The Lust of the Eye

In the Old Testament, God had a lot to say about what one saw in regard to sexual sins, immorality and modesty of dress. In Chapters 18 and 20 of the Book of Leviticus, God speaks of not uncovering and looking upon the nakedness of others, linking it with the sex act. He listed certain unions to be sinful or an abomination and in some instances proclaimed a death penalty upon them. Knowing the makeup and mentality of man, He ordered His priests, "Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." (Exodus 20:26) The Lord told Moses, "And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach: And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him." (Exodus 28:42-43)

All this taken together revealed that, in the eyes of God, for man to even look upon someone else's nakedness, or to expose one's own nakedness was evil and a violation of His statutes. This was not always so, but was caused by man's sin in the Garden of Eden. "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." (Genesis 3:4-7) God looked upon them in their now fallen state and realized that the aprons they had made for themselves were insufficient coverings. "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21)

Jesus said, "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23) A bible study on the eye will reveal much. When the eye of man was opened to know good and evil, he opened himself up to all of Satan's temptations. The Apostle John warned, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:15-17)

Jesus further clarified God's law when He said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28) How can this be? Remember in God's eyes, uncovering the nakedness of another was the first step in the sex act. This being the case, we can well imagine that God takes the subject of modesty seriously. As we saw in the Book of Exodus, God required His priests to be fitted with breeches or pants so their nakedness would not be exposed before the Lord, or discovered by others as they worked upon the altar of the Lord. What does all of this have to do with us as Christians? Peter said, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;" (1 Peter 2:9) As followers of Christ, we are now the priest of the Lord and are called upon to exercise proper judgment and discretion in our manner of dress.

Things set before the eyes of men are used to tempt him to commit evil. The lust of the eyes are intricately linked with the lusts of the flesh, for a man either sees something, then wants it, or wants something and uses his eyes to seek it out. The eyes have also been associated with man exercising his free will through his choices or his judgments. We find this expressed in Judges 17:6, "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes." The Bible warns us not to trust our lives to what we feel is right in our own eyes, but to do what is right in God's eyes. Since man's ways are not God's ways, it is very difficult for man to make right judgments. This is why God gave us the Bible with all His commandments, statutes and ordinances. He alone knows what is good and evil, what acts are benign and which bring harm.

Paul in interpreting God's directions on proper attire instructed Timothy in how women should dress themselves. "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 Timothy 2:9-10)

Many women feel that all the pressure is on them to dress properly. This is certainly not the case. God put coats on both the man and the woman and instructed that His priests cover their loins and thighs with breeches or pants. He also ordered that their upper body be covered. God recognizes that when the flesh is exposed or exalted that it will become a temptation or an occasion for others to sin in their thoughts. It is well known that a woman attending a business meeting with a group of men will elicit a totally different response from the group depending on how she is dressed. Consider the different signal received by the male attendees from a woman dressed in a mini-skirt and tight blouse, versus a woman dressed in a dress suit with the hem cut below the knee, versus a woman dressed in a tight pants suit. Like it or not, the way a woman dresses will often influence how she is perceived and treated by others who see her, regardless of the sex of the observer. In an ideal world, there should be no difference. Unfortunately, since the fall of man, the world is no longer the ideal that God created it to be.

These temptations to the lust of the eyes and to the flesh are now all around us. James said, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:12-15)

Paul also looked at it from the other angle when he said, "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." (Romans 14:13) This admonition must also be applied to women. Will God hold a man or woman blameless when they display themselves in such a manner as to become a stumbling block to their brethren? Modern dress styles are such these days, that almost anything goes. Mankind as a whole has lost the sense of shame and sees nothing wrong with uncovering nakedness for the whole world to see. Is it any wonder that the moral depravity seems to be getting worse and worse?