After Adam and Eve committed sin in the garden, God provided them with skins to cover themselves (Genesis 3:21). For these skins to come about, some animal had to die (Genesis 3:15). In other words, some innocent creature had to suffer for our survival (and get eaten! ).
But why did God give them these coats of skins? The Hebrew term for them, kathoneth, suggests they were tunic-style garments covering from neck to knee.
Lamb
Adam and Eve’s sin brought death into the world, necessitating them to find clothing made from animal skins as protection from their nakedness. God provided this first blood sacrifice as a powerful symbolism of how sin cannot be removed without incurring its penalty through innocent bloodshed – this serves as a precursor of Jesus Christ dying for our sins in order to cover them up and make us righteous before Him.
Some scholars have speculated that the animals used as clothing might have been lambs, which would serve as a prophetic representation of Jesus being sacrificed since creation (Revelation 5:6; 13:8). Other scholars, however, have pointed out that these animals probably were not lambs at all but rather were from various species and that “lamb” refers here simply to any animal species.
Adam and Eve were saved from eternal damnation through sacrifice of innocent animals that provided skins for Adam and Eve’s garments, showing that Jesus taught that sinners must be saved by means of innocent death as an atonement for their sins. We must keep this principle at the forefront of our minds whenever we think about sacrificing an innocent animal’s life for humanity’s salvation.
My friend who is a theologian asserts that this does not prove God killed animals for clothing production; rather he believes they were simply slaughtered due to sin in the garden and did not consume meat as part of their original diets.
Though I agree with what the theologian is pointing out, his analysis leaves out an integral aspect of the story: whether sheep skins come from goats, fish or another source, their use as clothing displays the universality of sin and mortality in human lives, while reminding us that God is just and loving enough not to let sin go unpunished.
Sheep
God provided Adam and Eve with clothing made of animal skin after their sin in the garden. Some scholars speculated that these were sheepskins; however, we have no real proof. It could have come from any number of creatures including snakes; in fact, according to Jewish Targum Pseudo-Jonathan it even asserts this claim as plausible!
Importantly, this passage shows how God foresaw before the Fall that humans would need saving from sinful tendencies and covering with something to cover their nakedness – as seen in Genesis 3:21.
So it is likely that sheep skins were used for clothing purposes. This fits with Scripture where wool is often associated with sheep (Genesis 27:16; Exodus 12:3-6), as well as Adam and Eve eating from the tree of life which hosted much animal activity (Genesis 3:23).
At its heart lies the idea of the lamb as an offering from God to cover and shield them from immediate effects of sin. Since man-made coverings didn’t do that job effectively enough, He needed a more lasting solution such as offering one as sacrifice – hence why He sent this prophet with this story of how they sacrificed an innocent lamb instead.
A lamb is an animal commonly sacrificed at religious services due to its symbolic association with Jesus Christ and forgiveness he came to bring; therefore its death serves as an early precursor for his eventual coming again in another form.
But the most crucial point to remember about Easter isn’t just any lamb’s blood that was shed; rather it was Jesus Christ himself who sacrificed himself as our innocent substitute, paying the price for our rebellion against Him and paying our debt of sins with his sacrifice on Calvary. This picture of God covering rebellious humans with righteousness hints towards humankind’s eventual salvation through Him alone.
Goat
The Bible contains much information regarding animal sacrifice, beginning with Adam and Eve. God told them if they ate from the forbidden tree they would surely die, so He provided another way for them to stay alive: clothing themselves in animal skins which was eventually sacrificed for. This incident marked the first recorded animal death ever mentioned in scripture.
Some have speculated that God used Adam and Eve’s deaths as symbols, to teach them about substitutionary atonement: They could see how an innocent animal died for their sins – an important theological principle: Only an atoner can die in place of another sinner. Unfortunately, however, this interpretation doesn’t follow from Scripture: all it says is that He made garments out of animal skins for them and then covered them; there’s no indication where these skins came from, or whether or not He performed any sort of animal sacrifice or sacrifice ritual.
Furthermore, God only authorized animal death after the Fall due to God requiring their skins for clothing; otherwise such sacrifices wouldn’t have occurred at all. Prior to Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, animals primarily consumed plant material without needing to be killed for their fur. His requirement that humans wear these skins shows this.
Many Christians also hold that God killed goats as symbolic scapegoats to rid humanity of sin. This practice dates back to Levitical law and occurred every Yom Kippur. A High Priest would take two living goats and place one under his hand while leaving one of them live (known as a “scapegoat”).
Animal sacrifice wasn’t necessary before or after the Fall; even after, however, animals only needed to be killed as part of ritual sacrifices in Israel or other world religions in order to cover human sins; only Jesus’ blood can truly cover and cleanse human sin permanently.
Fish
God provided Adam and Eve with skins from animals to cover their shameful nakedness in Genesis 3, but this required animal sacrifice as well. God used these deaths of animals as an extremely potent demonstration that sin is serious business – in time, Jesus too would bleed and die to atone for our sins.
God immediately provided Adam and Eve with clothing to cover their shame when He told them about their disobedience (Genesis 3:21). But these temporary coverings were insufficient; something more lasting and effective needed to be worn – which were animal skins available at that time.
The Bible recounts numerous accounts of people offering animals up as sacrifices to God, with detailed instructions given from him on how these sacrifices should take place. This practice continued centuries after it had first been recorded. Today, some question whether God wanted people to kill animals to cover our sins; this interpretation misconstrues what the Bible really teaches.
1. Remember this:
1 God created both land animals and humans, yet only humans sinned against Him and violated their responsibility to care for the environment by killing other living beings.
2. Animals were originally designed as vegetarian, but succumbed to temptation when Adam and Eve consumed fruit, leading to them changing their original diet – hence why today there are so many carnivorous animals! According to Bible, these descendants of Adam and Eve represent humans who rebelled against Him and lost their innocence.
3. God used skins from animals He killed to punish Adam and Eve for their sin. This was an integral part of their tale – indeed, of all creation narrative. This underscores both obedience to Him as well as our need for an earthly Savior.
