Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #11 of Genesis, chapter 3 and we are going to read Genesis 3:8-10:

And they heard the voice of JEHOVAH God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of JEHOVAH God amongst the trees of the garden. And JEHOVAH God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

I will stop reading there. Last time we were looking at verse 8 and we saw that in hiding themselves from the presence of JEHOVAH, Adam and Eve were already showing that they were under the wrath of God. To be separated from the presence of God is an indicator of being under His wrath. We saw in 2Thessalonians 1, verse 9 that the unsaved will be cut off eternally from the presence of the Lord.

As mankind lives in the world, he has lived under the wrath of God and the wrath of God abides upon him as he is separated from God. He is far from the presence of JEHOVAH due to his sins. It says in Isaiah 59:1-2:

Behold, the JEHOVAH'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

This is looking at our sin from the perspective of God. Our sin has separated us from our God and our iniquities have separated us from God. It is man’s natural reaction to hide from God and flee from the light and seek the cover of darkness and, yet, God really brought this to pass because it is the penalty for disobedience. God had warned, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” It is death to go from the presence of JEHOVAH and to be separated from JEHOVAH because He is life. It is death to run to the darkness. The light identifies with life, but this is man’s reaction because of his sin and, yet, it also fulfills the Word of God concerning the penalty for transgressing His Law.

God also is the one who determined of all the billions of people that have all equally broken the commandments of God which ones He will redeem. Which ones would He draw from the darkness and draw to the light? God made the determination who would be His elect people before the foundation of the world and He left the rest in darkness. It was His sovereign will to leave certain people in that state of separation and allow them to continue hiding from Him. He permitted them to continue in their sins. God is the one that actually hid Himself from man and separated Himself from them.

So, here in our verse we saw that Adam and Eve are taking the action and fleeing from the presence of JEHOVAH. They are the ones that are actively hiding themselves in the trees of the garden, but God is permitting it. It is according to the will of God and, therefore, God is doing it and it is a working out of His wrath upon them.

I just want to look at one more thing about the “presence” of God, where it says that Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of JEHOVAH. I want to look at it because I think it will help us understand some other Scripture in another part of the Bible in the Book of Jonah. In Jonah, chapter 1 God comes to the prophet Jonah. It says in Jonah 1:1:

Now the word of JEHOVAH came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

The name “Jonah” means “dove.” The dove identifies with the Holy Spirit. Also, the name “Amattai” is Strong’s #573 and it is derived from Strong’s #571, which is the word for “truth.” So, Jonah is the “son of truth” and he is a picture of God, especially of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

It goes on to say in Jonah 1:2:

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH, and went down to Joppa…

Here we find the same language that we have in Genesis 3, verse 8 where Adam and his wife had themselves from the presence of JEHOVAH God.

Jonah is a type of Christ in this chapter of the Book of Jonah and he is fleeing from the presence of JEHOVAH, just as Adam did. This is significant because we know that Adam can be used as a figure of Christ, as Christ was called the “second Adam.” Then it goes on to say in Jonah 1:3:

… and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH.

Jonah is a type and figure of Christ and later on God is going to bring a fierce storm and God is going to force the mariners’ hands so that they have no option but to cast Jonah from the ship into the sea. The raging sea points to the wrath of God and it is a picture of the Lord Jesus experiencing the wrath of God for the sake of His people. The mariners had cried, “O JEHOVAH, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life.” This is really the cry of all God’s people as they cry for the mercy of God in salvation, as they point to the Lord Jesus in the day of salvation.

The mariners are making that same plea to God and then God worked through those circumstances just as He did when Jesus had to go to the cross. It was by the determinate council and foreknowledge of God, as it says in the Book of Acts, that Christ was crucified. God is the one that set in motion all the events that finally led Jesus to be turned over to the Jews and then turned over to Pilate. Then when Pilate tried to release Him because he found no fault in Him, the Jews cried against it because it was God’s will that He to go to the cross and be crucified.

Likewise, there was no other way the mariners could see and they had to throw Jonah overboard, so we see that Jonah, chapter 1 is picturing the atoning work of Christ from the foundation of the world and His demonstration of what He had done as Jesus entered into history to show that wonderful sacrifice He had made from the foundation of the world. Since Jonah is a type of Christ, his experience on this ship will show Christ’s experience in going to the cross as He is offered up and came under the wrath of God, although He was not making payment for sin at that time, but He did come under the wrath of God.

