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Where Are You?
~Genesis 3:8-13~
In-person service at Temple Baptist Church
(850 Venice Blvd., at Oak)
William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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“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.9But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman whom thou gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:8-13
Introduction
Up to this point in scripture we have declarative statements that simply state unequivocally certain things as matter of fact. No apology is made. No explanation is given. No defense is offered. All we have in the opening pages of sacred writ are affirmations declared with certainty.
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”
Then a series of creative acts occur with announcements followed by assessments.
In those creative acts, our life finds meaning as patterns emerge that shape and fortify existence with design and purpose.
3And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
What we find in these opening pages of scripture, according to Ann Graham Lotz, is God’s story. Here are memoirs of an eyewitness. The eyewitness to creation is God, who through revelation discloses reality heretofore hidden. This record tells who
God is, how God is and where God is at work in our lives. God is eternal, not bound by time or space. God is greater than creation. We learn that God takes the initiative and is active in big ways, small ways, and unseen ways. God fills the emptiness of existence and transforms it. God provides what is necessary to maintain and sustain existence with all that has been given.
Consider what it means that the Lord is the creative force behind all that exist.
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The record we find in the opening pages of scripture is unparalleled in its applicability to our lives and unmatched in its practicality for our lives. This record adds to life’s purpose by answering basic questions: Does life have real meaning? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?
In these verses that focus our attention we find God asking a question. This is the first question we have in scripture. This question is simple and direct as it has implications for us. Typically, we approach faith with a list of questions and concerns. Before we believe, we want answers to justify our faith. We have a variety of questions we want to ask God. Sometimes we are like Job, “oh that I knew where I might find him, for I will fill my mouth with arguments and order my case before him.” (Job 23:4). We would ask why is life unfair? Why are prayers seemingly unanswered? Why do bad things happen to good people? The Lord gave Job an audience to raise his inquiries, but the Lord wanted Job to answer the Lord’s inquiries first. After hearing the inquiries of the Lord, Job capitulated that the character, knowledge and wisdom of the Lord was beyond his understanding. He responds in humility and repentance and acknowledges that he overstepped his boundary. (Job 38:4 – 42:6)
Here in the opening pages of scripture we find the Lord asking a question.
Bruce Larson in his book, What God Wants To Know, suggests that the answers to life’s vital concerns and our questions about God can be found in our response to the questions God asks us. Put all of your questions aside for a moment and explore the implications of this question in the opening pages of scripture which is the first question in scripture asked by God: Where are you?
Consider what it means to respond to the questions the Lord asks you.
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Here is a marvelous pericope that describes life generally for us all. It is about the story of us. Everything is fine and life is great from the start. Then something happens and everything seems to spin out of control. The conversation in the opening dialogue in chapter three suggests that we doubt God’s word, we distrust God’s will, we ignore God’s goodness and we therefore chose to disobey God’s expectations. Now get this, the Lord continues to come to us with a presence that is made known. Then, we hear God and we hide out of fear and guilt because we don’t want to face the Lord.
The question is for us to determine where we are in our relationship with the Lord. Where are You? Doubting, distrusting, denying, disobeying, discerning - these all lead to distancing ourselves from the Lord and wanting to hide when we sense the Lord’s presence. The Lord creates and pursues the relationship. That is where God always is, pursuing us, coming to us and asking us where we are in this relationship. There is a sense in which you seem unavailable. When I come to you, you hide. Why? Where are you? The response we find in this passage offers some useful insights for us all.
Consider what it means to assess where you are in your relationship with the Lord (doubting, distrusting, disobeying, discerning).
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Wednesday, August 9, 2023 | |
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First, when we sense that the Lord is near we are afraid.
Isn’t that strange. On the one hand we want the Lord to be present to us and on the other hand we do not. We want to control and orchestrate the relationship to our benefit without regard for what the Lord requires. We want the Lord to do what we want, when we want, like we want without taking under consideration that relationships are bound by mutual respect which includes reciprocity.
We are afraid because we know we doubt, distrust, deny and disobey. We abuse and misuse our privilege and violate the restrictions that the Lord imposes on us. We are not ready for what is required to be in harmony with the Lord. We keep putting it off: One day I'll get right with God but not right now.
They were afraid and hiding because they were exposed. What it means to be naked is simply a way of saying that your vulnerability has been exposed and you saw yourself in all of your helplessness, defenselessness, and weakness. You can easily be duped into violating the restrictions that are imposed by the relationship you have with the Lord; you go beyond the boundary, and doing so demonstrates lack of trust in the
One who has provided all that you have, enjoy and need.
Let the passage tell its story.
"They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (v. 8a). This has a lovely sound to it––the Lord God walking in the garden at evening time––a pleasant, cool breeze stirring. The late afternoon is a special time of day in a Mediterranean climate––"when the sea breeze flows in to replace the hot air rising off the land at the end of the day"
Gardens have a quiet beauty that soothes us, and walking in the midst of such beauty relaxes us. The sound of the Lord God walking through the garden should be pleasant to the man and the woman, because it is the Lord God who put them in these pleasant surroundings––who provided for them so generously. Genesis includes the phrase, "walked with God," three times (5:22, 24; 6:9––see also 17:1; 24:40)–each time expressing a favorable opinion about a Godly person.
