In our passage of Genesis we are on day four of the account of Adam and Eve's fall from grace. In yesterday's passage they ate the fruit that God had commanded them not to eat. As soon as they eat the fruit, they feel the need to hide themselves from each other and from God.
"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." (Genesis 3:7) At this point in history they are the only two human beings on earth. There's nothing sinful about a married couple seeing each other unclothed. I think the need they feel to cover their bodies is prompted by the need they feel to cover their thoughts and emotions. They have thoughts and emotions they never had before eating the fruit. Now they suddenly see themselves, each other, and the entire world through Satan's eyes. What is it Satan wants to do to the flesh? He wants to sexualize everything about the human body so that we do things with our bodies that degrade ourselves that that degrade others. Now that Adam and Eve have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they can foresee in their minds all the things that human beings will do with their bodies: the illicit sex, the forced encounters, the sexual abuse of minors, the human trafficking, the addictions to pornography, the selling of sexual favors in exchange for money or drugs. Adam and Eve haven't committed any of these sexual sins themselves, but every form of sin and perversion has been revealed to them and as a result they feel dirty.
Their first instinct is to hide their bodies from each other. Their next instinct is going to be to hide completely from God. "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden." (Genesis 3:8) They've sinned against the God with whom they once enjoyed sweet fellowship. They feel guilty. Instead of coming out to walk with Him, they hide from Him. In what form did God walk in the garden? The Scriptures tell us time and again that God is a Spirit, that He is invisible, and that He cannot be seen. Bearing all this in mind, I think He walked in the garden in the form of the pre-incarnate Christ. In the Old Testament we find several instances of what are known as "Christophanies"---occasions when Christ appeared and talked with human beings long before He was born into the world as a human being. On those occasions He is usually referred to as "the angel of the Lord". He isn't called "an angel of the Lord" as if there are many like Him. He is unique. There is something special about this One who appears to mankind in a human form but who clearly possesses supernatural abilities. I believe this is the One from whom Adam and Eve try to hide in the garden. But no human being can hide his or her sin from the Lord. It's best to get everything out in the open before the One who is able to redeem us from our sins.
The Lord knows exactly where the couple is hiding, but He wants to give them an opportunity to confess their sin to Him. When they don't rush to greet Him as they usually do, He asks for an explanation for their behavior. "But the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?'" (Genesis 3:9) As we discussed yesterday, Adam bears a greater guilt than Eve does for the fall of the human race. Adam was created first. He is the one to whom God directly communicated the command not to eat the fruit. He was given the responsibility for protecting and taking care of the garden and for protecting and taking care of his wife. God called Adam to be the head of the household because he was created before Eve and because he was created physically larger and physically stronger than the woman. God called him to be the spiritual leader of the family and to set a godly example for his wife to follow. Adam has failed in all his responsibilities as a husband and as a caretaker of the garden. He didn't obey the Lord's command not to eat the fruit. He didn't communicate the Lord's command to Eve in such a way that she could avoid being tempted by the serpent. He didn't prohibit the serpent from gaining a foothold in the garden and he didn't rebuke the serpent for lying to his wife. He didn't spiritually, emotionally, or physically protect his wife from the serpent's lies. So when God asks for an explanation for the couple's behavior, he asks for the explanation from Adam. He calls out "to the man".
I picture Adam crouched down behind a bunch large tropical leaves. He doesn't emerge from his cover right away but he does reply to the Lord. "He answered, 'I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.'" (Genesis 3:10) Adam has been naked ever since he was created. He never thought about it before. But now that he bears the guilt of sin, he feels naked all the way to the core of his soul. Have you ever committed a sin that you never would have believed you'd commit? If someone had told you that you'd do this thing someday, wouldn't you have laughed in their face? I've been there. A particular thing I fell for shocked me to the core. I had been a Christian for many years. I wouldn't have believed anyone who told me I'd do this particular thing, and yet here I was on the other side of it, shaken and ashamed. I felt like I couldn't even lift my eyes to heaven. When I put this feeling into words in my mind, I said, "I can't even look the Lord in the eye." I wanted to crawl into a hole in the earth and hide from Him forever. But I couldn't because nothing is hidden from the Lord. And I couldn't because He was the only source of mercy and forgiveness. So I repented at His feet. This is what Adam and Eve are going to have to do, and I believe they do repent even though the Bible doesn't specifically go into details about it, but first they are going to play the blame game. I hope you can study with me tomorrow as we conclude our segment on the fall of man and as we see how Adam and Eve try to avoid accepting responsibility for their actions.
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