It is very significant that Jonah fled from the presence of JEHOVAH, just as Adam and Eve fled from the presence of JEHOVAH. Why did Adam and Eve flee from God? It was because of their sin. They had offended God and their sins were upon them. They were naked and they had just tried to take care of that by sewing fig leaves together and, yet, they hid themselves in their sin from the presence of JEHOVAH. That is why Jonah is fleeing from the presence of JEHOVAH and that is why it says, “So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH.” In other words, Jesus entered into the human race and began to go with mankind as He walked with man. Where is each unsaved person found, spiritually? They are found to be in the position of being away from the presence of JEHOVAH, so Jonah went down into the ship to go with them from the presence of JEHOVAH, as Christ became a man that He might walk among men that were going away from God and separated from God by their sins from His presence. Through the atoning work of Christ as He was laden with the sins of all the elect that were going away from God’s presence, He would restore and bring back His elect people, a great multitude. We do not know the exact number, but, in all likelihood, it could have been as many as 200 million out of the total masses of mankind and these would, once again, have a right relationship with God because Jesus went away from the presence of JEHOVAH for their sins and died for those sins that had separated them from communion with God. He paid for their sins and purged them away through experiencing the fires of God’s wrath and now there was no more sin upon these elect. And if there is no sin, there is no “nakedness.” They are covered with the covering of Christ’s righteousness and they have that beautiful “white robe” covering them and God sees no sin or transgression. Therefore, there is no shame or guilt and there is no need for these certain ones to flee and hide themselves from God any longer. They can come to the Light and enjoy the presence of JEHOVAH once again. They can walk with God, as God walks in the cool of the day or in the Spirit of Christ and they can walk along with Him. There is wonderful restoration of the original intent of creation through being made a new creature in Christ. “He restoreth my soul,” and it is a truly wonderful salvation that God has wrought for His people.

I just wanted to mention these things about the “presence of JEHOVAH.”

It goes on to say in Genesis 3:8:

… and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of JEHOVAH God amongst the trees of the garden.

We touched on this a little bit already concerning the trees and the garden. We know the garden is a figure of what national Israel would later would become and what the New Testament churches would even later become. We have also discussed the trees. God had said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” There was the positive command that they could partake of many good things that God did allow mankind to do, but there was something more in view with the trees of the garden, so we are going to take a closer look at the word “trees.” When Jesus healed the blind man in two steps to serve God’s purpose, as it says in Mark 8:24:

And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

Then Christ put His hands upon his eyes and the man saw clearly. But, this is something God does often to tie together two ideas. In this case He is linking “men” and “trees.” If this were the only place in the Bible that made this kind of identification, we would not have much to say about it, but it is not the only place. It says in Judges 9:8-15:

The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

Here, we find that trees are given personality and they are seeking for someone to reign over them. If “men” are “trees,” then it all makes sense and we understand this as men seeking a ruler. Actually, the point of this parable has to do with someone that made himself a king over others in Israel, so it does relate to people and, yet, the parable is of “trees.”

It says in Matthew 3:10:

And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Here, God is not really talking about trees, but He is talking about people that do not produce good “fruit.” They are unsaved and, therefore, they have corrupt fruit, like comparing the “good” figs to the “evil” figs. If they do not produce good fruit, they are cast into the fire. The Lord does a similar thing in John, chapter 15 when He says, “I am the vine and ye are the branches.” He speaks of Himself as a tree and there are Scriptures that relate Christ to the tree of life. He is also relating others to parts of a tree. There are actually many verses that show this kind of a relationship between “men” and “trees.” It says in Jude 1:11-12:

Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

God is speaking of false prophets that are wicked men and they are “trees” whose fruit withers and they are without fruit, just as Matthew 3:10 said that trees without good fruit are cut down and thrown into the fire. So, we can see this connection that is being made between men and trees.

It says in Psalm 92:12:

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Here, in the first instance, the “righteous” is Christ, but it is also the body of Christ, the true believers, that are likened to trees.

We also know it spoke of the olive tree reigning in Judges, chapter 9 and God relates the olive tree to the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3-4:

And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

The “two witnesses” is a reference to the Word of God, the Bible, within the churches and congregations during the church age. They were the two olive trees. We also know that the fig tree, in the first instance, represents national Israel, but the New Testament churches are also typified by the fig tree. In Luke, chapter 21, when God speaks of the Great Tribulation and the time that judgment would begin on the churches, it is no wonder that He says in Luke 21:29-30:

And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

In the Book of Matthew, it only mentions the fig tree, so we get all caught up in Israel being a nation again in 1948 when the fig tree is in leaf, but it has a dual meaning. It also refers to a barren New Testament church, which was a sign of the Great Tribulation when the Holy Spirit would come out of the midst and leave the churches in a similar condition to Israel when Christ cursed the fig tree.

When we see all these references to trees, we see that it can refer to people that are saved or unsaved and it can refer to the corporate entities or the corporate bodies of national Israel and the New Testament churches. In our verse Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of JEHOVAH God amongst the trees of the garden. It is like they are hiding themselves in their profession of Christianity. They are hiding themselves by calling themselves Jews, but are not. They are hiding themselves in their doctrines. They are hiding themselves by being a church member in good standing. In the Old Testament, it is like they are hiding in the idea that their sacrifices and keeping of the Laws can save them. In the New Testament, they are hiding through their water baptism or their accepting Christ. In other words, they are still in their sins, but they are hiding from a true relationship with God. They are separated from Him, but they think they have good cover amongst the trees of the garden.