Modesty
by Carlos
Gonzalez
What is modesty? How do we
measure and set the standard for what modesty is? These are all questions that
have been asked through the centuries and the answer keeps changing from
generation to generation.
The true answer is found in
the Bible, but the question I ask is, are you willing to accept it and live by
it? And, I am not talking to the world, but to those who call themselves Christians, because the world is going to dress the way they
want to regardless of what God says.
We cannot allow the world to
dictate what modesty is. Why? Take a look at history and you’ll see the roller
coaster ride it has gone through. It has
gotten worse and it will keep going down.
Many churches and
denominations have struggled with modesty and they don’t know where to draw the
line, or what’s acceptable and what’s not. I’m sure they have their reasons but
the main reason is compromise, trying to look as close to the world and still
be called a Christian. The problem is that so many so-called Christians say and preach,
“God doesn’t look at the outside, but what’s on the inside.” That right there will invite a worldly spirit
and problems identifying what’s right and what’s wrong, because it’s not black
and white to them anymore, the gray area begins to grow and before you know it
you look like the world. It is very shameful to see how most so-called
Christian young people dress today, not only when they go to school but even
when they go to church services. As we
said, churches and parents have a big mess on their hands and don’t know what
to do, and it doesn’t help that they themselves dress like the world.
But “praise the Lord” for
God’s people that, through the ages, has kept the
standard that He set for us. The standard was set way before the church
was established. That’s why it’s not the
standard of the “church,” so to speak, but the Bible standard, from the Old
Testament to the New Testament.
The way we dress does not
identify who we are (as a church),
but the way the world dresses identifies who they are.
This may sound like an odd
statement, but read it again after the complete study and you will see that it
makes perfect sense.
1 Corinthians
6:20
For
ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's.
As soon as you can, highlight
and underline this verse in your Bible. This is the key to understanding what
God says concerning modesty. Let’s break
down the verse.
1. Ye were
bought with a price:
a.
Bought = His life
b.
Price = the
precious blood of Jesus
2. therefore
glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
a.
In your body =
outward
b.
In your spirit =
inward
Notice that he said glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit. He did not separate them from
each other, so how is it that so-called Christians can
say that God is not concerned with the outward but only the inward? The
religious world just wants to focus on glorifying God with their spirit,
although the spirit must be the right one, otherwise God won’t accept the
worship. It has been made clear God does care for both body and spirit—after
all, they both belong to him.
3. which are God’s.
a. if
body and spirit belong to God, we as believers should care what God has to say
concerning both, and be willing to submit to His commandments concerning
modesty.
Modesty began in the Garden
of Eden.
Genesis 3:7
(a) And the eyes of them both were
opened,
Because of sin, they saw
their bodies differently than before.
Even though God created their bodies holy, when sin entered into their
hearts, it brought shame. Even Adam and
Eve new at that point that they needed to cover up.
In sin, you will have the wrong idea/standard of what
modesty is.
Genesis 3:7
(b) and they
knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons.
It is shameful to be naked,
according to God’s standard (not man’s).
Because of shame, man covered
himself. But notice it said “they
sewed.” They used their own
judgment and they covered up based on what they thought would cover up their
shame. This is what men and women still do today, they “sew” and make
themselves their own dress standard. From the beginning you can see that man tried
to set what he thought modesty was, but after judgment was passed to the human
race, God set the standard of dress.
Genesis 3: 21
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the
LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Why did God do this? Two reasons:
1.
God is the one
who sets the standard for modesty; it is through the eyes of God that modesty
is viewed.
2.
It was a “type
and shadow,” that through a sacrifice, through the shedding of blood, we are
covered from sin and shame, God’s way.
This is why we dress in a
modest way, and we don’t follow the world’s standard of modesty. God sees it as “fig leaves,” and according to
God, Adam and Eve were still naked.
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
We will never know what the
perfect will of God is for our lives if we try to be like the world.
Dressing according to God’s
standard.
Men
and women are to dress different from each other.
Men and women are
different. I don’t have to convince you
of that, but look at how God even chose to make woman different from the way He
made man.
1.
Man = Genesis 7:2
And the LORD God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul.
2.
Woman = And the
LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the
flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made
He a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Matthew 19:4
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them
at the beginning made them male and female.
Jesus confirms what the
scriptures show us in the Old Testament, that men and women are different from
each other, and not only are they different from each other but God commands
that they not dress alike.
Deuteronomy 22:5
The woman shall
not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that
do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
The argument may be that
“yes, it says that but that was in the Old Testament.” However, God said it and men and women
practiced this through the ages until not too long ago when women began to wear
men’s clothing. Just look at history
books and look at old black and white photos and you’ll see that there was a
difference between men’s and women’s clothing.
