Modesty –
Is God Really Interested in What We Wear?
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.
It has become normal in society today for ladies to walk around scantily clad in clothing or bikinis that barely cover anything and leave nothing to the imagination.
Men and women alike uncover and flaunt their bodies on social media in order to gratify their lust and desire to have their bodies admired.
They are seeking after the praises of men rather than seeking to please God.
Many today think that God does not care what we wear, and whether it’s modest or not. But from the start of creation, we can see evidence that God does care about our clothing.
When Adam and Eve were first placed in the Garden of Eden, there was no sin, no shame, and they did not have knowledge of good and evil.
They were sinless and pure, until the serpent deceived them into eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
After they ate the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened (in other words: they suddenly understood) what sin was.
They felt conviction (something they had never felt before) and realized for the first time that there is a shame in being naked. They had not felt or known any of this before because of their innocence, but now they felt the weight and condemnation that sin brings.
They began to sew fig leaves together to make aprons to cover their nakedness.
Fig leaves are approx. 4.7 – 9.8 inches long and 3.9 – 7.1 inches across and deeply lobed with three or five lobes.
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This apron was basically just a loin covering. (see Strong’s H2290)
They’re idea of covering their nakedness was not the same as God’s. I have to wonder if they knew that for when Adam and Eve heard God’s voice, they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord (Gen 3:8).
Once they confessed their sin to God, He did not just leave them to continue walking around in their fig leaf aprons. God began to make for them coats of skin to clothe them more adequately. (Gen 3:21)
The Hebrew word for coats is H3801 (kethoneth) meaning:
To cover – a shirt, coat, garment, robe
It was a long shirt-like garment, tunic
Notice God didn’t make another apron – He didn’t make them tank tops, shorts, swimsuits, or some other skimpy outfit. No, instead, God made them a COAT….a covering.
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If God didn’t care about what we wear, He would have let them continue to wear their skimpy fig leaves. But He does care and by making the coats of skin, God was teaching them a lesson in modesty.
He clothed them completely, thus revealing that from the beginning of time, God is interested in what we wear.
(You can read more later in Genesis chapters 2:7-25 + 3:1-24 for further study concerning this)
Isaiah 47:2-3 references the shame associated with immodesty:
…make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen…
It was a shame to make the leg bare and expose the thigh.
Open your Bible and read John 21:1-8
Vs 1 – After these things Jesus shewed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed He Himself.
Vs 2 – There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples.
Vs 3 – Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
Vs 4 – But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
Vs 5 – Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered Him, No.
Vs 6 – And He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now there were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Vs 7 – Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, he girt his Fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
Let’s read that last part of that verse again….
Vs 7 – ….Now when Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, he girt his Fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
I found this to be interesting…
After Jesus died and had resurrected, Peter went back to his old profession of fishing. The Lord wasn’t present (or so he thought) so it sounds like he stripped down so he could work more easily.
John records Peter as being naked.
This is an important point because Peter was not completely unclothed (according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary as well as other sources found on the internet).
He had on his lower garments so he could work without the incumbrance of the outer garment. In that time, that was considered the same as being naked.
Some may say, “That was back then. This is now.” True, but while Society’s view on what’s modest and what’s immodest, what’s considered nakedness versus what is not considered nakedness, God’s Word and how He sees things have not changed. It is God’s standards that we have to live and abide by.
But when Jesus…
When Peter heard that Jesus was present, all of a sudden he felt conviction over his immodesty and threw the outer layer of his clothes back around him.
Reminds me of the demoniac whom Jesus delivered. Luke 8:27 records that he wore no clothes UNTIL Jesus came on the scene. THEN he was found clothed (he was dressed, he was modest) and in his right mind. (Mk 5:1-15 + Luke 8:26-39)
The devil unclothes while we find Jesus clothes.
Going back to John 21…The last part verse 7 is even more interesting…
Peter was fully clothed and kept his clothes ON when he jumped in the water to swim to where Jesus was.
He didn’t strip back down to the bare minimum to swim. He jumped in the water clothes and all.
Peter realized the necessity for modesty in the presence of others when Jesus showed up.
Something to think about.
Paul admonishes us in his letter to Timothy in I 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.
People will define modesty differently but regardless of how people define modesty, we must look to God’s Word for guidance in all matters.
Times change – people change – but God will never change!
Is our heart set on pleasing Him? or self?
Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the
old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein.
People look at modesty, the way we live, and the way we dress as being outdated. They look at it as ‘the old paths’, outdated, and irrelevant for our day, but the old paths are the good way. God designed this way for a reason and directs us to walk therein.
Modesty is the guard of chastity (maintaining moral purity).
Many people have lost sense of what sin is, including sexual sins. Because of this, modesty means nothing to them. Sadly, this has slowly crept into the Church and is spreading.
Most people would agree that it is wrong for a man to physically overpower a woman. Yet, very few think of it as wrong for a woman to sexually overpower a man through immodest clothing.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 that if a man looks on a woman and lusts after her, he’s committed adultery in his heart.
