Last week, we talked about the fall. This week, we are going to look at what happens after an act of disobedience. What happens when you are called out on your actions!? Let's read on to see how the man and woman respond when God comes to the garden to find them.
Starting with Prayer
BLESS ADONAI who is blessed. Blessed is Adonai who is blessed now and forever. Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Sovereign of the universe, who has chosen us from among the peoples, and given us the Torah. Blessed are You, Adonai, who gives the Torah.
Father God, You are good. You are so, so good. Thank you for your Word. Thank You for giving us moments and appointed times to draw near to You. God, I pray that you strip away all pride and all entitlement as we read the next few verses of Genesis. God, I pray that you soften our hearts, prepare the soil of our hearts to receive Your Word today. I pray that you take away our selfishness, I pray that You take away any barriers to hear You today. I pray that our hearts and souls are focused on You as we reflect on what it means to disobey and what it means to be accountable for our choices. I thank You for Your faithfulness, for Your compassion, for Your patience, and that You love us so much to meet us where we are. I pray that You forgive us our trespasses, and I pray that You help us to forgive those who have trespassed against us. I pray for a spirit of gratitude and humility as we read Your Word today.
In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.
Today’s Reading
Genesis 3:8-13 from the Complete Jewish Bible translation
8 They heard the voice of Adonai, God, walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, so the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Adonai, God, among the trees in the garden. 9 Adonai, God, called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I ordered you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me — she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Adonai, God, said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me, so I ate.”
Read all of Genesis 3 for context
from the Complete Jewish Bible translation
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal which Adonai, God, had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You are neither to eat from it nor touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “It is not true that you will surely die; 5 because God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her; and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths.
8 They heard the voice of Adonai, God, walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, so the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Adonai, God, among the trees in the garden. 9 Adonai, God, called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I ordered you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me — she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Adonai, God, said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me, so I ate.”
14 Adonai, God, said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all livestock and wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and eat dust as long as you live. 15 I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pain in childbirth. You will bring forth children in pain. Your desire will be toward your husband, but he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to what your wife said and ate from the tree about which I gave you the order, ‘You are not to eat from it,’ the ground is cursed on your account; you will work hard to eat from it as long as you live. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat field plants. 19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your forehead till you return to the ground — for you were taken out of it: you are dust, and you will return to dust.”
20 The man called his wife Havah [life], because she was the mother of all living.
21 Adonai, God, made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
22 Adonai, God, said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, to prevent his putting out his hand and taking also from the tree of life, eating, and living forever — ” 23 therefore Adonai, God, sent him out of the garden of ‘Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So he drove the man out, and he placed at the east of the garden of ‘Eden the k’ruvim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
Jenn's Two Cents
These verses have changed my life! I think it is because of my love for the book of James, where he clearly lays out where temptation and sin originate – our own desires. James 1:14-16 says, "Each person is being tempted whenever he is being dragged off and enticed by the bait of his own desire. Then, having conceived, the desire gives birth to sin; and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. Don’t delude yourselves, my dear brothers"
And how in Matthew 7:3-5, when he writes, "Why do you see the splinter in your brother’s eye but not notice the log in your own eye?How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ when you have the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you will see clearly, so that you can remove the splinter from your brother’s eye!" – that it makes me become more self-aware of my own disobedience before I react to other's.
When I read Genesis 3:8-13 now, I see myself. I see where I have pointed the finger to someone else for my own actions (doesn't it sound weird to say that out loud? It is someone else's fault for my own behavior? Hah!). But, after really receiving this Word and implanting it in my heart, I see my sin differently. I own it. I own it because as gross at it is, without owning it, I can't close the gap between me and God.
Let's get into today's reading, we're going to explore this idea more.
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8 They heard the voice of Adonai, God, walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, so the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Adonai, God, among the trees in the garden. 9 Adonai, God, called to the man, “Where are you?”
Do you remember back in Genesis 1:2, when we talked about God’s ruach — His Spirit? We talked about how Hebrew words have layered meanings, God’s Spirit, breath, wind. Well, when it says that God was walking in the evening breeze, some translations say the cool of the day…. that is ruach. He was walking in the wind of the day.
I love this connection because when it is windy, I picture God’s Spirit all around me. (Anyone remember that Mandy Moore movie where she falls in love with the guy and she explains God is like the wind?? Hah!)
Here in Genesis 3, after their disobedience, after their awareness of their nakedness, the ish and the ishah hide.
And, now, we see for the first time the relationship between humans and God play out. Eden is where heaven and earth meet. God is walking through the garden to meet with humans.
God calls out to them, asking, "Where are you?" This question, though seemingly straightforward, carries layers of significance that resonate throughout the entirety of Scripture.
Let’s get something straight. God knows where they are. God knows what they have done.
God's question, "Where are you?" is not a question of geographical location but rather a probing of the human’s spiritual state.
Isn’t it cool that despite their disobedience, God still seeks them out?
I’ve been praying for specific people this week and I’ve prayed that God pursues them greatly. My kids and I pray that people in our lives feel love so deep that they know it can come only from God. I pray that in the face of sin and brokenness, God calls out and asks for us because He seeks reconciliation and restoration.
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