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What Does the Bible Say About Nakedness?

While it is commonly perceived by those in other countries how uptight Americans are regarding nudity, it's obviously those same nations (particularly nations in Europe and South America) who have little or no moral compass regarding societal matters such as nakedness, particularly in public, swimming suits or not.  And just so you know, according to my personal study from a few years back, the whole idea of public nakedness historically originated with the Caananites, and ancient Babylonians who sunbathed in the nude, and then was continued by the Assyrians, Romans, and Greeks on through modern times.  And in reading the Word, such practices of these ancient cultures clearly went against what the LORD instructed His people (particularly in Leviticus 18), mostly in the Old Testament but also somewhat in the New Testament (NKJV):

"Exodus 28: 42 And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him."

In an application to our own lives, how can one truly approach the LORD in His presence with a heart that is desensitized to the nakedness of the body so as to allow a spirit such as lust, apathy, or another deceiving spirit to take root either in that person or in someone else with whom such a person is associated?

Leviticus 18
Laws of Sexual Morality
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'I am the LORD your God. 3 According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. 4 You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the LORD your God. 5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.
6 'None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the LORD. 7 The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness. 9 The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. 10 The nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. 11 The nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is near of kin to your father. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is near of kin to your mother. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your son's wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness. 18 Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.
19 'Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is in her customary impurity. 20 Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, to defile yourself with her. 21 And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. 22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. 23 Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.
24 'Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. 26 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you 27 (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), 28 lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. 29 For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
30 'Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God.'"

Please take notice in the Leviticus quote above how first and foremost the obedience to the LORD is to be established in the believer by avoiding at least the intentional uncovering of someone else's nakedness in general, starting with the family.  And then notice how the disobedience leads to lustful behavior as manifested in sins from fornication, adultery, and so on (this specific is reiterated in Leviticus 20 and in various other places, specifically in the OT books of the prophets referring to the seeing of the nakedness of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 16), Israel, or other nations because of their various sinful acts).  And then observe how it concludes by saying how other nations were in error against the LORD by practicing these things, such as Canaan, Babylon, and later cultures that accepted this sinful view of nakedness.

Of course, a notable exception to all this can be found in Isaiah 20, where the LORD commanded Isaiah to walk naked before the people of Egypt and Ethiopia as prophesying their future shame by the conquest of the Assyrians over them, which of course history proves.  However, nakedness (the uncovering thereof) from Genesis 3 on almost always is associated with shame (of which there are numerous OT and NT references to this), in both a practical and prophetic way, and sometimes drunkenness, as with Noah and the of Babylon in Revelation 18, (although there are obvious differences in each of those examples).  And whether the exposing of nakedness in the Bible involved what either lead to sexual immorality or the poor and destitute of society who are without clothing for whatever reason, our Lord in the New Testament instructed us to clothe in both Old and New Testaments, and the former of which He instructed us not to practice.  Also, such references as Isaiah 20 and Micah 1 also associate nakedness prophetically with the LORD's impending judgment, whether it was against His people (regarding the captivity of His people in Micah, as well as the allowing of the nations to be witnesses to the nakedness of Israel being left desolate through their own disobedience) or against other peoples (again, as in Isaiah 20 and Nahum 3).  And as a side note, we ought not to forget how Matthew 5:17, 18 links those portions of the Old Testament (like those verses on nakedness) that weren't done away specifically by the coming of Jesus Christ:

"17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."

I realize how preachy all this may sound to you or others here.  And I also realize most of what I've said here is farther than most of us would ever take such a subject.  Nonetheless, I'm convinced the general truth of this matter, whether it involves bathing suits, suggestive clothing, or any other topic that hints at the issue of nakedness, must be explained as thoroughly as possible from a biblical and spiritual viewpoint.  In any case, I strongly suggest you meditate on these and other scriptures that deal with nakedness.  Just because some people walk around a beach naked or almost naked, it doesn't mean it's right.  And it certainly doesn't mean that the LORD isn't going to deal with such people according to His Word and Spirit.  But if nothing else, I believe we ought to be reminded of the fact that the human body is definitely a part of how we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" in the eyes of the LORD, despite notions to the contrary.  And I believe we also should be reminded of instances in the Song of Solomon and 1 Corinthians 7:3-5, which demonstrate beautifully where the LORD intended the viewing of nakedness to happen---within the marriage bed.

Blessings,
Shaun


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"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that  which is good, and acceptable, and perfect." -Romans 12:2

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