Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:
for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man
(James 1:13)
God asks of him two questions:- who told you you were naked?
- did you eat of the tree?
- who told you you were naked?
- the Woman
- did you eat of the tree which I had commanded you not to eat?
- i did eat
- You gave the Woman with me
- she gave fruit to me
this is the popular teaching in the church:
- Adam is blaming the Woman
- Adam is blaming God
- Adam is denying responsibility
- You gave me an evil gift of a wife
- You tempted me to sin by proxy
- You are wrong to judge me
but what actually happened? God accepts Adam's answer. God curses the ground - not Adam - and tells Adam that He is doing so for Adam's sake. God covers Adam - a clear symbol of redemption and atonement and prevents him from going to the tree of life. Adam is not rebuked for what he says to God - tho James tells us very plainly that the common interpretation of his testimony to God is wicked - and God does three things for Adam's good: He makes atonement, He curses the ground, and He keeps him from eternal death.
are the things God does for Adam good? of course. are these the things God does to those who accuse Him of evil? no, they aren't.
objectively, the popular preaching on this cannot possibly be correct. either God does accept it when you call Him the author of evil and temptation & blame others for your own sin, or Adam did not do these things.
so we have these facts to deal with: why does Adam bring up that Woman was God's gift to Adam and that Woman gave Adam some of the fruit?
one thing stands out very plainly: Adam is directing attention to Woman, and God next speaks to her.
is Adam just saying, 'don't look at me, talk to the Woman' ?
well, Woman also directs attention to the Serpent. is she saying 'don't look at me, talk to Satan' ?
does God ask the Serpent to explain himself? no, He doesn't. so we don't have a pattern of shift blame, talk to the one blamed. we have something else.
what i'm telling you is that God is the Great Physician, and He comes by. Adam & his wife are sick, ashamed and afraid. when God calls, Adam answers. Adam explains his symptoms to the Great Physician, truthfully and factually answers His questions and directs His attention to his wife. Adam's not deceived. he knows he is poisoned and he knows who God is. he says, help my wife.
i ain't 'ignoring Genesis' lol -- i'm looking for Christ in it, and Adam is 'the figure of Him'
i know this: the right understanding of these events is the one that testifies of our Saviour, & in this, Adam is the type of Him.
what does Jesus do? He takes on the likeness of sinful flesh, for our sake, bearing our burden. in Him there is no lie. He makes intercession for us before the Father.
so what explanation is there for Adam's replies to God that explains all the data ? accusing God of tempting him just don't fit.
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