The Bloody Coat of Skins – a Devotion. 2 July 2016 Anno Domini
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Gen 3:21 (KJV)
There was a brief period in the annals of time in which mankind had no awareness whatsoever of sin and was held to be wholly innocent owing to that ignorance. But that sinless period did not survive the lives of our first parents of Eden – Adam and Eve. Having intentionally chosen the tainted fruit of Satan (Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) over that of the Lord Jesus Christ (Tree of Life), these forebears of the human race brought the penalty of sin (death) upon all Creation and not merely upon mankind. The beauty of God’s Creation was immediately subjected to the penalty of sin brought upon it by that federal head (Adam) who had been granted dominion over the land, the animals, and the ocean seas. Until their willful disobedience, death did not exist in God’s Creation.
Eve was definitely in the transgression for going before the ill-minded Tree, stopping there, communicating in ungodly fellowship there with the Serpent, and then allowing herself to be deceived thereby. But Adam was not deceived. He likely ate of the fruit out of love for his bride knowing the dire consequences; just as Christ died for His Bride, the Church, knowing full well the terrible means of that death. The justification for a male-only clergy may derive from the tendency of the soft heart of woman to be easily deceived out of a tender regard that is not tempered by judgment. “12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” 1 Tim 2:12-15 (KJV) Paul gives the reason for this principle as being based upon the nature of Eve to be easily beguiled by the serpent (seduced, nasha, in Hebrew). Compare meaning of beguile here: “14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:” 2 Peter 2:14
Whatever attracted Eve to hear, and believe, the serpent; she was distracted to say the least from the one commandment of God.
Sin has a terrible consequence. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 (KJV) Wages of which sins? ANY AND ALL! A single sin brings the penalty of death for God will not countenance sin in His Heaven. There does, however, remain a Balm in Gilead! The prophet, in anticipation of the coming Redeemer, wails, “20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. 21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” Jer 8:20-22 (KJV) The daughter of his people is being recovered in the strong testimony of the Church and her people. Unfortunately, most of our modern ‘institutions of worship” are anything but the Church and Bride of Christ. So knowing that our sins warrant death, what is that remedy in Gilead?
Before their disobedience to God, the first man and woman (husband and wife) were not guilty of sin. They were naked but this was not a matter of concern for they recognized no need for a covering for their nakedness. But sin brought an abrupt halt to that innocence. Instead of listening to that Ancient Voice that first spoke at their quickening TO LIFE, they looked for a ‘different’ and strange voice – the same for which many churches search today with itching ears. “Seek and ye shall find” works both ways. If we seek God, we shall find Him by and by; but if we seek the devil, never to worry, he stands in the natural setting around us – as near as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil!
Becoming suddenly aware of the terror and guilt of sin, read the account of our primal parents’ action in the Garden: “9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” Gen 3:9-13 (KJV)
God desires to know WHERE we are with respect to His Word. Where are you? Are you in the bushes of Scripture study, or do you stand on the heights of the mountain peak? “Where art thou?” God is concerned for us. He seeks us first before we seek Him. He loves us before we are even able to love Him. He calls us and chooses us before we are able to choose Him.
We are condemned by the words of our own mouths. “I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” We hide from God because we are afraid – not of God, but of the curse our sins bring. Atheist, too, know and tremble at the mention of the name ‘Jesus Christ!” It is for this reason that they hate Him and suffer no one to use that name either in prayer or speaking. Adam now KNEW of his nakedness. He and Eve tried to cover their sins by the work of their hands. “. . . . she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they SEWED FIG LEAVES TOGETHER, and made themselves aprons.” Gen 3:6-7 (KJV) Fig leaves make a sorry covering for the sin of nakedness, but those are perhaps more than many beach-goers wear today. Our good works cannot cover our sins – only the unmerited grace of God will suffice.
Now, the sin of the crowning masterpiece of God’s Creation (Man) caused much sorrow for God even though He was fully aware that man would fall in Eden. He knew this as evidenced in His preparation of a Lamb for the Sacrifice before the worlds were made. But God loves His creatures that He has made – all of them. I have had many pets in life. I loved every one of them. I was saddened by their death. I have two cats today that dictate how long my wife and I can stay overnight from home. I feel the full responsibility God gave mankind in the Garden eastward at Eden – “. . . . have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Gen 1:28 (KJV) That means to CARE for them!
If you have ever had a pet that you loved dearly, you will have only a hint at how much God loved us, and even the beasts of the field, the domestic animals, the fowl of the ari, and every creature of His making. All animals are God’s pets. Imagine His agony in killing an innocent animal – the very first death of all Creation – in order to cover the sin of Adam and Eve. Go leap years farther and imagine what the death of that small, innocent animal represented to God the Father!
God knew that in order to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, an innocent animal must forfeit its life. But even more, He realized that the death of that innocent animal to cover the physical shame of Adam and Eve represented yet another innocent Being that must die in the fullness of time to cover our spiritual nakedness and sin – the Lamb of God! The same Lamb that would take the place of Isaac whom Abraham intended to sacrifice on the same Mt. Moriah upon which Our Lord was crucified! “8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” Gen 22:8 (KJV) The same Lamb of God referenced in Revelations repeatedly: “8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.” Rev 13:8 (KJV)
So, knowing the love of God for you and me, and for every living creature (and especially for His only Begotten Son), you now have some hint of with what dreadful agony God the Father experienced when He sacrificed an animal to make a covering for the nakedness of Adam and Eve. His love for us commanded the sacrifice! His only Begotten Son would, some 4,000 years hence, consummate the ultimate sacrifice and become the sacrificial Lamb whose blood would purchase for those who are the Elect of God a pure White Robe of Righteousness to cover their nakedness, shame, and sin.
Have you been fitted for your Robe?