Women, we need to understand men are visually stimulated, therefore, it is easier for a man to sin in his heart by looking at an immodestly clothed woman (Example: David with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11).
That is not making excuse for the men and putting all the pressure and requirements on the women. That is saying that we need to do our part to help prevent that.
Immodest apparel can indicate the presence of a lustful spirit – a desire to flaunt the body to attract the opposite sex by lust. “Showing off what you got” whether up high or down low is not of God! That is the world’s ways, not that of a Christian with Christ residing inside of them.
Modesty guards against immorality.
I’ve heard some complain that when modesty is taught, it’s always about do’s and don’ts for women. As a woman, I understand how it can appear that way. However, women do tend to struggle more in the area of modesty compared to men who struggle in this area.
God gives the command concerning holy and modest clothing for a woman’s protection.
We just discussed a few Biblical examples where modesty is for the men as well as the women. And as this study continues, we will continue to look at how God mandated modesty for the men, not just the women.
GENDER DISTINCTION IN CLOTHING:
Have you ever noticed the signs outside of the restroom?
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If a person cannot read or is from another country, how can they tell which restroom is for women and which one is for men?
By looking at the stick figure. And how can you tell the stick people apart? The men’s has a person wearing pants while the women’s has a person wearing a dress.
If there was not this distinction in clothing, one who cannot read or understand the language would have no way of differentiating which was which.
God gave men specific clothing which is different from women’s clothing.
It doesn’t matter what society says is okay or acceptable as clothing for each gender. But it does matter what God says concerning it.
Society is trying to blur the lines of distinction between the genders, but God designed for our clothing to be separate.
Deut. 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 definition of Abomination means: something that causes disgust or hatred.
Anything that is an abomination unto the Lord is forever an abomination to Him. He does not change His view concerning it.
Society today has come to accept women wearing pants, yet it is still shocked when it sees a man wearing a dress (although clothing designers are working diligently to change this).
Many see nothing wrong with a woman walking around town in pants, yet the town would be buzzing with gossip if they saw the preacher out mowing his grass in a dress.
Why? Because it still recognizes whether it wants to admit it or not that there are certain clothing that are distinctly for certain genders – and the lines are not to be crossed.
The voice of society is not the voice of God – and it never will be.
Cultural acceptance does not equate God’s acceptance of something.
God warns in Exodus 23:2 ….thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.
Don’t follow the crowd!
The devil is trying his hardest to blur the lines of distinction between men and women.
Men are trying to look and act like women.
Women are trying to look and act like men.
God created gender distinction in our hair and our clothing for a reason.
When men dress in clothing that resembles more along the lines of what women would wear, they begin to act more feminine like a woman.
When women dress more tomboyish, they begin to act more gruff and tough like a man.
Look where our society has digressed to today. It’s confusion and not of God!
ONE THING I’VE FOUND TO BE TRUE:
Condition of the heart affects your willingness to comply or not comply to the Word of God.
I’ve never seen a person become “free” from certain Biblical foundations when they are praying sincerely, fasting, reading the Word of God, and trying to draw closer to God.
On the contrary, people begin to question and fall away from these Biblical truths during times of spiritual lows and feeding the carnal man more than the spiritual man.
It goes back to being more wrapped up in things such as social media, tv, movies, computer, self, self pleasure without a real prayer life and without a God consciousness nor a real fear of God and His Word.
BIBLICAL AND HISTORICAL TRUTHS:
For thousands and thousands of years, the typical attire for women was long skirts or dresses. There were very few who would don a pair of pants to work in, and even then they were typically worn out of the public eye. A woman who was seen wearing pants was looked at as uncouth (lacking good manners), wild, unholy, and not Christian or lady like.
*The following can be found on and was Fact Checked by Encyclopedia Brittanica:
Around the mid to late 1800’s, some women began to look for alternative options because the traditional dress was heavy, bulky, and limited their ability to work or move easily. Others, began to wear pants around the turn of the century as a way of expressing “women’s rights.”
In 1851, a woman named Elizabeth Smith Miller designed a pants-like outfit for women which consisted of a skirt that extended below the knees with a loose ‘turkish’ trousers that gathered at the ankles. They became known as ‘bloomers’ which are named after her biggest supporter and advocate Amelia Jenks Bloomer. Despite the popularity, it also generated a lot of controversy which caused them to quickly fade after only a couple years.
This is where the trend of wearing leggings under the skirts has come from which over time has digressed to were many are wearing the leggings without a skirt over them. Their origin began as a way of trying to make it more acceptable for women to wear pants and still be modest until it has become the norm to wear them without a skirt or shirt covering them. The leggings today are not modest. They are skin tight, forming around every curve or bulge. And most leggings you see women, young and old, wearing are made of really thin material that you can see through in places, and that’s beyond the holes and tears that they put in them to make them ‘in style.’
Then the Roaring 20’s came in when women began to rebel and fight for ‘women’s rights’ even harder than before. During that era, women began to cut off their long hair (their glory) for short “bobs” that made them look more manly and what they considered smart.
