GOD SPEAKS
Chapter 1 Where are You?
“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.” [Genesis 3:8-10]
The background to this story is so well known, yet it does no harm to see what lies at the heart of this incident – this fundamental incident that has impacted so profoundly on the human race.
Our first parents enjoyed a close relationship with God. It is obvious that God visited them and was on intimate terms with Adam and Eve. They had everything that they could ever have wanted:
- They had a very personal and secure relationship with God and were able to converse with Him freely. There were obvious boundaries in the relationship because God commanded respect simply by virtue of who He was – however, there was a respectful familiarity between our first parents and the Lord.
- They enjoyed a fruitful life in a beautiful and uncomplicated environment. The Creation they enjoyed was fully integrated and they had a place of responsibility given to them by God to tend for this creation.
- They enjoyed an integrated personal life, free from the corruption of sin and everything in their experience was wholesome.
Our first parents were given a test by God. In the Garden there was a full orchard of trees, all bearing fruit – good fruit. Our first parents were free to eat from any tree, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What was the significance of this tree and the test that God provided for our first parents – indeed why did God test them in the first place?
The Tree is both real and symbolic. It is as real as any of the other trees but God has set it apart for a specific purpose – to test the loyalty and integrity of our first parents. It is simple really when you think about it. God is in effect saying to them, “Look you can have everything that there is in this beautiful garden and world – it’s all yours. However, in order to test your faithfulness, trustworthiness and reliability, I am going to give you this one simple test – have everything, but leave that tree alone!
More than that, if you break faith with me on this, I will know I cannot trust you and you will die!”
That simple test is reasonable of God – he has every right to verify and authenticate our first parents’ commitment - it is wholly reasonable for Him to create this test. We are made free, with free will and are given a reasonable choice by God. Everything has to be tested in order to verify whether or not it works and the same is true of ourselves. The test is not a trap; it is a test of loyalty and love. God does not want us to fail.
For a moment, think of medical science. A new drug is discovered that will significantly help people with Parkinson’s disease. Is that drug immediately put on the market? – Of course not! It has to undergo clinical trials to see if it is effective and to see what potential side-effects there might be for patients who take this drug. Many a potential drug has failed at this hurdle. It is a reasonable and a responsible thing to do! God is therefore fully justified in his request and test.
God allows Satan to tempt our first parents!
The imagery of Genesis may seem a bit bizarre to us – the serpent. However, it would have been very clear to the readers of Genesis who the serpent was and what he stood for. It poses the question for us as to where Satan came from, who he is and why he behaves in the way he does!
The Bible indicates that there are at least two types of morally accountable creations of God – one wholly spiritual and the other physical but with a spiritual part to them as well. Angels are wholly spiritual beings, created before human beings and possibly even prior to the creation of the material universe. They exist as messengers of God and have a fully integrated emotional and moral sensitivity. The Bible further indicates that one of these angels – one who possessed great authority and called Satan made a decision that to be a creature was not enough – he wanted God’s place and thus set himself up in opposition to God. Jesus was tempted by Satan and in Luke 10 there is reference to the great fall of Satan. Indeed it is possible that Satan was the highest among God’s angels and yet he was not content with being the servant and coveted God’s place!
Satan is therefore allowed or permitted to test Adam and Eve.
[We might think this unfair but here is a good example of a test:
During the great purge of the Christian Church in Cambodia, a company of government troops waited outside a church for the service to end. As the people trooped out they were met with an ultimatum – deny Christ and live or be shot. One of the first people out was an elder in the church. He rationalised that in these trying and desperate times the people of God and his country would need him and so he denied his faith and was allowed to live. A teenage girl behind him – she wept as she refused to deny the One who would never deny her - was shot! The test was brutal, yet who passed?]
It is interesting to follow the conversation between Satan and Eve. Satan begins by sounding eminently reasonable and yet at the same time he seeks to undermine the integrity of God:
“Really?” he asked the woman. “Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?” [Genesis 3:1]
[“The devil’s snare does not catch you, unless you are first caught by the devil’s bait”– Ambrose]
Satan is so subtle. He knows full well what God said but this is his opening gambit to draw Eve in. The subtlety of temptation is that it appears at first to be harmless. Here is an example from a recent conversation I had with Walter whose life is now in ruins.
