GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
GENESIS 3:11-12
11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you gave to be with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
Being sinful ourselves, and since we have inherited shame, we mistakenly think that there might be some logic behind Adam’s desire to hide, when in fact it was irrational. So let’s understand this by replacing one objection with another. Since God had given the man and the woman their naked bodies, and they had covered part of them, let’s revisit the exchange this way. God had also given the man and the woman their elbows. “I have elbows,” said the man, “and so I hid.” Then God said, “Who told you that you had elbows?” For almost all of the animals have elbows or similar joints, and do not cover them even when they are in use. But now Adam was acting as if this gift from God was a thing to be ashamed over– that God was guilty because of man’s shame. “You are the one who made us naked” makes no more theological sense than “You are the one who gave us elbows.”
God alone gave them the command not to eat, and Adam lays the blame at God’s feet. He begins by saying “the woman…,” which shows that his love for his wife was also damaged by the sin. He was willing, as we so crudely say, “to throw her under the bus.” But this was only on the way to a bigger, bolder accusation. “The woman you gave to be with me.” He may as well have added, “The woman I never asked you for. She is the one who ruined it all.”
- Adam was blaming Eve for tempting him to eat.
- Adam was blaming Eve for tempting him to relinquish his position as head of their family and for demanding his obedience to her.
- Adam was blaming God for giving him the woman at all.
- Adam was blaming God for God’s gifts.
- Adam was blaming God for having made the rule in the first place.
- Adam was finally blaming God for everything.
Adam cannot hide that he has, indeed, eaten from the tree. His attempt to move the blame onto someone else is common among sinners. Who among us has not done this? How many children’s books explore this very habit? Where trust in God has gone away, love for God goes with it. And where there is no more love for God, then true love for our neighbor (spouse, children, friends, family) fades away into nothingness.
Only a dozen verses before this, Adam was singing out, “Bone of my bones! Flesh of my flesh!” Now, “Eve was the butt of his excuses” (Jeske). “Nothing is as characteristic of sinners as to want to attribute to God everything for which they are accused” (Augustine). The sin began with man wanting to be like God; the sin was compounded by man turning around to say that it was all God’s fault.
Before we continue, we know that we are poor sinners and selfish sinners who do the very same thing. Nehemiah confessed how amazing God’s grace always is: “In your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them; for you are a gracious and merciful God” (Nehemiah 9:31). And then the same Nehemiah teaches us what to say when our sins are brought to light: “O my God, show mercy to me according to your great love!” (Nehemiah 13:22). And know that God, your faithful God, is merciful, is loving, and is forgiving, all on account of Jesus.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Listen or watch Bible classes online. https://splnewulm.org/invisible-church/. Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church https://splnewulm.org/daily-devotions/ and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2026
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Genesis 3:11-12 Who told you that you had elbows?