Nowhere to Hide

Genesis 3:8-13
2009.03.28
one28 Sunday worship

The only thing more human than to err is to make excuses about erring. In the garden, after the original sin, Adam and Eve do not confess their sin. They attempt to conceal their sin and themselves from God. Theologians do not refer to the major events in Genesis as Creation-Fall-Repentance, because the man and the woman ran from God, not to Him. God pursues them. And even though He doesn’t remove the consequences of their sin (in fact, He will add curses to them because of it), He does restore them to fellowship with Himself and promises them redemption.

It’s embarrassing to watch our first parents hide and blame-shift. It would be less embarrassing, I suppose, if we didn’t do the same things. Sin separates us from God and our senses. Sin makes us stupid. Did Adam really think that he could successfully hide from God? Did he really think he could conceal his sin from God by switching the subject? Did he really he could get himself off the hook by making excuses? He must have, because he tried each one of those strategies.

We saw in Scene One (verses 1-7), the serpent lured Eve by promising her something better than what God offered, and she bit. Soon after that she persuaded Adam to eat, and immediately they knew that they were naked and found fig leaves to cover themselves.

Verse 8 brings us to Scene Two (verses 8-13). Later that same day, the LORD came to the garden to spend time with His creatures, but they aren’t around. They quickly realize, however, there was nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide.

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Adam and Eve Seek Cover from God (v.8)

Not only did Adam and Eve cover themselves once they recognized their nakedness (verse 7), they also attempted to conceal themselves once they perceived their Maker’s presence.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (verse 8)

They were in the garden in the cool of the day. Every major translation expresses it this way except for the NRSV: “the time of the evening breeze.” It could be put, “in the wind of the day,” referring to the time when things were cooling down, probably in the late afternoon or early evening. Because of this specific time, because of the tense of the verb walking (mithallek is a type of Hithpael that suggests interative and habitual aspects, Hamilton, 192), and because of Yahweh’s question in verse 9, I think it is likely that this was a regular, if not daily meeting between God and the couple.

But instead of looking forward to seeing God and enjoying fellowship with Him, when they heard the sound of the LORD God … the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. We don’t know how exactly the LORD was “walking.” What form did He take? Did He have the appearance of a man, so walking on two legs? That they hid from the presence of the LORD could actually mean “from the face of the LORD.” So was this a theophany/Christopany, that is, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Word of God? Certainly His form was distinguished from the breeze. Somehow they recognized it was Him and ran into the wood, hoping to escape notice.

No thicket or forrest could conceal the first fugitives from God. We cannot lay low enough to avoid Him. He knows when we sit down and when we rise up. He knows our thoughts from afar, our words before they are formed on our tongue. Where will we go from His Spirit? Where shall we flee from His presence? The darkness is as light with Him (Psalm 139); branches will not deter Him. No creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).

Sin not only caused shame, it also caused fear. It not only separated man from woman (as shown by fig leaves between them), it separated man from God (as shown by their hiding). This is spiritual death. God’s presence previously was man’s greatest delight. Now it was cause for alarm. Men were, and remain, alienated from their Maker. On the one hand they are estranged from God, on the other hand, they cannot escape from God. There is nowhere to hide.

God Elicits Confession from Adam and Eve (vv.9-13)

Interrogation is too strong a word for what happens in verses 9-13, or at least the word carries too much torture baggage with it in our minds. Inquiry is not a strong enough word, nor does the interchange come about because God is curious, let alone ignorant. He knows. But God graciously initiates, allowing man to see sin for what it really is. God moves to restore relationship even though everything has changed.

God’s Pursuit of Adam (v.9)

The man took his wife and hid. But the LORD doesn’t leave them alone.

But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (verse 9)

As I said, the question here implies that the LORD expected to meet man in the garden, that the man’s absence was unusual. The question does not imply that the LORD needed information or that He did not actually know. The question was didactic, a gracious way to let Adam out of the corner and teach him about his sin. The LORD asks Cain a similar question in Genesis 4:9, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain, of course, acts as if he didn’t know. But the LORD said, “The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” The LORD knew exactly where Abel was; He asked a question He already knew the answer to in order to expose sin and elicit confession.

Observe that the LORD called to the man. The man hid and took his wife with him (the verb “hid” in verse 8 is 3rd person singular). The man was responsible. God charged Adam to tend the garden and prohibited Adam from eating from the tree. Adam was liable. He was the head. Now he will have to give an answer.

Adam’s Evasion of God (v.10)

The LORD’s question drew man out from hiding and he answers, sort of.

And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” (verse 10)

Do you see that Adam doesn’t really answer the question? He answers; he says something, but he answers Why are you hiding? not Where are you?. The long explanation is Adam’s attempt to deflect attention away from the real problem. But in trying to switch the subject of conversation, he actually exposes his disobedience and admits his guilt. He’s already said too much. “His very excuse provides evidence of his misdeed” (Cassuto, quoted in Wenham, 77).

Adam explains that when he heard God coming, I was afraid. Man’s relationship with God had been intimate. No doubt it included man’s healthy respect for God, but there had been no fear. Now the reason for Adam’s fear was exposed, because I was naked, and I hid myself. He still hasn’t admitted anything, though he was revealing his heart.

