God is holy. He demands holiness from those that desire fellowship with Him. God wants His children to be inwardly as well as outwardly holy. This means not only is our inward attitude, but also our outward dressing appearance is important to God.
Exodus 20:26 "Neither shall thou go up by steps into My altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered." God does not want our sensitive body parts to be exposed to the view of public eye. Exposing sensitive body parts to the public causes defilement among men and dishonours God. The Bible reveals that some adornment, designs and dressing styles do not belong to God's children but to the ungodly and sinners.
Proverbs 7:10-12 "And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)"2 Kings 9:30 "And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tied her head, and looked out at a window."
The Outward Appearance of a Holy Christian
1 Peter 1:14-16 "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."
Believers are bought with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. To expose the sensitive parts of our body to the public through rough and improper dressing is to defile the body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. To put on the attire that makes us look like harlots or rascals is to grieve the Holy Spirit and incur His wrath.
1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." When God instructed Jacob to go up to Bethel, the place he first met with God, he told his household to cleanse themselves from evil and to change their dressing.
READ ALSO:
Worldly Appearance Of Women And Her Punishment In Pit Of Hell.
Genesis 35:1-4 "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean and change your garments: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem."
Encounter with the holy God must produce not only inward visible change, but also outward visible change.
Encounter with the holy God by anyone, male or female, should lead to removal and destruction of ungodly clothes and change of dressing style to conform to His nature of holiness. Right from the Old Testament time God warned His people against make-ups and ungodly attire.
Deuteronomy 22:5 "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are an abomination unto the LORD thy God."
In our day there are women that wear trousers and put on shirts, looking like men in appearance. Some argue that the trousers are feminine in design. There is no excuse in that. True children of God know that such are attires of harlots. No child of God who knows the holiness of God and claims to be walking on the narrow way to heaven will put on such attires. All that do so are abomination to God and will never enter into heaven.
It is unfortunate that some preachers permit or encourage their members to put on these ungodly clothing. Some are silent about the ungodly outward appearance of their church members. They shall go with their members to hell. There is no respect of persons with God. Isaiah 56:10, 11 "His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter."
The Dressing and Comportment of Holy Women
The Scripture says the following concerning the outward appearance of holy women: 1 Timothy 2: 9, 10 "In 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; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works."
1 Peter 3:2-5 "While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3 Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But 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. 5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands."
The word "gold" in the passages above means jewelry, which is a collective word for earrings, rings, nose rings, chains, necklace, bracelets: items of ornamentation or bodily decoration. Holy women of old time did not adorn themselves with items of beauty and worldliness which were prevalent among the backsliders and ungodly society of their day. They clothed themselves with meekness, quiet spirit, and holiness, which is in the sight of God of great price. They were modest in outward appearance.
Worldliness to be Avoided in Christian Dressing
The Bible reveals the worldliness in adornment that characterized the Old Testament time, which has continued to today. The ungodly daughters of Zion borrowed these worldly adornments from the heathen nations around them. God had warned Israel not to learn the ways of the heathen.
Isaiah 3:16-20 "Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts,
18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 19 The chains and the bracelets and the mufflers, 20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, 21 The rings, and nose jewels, 22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins. 23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. 24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty."
The Holy Spirit listed these items to make the men and women of God know and avoid them. To adorn yourself with these things makes you unholy before God. Today there are children of God, even men and women of God, who use earrings, nose jewels, chains, necklace, rings. These things hinder them from being truly holy in the sight of God. Humble yourself and remove them and do not risk your eternal soul by vain arguments. There is no correction of your ways after death.
Psalm 50:21, 22 "These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes, 22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver."
Cleanse yourself and keep yourself from all forms of worldliness and worldly adornment, such as, palming or jerry curling of the hair, use of hair attachment, mini-skirts, split-skirts, armpit-exposing blouses; keeping long nails, painting of face, lips, nails; wearing of wigs; and whatever Satan introduces into the world to defile the holiness of God's children. 1 Corinthians 7:1 "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
We are living in the New Testament era and God has given to us the full revelation of His word and will. We should not consider the case of any Old Testament character as an excuse to obeying the full word of God. Never take shelter under the teaching or outward appearance of any man or woman of God which does not conform to the standard of God's word. They shall not stand for you, but for themselves before God in that day. As the men are not to put on women clothing so also they are not to do their hair like women. If a man adopts the hairdo of women he is an abomination unto the Lord. The believer's haircut must not be according to the fashion of the world. The woman also must not have haircut like man. The Bible says it is a shame to the woman to be shorn.
Headcovering
1 Corinthians 11:3-16 "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God; Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.Judge in yourselves: is it comely that the woman pray unto God uncovered Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering."
Christ is the Head of the man and man is the image and glory of God. The man is the head of the woman and the woman is his glory. During worship: prayer, prophesying or preaching, the man should not cover his head. During this formal period Christ is the One in headship and God's glory is to be seen. If a man covers his head at this period it shows he has covered the headship of Christ and the glory of God. During this formal period, man is not in focus, he is not in headship and the glory is not his but God's, hence his headship and glory are to be covered.
This is visibly done by the veil on the woman's head. Angels who minister to the saints during worship expect submission to this rule by Christ's followers. Outside this formal period, the wearing of any kind of veil by man is not an offence as long as it befits a believer and does not transgress the law of decency.
Similarly, outside this formal period, the woman is not under obligation to be veiled. This is because her long hair "Is a glory to her for her hair is giving her for a covering." Covering her head with a veil is only required during worship, after which she is at liberty to leave her head uncovered by a veil. Her hair could be seen on her to her glory in her normal living.
Her hairdo must be decent and befitting to a believer. She must avoid hairdo that changes her hair from the natural to unnatural. That will be lying against the truth and grieving the Holy Spirit. She must not plate gold or items of beauty and fashion into her hair. She should avoid the use of jewelry and the art of dressing for show. 1 Peter 3:5 "For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves."
