From: allenroy (allenroy@peoplepc.com)
Date: Wed Oct 08 2003 - 00:30:16 EDT
George Murphy wrote:
> I will make one last try, since you don't seem to have paid close attention to
> what has been said. The original claim was that, BEFORE the sin described in Genesis 3,
> Adam & Eve walked & talked intimately with God in the garden. It is whether they walked &
> talked with God in the garden BEFORE they sinned. & Genesis does not say that they did.
GE 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the
eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to
her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for
themselves.
GE 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the
garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
GE 3:10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I
hid." NIV
So, here we have Adam and Eve sinning. They then "heard the sound of the LORD God...
walking in the garden" and hide from Him.
We have to ask:
1. How would they be able to recognize the "sound of God walking in the garden," unless
they had already heard that very sound before and knew who it was walking in the garden?
Why else would they hide if they had not recognized the sound?
The only way that they could know who was walking in the garden was if they had heard the
sound before -- i.e. before they sinned.
2. "God called to the man, "Where are you?""
Adam did not ask 'who are you?" He already knew who it was because he recognized the sound
-- Adam said, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid". Adam, probably, also
recognized God's voice.
Again, the only way they could know who was walking and talking was because they had heard
the sound and voice before, i.e. before they sinned.
God was not walking around with a big neon sign flashing "GOD....GOD....GOD" -- Bzzt -- Bzzt
-- Bzzt. God was not "Thundering and Flashing" because they had sinned. He did not come in
raging and shouting vindictives because of their sin. He came walking and asking to be with
them. They knew Him because of the sound of His walking and His talking.
All this implies that God had come walking and talking with them in the garden AT LEAST
ONCE, before they sinned. And if at least once, then why not often? God is love. He
created us so He could love us and so that we could love Him. Love requires relationship,
interaction and intimacy. It is entirely within God's character to spend time with His
loved ones as often as He can. Thus it is not without foundation that God came in the cool
of the evenings on a regular basis to be with Adam and Eve. In that way, they would come to
know and recognize the sounds of the God who walked and talked with them.
Allen
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