Sin causes man to run from God, not run to Him. Adam should have immediately fallen on his face before God, confessed his disobedience, pleaded for God’s mercy, and humbly pleaded with God for forgiveness. Instead, he panicked. He didn’t want to be seen. He wanted to cower under cover and lick his wounded soul. He equivocates, concealing the truth and avoiding confession. But if we blame him, we blame ourselves.

God’s Pressing of Adam (v.11)

Adam left himself wide-open with the answer he gave in verse 10. God asks two more questions in verse 11 that pin man down.

He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (verse 11)

God knew that Adam was naked; He made him that way. And at the end of chapter 2, nakedness was no cause for shame. Something clearly changed, and God wanted Adam to understand that it was a direct result of his own disobedience.

God asked, Who told you that you were naked?. Of course, there wasn’t anyone who could have given Adam the information. Eve didn’t know, and she was the only other person around.

If the answer to the first question was “no one,” naturally, the next question was, Did–from the tree which I charged you not to eat from–you eat? (SKHV, with emphasis on the tree’s description) This was the crux of the matter. The LORD reminds Adam of the clear standard. Man’s problem was not ignorance of God’s command.

What else could man possibly say now?

Adam’s Excuse(s) to God (v.12)

This is one of the saddest, most telling responses in all the Bible.

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (verse 12)

What kind of question had God just asked? It was Yes or No question. It was not a good question for starting discussion (in small group, etc.). It was a simple question. There are always only two possible answers to Yes/No questions. More than that, we’ve already established that Adam was naked, that there wasn’t anyone else who could have told him that, so there was only one other possibility. But Adam, caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, basically said, If you wouldn’t have made cookies, I wouldn’t have tried to take any. If you wouldn’t have given me hands, I couldn’t have used them for wrong. In order to protect himself, Adam distances himself from his wife and makes excuses.

Adam was defensive. The woman…, she gave to me fruit from the tree. It was her fault, not mine. Now, was that true? Yes. Eve did give fruit to Adam. Was it her fault he ate it? No. Yet Adam shifts the blame onto the one he was supposed to protect. He had only days ago exclaimed, “This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!” Now it’s as if he stepped away from her and pointed.

Even worse, Adam ultimately blames God: the woman You gave me. I don’t know what attitude Adam had when he said this. He may have been whiny. He have have been mad. Either way, he did not man up and take responsibility for his actions. Again, was it true that God had given Even to Adam? Yes. Was it God’s fault that Adam ate? Absolutely not! May it never be! Let no one say when he sins, it is God’s fault. God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one (James 1:13).

After blame-shifting, he finally, reluctantly confesses, and I ate. This part is the only part that matters, but he waited until the end to say it, minimizing his disobedience in the process. There doesn’t seem to be any brokenness, any repentance, or any desire for forgiveness. Nor does the LORD bother with a reply to him, at least not yet. Answer not a fool according to his folly.

If we accept responsibility, it is often only after we’ve explained the circumstances, as if to evoke the authority’s sympathy. “Oh! That’s what happened. No wonder you did what you did. What else could you have done?” Our excuse-making and blame-shifting does not lessen our guilt, it aggravates is.

God’s Pressing of Eve (v.13a)

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” (verse 13a)

God asks Eve, What is this that you have done? We might say, “What did you do?” Though Adam was primarily responsible, she was not exempt from giving answer directly to God for her own actions.

Eve’s Excuse to God (v.13b)

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (verse 13b)

Eve follows her husbands’ example. She does not ask for forgiveness, but shifts, at least part of, the blame to the serpent. Like Adam, she is a victim of someone else’s doing. Eve is the first person to ever claim, “The devil made me do it.”

All the characters are included, in reverse order from their appearance in the first scene (3:1-7–serpent, woman, man–man, woman, serpent), and God will address all three of them as He curses them (3:14-19–serpent, woman, man).

Conclusion

What does this passage teach us? Genesis 3 reveals something about man, but thankfully, the story is more about the revelation of God.

1. God’s holy patience and gracious pursuit.

It is significant that God questions instead of killing immediately. He knew that the serpent deceived Eve and that both the woman and man disobeyed. God already threatened death upon disobedience. He would have been just to take their lives and start over. But without changing His position on what was right–He punishes them in the next paragraph, and they do die–God shows patience with the first couple.

It is also significant that God pursues rather than pushes away. What if the LORD left Adam and Eve alone? If God did not initiate, they would have died hiding. So would we. If He waited for us to cry out to Him, if it weren’t for Him letting us hear His voice calling, we would still be lost. That’s why we sing about His amazing love, how can it be, that He would die for Adam’s helpless race?

2. Man’s sinful pride.

Why did God create a creature capable of rebellion? For virtues sake? What “virtue” does man demonstrate, even in a perfect environment and without a tendency toward sin?

1. Man rebels.
2. Man runs.
3. Man rationalizes.
4. Man doesn’t even repent.

He didn’t want to be exposed. He didn’t want to take responsibility. This is no virtue. The story of man proves nothing positive about man, but reveals the holy, gracious character of God.

Because of our pride, you have to drag the truth out of us. “So fruitful is the depraved heart in excuses…for its sins! So prone to extenuate (make an offense seem less serious) what it cannot deny!” (Bush, 81)

We may blame our environment, we may blame our parents, we may blame whatever we like. But we stand naked and exposed before God. It is no use to run. There is nowhere to hide.