This transcript was auto-generated. 

We have reached the point in the text where God confronts, Adam about his succumbing to temptation and God will soon God pronounces judgement on the situation.

Verse 11 says. 

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

(Gen 3: 11)

God is not asking for information these are rhetorical questions used in order to get Adam to think about what he's done. God just wants Adam to admit he ate from the tree. Just come and say I did it, I’m guilty, don't give me all this a rationalisation stuff. Look at his reply.

The man said the woman whom you gave to be with me she gave me from the tree, and I ate.

(Gen 3: 12)

That might almost sound like a confession but let me tell you what he's doing here. Adam is blame shifting and that is as profound insight into human nature as I can think of. In order to fully appreciate this, you probably either have to be a pastor a policeman or a social worker or a parent. When people get into trouble, they often rationalise, and they blame shift and they deny responsibility. And that’s exactly Adam does. And it’s probably also what you sometimes do, I know it is what I am inclined to do when I am confronted with something. Adams reply is, “It's the woman you gave unto me.” It's not me, he says, it was the woman, and if that isn’t bad enough, he says, by the way it was you who gave the woman to me. What does that imply? Adam is implying it’s all God’s fault. It’s not my fault, it's that woman you, gave her to me so it's your fault God. We all sometimes blame our circumstances, but that is often just a roundabout way of blaming God and that is what Adam did here. 

So, then the Lord turns to the woman in verse 13. 

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 

(Gen 3:13)

It’s not my fault, he tricked me. People love to blame Eve for the fall, but where did she learn this type of answer from. 

That’s right, from her husband, she had just watched him shift the blame and she does exactly the same thing. We often blame other people rather than confess our shortcoming and allow God to help us rise above our limitations. God tries to bring us to a place of insight where we can confess and receive forgiveness but instead of confessing, we often rationalise and blame others. So, when things go wrong, just confess to God your part in your fall from grace and allow God to forgive you. The second part of this message is when God passes judgement, and he will start by judging Satan….And we will take a look at that next time.