facts of history reveal

that men have been just as involved in the fashion fuss, vanity, and folly connected with clothing.

The history of men's pants is a joke if there ever was one. Battles have raged over them from ancient

Persian times. Church councils have met, sermons have been preached, and pamphlets have been

written declaring them to be designed by the devil. A ruler in Germany in 1790, ordered all

criminals in chain gangs, working on the roads, to be clad in long trousers, in order to deride and

discredit the fashion. In 1820, it was forbidden in England for any clergyman to wear long trousers

in the pulpit. Nothing could stop the onward march of a good idea, and so, we all now feel perfectly

comfortable in what has become a traditional garment with us.

Men, of course, did not wear pants in Bible days, but they wore what we would call a robe. They

were as proud of their robes however, as the modern man is of his suits. Joseph had a robe of many

colors. It made him the best dressed man in his big family. It was a garment of great value and was

an expression of his fathers affection.

Wealth was often determined by the number of garments a man possessed. Samson is usually

portrayed as half bare, to show his great muscles, but his goal was to become the best dressed man in

Israel. In Judges 14, he made a deal with 30 men at a feast. If they could guess his riddle, he would

give them 30 linen garments and 30 festal garments. If they failed, however, they would give him

the 60 outfits instead. Samson was confident that he would start out married life with a huge

wardrobe. It turned out, he lost, and had to pay them their 60 garments. The whole transaction

reveals that clothes mean a lot to men, just as they do to women.

Clothes mean a lot to God as well. Numerous are the references to the holy garments that God

ordained for the priests to wear, and to the beautiful jeweled garb of the high priest. Several

references are even made to the garments of God. We read in Psalm 93:1, "The Lord reigns; He is

robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, He is girded with strength." In Psalm 104:1-2 we read, "O

Lord, my God, Thou art very great! Thou are clothed with honor and majesty, who coverest Thyself

with light as with a garment." Looking at God's wardrobe is like looking into the sun. Don't you

wonder what kind of clothes we will wear in the presence of God? If He demanded holy garments

on those who served Him here on earth, what will he demand when we are before Him in heaven?