“It all began when Jo and I got to know each other at church choir. I really liked her and enjoyed her company. I convinced myself that it was ok for me to pursue a friendship with her that did not involve my wife. Her husband did not come to church and so Jo was in need of personal support. As I look back on it I was attracted to her, but I told myself that there was no harm in the friendship. You get drawn in at the beginning and it is like stepping on to a spider’s web – you convince yourself, you are on safe ground and doing nothing wrong. I started to think about her more and more and then the fantasies began – I told myself I could control this and that I was doing nothing wrong. I convinced myself of that even after the first kiss. It began with a lie and was built on lie after lie until the inevitable happened. My life and her life is now in ruins – so too is my wife’s and my children and her husband’s and her children. The church has been devastated and will take a long time to recover. Why did I listen to my own foolishness?”
But Adam did listen and so did Eve. Eve is being drawn in. Jesus would not have debated with Satan – He would simply have dismissed him – see Luke chapter 4!
“Of course we may eat it,” the woman told him. “It’s only the fruit from the tree at the centre of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it or we will die.” [Genesis 3:2,3]
Now on the one hand Eve is right – she affirms what God has said. She does add that they were told not to touch it and that was not the case. Now, later on, Eve might have said that God should have spoken to her there and then in order to prevent her from taking this ruinous course of action. But God had already given clear instruction. There are times when we are seeking guidance for life and we want God to speak directly to us – a voice, a dream, a visitation of some kind. Let’s go back to our friend Walter. Was God silent in all of this? No! God had spoken very clearly to Walter. Here is what had happened:
- Walter never sought advice from any other source than himself and was led by his instincts – the issue was not brought before Jesus in humble prayer or to another friend.
- Jesus would have pointed Walter immediately to his own wife and told him that he owed his faithfulness to her alone. If this woman needed special help he could have referred the matter to his wife and let her deal with it.
- As his feelings deepened for Jo, Jesus would have challenged him with the 10th commandment about not coveting another man’s wife. Jesus would then have reminded him that lust was a sin against his wife and God. Finally Jesus would have reminded him of the 7th commandment – not to commit adultery.
In other words, God did speak to Walter – very clearly and on many different levels – he simply chose not to hear. He cannot therefore complain that God did not intervene. The above principle can be put into effect right across the board in our lives. God has very clearly spoken to us in Jesus on a whole range of issues – are we absorbing his word and listening to what he has to say?
Eve entertains a conversation that should have ended there and then. What is the point of speculating over something that she has so clearly understood?
Satan then moves from, “Did God really say?” to the following:
“You won’t die!” the serpent hissed. “God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.” [Genesis 3:4,5]
I like Kenneth Jarman’s quote which brings the temptation of Eve right into our own times:
“WHAT TREE ARE YOU EATING THE FRUIT THEREOF?
The devil comes to us daily and entices us.
And offers to us many different kinds of fruit.
To some he offers the fruit of Alcohol.
(One little drink won’t hurt, go ahead it’ll make you feel better after a hard day’s work.)
(Come on with us to the club tonight. Boy will we have fun.)
To some he offers the fruit of Drugs
(Cocaine, heroin, crack, marijuana, and yes even prescription drugs.)
(One little joint of marijuana won’t hurt it’s not habit forming,
why some doctors even give it to their patients for medicinal purposes.)
To some he offers the fruit of tobacco.
(Smoking relaxes you when you’re up tight or stressed out)
(Can’t get cancer from chewing tobacco)
To some he offers the fruit of pornography (thru magazines, movies, and the internet.)
(It doesn’t hurt to look as long as you don’t touch.)
To some he offers the fruit of being abusive (yes some people get a kick out of being abusive, makes them feel like they’re in charge, the authority figure when in truth they’re nothing but the devil’s wimp)
To some he offers the fruit of lust
(Premarital sex, unfaithfulness, an affair with someone other than your spouse, it won’t hurt as long as nobody knows.)
To some he offers the fruit of materialism
(Can’t pay my rent, but I’ve got to have that new car. Can’t buy groceries but I’ve got to have that new wide screen T.V. Can’t buy my kid shoes but I’ve got to have that new VCR so I can watch my rental movies.)
The fruit Satan has to offer is all full of lies."
