Alan Dunn

In our studies in Gen. 2 & 3 we want to keep Adam’s headship as the focus of our concern. Through the course of the Fall, Adam abdicates his leadership and abandons his stewardships. He embraces the Devil’s ‘enlightenment’ which is actually a state of death. He is now severed from himself, his wife, the created order, and his Creator. He has attempted to cover his awareness of his shame with a fig leaf, but when God approaches, he is undone. He runs and hides. We see the coward cowering behind a tree, his wife at a distance disconnected from each other; no felt companionship, no eye contact, isolated, with only a fig leave to protect them from impending wrath! Under the foliage, the now silent serpent slithers away. But the voice of God breaks in and summons them to stand before Him. In Gen. 3:9-12 we see the evidence of Adam’s rebellion as God arraigns the couple before disciplining them in grace.

GOD’S FIRST QUESTION TO THE MAN (vs.9)

The questioner is “the Lord God”: the Creator, Lawgiver and Judge; the God to whom Adam was made to respond as a son to a father. As Creator, God has the prerogative to arraign the couple. Inherent in the act of creation was the execution of judgment as God repeatedly assessed creation and judged it to be “good”. God as Creator-Judge calls Adam to account.

The one questioned is “the man”. In spite of the woman’s usurpation as the ‘spokesperson’ for the couple in the dialogue with the Devil, God first calls to Adam. His headship is yet operative. Adam stands as the legal representative of mankind.

The question is “Where are you?” This is asked, not to inform God, but in grace, to bring man to a realization of his fallen condition. The enlightened man is now called to disclose the ‘wisdom’ gained through his disobedience. As a father, God asks, ‘Where has your sin taken you, son? Are you wise as Satan promised, or are you dead as I warned you?’

THE MAN’S ANSWER (vs.10)

Adam identifies what he sees to be the cause of his trouble: God’s presence. Where does his answer begin? He begins by pointing at God! “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden.” The beginning of his troubles lies not in his abdication of headship, nor his wife’s usurpation, nor the serpent’s lies, nor sin’s rebellion – but in God! His trouble began when God came on the scene. He was quite content with his fig leaf religion, but then God came along and summoned him to give an account. Fallen man can tolerate sin. What he cannot tolerate is God holding him accountable! The revelation of God as man’s judge is Adam’s problem: not his sin, not the violation of Law, not the slander of God, not the destruction of his communion with God. The thing sinful the man gripes about is God calling him to judgment!

Adam identifies his concern: his personal discomfort experienced as fear. “I was afraid.” The experience of such fear before God is itself evidence that he has sinned. The only explanation for why he would have fear is because he knows guilt before his Judge. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment.” (1 Jn 4:18) Before the Fall, God’s call to Adam would have been met with the expectation of receiving yet another good gift from the hand of his Creator-Father. But now, in willful sin, he only has the expectation of wrath (cf. Heb. 10:28). Yet he is not concerned with how his sin has marred the image of God nor how sin has affected God. He is not God-centered but consistently self-centered: concerned only with his own subjective emotional discomfort experienced as the effect of his sin. His fear also testifies to the futility of his fig leaf religion. Superficial religious ritual may provide an initial psychological distraction, but in the day of judgment, it does absolutely no good. All his effort at stitching a covering together by his works are of no benefit as he now faces his Creator-Judge.

Adam speaks of his circumstances: he is “naked”. He is concern with his circumstances, not his criminality; with his situation, not his sin; with himself, not God. He admits to no more than what is obvious. He merely acknowledges the general external results of sin without specifying himself as the sinner. As many today who tritely consent, “Well, we’re all sinners, I guess.” But refuse to confess actual sin. Adam avoids responsibility and profiles himself as a victim of circumstance.

Adam’s conduct: “I hid myself.” What is fallen man’s solution to the approach of the Judge? He retains his pride and self-reliance and runs from God. He looks away from judgment and instead would use his fig leaf religion to try to deny the fact of judgment. Notice his total self-absorption. He uses the pronoun “I” four times in vs.10 along with “myself”. The irony here is that the man’s self-salvation is his self-damnation. What he does to save himself – to run from God, is the essence of the very wrath he is trying to avoid! Hell is “away from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thes 1:9). To save himself, he separates from God, but separation from God is the essence of death, the substance of hell. His conduct is self-condemning. He shows that he actually wants and deserves death! He complains about his circumstances and his emotional discomfort. His solution? Remove God. Suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Exclude God from his thoughts. Discard His law. Ignore sin. Deny judgment. He is not a pitiable victim, but a criminal who hates God!

GOD’S SECOND QUESTION TO THE MAN (vs.11a)

God’s second question assumes the presence of a rival revelation from a competing deity. Adam’s knowledge of being naked has required information from a source other than God and other than Adam. Someone has ‘told’ Adam that he is naked. Adam’s knowledge indicates the presence of words foreign to him and not uttered by God. These words constitute a form of ‘revelation’ to Adam. Somebody other than God is speaking to Adam! A rival deity is detected!

