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?” Genesis 3:8-9 NIV

When we last left husband and wife, they were hiding from G-d in the garden, having realized that they had done wrong and worse yet, they were completely exposed, physically and morally. Knowing this, and hearing G-d walking in the garden, they not only hid themselves from the presence of G-d, but hid their nakedness with fig leaves (“and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Gen 3:7 NIV).

The Lord G-d, as he was walking, called out to the man, “Where are you?” Gen 3:9 NIV

Now G-d, being all knowing, certainly knew where the man was, so why did he call out for him? I am reminded of a game my wife and I would play with our children. We would place our hand over our eyes or alternately, over our child’s eyes, and say, “Where’s…” followed by the child’s name. Removing our hand, we would then say “There she is!”

As they got a little older, they themselves might look at us and put their hand over there own eyes and we would dutifully say “Where’s…?”. They would then remove their hands and of course we would say “There she is!”.

I was curious about why we play this game, a variant of “Peek-a-Boo, I see you”. As it turns out, there are many practical benefits to this game. First and foremost, it is a reinforcement to the child that while the parent may be gone for a time, there is a reunion. It conveys the message to the child that he is never abandoned, and he learns to feel secure, even when the parent is not in sight.

The story relates that G-d was walking in the garden, and that it was in the cool of the day. This suggests a leisurely stroll. The point is, G-d was not angrily rampaging through the garden, “looking” for the man and the woman, to harm them. He calls out “Where are you?”, giving them the opportunity to reveal themselves rather than Him having to “find” them.

G-d calling out for the man also emphasizes the spiritual separation that has occurred, as does the man’s hiding out with his wife; which indicates that the man himself sensed this separation. After all, what would be the point of hiding from One in which you are in constant communion?

Adam, his fear likely easing somewhat, sensing that G-d is not “out to get him”, replies “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

G-d responds to the man, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Here, Adam admits that he ate from the tree, but, as men are want to do, he blames G-d, and he blames his wife, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

G-d then says to Eve, “What is this you have done?”

Eve, clearly not wishing to be the “fall guy” responds, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

When we become convicted of doing wrong, we can respond in a number of different ways. We can simply deny it; we can admit it and accept responsibility; or we can admit it, but make excuses and blame others.

The man and the woman chose option three. This makes some sense because, on the one hand, it would be pointless to deny it. The evidence of their transgression was obvious; their hiding from G-d, their understanding of their exposure and vulnerability, all pointed to their disobedience of the one law that G-d had given them. And on the other, the culpability of the man in disobeying that law, the woman in initiating the rebellion; but more importantly of the serpent in deceiving them, particularly in deceiving Eve, is undeniable.

Adam and Eve possibly believed that their blame game and excuses would somehow allow them to escape the consequences of what they had done. It did not, as we shall see later.

What strikes me here is how true this story rings. Did these events actually occur in the manner described? I believe so; but that is not what I am referring to when I say that it rings true. I am referring to how well the story explains our current behavior and our current predicament.

We are born into this world helpless and innocent of any wrong doing of our own. From the beginning, we are given laws, rules and regulations. Initially, these rules are designed primarily to protect us from ourselves. “Don’t put that in your mouth” or “Don’t run on the steps”.

As we get older, these prohibitions continue, such as “Don’t walk alone down dark, deserted streets” for example, which also helps protect us from others. But we are also given rules that are designed to protect others from us. Rules such as “Don’t hit your brother” and “Don’t eat all the ice cream”. This last one in particular, I was often prone to violate. Hey, I like ice cream! All right?

In addition to the rules telling us what not to do, we are given rules which we are are obligated to actively do. From “Play nice” to “Honor your mother and your father”. Or how about the “big two”? When asked what the greatest commandment is, “Jesus replied: “‘‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Mathew 22:37-39 NIV

Jesus taught that “all the law and the prophets hang on these two laws”. If you obey them, you will fulfill all of the law and the teachings of the prophets. Simple, right? Easy! Whoa, not so fast! Has anyone ever done this throughout their life, never disobeying them? That is, has anyone besides Jesus; who did fulfill them completely, to the point of torture and death?

The answer, of course, is no. No one besides Jesus has fulfilled the law and the prophets. I have two witnesses to this. First there is scripture: “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of G-d” (Romans 3:23). Second, my life experience testifies to this, in myself and others. And third, there is the Spirit of truth that G-d sends to all who put their faith in Him, who also testifies to our wrongdoing.

What are we to do then? Romans 3:24 as well as elsewhere in scripture, provides the answer: “… and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”. Faith in G-d, in Jesus Christ!

Just as Adam and Eve put their faith in the serpent, and only then broke the law by eating the fruit, when we put our faith in G-d and the salvation He provides in Jesus, who perfectly kept the law, we also keep the law in Him, not of our own doing.

Next, we will start to look at the consequences of our first parents’ rebellion, in “Lessons from the Fall: Crime and Punishment”.