AT first sight this may seem too trivial a question for the pages of Edification, but if we consider a little we shall find there is more in it than appears on the surface. The Scriptures have many refences to clothing.
When our first parents sinned and forfeited their garment of light, they endeavored to make a covering for themselves, and God, taking pity on their ruined state, made for them coats of skins, and clothed them. We shall remember Joseph’s coat of many colors, and the garments of glory and beauty which God appointed for His priests; also the little coat, brought by the pious Hannah when she paid her yearly visit to the son whom she had lent to the Lord.
In Psalms 45:8,13, 148All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. (Psalm 45:8)
13The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. 14She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. (Psalm 45:13‑14) we read of bridal garments, fragrant with myrrh, and aloes and cassia, of clothing of wrought gold and raiment of needlework. In Job 29:14,14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. (Job 29:14) we have a garment of righteousness; in Psalms 104:2,2Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: (Psalm 104:2) “Thou coverest Thyself with light as with a garment”; and in Isaiah 61:3,3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. (Isaiah 61:3) the garment of praise. The Holy Spirit has recorded for us what were the garments the Lord wore when here on earth, and has described the vesture that shall clothe Him when He comes as the conqueror on the white horse in Revelation 19:13-1613And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:13‑16). Again, bridal garments are mentioned in Revelation 19:88And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (Revelation 19:8) — fine linen, clean and white — the righteousnesses of saints.
These are only a few of very many scriptures on the subject, but they are sufficient to skew how important it is.
It is generally accepted that clothing has a typical significance, it implies condition, or character; the clothing a person wears gives an indication of the mind within.
The clothing of Adam and Eve, “coats of skins” (Gen. 3:2121Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)), witnessed that the blood of a victim — a substitute — had been shed. God Himself had provided the means by which—their sin could be covered and by which they might be found before Him, suitable to His presence.
Joseph’s “coat of many colors” (Gen. 37:33Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. (Genesis 37:3)) is thought to have been the sign of his father’s faith in his son’s high destiny; it was the robe of a king’s son, because Jacob treated him as his heir, and he was a striking type of “the Shepherd and Stone of Israel” to whom royal robes pre-eminently belonged.
Again, the robes of the high priest (Ex. 28) were evidently symbolical of the characteristics of one who should draw near to God. The Holy Spirit seems to delight to delineate every detail of these garments. The coat of fine linen, speaking of spotless holiness; the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen with cunning work telling us of kingly glories; the robe of the ephod all of blue, the heavenly color, showing that the wearer should be here in the beauty of a heavenly man; the bells and pomegranates — golden bells of holy witness, golden pomegranates of holy fruit; the fair mitre with the golden crown engraved “Holiness to the Lord,” all unfolding to us God’s thoughts of what His priest should be, and unveiling beforehand a little of the glory of the Great High Priest to come. The priests, the sons of Aaron were appointed white robes, teaching them that only holy men might worship and serve God.
Bearing this in mind, and remembering the exhortations of the New Testament, “Modest apparel with shamefacedness [modesty] and sobriety; not with broiled hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but... with good works,” (1 Tim. 2:99In 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; (1 Timothy 2:9)) and “Not outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but the hidden man of the heart... a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price” (1 Peter 3:3, 43Whose 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. (1 Peter 3:3‑4)), is it not evident that the clothing of the children of God in this world is an important matter?
It should also be noted that the woman who prays or prophesies is to be covered, “Her hair is given her for a covering” —or veil (1 Cor. 11:1515But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. (1 Corinthians 11:15)).
So I venture to press this upon your earnest consideration. Is the dress of today really an indication of the mind within? Do we, as saints, wish to be like those who with a godless mind clothe themselves in a way that the word of God forbids? It is not that the outworn mode of yesterday is any more Christian than the fashion of today, nor that the particularly immodest mode of today is more than a passing phase, but what one pleads for is, that always, whatever may be the vogue of the moment, the Christian mind within may choose the clothing that shall be in accord with the mind of the Lord. It is written that “the Spirit of the Lord clothed Himself with Gideon” (Judg. 6:34,34But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. (Judges 6:34) margin). Can it be thought that He could do so today with a man or woman whose outward appearance was entirely conformed to this world?
There is no need to multiply words; but dear young Christians, will you take this to heart seriously and prayerfully? The gracious Lord Himself will teach you how you may please Him. How well He knew our hearts when He put “wherewithal shall we be clothed” among the subjects of anxious care.
He said, “Consider the lilies” (Luke 12:2727Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Luke 12:27)), and this at once does away with the idea which has been put forth, that sad colors and unlovely forms commend themselves to Him. Nay rather, all that is fair and beautiful is alone suited to Him. The flowers that deck our gardens, the tiny things, each in its season, in the hedge-rows, the golden glory of the gorse by the wayside, and the little creatures of fur and feathers at our feet are all vocal with the praise of Him, who hath made everything beautiful in his time” (Eccl. 3:1111He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)). May our praise ascend to Him, and our prayer be “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” (Psa. 90:1717And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. (Psalm 90:17)).
L. R.