Botanicals of the Bible - Fig Leaves

Botanicals of the Bible – Fig Leaves
By Jenny Komenda

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”
Genesis 3:7
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In Genesis, after eating the forbidden fruit and knowing they were sought by God, Adam and Eve’s first reaction was to avoid God and to sew fig leaves to try and cover up their nakedness. In that moment of shame and fear, fig leaves became a means for them to hide—both from God and from the truth of their fallen and vulnerable state.

Yet fig leaves are a terrible choice for covering our most vulnerable parts. Botanically, fig leaves are large and unwieldy. They are also rough, and the fine hairs on the leaves are itchy and quickly irritate sensitive skin. The fig’s white sap, which leaks out once leaves are cut, is highly irritating to human skin and can lead to severe burns and rashes with prolonged contact. Just as they are physically uncomfortable, the fig leaves represent a spiritually uncomfortable truth: our feeble human efforts cannot cover sin. We now use the term ‘fig leaf’ to describe any flimsy or inadequate attempt to cover up something, but how often do we ourselves still reach for worldly fig leaves to try and rationalize or otherwise cover up our own shortcomings and mistakes. Invariably, these fig leaves fail us, leaving us feeling exposed, uncomfortable and raw.

But in Genesis 3:21, we see God’s mercy in the face of our naïve attempts to hide from Him and cover up the truth. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and He clothed them.” This first sacrifice, which would have required the shedding of innocent life, points forward to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who would clothe us with His righteousness.

President Boyd K. Packer once taught, “The Atonement leaves no tracks, no traces. What it fixes is fixed... It just heals, and what it heals stays healed.” The fig leaves of self-justification and worldly solutions always fall short. Only the atoning sacrifice of Christ fully covers and heals. Let us cast aside the itchy, temporary fig leaves of our own making and instead put on the robe of mercy provided through the Savior. In Him, we are not merely covered—we are made whole.

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