Kenneth Jarman
Satan very clearly undermines what God has said and replaces it with his own version of reality: “You won’t die!” – was that the outcome? He is immediately found out as the liar Jesus depicted him when he described Satan as the “Father of lies” [John 8:44]
“God knows your eyes will be opened” – that was true. But look what happened when they were opened!
“You will become just like God” – isn’t it the case that we so often reflect our true selves and motives in what we say. This is what Satan wanted and he was perhaps blind enough to believe he had achieved it. Here is the big temptation – be greater than you are. Don’t be content with who you are and what you have. Grasp for power!
“Knowing everything, both good and evil”. First of all, no-one can know everything unless they are omnipotent and that is impossible for a created being. Satan further suggests that God knows both good and evil – He, Satan, knows good and evil. God only knows good in his own being and experience – evil is both foreign and offensive to him.
We live in a world where there are so many competing voices and opinions. How do we discern the voice of God? We have his revelation in Jesus. It is sufficient for us to know His Word, absorb it, practice it and agree with it. Then we will be able to discern the voice of God in what he is calling us to do and be.
Eve, though, was convinced by Satan and so the battle was lost with ease. What she did was evil in the sense that she was acting directly and knowingly against the will of God. She also acted against another human being by persuading her husband to join her in this act of disobedience. We see therefore the full impact of all disobedience – it affects our relationship with God, our relationship with others, our own good and our relationship to the world.
What Eve did was evil in that she drew Adam into her treachery. She was not content to “fall” herself, she had to bring Adam down with her. This is the nature of human reality. We want to bring people down to our own level of reality and experience in order for us to feel comfortable and justified where we are. Had it been the other way round, Adam would have done the same thing to Eve.
Here is a simple example. Two boys go into a shop, one with the intention of stealing and the other with no such intention. While in the shop one of the boys persuades the other to take a “minor” role by distracting the shopkeeper while he steals some sweets. This is what happens even though the other boy is unhappy with his involvement. Both boys are therefore culpable and there is a level playing ground at the end of the day.
Our first parents both become immediately aware of the enormity of what they have done and there is now no going back. They then hear these haunting words, “Where are you?” Before this, they would have innocently, happily and willingly have responded, glad to hear the voice of God – fear has now taken over! They hide!
“Where are you?” This is God speaking to us and he still comes to us with these very words. How do we understand them when we hear them?
Are these the angry words of someone who knows what has happened and is out to expose the couple? Is there threat and judgment behind these words? Are Adam and Eve right to be afraid and to try and hide from the potential wrath of God?
Or are these words of concern? I am thinking back to when Alistair was very young and we were in Marks and Spencer’s. One minute he was with us, and the next he was gone – every parent’s nightmare! “Where are you Alistair?” was not the voice of anger – it was a voice of heart-felt concern! Thankfully he was playing hide and seek with us behind some clothes!
Is it therefore the same voice as that of the Good Shepherd who goes out looking for the one lost sheep [see Luke 15:1-7]? Is it the longing of the shepherd to find what was wilfully and stupidly lost? Is it the same voice of the shepherd that when he finds what he has lost, carries home his sheep and does so with a glad heart?
“Where are you?” Is that the voice of God calling out to us at this moment and asking for an honest answer? As Jesus said, it is only the truth that sets us free, but what we understand as the nature and intention of that voice will make the world of difference to how we respond. He is standing near to us now and saying, “Where are you?”
Do you hear this voice and fear it? Are you afraid He wants to judge you and find you guilty? Are you afraid he will not accept you because you feel unworthy of his grace and love? Do you remain hidden because you are afraid of the consequences of coming out into the open and hearing words of rejection?
Where are you in relation to God? Are you lost? Are you hearing the concerned voice of our divine parent calling out through Jesus Christ? Are you hearing the beginning of an invitation to come to him and be confident that you will receive a welcome? Are you hearing a life-changing voice that wants to rescue you, draw you to himself, make and keep you safe and carry you home? Are you hearing the voice of the Great Forgiver?
Have you been a Christian for some time and are hearing the voice asking this haunting question – “Where are you?” Are you hearing in that, the same voice implying, “I expected to see you more active in discipleship, but you seem so lost somehow?” Perhaps you are like the church to which Jesus said, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in and we will share a meal as friends.” [Revelation 3:20]. Is this the voice of Jesus speaking to us [notice that this is not an evangelistic word to non-Christians!] and asking us to re-establish our intimacy and friendship with him?
