God Continues to Question Adam
After God called Adam out to face him (Genesis 3:8) with nowhere else to hide, “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10). Click HERE for reflection of Genesis 3:8.
God further inquired of Adam, “And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” (Genesis 3:11). Adam was busted again for the second time or maybe three times. It’s the third question of the sting of questions God asked. As his Woman witnesses this scene, I wonder how she is feeling. Was she riddled with guilt for giving him the fruit, or was she like Esther gloating if her brother, Caleb, was in trouble? Or maybe like Jonah, full of compassion for Caleb and would beg for his mercy and forgiveness.
Why would God ask Adam? He didn’t eat the fruit first. The Woman did… She’s standing right there! I can only imagine that Adam felt small at this moment. Did he think he was wrongly accused?
There’s an important leadership lesson to learn in this interaction between God and Adam. I think God didn’t ask the Woman because He gave Adam the direct order. I want to believe that God favored women, but that’s an analysis for another time. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17). After giving Adam the direct order, God made Adam a teammate and brought her to him (Genesis 2:22), for which Adam was so glad he called her Woman because she came from his flesh (Genesis 2:23).
Back to the present garden scene at the foot of the tree, it would be natural that God would ask him first, as the manager of his team of the Woman and animals (Genesis 2:19-20), the situation that transpired at the tree. God was acting as CEO of Eden. The serpent and the Woman are not clear from accountability, but God’s first point of contact is Adam.
Early in my accounting and managing career, I learned that the responsibility for my team’s performance rested on my shoulders. I got the “Good job!” when we met our goal and the “What happened?” when we didn’t. One year as we were frantically closing our fiscal year, we made a three hundred thousand dollar mistake on our financials. Thankfully, it wasn’t a cash mistake but a misstatement of financial statements. We rushed to get a draft financial out early and failed to reconcile our accrual accounts. This overstated our income, and I had to muster up the courage to walk into our CEO’s office to deliver him the bad news. “Hey, CEO! Remember when I told you how much money you profited this year? Subtract $300K….” Then cover my head.
My teammate made a mistake, but I was the one that had the conversation with the CEO and took the blame. The CEO asked who made a mistake, and my response was that it didn’t matter. I was responsible for my team’s performance. Reviewing and checking to make sure procedures were followed was my responsibility. We learned an important lesson that day and always reconciled our accounts before releasing financial statements. I push through my discomfort and fear of getting fired for my mistake. I can’t change how my CEO will react to the news, but I can facilitate a conversation and deliver the information on my terms. Courage leads to power.
God put Adam in charge, and He wanted to know where Adam’s status is as a litmus test of his current state. An important aspect of interpersonal relationships is to feel safe with the person leading. In both professional and intimate settings, will the leader have the courage to lead the team when the situation gets dicey? How would you feel if you were assigned to Adam’s team?
Image: Natoire, The Rebuke of Adam and Eve, Oil on Copper, 1740.