Genesis 3:8-13 Hide and See God Knows Where You Are

"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.

But the LORD God called to the man, 'Where are you?'

He answered, 'I heard you in the garden and I was afraid

because I was naked; so I hid.'

And he said, 'Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?'

The man said, 'The woman you put here with me --

she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.'

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 3:8-13 (NIV) 

____________________________________________

It seems that God would regularly meet with Adam and Eve in the garden which He had provided for them.  However, this time things were different.  Instead of running out to meet with God, Adam and Eve were playing a rather serious bit of hide and seek as they attempted to avoid God's presence.

God called out to the Adam, asking him where he was.  Psalm 139 makes it quite clear that God always knows where we are, and that we cannot flee from His presence.  Here are just some of its verses, but I urge you to read the whole Psalm:

"O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. (v.1-3)

...Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?" (v.7)

I am sure that God knew exactly where Adam was, but He was giving Adam the chance to reveal himself.  To his credit, Adam answered.  He explained that he had heard God in the garden and had hidden himself because he was naked.

Again, God's question was one of which He already knew the answer:  "Who told you that you were naked?"  God knew very well who was behind this matter.  The answer to God's next question was obvious as well:  "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

At this point Adam throws Eve under the bus.  Not literally, for as of yet this form of public transportation [or any other, for that matter] did not exist.  What I mean by 'throwing someone under the bus' is that Adam passed the blame onto someone else [God, Eve] to save his own skin.  "That woman you put here with me -- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."  It seems that Adam is blaming God for putting Eve in his life, and blaming Eve for giving him the fruit.

Eve is no less to blame.  God also confronts Eve with her actions.  God is giving her the opportunity to own up to her sinful behavior. By now, Eve knows that she had been misled by the serpent.  She admits that she had been deceived and that she ate from the tree.  She may also be passing the blame a bit by saying that the serpent was responsible for the deception.  However, at least she admits exactly what she did.