Chapter 4 · Encounter 37 of 48
Made for His Presence
Prepare
The Bible gives us a surprisingly ordinary picture of God's presence: God walking in a garden in the cool of the day. But sin has disrupted the relationship. When the man and woman hear God approaching, rather than welcoming him, they hide.
As you read, notice what they do when they hear God approaching and how he responds. Then consider God's later promise to Israel and what it reveals about the relationship he desires with his people.
Read Scripture
Open each passage here without leaving this Encounter.
Gen. 3:8-13
8Then 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. 9But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Lev. 26:11-13
11I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. 12I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
Ponder
- When Adam and Eve hear God approaching, they hide. What does their response reveal about the effect of sin on their relationship with him? What do God's words and actions reveal about his response to their hiding?
- In Leviticus 26:11–13, God promises to dwell among his people and walk among them, to be their God. How does this promise illuminate the earlier scene in Genesis? What does it reveal about God's continuing desire for relationship despite humanity's rebellion?
Lev. 26:11-13
11I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. 12I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
Look Again
Did you notice the connection between God's movement in these two passages?
In Genesis 3:8 8Then 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. 12I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. Gen. 3:8
Lev. 26:12
The passages use the same Hebrew verb for walking. The God who walked in the garden says he will walk among his people again. What the story lost in Genesis 3 The Fall 1Now 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’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6When 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. 7Then 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. 8Then 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. 9But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” 16To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” 20Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. 21The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.Gen. 3
Return to these verses and consider what this connection reveals about the what story the Bible is telling.
Practice
Take a short walk today, even if only for a few minutes, and treat it as time with God.
You don't need to fill the time with words. Simply remember that God desires communion with his people.
If you become aware of something you've been reluctant to bring before him, acknowledge it honestly. Practice approaching rather than hiding.
Prayer
Talk with God about anything you’ve been tempted to hide from him. Thank him that he continues to seek and restore relationship with people out rather than waiting for them to clean themselves up. Ask him to deepen your awareness of his presence and your willingness to live openly before him.