Today we are concluding a five-part section of our study that deals with the fall of man. So far the serpent has talked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, Eve has persuaded Adam to eat the fruit, and now they are ashamed and afraid and are hiding from God. When we concluded our last session, God called out to Adam and asked where he was. God knew where he was, but he wanted to give Adam an opportunity to get everything out in the open voluntarily.
Adam replied to the Lord, "I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." Until they ate of the fruit of the tree, Adam and Eve didn't know what nudity was. They were the only people on earth and they'd never seen anyone wearing clothes. The climate was perfect so they didn't need clothes to protect them from the weather. There must not have been any mosquitoes in the garden of Eden! But when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they saw the potential for every part of the human body to be used for sinful purposes. Sin begins in the mind but it has to use the body in order to carry out ungodly actions. I'm not talking only about sexual sins; we have to use our physical bodies to commit most sins. Lying is a sin and we have to use our mouths to do it. Stealing is a sin and we have to use our hands to do it. After eating the fruit, the first humans can imagine with their minds all the things that people are going to do wrong. Having these thoughts makes them feel dirty, like somebody just walked through their pristine brains wearing muddy shoes. This is the real reason they want to hide from God. It's not their physical nakedness that really makes them feel exposed; it's knowing that God will be able to read their minds.
Of course the Lord already knows what has happened, but confession is good for the soul, and He asks Adam how he has gained the knowledge that he's naked. "And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?'" (Genesis 3:11) Confession is a part of repentance. We won't be able to recall every sin we've ever committed in our lives, and God doesn't expect us to do that. What He expects is for us to admit to Him that we've violated His laws. We've fallen short. We've sinned against Him with both body and mind and we need redemption. What happens when we confess our sins in a repentant spirit? "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
Adam is granted an opportunity to come clean, but it's difficult for him to admit wrong, probably because he's frightened. He's the first man who ever sinned. He never expected to sin. He kept the Lord's commandment not to eat the fruit until Eve talked him into it, so now he points his finger at his wife. In his heart I think he believes he never would have messed up if it hadn't been for her. He doesn't yet understand that the human heart is deceitful. (Jeremiah 17:9) If Adam hadn't sinned in this one matter, he would have ended up sinning in some other way. But he blames Eve for his failure and he tries to get God to lay all the blame at her feet too. "The man said, 'The woman You put with me---she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.'" (Genesis 3:12)
In blaming Eve for his sin, Adam is also blaming God. After all, God is the one who created Eve. God is the one who told Adam, "This is the woman who will be your life partner and your helper." It's not like Adam had several women to choose from when selecting a wife. God only provided one choice, and I think in the back of his mind Adam feels like God didn't create Eve as perfectly as He could have. Adam is probably thinking, "God gave me the wrong woman. If Eve were really the woman meant for me, she wouldn't have asked me to do something sinful."
God doesn't argue with Adam. Right this minute that wouldn't be helpful, not while Adam is being too stubborn and self-righteous to face his own shortcomings. The Lord turns to Eve and gives her an opportunity to confess her sin. But she plays the blame game too. "Then the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'" (Genesis 3:13) The serpent did confuse her with his smooth lies. She's not being entirely untruthful in her reply to the Lord, but she's not accepting responsibility for not keeping the Lord's commandment in her heart. She knew that the Lord had forbidden them to eat this particular fruit. Instead of taking a moment to consider her actions and to consult with Adam who had been given the commandment straight from the Lord's mouth, she decided she was going to do what seemed best to her when the serpent tempted her. King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ, had this to say about deciding to do what seems best to us instead of obeying the Lord: "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12)
It's so important for us to study the word of God. We may not be able to memorize it word by word, but the Holy Spirit is able to call certain passages to mind right when we need them. Often the Holy Spirit brings a verse to mind that I didn't even know I knew. Sometimes I don't even have a clue which book of the Bible it's from. When we study the word of God, the Holy Spirit commits the word to our hearts even when we aren't aware He's doing it. Then, at just the right time, the Holy Spirit uses the word of God to guide us. This is why King David said to the Lord, "I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:11) The only way to hide the Lord's word in our hearts is to study it. When we study it, we need to do it with a teachable attitude, being willing to hear from the Lord as He speaks to us through the Scriptures. A good way to study the Scriptures in the right attitude is to get in a nice quiet space and to pray to the Lord before opening His holy word. This is how King David studied God's word, saying to Him: "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law." (Psalm 119:18)
In tomorrow's section we will take a look at the penalties the Lord hands down on Adam, Eve, and the serpent.
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