Fig Leaves

Why did the fig leaves cover sexual private parts and not Adam and Eve's mouth and hands? I have always wondered this. At first glance, its easy to say sexual sin is something that God really frowns on, and after they ate from tree of knowledge of good and evil, they knew it too. But really, how could they have known anything about sexual sins. They only had each other, there was no such thing as lust because there was no one else to lust for. So it brings me to there must have been a feeling that Adam and Eve had that made them know they were naked and be embarassed about it.

Otherwise, I think they would have covered their mouths that ate the apple.  That was what they should have been ashamed of, that they ate the apple.  They disobeyed God by eating what he told them not to eat.  But they didn't cover their mouths with the fig leaves.  No they covered their private parts.

I propose that they felt ashamed that they were not as much like God as they desired to be. Or maybe not as much like what they thought God was like! See we view being independant and self-reliant not needing others as a virtue. Or if not a virtue, then at least we think it is something that strong people do.  I think we believe this because it is in our heritage from Adam and Eve. They did not want to depend on God to know good and evil, but wanted to know themselves so that they could be like God.  So how does the covering of private parts show this?

I think that no where on our bodies do we see so clearly how God made us where we need each other, the male and female.  This glaring evidence, shows how God has made us dependant, the man upon the woman and visa versa.  You can look at our parts, feel how much we are attracted to one another and when Adam and Eve ate the apple thinking they would not need anyone, know everything, be like God, what they found in their disobedience was the shocking truth that God made them so far from being able to function on their own, completely dependant upon God and one another.

In fact, when looking at the nature of God we see even in our creator dependancies upon the three legs of the trinity.  God's son will marry a bride, his creation to become one with them.  God himself has made himself dependant upon his plan, of his elect, to become a bride that will complete him.  This may be heresy, but I really believe that God leads us in these kind of things.  He leads us in being more humble than we can even possibly imagine, he leads us in limiting himself to just the head of the new body.  Have you ever noticed that Christ limits himself to just being the head, we are the fingers, toes, heart, stomache, etc.  I find that incredible that Jesus does that.  If Christ limits himself, then how much more should we be satisfied that we are only a piece of what God is doing. 

So fig leaves, they speak of how dependant we are.  How God has made us in and of ourselves, incomplete.