Genesis 3:9-10 comments: omniscience

9 ¶  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

God is omniscient, all-knowing, so He when He asks a question He already knows the answer to it. The question causes the one questioned to state something that is true and, often, obvious.

Isaiah 46:9  Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Psalm 139: 1 ¶  « To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. » O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.4  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

Later, God will ask Cain questions which would seem obvious to someone possessing omniscience, questions of which the answers He already knows. In this way a question becomes a statement. For instance, you walk into the room and there is a child standing next to a broken candy jar with candy strewn all over the floor. You ask, “what have you done?” Or, perhaps you wish to alert someone to the fact that they are late when they arrive and you ask, “do you know what time it is?” So, there are ways to ask a question to make a point as God seems to do.

Isa 44: 8  Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.…19  And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

Adam’s response is also the response of the Christian who strays from God and is ashamed of his sin. He is afraid and has hid himself. A teenager, who was doing some very wrong things, once told me, “I wish God would leave me alone.” You will not escape from God no matter how hard you try to hide and you will be confronted with your shame at some point.

Did Adam expect to die at the moment he encountered his God who had told him he would die in the day he ate of the tree? Fear of dying and death becomes the bane of mankind. Christ, rising from the dead, after living in a human body, conquered death for us.

Hebrews 2:14 ¶  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.