Who Am I Really – Fear and Guilt in the Garden of Eden

Fear and Guilt in the Garden

What’s the first thing that happened to Adam and the woman after they ate from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?  Self-awareness was born and they immediately became aware of themselves and the condition they were in.
She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

⁷Then 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.” Genesis 3:7 (NIV)

Before their fall into sin Adam and the woman were focused entirely on serving God, taking care of the garden and animals, not themselves, so clothing was not important to them. But now, focusing on themselves and not God, they are self-conscious and suddenly realize that they are naked and quickly cover themselves.

The next emotions they experienced were fear and guilt.

⁸Then 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. ⁹But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”  Genesis 3:8-10 (NIV)

In verse 11, God, knowing what has already occurred, asks an unnecessary question.

¹¹And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

In verses 12 and 13, Adam and the woman immediately made excuses and lying becomes part of their new satanic emotions. They blamed each other, and the blame game was invented. Adam even tried to blame the whole thing on God.

¹²The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” ¹³Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”