What was God saying when he asked Adam Genesis 3:9"Where are you?" We know that God knows all things. Please explain.
God evidently questioned Adam for a reason which becomes plain as we read these verses. First of all of course, we know from Genesis 2:25 that Adam and Eve were naked and were not ashamed. In other words, their naked state did not, in any way, embarrass them at that time. But, following their eating of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden (which had a death penalty - Genesis 3:3) they were suddenly aware of their nakedness. In verse 9 God questions Adam - "Where are you?" The reason for the question appears to be that God wanted an honest answer - an answer which would explain exactly what had happened - declaring fully what had taken place. But Adam limits his answer to the words of verse 10 "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." Why was it that Adam limited his answer to just a few, insufficient words? We must ask ourselves! As children - and even as we reach near adulthood - don't we all recall the occasions when we disobeyed our parents advice and came up with all sorts of excuses when questioned! We were ashamed, but still sought to conceal what had occurred. That is just what Adam did! God was testing Adam - just as our parents tried to extract the truth from us! God posed his question "Where are you?" even when He already knew the answer. The first response of mankind still today is to try to evade all embarrassing questions. So Adam here limits his answer to his nakedness and to his action in hiding himself. God has to extract an answer from a man who is seeking to avoid it - and God continues to question him in verse 11 "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?". Note Adam's reply in verse 12. Adam gave an instant reply - but his immediate answer is to blame his wife for giving him the fruit of the tree and concludes weakly "and I ate it." The woman also states in verse 13 "The serpent deceived me, and I ate". We are familiar with such answers e.g. 'blame someone else for your mistakes'. We can see the God needs to question mankind, so that he or she is able to realise that we all must bear and expose our inner thoughts and actions to God - and not seek to conceal them. God plainly was wanting Adam to admit his wrong action - without any concealment.
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