GENESIS 3
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the coolof the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” – Genesis 3:8-13
GENESIS 3 SHAME AND BLAME
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
God’s purpose for man is to be in relationship with him
Desires and longings make us disobey God which leads to sin
Sin is a turning away from God’s love; it results in shame
Then we begin to point to others and start the blame game
Because we were designed to bring glory to God
We experience shame because we aren’t fulfilling that goal.
This chapter on the fall of Adam and Eve gives us a very clear understanding where shame and blame come from. The part of this chapter happened after they ate of the forbidden tree. Let’s focus on the event and what happens after they partook of the devil’s lure. Notice what they did as soon as they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden. They hid. Hiding is the result of the guilt and the shame that sin brings about. The shame is the consequence of our going against what we were designed to do: to have intimacy with God and to bring him glory. Sin distorts that purpose. Instead of bringing glory to God, it leads us to bring glory to ourselves. The priority becomes self-pleasing instead of God-pleasing.
In verse 9, God asks Adam where he is. We know that God sees and knows all things. Why did he have to ask this? He didn’t ask Eve, just Adam. Remember that Adam was given dominion over all God’s creation (Genesis 1:26-28)? God asked this to make Adam accountable for Eve who is under his care and his authority over the serpent. God asked this question expecting Adam to take responsibility for their disobedience since he was the one given authority to rule over the earth and all living creatures. Instead, he made all excuses and declared his guilt and shame by hiding. In verse 11, God was expecting Adam to confess his sin and be accountable for it but he didn’t. In verse 12, the blame game starts. Adam blames the woman for enticing him and also blames God for giving him the woman who got him in trouble. When God asked Eve “What is it that you have done?” It’s not like he didn’t know what they did. It is also expecting Eve to confess and admit their sin. But she also replied with a blame towards the serpent. No one took responsibility for what they did. They both engaged in shame and blame.
REFLECTION
- Share insight how this shame and blame become results of sin in our current setting.
