A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)

Okay — so how can we possibly find inspiration in such a commandment? I mean, to most of us, this should be a no brainer and certainly not the source for a devotional moment right? Men should wear men’s clothes and women should wear women’s clothes. While that is certainly addressed in this verse, I would argue that there is more to it than women shouldn’t wear pants and men shouldn’t wear dresses. Frankly, in Moses’ day, most men wore robes — very “dress-like.” So then, is there a greater meaning to Moses’s words when he says that men and women shouldn’t wear anything that pertains to the opposite sex, especially since it constitutes an abomination before God?

First of all, we should consider that in many pagan cultures, certain heathen rites included an exchange of garments by sexes in order to engage in gross immorality. So there is a strong hint that Moses was warning Israel not to follow the practices of the nations, meaning that this command went well beyond the subject of clothes. More to the point, he was instructing the people not to adopt practices that would require them to wear things (and do things) that pertain to the other sex. In short, he was warning that abandoning the distinction between male and female is detrimental to a nation because, eventually, it will result in promiscuity and immorality.

Frankly, we only have to observe today’s world to know that this is true. Lines between male and female have been blurred so aggressively that now, most anything goes. Therefore, as the people of God, it is our duty to respect and reaffirm the boundaries that were established by the Creator including the distinction between men and women. The Bible makes it clear that this distinction and the function we perform in our assigned role is important for our family and the overall health and well-being of society. So let’s not get caught up into the whims of culture and the politically-correct trends of an errant society. Refusing to follow the crowd may be deemed as old-fashioned but, in the end, it is going to be extremely important to be found as “biblically correct.”

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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