Understanding God: He Cuts to the Chase
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
– Genesis 3:9-15
Another attribute of God, as exemplified in our reference scripture today, is that He cuts to the chase and does not beat around the bush in addressing matters. He is direct in His approach and does not ramble in an attempt to sound diplomatic or be politically correct.
Immediately Adam told God he was hiding from Him; the next thing God asked was if he had eaten the fruit He forbade him from eating. God could have played the fool and kept pillowing Adam with questions to get him to expose himself. But He is not like that. He is straight to the point.
Once Adam admitted that it was the woman who gave Him the fruit to eat, the next thing God did was to address the woman. He did not even give attention to the accusing undertone in Adam’s statement that it was the woman He gave him that made him sin so. Someone of lesser intelligence or stature might have taken umbrage at this and start to debate with Adam if He did wrong by finding him a partner. Not God. He does not indulge in platitudes.
After calling out the woman, she in turn named the serpent as the culprit who made her eat. At this point, God did not need to ask the serpent any question. Doing so would have been a reduction of His stature. Instead, He pronounced a judgment on the serpent for the terrible thing it did.
In His methodical way, once He was through with the serpent, He addressed the woman next, saying:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
– Genesis 3:16
From the woman He went back to the man who was His primary contact in the first place. He first expressed His disappointment at the man’s error in placing more importance on heeding what his wife told him over a charge He God had given him. See His statement of disappointment: “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall [f]bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
– Genesis 3:17-19
Even though these passages do not inspire much cheer to read, they nonetheless shed light on the nature of God; the way He approaches issues. How He reacts to disobedience as well as how direct He is in getting to the root of the matter; and how prompt He is in making His verdict known.
He is a frontal God who cuts to the chase with no fuss or ceremony. Some of us can learn from that.
Selah!
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