Christian Education Pre-K-12
Richmond Academy

(Amplified Bible)

Has not man’s first response after disobedience ever been to hide himself from the presence of God? After partaking of the forbidden tree, “...Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God…” {Gen 3:8} Much like the toddler who closes his eyes and believes himself hidden, so man shuts himself from God, hoping to be hidden from Divine view. While the all-knowing, all-seeing, ever-present God does not need Adam’s answer to His question of “Where are you?” {Gen 3:9}, Adam needs to answer by acknowledging his sin. His answer, however, falls short as he focuses on the consequences of his sin rather than on confession the sin itself. Undeterred, God uses Adam’s admittance of fear and awareness of nakedness to prompt a further and more complete confession. “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” {Gen 3:11}. Seeking to abdicate himself from the responsibility of his own actions, Adam points to his wife as the cause for his disobedience. By resorting to blame, he neither admits his own blatant disobedience of God’s command nor realizes that by choosing to please his wife instead of obeying God, he has transformed her from God’s gift into an idol.

God then asks the woman the question which continues to prick the conscience of men: “And the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’” {Gen 3:13}. Seeking to hide the shame of their nakedness, the two remain ignorant of the catastrophic consequences of their disobedience: “...sin came into the world through one man and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned” {Rom 5:12}. When confronting Cain about the murder of his brother Able, God once again asks, “What have you done?” {Gen 4:10}. That men remain blind to the causes and consequences of their actions is evident even from the cross. “And Jesus prayed, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” {Luke 23:34a}.

In chapter 7 of Joshua, God’s concern is not so much the fact of Israel’s defeat at Ai as for the sin of disobedience behind the defeat. As in the Garden of Eden, one man’s disobedience brings judgment upon the whole. “Israel has sinned...That is why the Israelites could not stand before their enemies, but fled before them” {v 11-12a}. God reveals the specific sin to Joshua , “...they have taken of the things devoted [for destruction]; they have stolen, and lied, and put them among their baggage” {v 11}. He also sets forth the two-fold judgment which will remain upon the people until the sin is addressed. He will remove His presence among them, and they will be unable to stand before their enemies {v 12-13}. The next day Joshua follows the Lord’s instructions, presenting the people tribe by tribe, family by family, household by household and finally person by person {v 14} until the Achan is designated as the guilty man. God pleads through Joshua for confession: “And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, make confession to Him; and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me” {v 19}. Unlike Adam and Eve, Achan admits not only to the fact of his sin but also to its specificity: “In truth I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this have I done: When I saw...I coveted them...they are hidden in the earth inside my tent..” {v 20-21}. Within Achan’s confession we find echoes of the first temptation, seeing, desiring, coveting and hiding.

As a man seeking intimacy with God, David comes to recognize that his personal sins can have far-reaching repercussions: “O God, You know my folly and blundering; my sins and my guilt are not hid from You. Let not those who wait and hope and look for You, O Lord of hosts, be put to shame through me; let not those who seek and inquire for and require You [as their vital necessity] be brought to confusion and dishonor through me, O God of Israel” {Ps 69:5-6}.

David also recognizes the personal toll of withholding confession and repentance. “When I kept silence [before I confessed], my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me...I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide. I said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord [continually unfolding the past till all is told], then You [instantly] forgave me the guilt and iniquity of my sin” {Ps 32 3-5}.

Finally, David acknowledges his Shepherd’s continual scrutiny, as well as the futility of trying to escape. “O Lord, You have searched me (thoroughly) and have known me...You sift and search out my path... and are acquainted with all my ways, For there is not a word in my tongue [still unuttered], but lo, O Lord You know it altogether...Where can I go from Your Spirit. Or where could I flee from Your presence? ..If I say surely the darkness shall cover me, and the night shall be the only light about me, Even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You” {Ps 139:1-4,7,11-12}. Rather than fleeing from God’s inspection, David pleads that the darkness in him be brought to light and that God find him out: “Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart ! Try me, and know my thoughts And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” {Ps 139:23-24}.

Solomon also testifies of God’s omniscience: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch upon the evil and the good” {Prov 15:3}. “For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord,. and He ... carefully weighs all man’s goings” {Prov 5:21}. As Solomon’s life reflects, however, simply knowing this truth does not prevent even a God appointed leader from veering from it through divided loyalties.

The prophets attest to God’s omniscience. “He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him” {Dan 2:22}. “For My eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from My face, neither is their iniquity concealed from My eyes” {Jer 16:17}. “Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places so that I will not see him: says the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord?’ {Jer 23:23-24}. “Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, My way and lot are hidden from the Lord, and my right is passed over without regard from my God?” {Is 40:27}.

New Testament writers proclaim God as the all-knowing One Whose Word is ever “...penetrating… exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart...” {Heb 4:12-13}. Of the scribes Matthew records, “But Jesus, knowing (seeing) their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil and harbor malice in your hearts?” {Matt 9:4}. Of Jesus’ understanding of all men, John writes, “And He did not need that any one should witness concerning man -- needed no evidence from any one about men; for He Himself knew what was in human nature. [He could read men’s hearts]” {John 2:25}.

February Newsletter 2001 | Great Peace | Mind Your Own Business - part 1 of 2

Pastor's Journal February 2000 | Sow In Humility, Reap In Holiness | Inside-Out & Upside-Down - part 2 of 3

Biblical Counseling for Leaders

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