This chapter continues the account of Saul’s unrighteous jealousy toward David, and his escalating attempts to kill David, yet the events are far different than before.
“And it was told Saul, ‘Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.’ Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. Then he himself went to Ramah… And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied… And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’ ” (v19-24 abr)
You may recall that something very similar happened to Saul once before in ch10:10-11. It seems that God wants to work through Saul, yet he continues to be resistant. That may be why this second time that Saul prophesies, he is led to strip off all of his clothes. One might wonder why God would make him do that, so let’s look at the cultural and biblical meanings behind it.
Here are a few aspects of what clothing represents:
– Identity: you can tell someone’s style/personality, or even their occupation
– Dignity: the nicer / cleaner the clothes, the more dignified the person appears
– Authority: those with authority often show their rank / status
– Prosperity: the more affluent the clothes, the more affluent the individual appears
– Protection: they shield us, and hide our physical/spiritual shame
By stripping off Saul’s garments, God is essentially humiliating Saul, taking away all of his affluence, identity, dignity, authority, and defense. Nakedness is humbling, and makes someone very vulnerable. Not only has someone’s facade been removed, all of their protection and physical defenses have also been removed, making them completely vulnerable, seen for who they really are.
For a moment let’s go back to the origin of clothing: “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed… So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food… she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” (Gen 2:25, 3:6-7 abr)
It wasn’t until sin entered the world that Adam and Eve knew they were naked, and they became ashamed. Literal and metaphoric nakedness represent vulnerability – as if you are open to the entire world’s scrutiny, not only physically, but spiritually / emotionally as well. If you’re not keen on being physically naked before a crowd, what if every dark thought and sin you committed was on display for all to see as well? For most of us, I’m sure that’s an extremely unsettling thought.
Thankfully (very thankfully) God has provided a solution for both the literal and metaphorical nakedness – physical and spiritual clothing. “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” (Gen 3:21) “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,” (Isa 61:10a)
I know the Bible doesn’t say what kind of animal(s) God killed to make the clothes of skin for Adam and Eve, but I like to think He killed some lambs. I don’t have anything against lambs, I just think it would be the perfect metaphor and foreshadowing of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who cleansed the sin of the world and clothes us in His righteousness.
We could traverse many more pages on this topic, however, for now I will simply encourage us to embrace God’s solutions for our nakedness and shame, and praise Him for the wonderful gift of ‘clean clothes’ (“They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” [Rev 7:14c]).
Father God, our Glorious Lord and King, holy, holy, holy is Your name. Jesus we praise You for Your gift of salvation, and for shedding Your blood on the cross. Your blood and righteousness have cleansed and restored our filthy rags into glorious robes. You have dressed us in fine, white linens and given us dignity, identity, prosperity, authority and protection. All honor, glory and praise be to You, forever and ever, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training