"Modesty?????? What in the world is that???!" (part I)

(Part I)

 

There is much controversy with the question “was there any form of standard in Bible times: sexual distinction, modesty etc…

Many will argue that men and women in Biblical Times wore much of the same attire and very similar styles. True to a point, there was still a distinction that was given to men and women. I can’t not believe that God would saying in His word that we are to have a sex distinction and not follow through with His own words, that would indeed make God a liar, would it not??? (ask yourself).

In the research I have done for my own personal education I have come to discover that there is a matter of fact a distinction. In Bible Times men and women both wore robes. Men and women both had a similar under garment they put one then layered it with other clothing materials such as: a clock, tunic, belt, head covering, an apron, jewel, a sword etc…IF you look up pictures of Bible Time attire you will see that there is a difference in the manner in which men and women wore their attire. Men to make their attire more manly wore clocks, tunics, wider built (even leather), their head attire was different from a woman’s head covering etc... A man might wear a sword or have a staff he carried. At times he’d wear a signet ring for business closures. Women wore a basic robe with some form of apron, their belts were at times breaded, and their head coverings were different than men’s. The women would at times take time to embroider their attire to add a more feminine look to their dress. Women would also wear jewelry or materials with breaded gold into it.

So NOW the question is, Does fashion change, absolutely it does! Were the children of Israel wearing the same attire as Adam and Eve first worn in the garden, good heavens no! As time went by did attire change? The answer is yes, it did and does, part of improving clothing and materials etc…WITH OUT compromise.

Every time the children of Israel fell into sin/bondage where was it that they compromised? First they replaced God with idols, then they compromised in their clothing because they became as the pagans (Deut 22:5 fully states this fact) were, and they compromised in committing fornication etc…(sexual sins). Every time the children of Israel began compromising the standard that God had set for His people God would allow them to go into bondage. And all throughout Israel’s history this is seen…

So there is a higher standard in lifestyle that we are called to as Christian who are drafted into the branch, the family line, the inheritance of Jesus Christ. We are His people as well. The Bible tells, “IF you love me you will keep my commandments?” –John 14:15 –

 

Well, wearing a dress is so old fashion anymore, you might say. It’s out of style, fashions have changed, no body wears them anymore etc…etc…Since when did we as a Christian individual let alone a church allow a worldly society (or pagan nation) to influence how we serve and live for the Lord??? Is that not what Israel did. They would compromise a little here and a little there and before you know it they were in bondage for 400 years and on and off throughout the Bible. It is recorded, it is fact, it is God’s Word that shows this evidence…

Allow me to ask you a simple question…When you are out and about (traveling, shopping, working etc…) and you need to use the restroom what sign do you look for???  You look for the BIG letters that say RESTROOM THIS WAY and you follow the arrows and so on. When you get to the restrooms what are the signs on the doors? One is a picture of a stick figure man to show you this is the men’s restroom (so men only, right?). And then the other has a nice little stick figure of a girl wearing a dress! Wearing a what????????!!!!???? A DRESS Now why isn’t she wearing a pair of pants????? Because IF the girl was in a pair of slacks she’d look just like the figure on the man’s restroom door and then gender distinction would not be there. NOW, IF they took those pictures and put pants on both figures the artist would have to become far more detailed on the woman in the slacks to still show that she is a GIRL to still show that gender difference so that people go into the right restroom.

When a women wears a pair of pants she has to become more detailed in her looks. Why because she is TRYING to make a statement that my gender is female, I am a girl. Those details have caused women to become more immodest to show off their body parts to show that yes they are very much women. Make up is applied to the face, jewelry is lavished on, and clothing becomes much tighter to volumize what makes a woman a woman. Now immodesty is in place and sexuality is rampant as a result of the immodesty (one of the major reasons I should say).  BUT, IF a woman put on a skirt, guess what, there is an INSTANT identity noticed, she is a young lady (nothing needs to be volumized, nothing needs to be added, so simple…).

You see my point here????

 

The Bible tells us to cloth ourselves in modesty and in shamefacedness, sobriety, becoming that which is godly (I Tim 2:9, 10). We are the temples of the Holy Spirit…What was it that went second when Israel looked to the pagan nations, their attire, why because they replaced God with what these other nations were saying, what they had to offer, the supposed “freedoms” and it cost Israel a relationship with God that constantly had to be mended over and over again. For God to take a nation back as many times as He did with Israel is a merciful God indeed. BUT look at the Christian society today, we are allowing the pagans (the world) to dictate our belief for us and how we live for Christ according to their view points when they don’t even have any form of relationship with God!!!!  YET, we allow ourselves to be swept into this “hog wash” (so to speak) and forget what God’s standard is for us as did the nation of Israel  and as a result the church is no longer as effective as it once was. The young people in our church have no idea what standards and holiness, purity is all about anymore.

 Because we think we are “old school” according to a “pagan nation”… We have allowed society to dictate the word of God instead of allowing the Word of God to dictate society…

 Let me show you a little history, something that is not Bible but simply history that shows FACTS that we are not what we use to be as a nation, as Christians.

Trousers or pants have been largely worn by men and not by women until the early 20th century.

During World War I, women wore their husbands'trousers while they took on jobs previously assigned to men, and increasingly wore trousers as leisurewear in the 1920s and 30s. And for a period in the 1970s, trousers became quite fashionable for women. In the United States, this may be due to the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which ruled that dresses could not be required of girls. Dress codes changed in public schools across the United States.

In the early 20th century aviatrices and other working women often wore trousers. Actresses Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn were often photographed in trousers from the 1930s. During World War II, women working in industrial work in war service wore trousers, and in the post-war era trousers were still common casual wear for gardening, socialising, and other leisure pursuits.

In Britain during the Second World War, because of the rationing of clothing, many women took to wearing their husbands' civilian clothes to work while their husbands were away in the armed forces. This was partly because they were seen as work garments, and partly to allow women to keep their clothing allowance for other uses. As the men's clothes wore out, replacements were needed, so that by the summer of 1944 it was reported that sales of women's trousers were five times more than in the previous year.

 In 1919, Luisa Capetillo challenged the mainstream society by becoming the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear trousers in public. Capetillo was sent to jail for what was then considered to be a "crime", but, the judge later dropped the charges against her.

In the 1960s, André Courrèges introduced jeans for women, leading to the era of designer jeans.

In 1969 Rep. Charlotte Reid became the first woman to wear trousers in the U.S. Congress.

In 1989 California state senator Rebecca Morgan became the first woman to wear trousers in a U.S. state senate.

Hillary Clinton was the first woman to wear trousers in an official U.S. First Lady portrait.

 Women were not allowed to wear trousers on the U.S. Senate floor until 1993. In 1993, Senators Barbara Mikulski and Carol Moseley Braun wore trousers onto the floor in defiance of the rule, and female support staff followed soon after, with the rule being amended later that year by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Martha Pope to allow women to wear trousers on the floor so long as they also wore a jacket.

Since 2004 the International Skating Union has allowed women to wear trousers instead of skirts in competition if they wish.

In 2012 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police began to allow women to wear trousers and boots with all their formal uniforms.