“Where are you?” Have we fallen into some sin that has taken us right outwith the will of God? Is it the sin of sexual lust, envy, greed, anger of some kind, unforgiveness – the list could go on? We have stepped right outside of godly life and the Lord comes to us and says “Where are you?” He knows we are lost – he wants us to realise, by the question, how far outside of his will we have stepped.
Are we hearing the voice, “Where are you?” How is it speaking to us? How can we respond to it? Will we hear it with humble, repentant, thankful hearts, and whatever the need, return to Jesus?
How did our first parents respond to the voice? Their first response was fear. Where there is fear, love has been lost. Up until now Adam and Eve had a confident and simple relationship with God where they felt secure and loved – that is now gone and has been replaced with fear. Not a healthy fear – something nearer to reverence and respect, but a fear that wants to hide and not face up to the consequences of its actions. Fear because of wilful sin has now drawn a wedge in the relationship between God and our first parents.
Imagine if this instead had been the initial response from Adam. “We are so ashamed. You trusted us not to eat the fruit and keep faith with you but we have failed. We are afraid and we are so sorry and we want to ask your forgiveness!” There are no excuses or mitigating circumstances there: How do you think God would have received that? I am thinking again as a parent. Our own children are foolish enough to think that we parents don’t know when they are lying! When I confront one of the kids over something that is seriously wrong, why am I doing it? I am principally looking for an admission of wrongdoing, in order that we might put things right! What I normally get is either a lie or an excuse in the first place. Now, I will press the issue until we get to the truth [A truth I often know] in order to repair the relationship with me and get them to put right what is wrong. That is to be a responsible parent.
Adam and Eve respond predictably to the question, “Where are you?” and the subsequent questioning of God.
“It wasn’t my fault, it was Eve’s” says Adam. Indeed Adam not only accuses Eve, he also implies it was God’s fault too – “But it was the woman you gave me….” It is amazing how often we play out the blame game. We are going to preserve our ego at all costs when confronted with blame and guilt! Let me play out [with a wee bit of humour] something that might happen in our own home:
I lose my temper with Linda – whose fault is it? I am not prepared to take the responsibility for my own anger, therefore if Linda had acted differently, I would not have lost my temper. It has therefore got to be her fault – simple!
We are having an argument about one of the children and that is why I have become angry and lost my temper! “It was your son who did this!” implying of course that the fault lay in the genes that came from his mother and not my own!
In other words, we like to lay the blame for our own short-comings at the door of another person. The problem is that there is a large degree of truth in what we are saying. Eve was culpable, but Adam did not need to allow himself to be persuaded to do wrong. He must therefore face up to his own culpability.
Of course Eve played the same game as Adam – it was the serpent’s fault! Everybody else is to blame except the person who is really to blame. I remember when I was a prison chaplain and how weary I became listening to all of the “innocent” people that our “evil” system had locked up and how it was always someone else to blame. It’s amazing how psychological ideas have taken root in people’s minds and how easily we revert to them in order to excuse our own wrong-doing. I mean by that that for everything that is wrong in our lives or circumstances we look for a scapegoat – we blame our social environment, our parents, a sibling, our school, an adverse circumstance in life - and the list could go on. For our own faults and failings there is a growing list of “isms” that we can run to in order to describe a personal failure or inadequacy. It is good to identify where the root of a certain weakness or failing in our personality may lie. However, here are the significant departure points:
- Never play the blame game and point the finger at others and blame them for your behaviour.
- Accept that you live in a sinful, fallen and imperfect world and that everyone and every circumstance in your world will be imperfect – as indeed will you and I.
- Take responsibility for your life. Do not seek to apportion blame to anyone but yourself. Admit your wrongdoing, seek forgiveness and reconciliation and ask God’s help to make you change.
- A person cannot move on and grow until they stop casting around to blame others for their own sins and mistakes!
God spoke to our first parents, “Where are you?” He is saying the same thing to you and me. How are we hearing what he is saying, will we seek to give an honest answer [that may be painful], and where, indeed, are we?