“Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (Genesis 3:11, NIV 1984).
My Musings – Unfortunately, sometimes we hang out too close to the tree and too often and we “eat from the tree.” We try to hide from what we did, not wanting anyone else to know. But God knows, and eventually He will confront. When “God called to the man, ‘Where are you?'” (Genesis 3:9, NIV 1984), He knew where he was. And it wasn’t about where they were hiding physically. He wanted Adam and Eve to know where they were in relationship to Him. Of course, they knew they had done wrong. They now had that knowledge.
Don’t we all hate confrontation? Especially after having done something, we were told not to do.
Our natural inclination is to make excuses. “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” (Genesis 3:12, NIV 1984).
Or shift the blame. “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:13, NIV 1984).
But we are still accountable for our actions. For the bad choices we make.
To the woman he said. “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.“ (Genesis 3:16, NIV 1984).
To Adam he said. “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘you must not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food.” (Genesis 3:17–19, NIV 1984).
With accountability comes consequences.
Paradise was lost. “So, the Lord God banished him from the Garden.” (Genesis 3:23, NIV 1984).
The world outside the garden was cursed. “It will produce thorns and thistles for you.” (Genesis 3:18, NIV 1984).
Death came to mankind. “You [will] return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19, NIV 1984).
Fellowship with the Creator was broken. No more of the familiar sound of God “walking in the garden in the cool of the day,” (Ge 3:8, NIV 1984), as He came to spend time with His most beloved creations. The worst of the consequences.
My Advice – As the old saying goes, “one bad apple spoils the whole barrel.” One bad choice in the garden spoiled it for all mankind thereafter. For Adam and Eve, “the Lord God made garments of skin,” (Genesis 3:21, NIV 1984), to cover their shame. For all mankind, “gave his one and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16, NIV 1984), to remove the curse. Be one among the “whoever.“
The Brew Is A Musing 