Genesis 3:6-7
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Most of us have seen the “Where’s Waldo?” children’s books that became popular a number of years ago. On every page there are pictures filled with images of hundreds of tiny figures and your task is to find the character with the striped shirt named “Waldo.”
The question that should come to mind in Genesis 3 is, “Where’s Adam?”
According to Genesis 2, God created the man, Adam, first and gave him the very clear instructions:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are to free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for if you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)
Then in Genesis 3 we are told that the serpent approached the woman, Eve, with the question and the lie:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
So the question is why? Why did the serpent approach Eve, and where is Adam? If we read closely, we see where Adam is:
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Italics mine)
There he is! Adam was standing right there when the serpent twisted the command of God; questioned the goodness of God; and lied to Eve about the promise of God. Adam was there; but Adam was silent.
We have to ask, “Why? Why was Adam silent when he knew the serpent was misrepresenting God and lying to his wife?”
Maybe Adam was afraid of the serpent. Maybe he was intimidated by the serpent’s intelligence or appearance.
Maybe Adam secretly wanted to try the forbidden fruit himself, so he just let the serpent do his thing and hoped Eve would fall for it.
Whatever the reason, Adam knew God’s command, and he failed to use God’s word to protect his wife from the serpent’s lies.
We tend to think of the first sin as Eve eating from the forbidden fruit. Not so; the first sin of the garden was Adam failing to protect his wife with the truth of God’s word.
What a powerful and poignant reminder that we will be held accountable not only for what we do; but also for what we fail to do.
Brian Coffey
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