Scripture is packed with meaning and application for us. Sometimes our familiarity with the Bible can lead us to overlook or ignore strange passages. Sometimes our distance from the original context can lead us to assume the irrelevance of a passage for our contemporary lives. But every word of Scripture is chosen by God and is profitable to teach, correct, rebuke, and train in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). Therefore, we should seek to plumb the depths of even the most curious passages. Few passages illustrate this better than Exodus 20:26, where a seemingly obscure command about altar construction reveals profound truths about worship, dignity, and holiness.
The text is admittedly curious. The section is giving laws about worship. The Israelites were to make no idols or images, they were not to carve stones for the building of altars, and they were not to build staircases to walk up to the altar. On this final point we read:
Do not go up to my altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.
The command can feel a bit like a throwaway comment to the modern reader. After all, why does God seem to care about accidental exposures like this? Why does it feel weighty enough to include in His holy law? Some readers may recognize the issue as important, yet reduce it to a simple matter of personal modesty. But the issue at hand is much weightier than a simple command to not be “inappropriate.” This one obscure reference is actually packed with theology that finds further development across the whole of Scripture. When we understand this we start to see layers of application in one seemingly obscure command.
First, the passage distinguishes between the worship of Yahweh and pagan worship. Many ancient Near Eastern religions involved sexual symbolism and some included things like ritual nudity. For example, Baal worship blended religion with fertility imagery, sensuality, and forms of sexual immorality. When Israel makes a golden-calf in Exodus 32 the text says that they “rose up to play,” suggesting sexual sin was involved in their worship. In Exodus 20 God is distinguishing His people from the pagan nations around them, and His worshipers from the worshipers of these pagan gods. The worship of Yahweh would not include exhibitionism. Deuteronomy 12:30-31 warns Israel not to worship in the way the nations worship their gods. This command about staircases and nakedness is actually telling us something about the profoundly distinct nature of the worship of Yahweh. It would not look like pagan worship.
Second, the text reveals that God values the dignity of His people. After the fall in Genesis 3, humanity could no longer be openly naked and yet remain unashamed. This is not to suggest that nakedness itself is shameful, the Bible does not teach that. Rather, post-fall nakedness is symbolic of our vulnerability and to be exposed outside the bounds of God-ordained contexts is to incur shame. We see this dynamic reflected in Genesis 9, where Noah’s exposure and Ham’s response to it are treated as matters of shame and dishonor. This is not because the body is something to be embarrassed about but because this is not the right context in which to see his nakedness. Scripture treats unnecessary exposure as something contrary to love of neighbor and human honor. Even as God speaks to Israel about the proper way to honor Him, He is promoting our honoring of one another. That should not surprise us, Jesus himself teaches that love of God and love of neighbor, while certainly not identical, are intimately connected (Matt. 22:34-40).
Third, the text reveals that our worship should seek to preserve a God-centered focus. In the case of Exodus 20:26, even an accidental exposure would risk shifting the focus of the sacrificial ceremony away from God and to the priest. We should do all that we reasonably can to preserve the right focus of our worship. Scripture repeatedly critiques worship that becomes performative, self-exalting, sensualized, spectacle-driven, or man-centered. And while we can be overly scrupulous at this, in general, Christian worship should seek to cultivate reverence, directing the attention of God’s people toward His glory rather than human display.
In readings of Exodus 20, very little attention is usually given to this single verse. It can feel like a passing remark within God’s larger vision for a people who would worship Him distinctly. Yet when considered carefully, this seemingly obscure command reveals deep theological truths about holiness, worship, dignity, and reverence that echo throughout the whole canon of Scripture. This should not surprise us, for every “letter and stroke of the pen” matters in God’s Word (Matt. 5:18). The deeper we read Scripture, the more we discover that no passage is incidental in the wisdom of God.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 