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Revelation 16
15 "Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he doesn't walk naked, and they see his shame."
16 He gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, Megiddo.
and keeps his clothes
Clothes prophetically have to do with character rather than physical covering. Throughout history people are often identified by the clothes they wear, the uniform they put on that indicates what group they identify with or belong to. Clothes can also denote relationships, disposition and often reflect the condition of the heart.
It is important to keep in mind the history of clothes as it relates to nakedness. Again, nakedness as it relates to our emotional and spiritual condition is not really about how much physical clothing we have on but rather involves our internal perceptions about our relation to others and to God, particularly our perception of worth and value. As humans we were created to live naked and unashamed. That feels foreign to most because shame is so universal, yet few consciously realize how much shame they really feel deep inside.
They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25)
The man said, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" (Genesis 3:10-11)
These verses provide the critical key for us to appreciate Scripture in relation to nakedness and clothing. If we imagine that nakedness is a problem caused by sin, we remain deceived regarding the core issue of sin. Adam came to presume that nakedness was his problem. He felt afraid of God’s presence, forgetting he was created naked and had never experienced shame previously.
God gave Adam opportunity to perceive the true problem, asking him a direct question about how he had come to this condition. Yet the lies caused him so much shame and fear he refused to confess. Thus he missed the greatest opportunity in history that could have reversed the curse of sin before it went further. Stonewalling leads to disastrous results, yet God respected Adam’s choice to cling to lies that alienated their relationship. Yet this new condition of pervasive shame would contaminate the rest of human history. So God provided clothing to cover their nakedness because they no longer were willing to live transparently and vulnerably like they were designed to live.
Yahweh God made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
Clothing was not part of God’s creation design but rather an accommodation to provide a temporary sense of security until the real cause of the shame was fully resolved. This is crucial for understanding how Jesus differentiates between the issue of nakedness and the problem of shame. In His counsel to the last assembly called Laodicea in chapter 3, Jesus again addresses the problem that originated with the fall that spoiled God’s design for intimacy.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. (Revelation 3:18)
Note how Jesus does not identify nakedness as the problem but rather the shame we associate with nakedness. Because we live in a world that exploits nakedness and vulnerability, we must have clothing, both spiritual and physical, until all things are fully restored. But what kind of clothes?
It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Revelation 19:8)
Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (Revelation 3:4-5)
One of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?" I told him, "My lord, you know." He said to me, "These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb's blood. (Revelation 7:13-14)
All of these references to white garments are not about the color of literal clothing we wear. These are symbols of things far more important than what kind or color of physical clothes we have. This is about the condition of our mental and spiritual state internally that directly affects how we view God and His disposition towards us. These garments are portrayed as being white because white represents complete light, whole light, and light always originates from God.
This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)
to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified. (Isaiah 61:3)
I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)
He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. Yahweh said to Satan, "Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn't this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?"
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel. He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, "Take the filthy garments off of him." To him he said, "Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing."
I said, "Let them set a clean turban on his head." So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and the angel of Yahweh was standing by.
The angel of Yahweh protested to Joshua, saying, "Thus says Yahweh of Armies: 'If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my charge, then you also shall judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by. (Zechariah 3:1-7)
When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out things that are in his house. Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes. (Matthew 24:15-18)
But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate; for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.' They began to celebrate. (Luke 15:22-24)
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)
For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27)
The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let's therefore throw off the works of darkness, and let's put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts. (Romans 13:12-14)
But you did not learn Christ that way; if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. (Ephesians 4:20-24)
Don't lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, (Colossians 3:9-10)
Put on therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. (Colossians 3:12-14)
But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. (Jude 1:20-21)
What does it mean to keep our clothes? The word keep here parallels the word watch. It means to guard, to keep an eye on, to hold fast. Keeping our clothes refers to the clothing given us of God, not our old filthy garments. Clothes represent identity and character. Character is formed through choices, and our choices are directed through what we imagine about our identity. In turn, our sense of identity is formed around what we believe God is like, where we arrive at the very root of the sin problem in all humanity, how it got infused into our psyche – our first parent’s choice to distrust God’s heart and believe a false messiah who led them toward ruin.
The clothes we need to hold fast to, to not lose sight of like our first parents did, is our true identity as God’s loved children. This is what the gospel is all about, how our true identity is not rooted in our actions or doctrinal systems or history or our feelings. Our true identity is re-anchored by the Father of the new human race, the second Adam who takes full responsibility from the first Adam and earned the right to re-identify every human being as belonging to Him and is assigned as His inheritance. Every human being has been justified in Christ. What is left is for us to embrace the benefits and privileges of adoption into the family of God and to embrace this identity by faith, choosing to believe who we are based on the Word of God alone separate from any works of our own.