What should have been a pleasant experience became one of discomfort; the mere thought of the Lord coming to fellowship with you causes you to hide putting the Lord in the position of asking where are you?
Consider what it means to hide from the Lord
because you are afraid of being in the Lord’s presence.
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Thursday, August 10, 2023 | |
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Second, rather than answer the Lord’s question, an explanation is given to explain away what has happened.
We don’t want to be found out. We hide to cover ourselves from being found out and when we are confronted we play the blame game.
"and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden" (v. 8b). The Godly presence brings fear rather than joy to those whose consciences convict them of what they have done. In this case, "the man and woman who wanted so much to be 'like God,' rather than obtaining the stature of deity, are afraid even to commune with him”.
The man and woman hide from God "among the trees of the garden"––among the trees that God provided so that the man and woman could freely eat of their produce (2:16). The man and woman now use God's gift as a barrier to separate themselves from God.
"Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are you?'" (v. 9).
"The man said, 'I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself'" (v. 10). The man doesn't answer God's question, but instead explains why he was hiding. His response reflects a troubled conscience.
"I was naked" (v. 10). This brings to mind happier days when, "They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." (2:25). Now the man is naked and afraid. Public nakedness in the ancient Near East and in the Bible
was a terrible disgrace.
"I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself" (v. 10). "The speech of the indicted couple is revealing, for it is all 'I.' Therein lies the primal offense: 'I heard..., I was afraid..., I was naked; I hid.... I ate.... I ate (3:10-13). Their own speech indicts them. It makes it clear that their preoccupation with the Gardener, with his vocation, his permission, his prohibition, has been given up. Now the preoccupation is 'I'." They abandoned their responsibility to manage the garden with the limits of self-imposed restraints.
"God said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?'" (v. 11). God earlier asked, "Where are you?" (v. 9)–a question that functioned as an accusation. Now God asks two more questions that also function as accusations. The first is, "Who told you that you were naked?" The man had always been naked, but hadn't considered that to be a problem during his time of innocence. It is only after his sin that he recognizes the reality of his nakedness––that it causes him embarrassment. "Who told you that you were naked?" is an interesting question, given that only the woman or the serpent could have told the man that he was naked. The second question, "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" strips away any hope that the man might have that he can fool God––that he might devise an effective alibi for his nakedness and his strange behavior. God's question reveals that God knows what the man has done.
Consider what it means that your hiding is occasioned by
what you have done that would not be acceptable to the Lord.
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Third, when we sense that the Lord is near we hide ourselves in shame and the Lord covers us with protection.
We looked for a way to be absolved of any responsibility by playing the blame game. The man blamed the woman, and the woman blamed the snake. Neither wanted to take responsibility for what they had done.
Look at the situation with which we are living. The blame game falsely utilizing our intellectual prowess to make wrong right, to make harm helpful, to make good bad, and ethical unethical. Look at the loggerheads in which we are deadlocked. Irresistible
force meeting unmovable wall.
It has been said that a mouse would not make a mouse trap. Look at what we have done with what God has given us. We make guns, atomic and nuclear bombs, weapons of mass destruction. Look at what we are doing.
Built into the fabric of life is protection. Built into the fabric of the universe is protection. Even when we are unfaithful and violate the restrictions, even when we breach the boundary of the limits that have been set, God remains faithful by providing the necessary protection required to cover our disgrace and shame.
The first thing the Lord does is cover you with what you need by sacrificing what can amend the discomfort you experience because of your deed.
Then the Lord drives you from where you are to where you have to go, as you continue to have the responsibility to make of your life what God intended as you fulfill your potential.
We as Christians believe that Jesus is the answer to restoring our right to the tree of life. What we lose due to our reneging on our responsibility to manage what we have been given; what we lose when we violate the prohibitions; what we lose when we breach the restrictions. God restores another opportunity for what we have lost to be restored in Jesus Christ.
Consider what it means that the Lord covers our embarrassment and shame by doing what is necessary to restore what we lose when we fail to trust the Lord.
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Saturday, August 12, 2023 | |
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Conclusion
The Bible lets us know that we hide from the Lord but that the Lord does not hide from us. The Lord comes to us. In the fullness of time God sent forth his son born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. (Galatians 4:4)
I heard an old, old story, / How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary / To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning, / Of His precious blood's atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.
I heard about His healing, / Of His cleansing pow'r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again / And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, / Come and heal my broken spirit,"
And somehow Jesus came and bro't
To me the victory.
Chorus
O victory in Jesus, / My Savior, forever. / He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood; / He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him, / He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
Consider what it means that when we hide from the Lord, the Lord
does not hide from us, but comes to us where we are to alleviate
our disgrace and shame and restore us through grace.
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