Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.“
Genesis 2:25

Shame did not exist. It was not a principle, a feeling, or any kind of anything. There was no impropriety. No guilt. Nothing disappointing. Nothing unsatisfactory. No lust. No bad behaviour. There was total respect and total honour. They knew they were naked. They were not bothered by it. They were capable of physical pleasure and physical passion, but it didn’t rule their lives. It was an EQUAL partnership and an EQUAL relationship and it was GOOD.

Men of God have said over the years that they were – prior to the Fall – clothed in the Glory of God. I can agree with that. They were certainly protected from the elements, if the elements were even a danger in the perfection of creation. They were naked, they knew they were naked, and it wasn’t a problem for them. Regardless of whether the Glory of God was present around them as a kind of robe of righteousness, the scripture is clear: they were naked and aware of it. In order to truly appreciate all that they were and all that they were made to be, they HAD to be aware of the curvy bits and how they perfectly meshed together. They could experience everything that was good, which meant physical pleasure. And part of multiplying included procreation. As we know, not every joining results in pregnancy. Also, they were perfect and had no intellectual concept of flaws. I cannot imagine that they didn’t take things for a test toast – which you cannot do if you don’t know you have bits and that your bits match theirs.

The sage Sforno writes: ‘They used their limbs solely for the service of their Maker, not the pursuit of base pleasures. Therefore they considered marital relations no different than eating and drinking and their reproductive organs no different than their mouth or hands.’ The sage Or HaChaim agrees, writing: ‘prior to the sin the body was not subject to this אש זרה, the burning passion of sexual arousal. Another meaning is based on the use of the future tense by the Torah. We would have expected ולא נתביישו, “they were not ashamed,” instead of “they will not be ashamed.” The Torah teaches us then that notwithstanding the fact that Adam and Eve were both nude they had no reason to become ashamed as a result.’

Before the Fall there was no evil inclination. No ability to become sexually inflamed with lust (which has nothing to do with passion or love). There was no way to look at yourself or someone else and see anything but perfection. It wasn’t that they didn’t have modest conduct, it was that they didn’t NEED it because there was nothing negative attached to their sexual organs, their sexual pleasure, or their nakedness. They were at total ease with themselves, with each other, and with their nakedness. This is how it is meant to be. This is how it can be between spouses (a male and a female in covenant with God) who are united and resting in Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21). This equality without shame was the design for us, because it is possible, right, and good with two halves of one whole (Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19:5).