The reason there is a need to keep our clothes with us so we don’t walk around vulnerable to believing any shame messages about us. We hold to our freedom and resist doubting this amazing truth. No one can change what Jesus did to redeem every one of us to adopt us into His family. Yet we remain free to continue believing The Lie inherited from the first Adam. We can spurn the gift of our new identity in Christ as beloved children of our heavenly Father. In other words we can throw away our new clothes or exploit and ruin them, turning them back into old clothes that feel more familiar. But if we do this we cannot escape the tragic consequences that will inevitably follow.
Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.' Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn't have on wedding clothing, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?' He was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.' (Matthew 22:9-13)
This parallels the other story where the servant was apportioned with the hypocrites.
Summary of these passages in connection to keeping our clothes so others won’t see shame in us.
Adam and Eve began naked, like all of us do. Only they had no shame until after they sinned. Nakedness represents vulnerability, an essential element of heaven’s design for love.
The real first clothes for humans were made by Yahweh from skins in order to address the new problem of shame caused by humans believing lies about themselves and God.
Jesus counsels us to buy white garment clothing from Him to resolve our problem of shame.
The bride of Christ arrays herself in bright, fine, white linen representing righteous acts.
One who does not defile their garments but overcomes will walk with Jesus in white.
Those with white robes make them white by washing them in the Lamb’s blood.
God offers to exchange our spirit of heaviness for a garment of praise.
God has clothed us with garments of salvation, a robe of righteousness.
When our filthy garments are removed, our iniquity passes from us and we wear rich clothing.
If we don’t wear our provided wedding clothes when we attend the feast like everyone else there, the bouncers will haul us off to the outer darkness.
Jesus warns us to not go home to get our own clothes when it is time to flee in the crisis.
If we come back home to God, He puts the best robe on us in preparation for a big celebration.
Paul admonishes us to throw off works of darkness and put on robes of light, put on Jesus.
Put on God’s whole armor outfit to prepare to stand against the devil.
As baptized children of God we have put on Christ.
Put away our former old man way of life that grows corrupt; be renewed in the spirit of our mind and put on our new identity that is in the likeness of God, created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
Put off the old man; put on the new man renewed in knowledge of the image of our Creator.
Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance.
What does it mean to keep our clothes? Keep ourselves in the love of God
One cannot keep something that don’t already have. Based on all these explanations as to the real meaning of clothes according to God, we are to hang on to our true identity, not shrink back in shame.
so that he doesn't walk naked
Because you say, 'I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;' and don't know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. (Revelation 3:17-18)
The eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:7-8)
Was their nakedness a problem hidden from them previously?
Is this eye-opening experience an advanced revelation toward deeper truths?
What kind of eyes were opened?
The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23)
The man said, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" (Genesis 3:10-11)
This is the history of how and when our true identity, our original clothing of light was exchanged for wretched clothing of shame. What feels initially like light and freedom is seductive and sinister. This happens when we choose to believe the father of lies who comes to steal, kill and destroy our freedom, happiness and intimacy with our loving heavenly Parents. Stripped of peace and awareness of God’s faithful love for us, we remain trapped in the darkness of delusion, imagining all sorts of terrifying scenarios and presumptions about God’s thoughts and intent towards us. The naked vulnerability we were created to thrive in suddenly is perceived as our greatest liability, a threat of shame rather than our greatest opportunity to experience joy.
Because you didn't serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; therefore shall you serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he have destroyed you. (Deuteronomy 28:47-48)
This yoke that is impossible to escape is a matrix of lies that traps us in the prison of our own tortured conscience. It originates from the father of lies intent on defacing us because we are created in the image of God whom he hates fiercely. So long as we resist serving God in the spirit of the New Song, with joyfulness and gladness, we will feel conscripted to serve the enemy in selfish indulgence.
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26-27)
To sin willfully means to allow the old patterns of feelings about our worth and identity to regain control in our life, allowing our fears to dominate our thinking about God’s disposition towards us. This is what happens when we don’t keep our wedding clothes with us. We are out of sync with everyone enjoying the celebration. When we allow our old identity to assert control over our thinking and to hijack our heart after we have come to experience the healing truth of God’s love, and we have come to know our true identity in Christ, the only option left is to feel tormented far worse by lies that compel us to live in constant terror of the angry god we imagine is hell-bent on punishing all who offend him and who is compelled by law and his anger to devour his enemies.
