In the midst of one of those roundtable group discussions about some topic I don’t really recall, someone took advantage of a momentary pause to interject this simple comment, “Question for you ….” The three words were enough to capture everyone’s attention, and the question that followed prompted a stimulating change of direction. Questions can do that. No wonder then, that God has a history of asking some very provocative ones over the years. And a few He came up with back in the Garden of Eden continue to have significant implications for all of us today. So, let’s look back and review how the situation unfolded.  

The Bait Worked ~
After speaking into existence a glorious, encompassing universe and a thriving, perfect world, God proceeded to fashion living, breathing physical representations of Himself. Then He placed them in an ideal setting designed and equipped to fulfill their every desire and meet their every need. Then, an enemy invaded their perfect world. Armed with nothing but words and a seductive but deadly idea, he ruined it all. Eve succumbed to the verbal bait, and the pristine earth began to feel the awful impact of the eternally significant clash between good and evil. The living God soon confronted His rebellious image bearers and everything changed.

In reviewing the dramatic account, we notice right away that God created a context for the exchange that gives us a divine illustration of ‘applied wisdom’. Instead of addressing Adam and Eve with accusations, scathing condemnation, or immediate punitive action, God confronted them with questions, and that process presents a lesson that, even in our day, continues to be helpful. Initiating a challenging confrontation with questions instead of judgments, accusations, and condemnation can be an effective means of avoiding impulsive, knee-jerk reactions that often make a bad situation worse. So let’s get into the text and see how God’s meeting with Adam and Eve unfolded following their transgression:  

And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8–9 NKJV)

And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” (Genesis 3:11 NKJV)

More than Meets the Eye ~
As we begin to delve into these questions, we should remember a couple of things. One is that there is almost always more than meets the eye in things that God directly says and does. Beyond that, there’s the obvious realization that God didn’t need to ask His new image bearers anything. He was the same omniscient God who designed their bodies and gave them life. He created the trees they were hiding behind and the leaves hiding their nakedness and certainly needed no help finding them. Neither did He need their input to determine what had happened, how it transpired, and what they had done in response. It wasn’t God who needed to hear the answers to the questions He asked. It was Adam and Eve. The questions were for their benefit, not God’s. 

So, as we begin our exploration of the three questions God asked in this brief narrative, let me suggest that He’s still asking all three of them. Beyond that important truth, let’s focus on the first question in the trio. It’s not a complicated question, but an appropriate response depends on an understanding of what those three words are actually asking. In order to appropriately answer the “Where are you?” question, one must ask, “Relative to what – or to whom?” Otherwise, an answer has no relevance and doesn’t provide the information the questioner hopes to receive. 

A Personal Example ~
For example, when my wife and I are out shopping, she sometimes performs impromptu magic tricks. We love strolling along looking at stuff, enjoying American free enterprise, wondering why people buy some of the things they buy, and why some folks have green hair. Then, I might casually look around to say something to her and discover that she’s just gone–vanished (to her credit, always relatively close by, of course), but … seemingly without a trace. With no smoke pellets, no magic incantations, and no distracting assistants like other magicians use, the girl can disappear in ways that would put David Copperfield to shame. 

My next move, of course, is to call her cell and when she answers, I just repeat God’s classic opening line quoted above, “Where are you?” Now if all she said in response was, “I’m right here,” her answer would be irrefutably correct, but it wouldn’t tell me what I want to know. Obviously, I want to know where she is relative to where I am, so we can tell which way each of us needs to go to get back together. And after all, isn’t that the issue God’s really after when He asks that question? As we pointed out earlier, God already knew where Adam and Eve were in every sense of the term, but they needed to realize where their sin had placed them regarding their relationship with the One who had given them life and provided everything needed to sustain it. 

Familiar Qualifiers ~
As this hotly contested Presidential election winds to a close, the “Where are you” question is popping up everywhere and becoming more and more prominent. But in this case, the question is always connected with a qualifier or two and sounds like these: 

• • “Where are you on the economy?” 
  • “Where are you on the open borders and illegal immigration?” 
  • “Where do you stand on the war in Israel?” 
  • “What’s your position on abortion?” 

The list goes on and on. But the only qualifier when God asks it is Himself. The only thing God wants clarified is where we are relative to Him, and as we said before, we’re the ones that need to see and admit that. He already knows.

So, what would our response be if God were to call our name and ask, “Where are you?” Could it be that some of us are looking and sounding a bit like our progenitors? Maybe a few additional questions, like these, might be worth asking . . .

• • Has the urge to indulge in some forbidden practice you thought would make life better or more satisfying turned out to be a curse that left you feeling only shame and regret?
  • Has some transgression or pattern of behavior compelled you to camouflage yourself with disingenuous, superficial changes in order to obscure who you really are, even from those closest to you? 
  • When faced with the prospect of your transgressions being discovered, is your first response to confess your sin, or to deny responsibility, make excuses, and blame someone else?
  • If an impending personal confrontation with God seemed imminent, would your first inclination be to run to Him, expose everything, and trust His love and mercy, or to hide in silence and hope He’d go away until you could make yourself more presentable?
  • Could it be that you’ve been deceived into thinking that we can reject God’s authority, violate His standards, and embrace His enemy’s lies and not be held accountable? 

The Objective is Clear ~
We must not miss the primary purpose in God’s questions, especially this first one. In the little vanishing act episode I mentioned with my wife earlier, when I said, “Where are you?”, my only objective was to find out which way to go in order to get back together again. When God says, “Where are you?”, the objective is the same. The major issue at that point wasn’t the tree, or the fruit, or the serpent, or the fig leaves, or the future of their Garden home. What had to be addressed was the ‘uncrossable chasm’ that their sin had placed between them and the God who loved them. The Tempter had, in effect, deceived them into committing an act of spiritual suicide, and they were powerless to reverse it, or turn back time and undo it. Redemption would cost their Creator everything, and only His love for them could make His sacrifice worth it.    

Our nation is facing a crucial crossroads right now, under the influence of people promoting and facilitating more blatantly evil policies and practices than we’ve ever seen. The great question I seem to hear the Lord Jesus asking His Church right now is, “Where are you?” So let’s encourage one another to recognize and own our sin, come out from our hiding places, throw off our fig leaves before God, abandon our excuses, confess our sins, and cry out to Him for cleansing, forgiveness, and a restoration of courage and power to turn back the darkness enveloping our land.

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to Tweet & Share from the pull quotes below. Each quote links directly to this article through Twitter.

• • • God proceeded to fashion living, breathing physical representations of Himself. Then He placed them in an ideal setting designed and equipped to fulfill their every desire and meet their every need. Then, an enemy invaded their perfect world. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
    • Armed with nothing but words and a seductively deadly idea, Satan ruined it all as Eve succumbed. The pristine earth began to feel the awful impact of good vs evil. The living God soon confronted His rebellious image bearers and everything changed. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • Initiating a challenging confrontation with questions instead of judgments, accusations, and condemnation can be an effective means of avoiding impulsive, knee-jerk reactions that often make a bad situation worse. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • What had to be addressed was the ‘uncrossable chasm’ that Adam and Eve’s sin had placed between them and the God who loved them. The Tempter had, in effect, deceived them into committing an act of spiritual suicide, and they were powerless to reverse it, or turn back time and undo it. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • The Tempter had, in effect, deceived them into committing an act of spiritual suicide. They were powerless to reverse it or turn back time. Redemption would cost their Creator everything. Only His love for them could make His sacrifice worth it. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  

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