Adam’s answer in vs.12 neglects this second question. He has opportunity to testify against the serpent and expose him as a liar. His Creator-Father’s authority has been violated by deceit and rebellion. Adam could realign his allegiance to God. But he is so dead in the stupor of his sin that he refuses to testify against the serpent. God gives him opportunity to confess more than the mere circumstantial effects of his sin. He has opportunity to confess that he abdicated headship, that he violated God’s law, and that he submitted to the serpent what is due only to God. But he does not. He leaves the second question unanswered and fails to take a stand against the serpent.

GOD’S THIRD QUESTION TO THE MAN (vs.11b)

This question brings the authority of God into view. “Who told you?” is contrasted with “I commanded you.” Regardless of Adam’s misdirected submission, the fact is, there really is no rival deity! Adam is yet under the authority of his Creator. The serpent’s lies and Adam’s disobedience has not diminished God’s sovereignty. The morality of the first commandment is God’s concern. He views Adam’s sin as a personal affront and speaks in personal terms. Adam’s duty not to eat of the fruit was not essentially a matter of law, as much as it was a matter of filial love to his Creator-Father. The only reason Adam had to obey God’s commands was his love for God. God essentially asks, “Who will be as a father to you? Satan or God?”

This question brings man’s accountability to God into view. “Have you eaten?” God, in effect tells Adam to give an account of his actions for it is by his deeds that man is judged. The issue is not the psychological and circumstantial effects of sin. The issue is sin: the man did what he was commanded not to do. The issue is not altered by man’s excuses and extenuating circumstances. The bottom line is: what did you do?

THE MAN’S ANSWER (vs.12)

First, he mostly blameshifts. E. J. Young observes: “Sin makes man a coward and an evader, it leads him to seek refuge in half-truths deceit, and evasion.” He blames “the woman”. He speaks of her as an object and distances himself from her. He does not identify her as ‘my wife’. He has divorced her and no longer views her as ‘bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh’. He is not committed to protect her. In fact, he takes his stand against her to see the death penalty fall upon her! He acts murderously! He would cover his sin and see his wife executed, rather than confess his fault and disclose the serpent!

With one arm outstretched, pointing at ‘the woman’, he then points at God with the other arm and lays the blame on Him! “You gave me” this woman! Adam sees the woman as the instrumental cause of sin, but attempts to blame God as the ultimate cause of sin! He yet believes the devil’s slander and accuses God of not being good. He stands in God’s court and builds a case against God! He would act as the judge of God! In brash contumacy, he calls evil ‘good’ and good ‘evil’ and charges God with guilt! Yet he is content to let the Devil go scot-free!

Secondly, he merely admits his sin. Adam postures himself as a passive victim of the actions of others. “She gave” and “Thou gavest” are the two central verbs which empty his “I ate” of any real vitality. He admits to the deed but is reluctant to accept responsibility for his actions. His meager “I ate” is a bare acknowledgment of sin that is grossly incongruous with the immense tragedy of sin. We are loath to call his response ‘repentance’ for it is void of any expression of regret or remorse; no plea for mercy. His answer is a cheeky contemptuous, ‘You asked, so yeah, I ate; but remember, it’s her fault – and Yours too!’ But with his admission, the case is closed. He is exposed as being guilty of having eaten the forbidden fruit. Regardless of Adam’s excuses, the fact is, he has fallen into death through sin. He is guilty and now liable to divine wrath.

We need to perceive the wickedness of fallen man. It is astounding! We now enjoy the grace that God is about to institute in Gen. 3:14ff. Consequently we yet see the dignity of man and validate his created worth as ‘image of God’ because God was pleased to salvage creation from an immediate plunge into hell! But look at Adam as he stands in God’s court prior to the bestowal of grace. What we see is a man fully deserving of death and wrath. There he stands having abandoned his wife, quit his job, plunged his family into danger and poverty, defected to the side of the Devil, audaciously accusing God of sin, and all he can do is whine about his circumstances and about how uncomfortable he feels! Adam is ancient, but his family likeness is all too modern.

Where are you, friend? Are you self-absorbed in self-pity and complaints? Do you find yourself blameshifting and arguing against God? Have you violated the law of your Creator? Are you a guilty sinner deserving of hell? If we would have a Biblical view of ourselves, we must see the astounding wickedness of our fallen proto-parent, Adam. We do not realize how drastically depraved Adam became in the fall. We know ourselves only in terms of God’s grace which, as we’ll see, prevented creation’s plunge into hell. But the sober truth is that we are every bit as wicked as Adam was in the fall. We need to be saved! We need to realize that our sin brings us to defy God and defect to the side of evil. It is horrifying to think of what fallen man would be were it not for the grace of God! It is only by grace that God restrains sin and works to redeem sinners. Do you know that you are a sinner? Have you turned from your rebellion to trust in Christ the only Savior of sinners? Friend, where are you?

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