The Great Cover Up

Gen 3:7

Both of them knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.  (NKJV)

In our last Blog we saw how shame entered into the human race. The word ‘ashamed’ means to be embarrassed, worthless, disgraced, guilty; and shame is a feeling, an emotion. Hence , when Adam and Eve knew they had committed sin by eating of the forbidden fruit, they felt ashamed of their actions and covered up themselves with fig leaves.

Shame will always cause people to cover up. That’s why mankind wear clothes, to cover up the shame of the naked body. Unfortunately covering up was man’s way of making himself presentable before God and became self righteousness.

There’s a difference between ‘covering over’ and ‘covering up’. Covering over speaks of protection, shielding and guarding. Whereas, covering up speaks of hiding, avoiding detection, deception, manipulation and lies.

When we seek to cover up shame, we get into all sorts of dysfunctional behaviour to prevent ourselves from being exposed, uncovered, vulnerable and insecure.

When Adam and Eve covered up their shame by covering their bodies with fig leaves, nakedness throughout the scriptures became synonymous with shame. When a country was invaded and conquered, the victors would force their captives to strip naked and tied chains around their necks and feet before selling them into slavery. The nakedness was a sign of their shame: they were a defeated conquered people, stripped of all dignity and respect.

In our next Blog we shall look at how Jesus took our shame on the cross at Calvary and has covered us again by His glory.

Meditation Point: What areas of my life do I feel ashamed about or to put it another way, what areas of my life do I hide or cover up from God and others.

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