Where are You?
We are not built for guilt. Guilt means “liability to punishment” in the Hebrew Bible. Guilt inevitably impacts how we answer the questions posed to us as individuals. Our answers may be evasive, defensive, or even blame shifting in nature.
Observe two parallel cases--how God interrogates two men—in a guilty state—and how they answer His questions:
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God walking back and forth in the garden in the wind of the day, and they were hiding themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
So, the LORD God called out to the man: “WHERE are you?” He answered: “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid.” Genesis 3:8-10
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And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “WHERE is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?” Genesis 4:9
God’s strategy with both men was to begin the conversation with a question. That’s right. Instead of making statements about their guilt or their faulty choices, God asked them questions. God knows how to ask questions, specific questions germane to our individual issues and needs. He asked Adam one question germane to his case. He asked Cain one question specific to his situation.
Think about the nature of each question. God could have asked a variety of first questions. But He choose in both cases to begin with “where?” What is the significance of how God actually approached each guilty man?
And did each man answer God’s question? Both men were responding to God’s question influenced by a state of inner guilt. How did guilt impact their answer to God’s question? What does their answer reveal about them?
God’s approach to guilty people might be something for parents to consider as they approach their own children. And His approach to Adam and Cain might be something for us to consider as we approach people with the good news of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for reading.