Did You Eat? – Genesis 3:8-13

The vulnerability that leads to intimacy in relationships is fraught with danger.  If I really share myself with you, will you use it against me.  If I let you see my not-so-attractive aspects, will you decide you cannot love me?  Adam and Eve find that their having sinned has made intimacy all the more difficult, even though it is the key to loving relationship.

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:8–13, ESV)

That Yahweh Elohim is walking in the garden suggests that He has taken a human form and makes it likely that this is the Son of God who is Yahweh on earth (see here and here).  He comes in the cool of the day, perhaps a scheduled meeting with Yahweh that took place daily.  Only this day, the meeting is very different.

Adam and Eve are hiding when Yahweh comes in the garden.  They are afraid, Adam says, because they are naked.  They are not afraid because they have disobeyed Yahweh, though that is what they should really be fearful about.  Nevertheless, Yahweh seeks them out, knowing, of course, what they have done, but questioning them to help them see their choices and the consequences.

When Yahweh asks Adam if he ate from the forbidden tree, Adam throws his wife under the bus, blaming Eve and God (the woman You gave me) for his failure.  One can only imagine what Eve was thinking at this moment.  The man she had learned to trust put himself above her to save his own skin.  No sacrifice for her at all!

When Yahweh asks Eve about it, she blames the serpent.  Both the man and the woman have sought to shift responsibility from themselves to another, rather than own up to their own guilt.  What started as a selfish desire to be God, to be able to determine for themselves what was good and what was evil, ends up in a blame game to save themselves.  The desire for self-rule evidences a self-centered spirit.