The Parties Arraigned And Sentenced Series

August 2, 2013

Commentary on the Book of Genesis

By: Tom Lowe

Lesson I.B.5: The Parties Arraigned and Sentenced.

Gen. 3.8-21 (KJV)

8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

GOD ARRAIGNS ADAM AND EVE

9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11 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?

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

THE SERPENT IS CURSED ABOVE ALL BEASTS

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

THE PUNISHMENT GOD PROMISES FOR MANKIND

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Commentary

8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:

There are at least two interpretations for the phrase IN THE COOL OF THE DAY. One opinion is that the literal meaning is “the breeze of the day," the evening. The divine Being appears on the scene as if He had been out for an evening stroll; uttering the well-known expressions of kindness that Adam and Eve loved to hear, walking in some visible form (not running, as one would who was motivated by angry feelings; nor can he be, as it says in Isaiah 27.4, “Fury is not in me.”). It is supposed by some that he came in a human shape, and that he was none other than the One who shall judge the world on the Great Day. He came in a manner that would appear fearsome only to those with guilty consciences. How beautifully expressive are these words of the informal and friendly manner in which He had so far interacted with the first pair. The other opinion is that what they actually heard was “the sound or voice of the LORD God as He passes through the Garden, as the ‘Spirit of the day.’” COOL is the Hebrew word for spirit. God was coming to them in judgment for their disobedience. A better rendering of the word VOICE is “sound,” which is how it appears in Theophanies in the Old Testament—“The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded amid the hail and burning coals” (Psalms 18:13; NLT). His voice was a proper accompaniment for the flames of godly vengeance. How will men bear to hear it on the Great Day when it proclaims their doom, and He sends them to the Lake of Fire? It is no wonder that when they heard the sound of the LORD GOD passing through the garden looking for them, that they HID THEMSELVES from His presence!