It was most likely a quiet evening. There in the Garden the man and the woman were walking. Hand-in-hand they strolled through the beaten walkway. It was a time of rest along the pathway - they were unaware of their surroundings. The man, looking aloof, stepped away from the woman and that's when it happened. The snake in the tree began to speak to the woman. There he caressed her listening ears with words of deceit. She took the bait.
The man was standing next to her. The question that I have wanted to ask him is, "What reason do you have for turning away from her? Why didn't you protect her?" It is an age-old question. There he was, standing next to his wife, watching the snake speaking to her. There was no reaction on his part; he just stood there and watched.
The snake talked the woman into eating of the forbidden fruit. She saw that the fruit was good for food. It was pleasurable to her sight. The man watched her knowing that his Maker forbade the eating from that tree. Then, in a moment of time that seemed like an eternity, the man took the forbidden fruit from the woman and he ate. It was in that instant that their eyes were opened to the disobedience to their Maker. They thought that they could fix what they had done. It was not possible, they could not do anything to fix it.
Their Maker was walking in the Garden. He called out to the man asking, "Where are you?" The man answered, "I heard you in the Garden and I was afraid of You." The Maker asked, "Why were you afraid? Did you disobey Me and eat of the forbidden fruit? Tell Me, man, what have you done?"
The man retorted, "It's Your fault! You made me first and then You gave me this woman! She gave me the forbidden fruit and I ate."
The woman, no doubt stunned by the man's remarks, was asked by her Maker, "What is this you have done?" His questioning of the woman was of a different kind. He was gentle with her bringing her to the realization of what she had done. She shot back at her Maker, "It's the snake that You created! He deceived me and I ate!"
Damage control was in order. The Maker saw that they had covered themselves with leaves because they were ashamed of their nakedness. He saw that it was an incomplete solution. He knew that they could not fix this for themselves. The Maker said to Himself, "I will fix this for them, but it will take sacrifice on My part."
He killed a bull, took it's skin and covered the man and the woman. It was done, but they could not remain in the Garden. Had they eaten of the tree of life, they would be perpetually in their shame. Damage control by their Maker - it was the only way.
The moral of the story is this: We cannot make this sacrifice for ourselves. We have to trust our Maker's way to take away our shame. But who is this Maker? What is His name? His name is Jesus Christ.
Read Genesis 3.
