What does Genesis 3:21 teach about animal sacrifice?
Genesis 3:21 teaches that God made coats of skins for Adam and Eve, which required killing an animal. That act satisfied the requirement of a blood sacrifice, replacing their inadequate fig leaves. It pictured the blood-bought restoration of Adam and Eve to God, because without the shedding of blood there is no remission.
Les explains that Genesis 3:21 says God made coats of skins for Adam and his wife. This implies a sacrificial animal, because He had to kill an animal to get their skins. That satisfied the requirement of a blood sacrifice, which God demanded, as later seen in chapter 4 with Abel. God killed the sacrificial animals and used their skins to provide clothing in place of the fig leaves, which were nothing and were a human endeavor, not God's idea. Les stresses that the point is not merely physical clothing; it is a spiritual phenomenon, the restoration of Adam and Eve back into relationship with their Creator. It had to be the blood-bought way, which is why He had to kill the animals. The only way God can receive lost persons is by the shedding of blood. Hebrews 8 states that without the shedding of blood there is no remission; never has been and never will be.
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
More Questions
Why did God replace Adam and Eve's fig leaves with animal skins?
The fig-leaf covering was a human endeavor and not God's idea, so God replaced it with clothing made from the sacrificed animals' skins.
How is Genesis 3:21 fulfilled in Romans 3:22?
In Romans 3:22, the covering of Adam with animal skins in Genesis 3:21 is fulfilled by believers being clothed with the righteousness of God, not with animal hides.
What does it mean in Genesis that God clothed Adam and Eve after killing animals for them?
When God killed animals for Adam and Eve, the covering of their nakedness was already dealt with by the coats of skins, but the additional phrase that He 'clothed them' speaks of clothing them with righteousness.
What does God making coats of skins in Genesis 3:21 imply?
Genesis 3:21’s coats of skins imply that God had to kill a sacrificial animal in order to get the skins.