It wasn’t until the 1940’s when, during the war, women began to enter
the work force to assist in the war effort, and pressure came from the
government that, for safety reasons, women had to wear slacks to work in
factories in positions that required using machinery.
After the war and through the
1950’s the majority of women still did dress different from men, and many workplaces
saw that it was indecent for a woman to wear slacks to work or school, but that
wouldn’t last long, for the following decades accepted it.
Remember that what the world
accepts as being okay, does not make it right in God’s eyes. Like Adam and Eve, the world makes this
judgment with sin in their heart. The
last part of the verse said “all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy
God.”
Through the Old and New
Testament, we can see that they even had different garments for different
offices, such as the priest, high priest, king, and queen, and for different
occasions, such as in mourning, battle, and weddings.
Both men and women wore (1)
an undergarment or tunic, which was bound by a girdle. One who had only this tunic on was spoken of
as "naked" (1 Sam. 19:24; Job 24:10; Isa
20:2). Those in high stations sometimes
wore two tunics, the outer being called the “upper garment” (1 Sam. 15:27; 1
Sam. 18:4; 1 Sam. 24:5; Job 1:20). (2)
They wore in common an over-garment ("mantle," Isa
3:22; Kg1 19:13; Kg2 2:13), a loose and flowing robe. The folds of this upper garment could be
formed into a lap (Ruth 3:15; Psa 79:12; Pro 17:23;
Luke 6:38). Generals of armies usually
wore scarlet robes (Jdg 8:26; Nah 2:3). A form of conspicuous raiment is mentioned in
Luke 20:46; compare Mat 23:5. Priests
alone wore trousers. Both men and women
wore turbans. Kings and nobles usually
had a store of costly garments for festive occasions (Isa
3:22; Zac 3:4) and for presents (Gen 45:22; Est 4:4; Est
6:8, Est 6:11; 1 Sam. 18:4; 2 Kings 5:5; 2 Kings
10:22). Prophets and ascetics wore
coarse garments (Isa 20:2; Zac
13:4; Mat 3:4).
You may ask, what’s the big
deal? It is a big deal. It means we are obedient.
1 Corinthians 6:20
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God
in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
God’s people are always
obedient to His Word.
According to God’s word, from
the knee up is considered nakedness; this is why we as children of God make
sure that our clothing covers our knees.
God gives the standard of the dress code for Aaron.
Exodus 28:42
And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness;
from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach.
Two things to consider:
1.
God did not want
Aaron’s nakedness to be seen, because as he did the priest’s work, it meant at
times being up on the altar of sacrifice, and from a lower angle their thighs
would be exposed. Because nakedness was
an abomination to God, he gave the commandment.
Note this was not because he was a priest, but because of the
possibility of nakedness.
2.
Nakedness to God
was exposing the loins (hip) to the thigh, which starts at the bottom of the
knees.
Look at God’s judgment upon
Isaiah 47:1-3
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin
daughter of
As you can see part of her judgment was nakedness,
which meant “shame.” That means nothing
in today’s dress standard! Shorts and
skirts which expose the knees are a common thing, even in the religious world.
Adorning
God created all things in Genesis 1:26-31. You will notice that He said “it was good”; but in Verse 31 look at
what He said:
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold,
it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the
sixth day.
That included man and woman,
but as you know they committed sin and became corrupt, and served other Gods. Sin will cultivate pride, which feeds the
flesh. God never wanted his people to
follow the ways of the pagans—that meant the way that they dressed and the food
that they ate, or to be merry with their people or serve their gods.
Deuteronomy 7
1When the LORD thy God shall bring thee
into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and
hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and
the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier
than thou;
2And when the LORD thy God shall deliver
them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly
destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor
shew mercy unto them:
3Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
4For
they will turn away thy son from following me, that
they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against
you, and destroy thee suddenly.
5But thus shall ye deal with them; ye
shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their
groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
6For
thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee
to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of
the earth.
Exodus 19:5
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice
indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all
the earth is mine:
When God set his people free from
35And the children of Israel did
according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of
silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
36And the
LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent
unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.
37And the
children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth,
about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
Without a doubt during all
the years they were in captivity, the Hebrews saw the vanity of the Egyptians
and their usage of rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and painting of the face.
In a group of six hundred thousand
Hebrews, I wonder how many really began to fall for that vanity. Perhaps they could not wear these things
while they were still in
Exodus 32
1And when
the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people
gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods,
which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out
of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of
him.
2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings,
which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and
bring them unto me.
3And all the people brake off the golden
earrings which were in
their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
4And he received them at their hand, and
fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they
said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt.