When we cling to old lies about how God feels about us, and we choose to turn from the truth about Him and ourselves to find pleasure in other lovers, we follow the footsteps of people chosen by God in the past whose filthy lewdness surpassed even the wickedness of unbelievers. They refused to keep on their clothes gifted them by their loving Husband, the One who had rescued them, and chose instead to exploit His gifts as means to seduce others to gratify their prostitution. This reflects the condition of the intense emptiness of their heart resulting from spurning the one true Source of love.
Ezekiel 16 is an amazing account of how people may choose to exploit God’s gifts and favor to them, refusing to be thankful and instead seeking gratification from other sources. The entire chapter is a compelling testimony that is highly instructive. Here is a somewhat condensed version to help us appreciate what Jesus wants us to avoid doing and to learn from their evil choices.
Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Yahweh, and you became mine.
Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.
Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you, says the Lord Yahweh.
But you did trust in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was. You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. (Ezekiel 16:8-16)
Keeping our clothes with us means not exploiting the gifts and privileges given us by God, choosing to stay in loyal and appreciative relationship to the Source of all our gifts. As tragic as this account is, we can learn from it what not to do and accept it as a wakeup call.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them; therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. (Ezekiel 16:36-37)
So she uncovered her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister. (Ezekiel 23:18)
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated; and they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution. (Ezekiel 23:28-29)
Notice how God links soul relationship with prostitution. When we seek intimacy in other sources than with the One who designed us to know Him fully, it causes distance between us, not from His offense but out of respect for us spurning His love and replacing Him with toxic relationships.
A certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around himself, over his naked body. The young men grabbed him, but he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. (Mark 14:51-52)
For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. For most certainly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven; if so be that being clothed we will not be found naked. (2 Corinthians 5:1-3)
What clues have we picked up from these verses relating to nakedness?
clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed
they knew that they were naked... The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh
I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."
God said, "Who told you that you were naked?
Because you didn't serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness,
therefore shall you serve your enemies...in nakedness, and in want of all things
your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness
entered into a covenant with you, and you became mine
I clothed you...your beauty was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you
You took of your garments and played the prostitute
your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers
I will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness
she uncovered her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her
They shall leave you naked and bare
he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked
we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven
that being clothed we will not be found naked
they see his shame
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. (Revelation 3:18)
Note that Jesus is not saying the nakedness is our problem, but rather the shame. Shame is the real enemy, for God’s original design for us included complete nakedness while being completely free of any shame. Shame is what Jesus despised on the cross, not nakedness. The clothing of heaven addresses the shame problem rather than merely the nakedness.
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn't see their father's nakedness. (Genesis 9:22-23)
As an aside, it is very possible that what really happened in this story was quite different from how it is recorded. Consider this explanation in light of what may have transpired with Ham.
The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20:11)
If Ham actually went in and had sex with his mother while his father was drunk, then instead of this being about his father being naked, his curse makes far more sense if Noah addressing the offspring of this act which would have been Canaan, for he may well have been the outgrowth from incest.
Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. He said, "Canaan is cursed. He will be servant of servants to his brothers." (Genesis 9:24-25)
A few more incidental passages relating to shame and nakedness, some similar and others more nebulous but available for however the Spirit may use them to provide more insight.
Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of a perverse rebellious woman, don't I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? (1 Samuel 20:30)
Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man. (Isaiah 47:1-3)
"Behold, I am against you," says Yahweh of Armies, "and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. (Nahum 3:5)
Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies! You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh's right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. (Habakkuk 2:15-16)
Ham saw the nakedness of his father
Their faces were backwards, and they didn't see their father's nakedness
who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness
If Canaan was the offspring of incest with Noah’s wife, the shame would follow him.
Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink until they are drunk, you may gaze at their naked bodies! You are filled with shame
You will also drink, and be exposed and disgrace will cover your glory
Reflection
What kind of clothes do we need?
What kind of problem does is new clothing designed to resolve?
Can shame be eliminated and we still be free to be transparent, naked, vulnerable?
Why does the idea of restoration to nakedness greatly agitate so many people?
Is God willing to get naked?
Does God’s clothing eliminate nakedness, or does it enable it?
When is nakedness a problem?
