Thank you for the question regarding God and Adam in the Garden, “Why did God, according to the OT, asked Adam when he hid in a bush, “Where are you?” Didn’t God know or was he testing Adam? (Correction made so the question is clearer, I hope.)
The broader text of Genesis 3 says this, “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. 7 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” 8 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. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid”(NIV).
Here are some thoughts for one’s consideration of why did God asked Adam, “Where are you?”
A. The Scripture states that God came to the Garden to fellowship with Adam and Eve.
After God made Adam and Eve, God didn’t abandon them in the Garden. God came and fellowship with them. They heard the sound of the LORD as he walked in the Garden toward them. This implies that they were aware of the sound that God made and they knew that he was present that day.
B. The Scripture implies that Adam and Eve would come forth to talk with God in the Garden.
It is reasonable to assume that when one hears a person coming toward him/her that the person moves forward to greet that person. It may have been in the past experiences between God and Adam/Eve when they heard the sound of the God walking in the Garden that would meet and greet him. They were delighted that God came and and talk with them.
C. The Scripture states that Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves to cover themselves and hid themselves from God.
This was an unusual conduct of Adam and Eve. When God created them, they were naked and felt no shame. Now they felt shame after eating the forbidden fruit and to cover their shame they made coverings for themselves.
The text states that Adam (and Eve) hid themselves among the trees or vegetation’s in the Garden. They lingered in their coming to God. Did Adam and Eve think that they can actually hide from God so that he didn’t see them?The answer is “No” but their hiding from God was that they were aware that they had disobey God and ate the forbidden fruit. They didn’t want to be confronted with their disobedience.
D. The Scripture states that God called Adam and Eve to come forth from wherever they were at and to meet him.
It is my conjecture that Adam and Eve didn’t approach God as they had in the past. They remained silent perhaps hoping that God will leave! God took the initiative to call them. He should have to do that since they his presence.
God gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to confess their actions. He didn’t want to accuse them before they had a chance to respond to him. It was Adam who finally spoke up. He acknowledges that he heard the sound of God and declares that he knew that he was naked so he hid from God. Adam really didn’t want to confess to God what he did, but mentioned the outward sign of his condition. He was naked. They had their fig leaves on which showed that they were ashamed. They did something they weren’t suppose to do at all. They ate the forbidden fruit.
God gave Adam and Eve every opportunity to be honest with their actions by saying that they ate the forbidden fruit. God took three steps toward Adam and Eve. He came to them, waited for them to come to him, and finally he had to call them. God didn’t accuse them up front. He wanted them to admit what they have done. They were afraid and ashamed of their own actions.
SUMMARY: God knew what Adam and Eve did, but he wanted them to say what they did. They didn’t want to accept the responsibility of their action nor were they repentant of their action. They just wanted to put as much distance between themselves and God. Adam and Eve failed the test of honesty with God and with each other.
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