7And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get
thee down; for thy people,
which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
God never intended for His
people to put on these ornaments, but as I said earlier the condition of the
heart, sin, will leave you open to go against God’s will and not see anything
wrong with it. Even after this account many of them continued to practice the
usage of ornaments, and thought they could continue being God’s people.
Look at what happened in Chapter 33.
3Unto a land flowing with milk and
honey: for I will not go
up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked
people: lest I consume thee in the way.
4And when the people heard these evil
tidings, they mourned: and
no man did put on him his ornaments.
5For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say
unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked
people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee,
that I may know what to do unto thee.
6And the children of
7And Moses took the tabernacle, and
pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the
Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which
sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was
without the camp.
8And it came to pass, when Moses went
out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at
his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
9And it came to pass, as Moses entered
into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the
tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
You see, God and Moses wouldn’t even
deal with them looking like the world, like “pagans.”
Hosea was a prophet and with
a broken heart married a harlot, Gomer, which God
wanted Hosea to do so that he may show
Hosea 2:13
13And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her
earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
Ezekiel 23 read the whole chapter. It
speaks about two sisters that were prostitutes,
26They shall
also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
27Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease
from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the
You may say “Well, that was
the Old Testament; we are under a new dispensation.” Let’s look at the New Testament.
1 Peter
2:9
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvellous light;
It is wonderful how the Old
and New Testaments intertwine. Even in
the New Testament God commands us to be
separate from the world. And that
means us today.
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1 Peter
1:18
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
Peter writes to the women.
1 Peter 3:3
3Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning
of plaiting the hair, and
of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
4But
let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet
spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
5For after this manner in the old time the holy women also,
who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their
own husbands: (which is a
type and shadow of the church— God sees her beautiful and she adorns herself with
obedience to her husband, Christ).
1 Timothy 2:9
In like manner also, that
women adorn
themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with
broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
10But
(which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
Hair Coloring.
We
are being told through the media that it’s not cool to look old, that if you
are old you’re looked at differently, and you need to get a fresh new start, and
do all you can to stay young-looking. And
of course coloring your hair is a common thing to do. We see that, once again, man has his own ideas
of what’s okay; but God is clear in His word.
Proverbs
20:29
The glory of
young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head.
Sad
to say, many men and women (including so-called Christians in the religious
world) hide their gray, as if they are ashamed of who
they are in that period of time in their life which God has allowed them to
reach.
Long Hair.
1
Corinthians 11:14-15
Doth
not even nature itself teach
you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15But if a woman have long hair, it is
a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
16But if any
man seem to be contentious, we
have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
That means that it is so
clear we won’t argue concerning this matter.
Revelations 9:8
And
they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
If lions’ teeth are known by how
sharp and ferocious they naturally are, then John knew that all readers would
understand what “as the hair of women”
meant, that women’s hair was significantly different than man’s, and it was
natural for women to have long hair.
John 12:3
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of
spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with
her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of
the ointment.
Something not
possible with short hair.
Make-up, or Painting your Face.
The
only women that painted their face were Egyptians and pagans, which, again, God
commanded that His people not follow their ways.
Ezekiel
20:7
Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the
abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of
Deuteronomy
7:2(b)
thou shalt make no covenant
with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
The first woman to be recorded putting on make-up was
Jezebel, and she was a pagan and a evil woman.
She was the wife of Ahab, an evil man.
1Kings
16:30-33
31And it came to pass, as if it had been
a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal
king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and
worshipped him.
32And he
reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in
33And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did
more to provoke the LORD God of
1Kings
21:25
25But there was none like unto Ahab,
which did sell himself to
work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
2Kings
9:30-33
30And when Jehu
was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and
looked out at a window.
31And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?
32And he lifted up his face to the
window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
33And he said, Throw her down. So they threw
her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses:
and he trode her under foot.
You can see that the reason she wore makeup was to
look seductive, to attract, to lure this man of God, but he saw right through
all of her makeup and her jewels. Don’t
you know that when God created man and woman, it was the most beautiful thing
he created and he said that it was very good. That means just the way He made them. And no matter what anyone may try to say today
concerning modesty, adorning, length of hair, and makeup usage, it’s not what
we think or our opinion that counts, but rather what God says in his Word. PRAISE THE LORD for the Church of God,
because all who are saved and truly love the Lord submit themselves
to His word no matter if the fashion of the world continues to change, because
God does not.
Proverbs
31:10-31
10. Who can find a virtuous
woman? For her price is far above rubies.
30. Favor is deceitful, and
beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord,
she shall be praised.
1 Corinthians 11:16
But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.