Fig leaves or animal skins? Which is better? Is one more fashionable than the other? These are questions you might ask when reading through Genesis.
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”…And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.” Genesis 3:7-9 & 21
In the Garden after the fall, when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that they were instructed not to do, their eyes were opened to their sin and they were ashamed, so they hid and covered themselves with fig leaves. God then comes to them and replaces their fig leaves with animal skins.
Remember this sentence – God then comes to them and replaces their fig leaves with animal skins.
This part of the story may have gone unnoticed to you before, but it is quite significant. Why would God do this? Was He making a fashion statement or was there something much deeper He was communicating through this gesture?
For one thing, animal skins would be much more practical, so God, as their Protector and Provider, was helping them in this way even after they had sinned which is pretty important to note. Animal skins would provide more warmth and be much more durable and lasting than fig leaves. But still there is more to it, as there usually is with God. God’s gifts, actions, and words have layers and layers of goodness. By the time we begin to grasp the understanding of His goodness in one layer, there is abundantly more.
Let’s think about this for a moment. Animal sacrifice throughout the Old Testament always pointed to Jesus – our ultimate sacrifice. Animal sacrifice was but a temporary solution. It was a type and a shadow that pointed to The spotless Lamb – Jesus. Once Jesus died on the Cross, the need for animal sacrifices was no more. Jesus paid the ultimate price. Jesus willingly went to a Cross as a sinless man to die a sinners’ death in our place. Through His death, He paid for all of our sins – past, present, and future. Throughout the Old Testament, animal sacrifice was the symbol of Christ’s work on the Cross.
“And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.” Hebrews 10:10-12
In the garden, when we see God replacing the fig leaves Adam and Eve had used to cover themselves with animal skins, we see the first record of an animal slain to cover sin. Prior to eating of the tree, Adam and Eve didn’t know they were naked. They didn’t know they were vulnerable. When they ate of the tree, their eyes were opened to their nakedness and they tried to cover themselves.
Oftentimes we do the same thing. We try to make up for our own sins out of our own vulnerability. We try to cover ourselves with our own good works. We try to balance the scales. We work hard to try and do more good than bad so that our goodness will cover our badness. This is called self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is trying to earn, or believing that you can earn, righteousness through your own works, actions, and good deeds.
But we know that just one sin makes us unrighteous is the sight of a Holy God and once we have sinned that first time, we cannot undo it. Nor can we ever do enough good to make it disappear. There’s only one thing that makes sin disappear. The blood of Christ. We must believe in Him. We must believe in what He did on the Cross on our behalf. Only His blood shed for us pays for our sin and only believing in Him and what He did for us makes us righteous. Only He earned righteousness. We never can. So self-righteousness is an oxymoron. We are reminded in Romans 3:10 that “none is righteous, no, not one.” Therefore, the only way we have righteousness is by accepting it as a free gift. We accept it at the moment of salvation and every day after.
“whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” – James 2:10
Unfortunately, I was wrongly taught in church for many years that even though we receive righteousness as a free gift from Jesus for our salvation, once saved, we must earn our right standing with God daily to stay in His good Graces, to earn His blessings He wants to give us, and to earn coveted treasures in Heaven.
This, my friends, is simply false. We don’t earn any righteousness before salvation or after because righteousness cannot be earned. Anyone peddling that information is trying to manipulate you and God Our Father, Jesus Our Savior, and Holy Spirit Our Comforter, would never manipulate you. He is The Giver of all good things! He is generous. He gave and gives you righteousness as a free gift every day. You cannot earn it even if you wanted to. Only He did and He gives it to you freely. He is our Redeemer.
Now that we clarified the free gift of righteousness, let’s revisit those fig leaves.
Law of First Mention
Have you ever heard of The Law of First Mention?
The Law of First Mention basically means that it is important to note the first time something is mentioned in scripture as its meaning will be reflected in subsequent mentions throughout the Bible.
This is important because the first time we see the mention of the fig leaf is in Genesis when Adam and Eve use fig leaves to cover themselves. To cover their own sin. Remember – attempting to cover your own sin is self-righteousness. Fig Leaves then symbolize self-righteousness which we now know is no good. Our self-righteousness is filthy rags. Only Jesus’ righteousness earns our right standing with God – at salvation and every day after.
Now let’s look at a passage in Matthew when Jesus curses the fig tree.
“The Barren Fig Tree- In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.” – Matthew 21
Many pastors and teachers have used this scripture to manipulate congregations, but if we use the Law of First Mention, we can gain a better understanding of what Jesus was actually cursing. Jesus wasn’t cursing “followers who don’t bear fruit,” which is often wrongly taught. No. Jesus was cursing self-righteousness. He was cursing an idea. He was cursing an old system, an old belief. The belief that one can earn their own righteousness. He was cursing the “fruits” of self-righteousness. Jesus doesn’t curse people. Jesus saves people.
Jesus did this during Holy Week. He did this between Palm Sunday and the day He was crucified. This is notable because He was cursing the old to make way for the new. The Old Covenant was based on self-righteousness and trying to keep the Law, but the New Covenant is based on the sacrifice of One Man – Jesus and His works, not ours.
There you have it! The Gospel right there in the Garden of Eden. Remember this sentence from before? – God then comes to them and replaces their fig leaves with animal skins. God wasn’t making a fashion statement. No. God was replacing our self-righteousness with the righteousness of Christ. That’s the Gospel. That’s Good News. We can’t earn it. Only Jesus did and He has given the free gift of righteousness to us.
Dear Friends who have never accepted this before, it’s available to you right now or whenever you are ready to receive.
And to friends who have accepted this gift for your salvation, but have been trying to earn righteousness ever since for your daily approval from God, your blessings He has for you, or your treasures in Heaven, receive the Good News of the Gospel again today. Jesus cursed self-righteousness because there’s a better way- The Way. His name is Jesus.
Rest in His free gift of righteousness for you today…and every day.
On Your Journey Consider This –
The more you simply rest in Him, the less you will feel like you have to do good works by working to live for Him and you’ll actually start to live from Him. Living for God vs. Living from God – It’s the difference between striving and thriving…and you were made to thrive!
Journey to Grace Land 