The Cover Up Part 1
“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”[1]
Adam and Eve “knew” they had disobeyed YAH and they knew that could not hide the fact that they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Yes, they had no cloths but that was not the issue. The issue was they could not hide the fact of their sin and they, from that point on stood before YAH “naked”, they could not hide what they had done.
Like us today when we sin we try to cover it up, that’s just the nature of sin. You rob a store or a bank you put on a mask, you cheat on your spouse you find a place out of town so no one will see the two of you together. By its nature you try to hide your sins and Adam and eve were no different.
Through their own work and their own planning, they thought by sewing fig leaves together, they could hide the fact from an all-knowing GOD that they had disobeyed Him! But nothing they could make, no matter how big the leaf might be, could ever cover their sin and they would stand before YAH naked no matter how hard they tried to cover it up. If I put the bacon between two pieces of toast and then put lettuce on one side and tomato on the other YAH won’t see it? Maybe if I bread that pork chop He won’t see what’s underneath the breading?
And they heard the sound of יהוה Elohim walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of יהוה Elohim among the trees of the garden.[2]
How do you “hide” yourself from the presents of an all present, all knowing GOD? Do we think that if we do whatever we do in the dark, behind closed door or with our eyes closed that YAH will not see… how crazy is that? Nothing escaped the sight of YAH. We will always stand naked before Him. Not only does He see what we do but sees our intent as well.
So when I do that good deed, He see that self-righteous heart of mine and that ego of mine that won’t quit… I can’t hide it from Him, no matter how hard I try. There is no fig leaf big enough, no tree forest thick enough for me to hide the true intent of my heart behind or in. I am naked and have nothing to say in my defense.
But יהוה Elohim called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[3]
This is one of the saddest portions of Tanack to me. “Where are you?” YAH asks the same question to you and me “Where are you?” where is my heart, where are your desires, what are our priorities? Do we love Him with ALL our hearts, mind and soul or are we halfhearted at best. “Where are you?” where are we in our relationship with Him, how committed are we to our Father in heaven?
I’m not talking about how religious we are or how often we may attend church or synagogue or even how many good deed you do, I’m talking about where am I , where are you in your relationship with YAH.
YAH asked the same question to us every day of our lives… “Where are you?”
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”[4]
YAH knew where they were, He knew what they had done. How is it that Adam was now “afraid”, he didn’t know fear up until now? My guess… fear come from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam’s new knowledge of good and evil told him he had disobeyed YAH and that disobedience to YAH was, is and will always be wrong.
No one had to teach Adam about fear, nor did anyone need to tell Adam he was naked; it came free with his new, knowledge of good and evil. That new found knowledge was something he could never change or put behind him. It was a consequence of his actions, of his disobedience to YAH. Adam knew he had no defense for is actions.
Even though our sins may be forgiven their effects, their repercussions will follow us and haunt us all the way to the grave; just ask the person in prison, the spouse who cheated, the drug addict or the drunk driver.
The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.[5]
Isn’t that just like man, proud, arrogant, self-righteous, always blaming someone else, and never taking responsibility for our own actions? Adam blames his wife first then then he blames YAH. He never confessed his sin, he never asked for forgiveness, he just blamed everyone else for his shortcomings.
Then יהוה Elohim said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”[6]
When asked by YAH “What is this that you have done?” the woman says “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” She admits she was “deceived” by the serpent but she also confesses “I ate”. She didn’t blame the man, she didn’t even blame the serpent… she confesses “I ate”, she took responsibility for her actions unlike man.
How was the woman deceived, where did her understanding of the knowledge of good and evil come from; why is her understanding different than that of Adam’s; where was Adam while all this was going on? We will look at that in part 2.
[1] Gen 3:7
[2] Gen 3:8
[3] Gen 3:9
[4] Gen 3:10-11
[5] Gen 3:12
[6] Gen 3:13