They cast off modesty and began to wear short skimpy dresses called “flappers” that made bare the shoulders, arms, and legs with fringes on the bottom which would twirl and attract attention as they danced and swung around. (If you google what they are, look in their eyes and the expression on the faces. It is very evident they were dancing with the intent to entice and fulfill the lust of the eye and the pride of the flesh.)
They began to smoke, drink, and do all the things that men normally did but was considered brazen and unchristian for a lady to partake in.
Some also began to wear manly attire…there was little difference between them and the men. During this time, women began to wear more immodest swimwear, something that was unheard of for both women and men. Some women were being arrested for such indecent exposure, even in the 1940’s. Yet, they continued to push for the right to wear what they wanted.
Women began to don pants once again when the men had to go off to fight in WWII and the women had to take their place in the factories. After the war, some continued to wear pants for sports or leisure, but the majority of women went back to wearing skirts or dresses.
In the 1960’s and 70’s, pants on women once again resurfaced as rebellion spread across the country. This is when pants became firmly established as a norm and appropriate clothing option for women whether at home or in public. *
IS THIS JUST HISTORY? OR BIBLICAL?
Some would say this is just history – not necessarily Biblical mandate.
Some use the reasoning that men wore robes in Bible times just as women did.
Yes, they did but there was still a distinction between women’s robes and men’s robes. If there was not a difference, there would not have been a reason for God to condemn cross dressing, and Deuteronomy 22:5 would not have made sense at that time.
Men’s robes were created so they could pull them up between their legs and secure them in their belt to appear as pants so they could work more easily or fight without tripping over a robe when going out to battle.
This was referred to as “girding up the loins”
If you research this, some pictures will show the men exposing their knees and thighs. However, this would be inaccurate since God taught the men that exposing their thighs was the same as exposing their nakedness (Exodus 28:42 + Isaiah 47:2-3) so their thighs and knees would have been covered.
Only the men were told to and allowed to “gird up their loins”
Job 38:3
Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me.
Job 40:7
Gird up the loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Girding up the loins (putting on pants) was what the men did, not the women.
Read Exodus 28:40-43
(40) And for Aaron’s sons thou shalt make coats,
(these are the same coats that God made for Adam and Eve when they transgressed – Strong’s H3801)
and thou shalt make for them girdles (belts – see Strong’s H73)
and bonnets shalt thou make for them (caps – Strong’s H4021)
for glory and for beauty.
(41) And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
(42) And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach.
(The word ‘breeches’ can be defined as drawers/trousers)
(see Strong’s H4370)
(43) And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.
These breeches (britches/pants) were to cover the thighs so that their nakedness would not be uncovered….so that no one would be able to see up their robe and see their thigh as the ministers walked up the ramp to the altar to offer sacrifice before the Lord for the sins of the people. Those ‘breeches’ were made specifically for the males only, not the females. God made a distinction between the 2 genders, the way they look and the clothes they wear, for a reason.
Regardless of what society accepts or deems as ok, we need to seek to please God in everything because…..
He’s called us to be holy. (Lev 20:7 + 1 Pet 1:15-16)
He’s called us to be separate. (2 Cor 6:17)
He’s bought us with a price, therefore we are not our own and we are to glorify Him in not just our spirit but also in our bodies. (1 Cor 6:20)
If God labels something an abomination to Him, that is something we need to pay attention to and avoid.
LADIES: MODESTY IS MORE THAN JUST WEARING A SKIRT
According to Oxford dictionary: Modest means = appearance intended to avoid impropriety or indecency.
As we’ve studied, Scripture and Biblical examples reveal to us that both men and women need to dress modestly, so as to avoid indecency. And yet, women will wear a skirt or blouse that is too tight, too short, and/or too revealing.
I’m not saying this to be condemning nor am I finger pointing. Rather, I am teaching so as to make us more aware and conscious. I understand that sometimes we women gain weight and the clothes become a little more snug as we’re struggling with trying to lose the extra pounds or find something a little looser that looks nice and not shabby.
A skirt may be long enough when standing but do a mirror check to see what others may be seeing when you’re sitting….even if you are sitting at a table. You may not be able to see what’s exposed but others can. And if there is a male who is on the carnal side, he’s going to continue to look rather than look away.
Necklines – that one is very evident to us and to others what is being revealed. Avoid feeding the lust of the flesh. A woman who clothes herself in modesty is revealing her dignity. Ever notice that the greatest treasures and things that are of the most value are covered and hidden below the surface of the earth?
Modesty must not be defined by the world’s standards. The world boldly exclaims, “flaunt it girl!” Nor can modesty be defined by another Church’s definition of what’s modest or immodest because some are forsaking modesty and conforming to be like the world, teaching things contrary to the Bible. That’s a whole other subject about false teachers arising in these last days.
We need to go by what God’s Word admonishes and teaches concerning modesty and holiness.
GUARD AGAINST CRITICAL SPIRITS
Important admonition: As you grow in holiness, guard your heart against getting a critical spirit toward how someone may or may not be dressing. Each person is on a journey, growing and learning the ways of God. Growth takes time. Understanding takes time to obtain. Some do not understand and were never taught. They were told, but not taught. There’s a difference.
