Genesis 3

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden at the time of the evening wind and they hid themselves from God among the trees of the garden.” Gen 3:7-8

Before I was married, I had a friend who had several children. I remember him telling the story of how his youngest son, still a toddler, had overheard his older brothers talking about sex. The young boy approached his father and asked what sex was. Grasping his son’s lack of comprehension, the father asked the boy to bring him the large toolbox from the garage. The boy answered, “It’s too big for me to carry.” The father replied, “Yes, but someday you’ll be big enough to carry it, and when you can, I’ll answer your question. Now, tell your brothers to come see me!”

We will never know if God would have eventually allowed Adam & Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. Perhaps, He would have spoon-fed them bits as they grew in maturity and faithfulness. We only know that they ate when He forbade them…and as a result, we are all still paying for it because we are all born into sin. From sinful people come sinful offspring. When will we learn from Adam & Eve’s example and stop trying to deny and cover up our sin? When will we repent, confess our sin and receive not only God’s covering but His complete cleansing through Jesus’ blood and righteousness?

When we read through the Revelation, we were reminded of the image of Adam & Eve cowering, trying to cover themselves with fig leaves. There is a time forthcoming when the earth’s sin will again be exposed, and all who have denied God’s Salvation and Lordship will be revealed.

“Then I saw Him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred, the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair; the entire moon became like blood; the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind…” Revelation 6:12-13

“…and they said to the mountains, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?’” Rev 6:16-17

Can’t you picture Adam and Eve cowering, dressed in fig leaves, looking like two young figs, dropped before their ripening…unduly heavy from the knowledge of their sin, and blown off the branch as the Lord moves through His garden as an evening wind?

So, what is our takeaway? We all sin, and all sin will be judged. It is impossible for mankind to cover his own sin, and only the atoning blood of Jesus fully satisfies the Lord’s requirements for “covering.” Best of all, salvation is a free gift offered to all who will believe in Jesus by faith, confess their sin, and turn from it to follow Him.