Read Genesis 3:1-13

You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17

A child playing hide-and-seek will often cover her eyes with her hands, thinking that the rest of her body is then also hidden. An adult learns to hide his secrets more effectively, avoiding eye contact in order to disguise his thoughts and feelings.

As we saw yesterday, Adam and Eve were created by God, and they were innocent and guileless in the way they related to God and to others. When Eve encountered the serpent, she was not guarded or discreet in her interaction with him. Like a child, she took his questions at face value. She did not have knowledge of good and evil—though she did know God’s command (see Gen. 2:17).

The serpent, on the other hand, had already seen what her eyes were unable to see at that point. He craftily used his knowledge of good and evil to cover the truth and to introduce doubts that had not occurred to Eve’s mind. What if God weren’t so good after all? What was this knowledge that He wanted to keep hidden from them?

As soon as their eyes were opened, the first thing Adam and Eve felt was shame (v. 7). They felt shame over the naked bodies that they had enjoyed in innocence and delight. Even with fig-leaf coverings, they felt shame at the thought of God gazing on them. This wasn’t just an issue of modesty: they knew something was wrong in the core of their being. They knew they were no longer good, knowledge that instantly redefined their relationship to God and to each other.

The perfect beings that God had created were now corrupted, and shame in God’s presence replaced their freedom to worship and work. They clung to their own idea of independence and tried to cover themselves and their sin.

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