Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked

The tempter had come, he had made the forbidden fruit look desirable (Genesis 3:6). She had yielded and eaten of the fruit, given some to her husband and he had eaten. And now they had the devil to pay! The honeymoon was over, their eyes were opened, and the realization that they were naked suddenly dawned on them (Genesis 3:7). As we said earlier, the nakedness that is being talked about here, is not so much physical nakedness, it is the nakedness of openness and vulnerability which, in a fallen world, can be very, very scary!

Before their eyes were open to know good and evil (Genesis 2:17), they had let each other into the deepest places of their hearts. They knew each other’s vulnerabilities well. He knew she thought her nose was ugly, she knew he needed to be respected. He knew she like to be touched in a nonsexual way, to be cherished, to be shown much affection. She knew that when she stepped back, he would come running. There had been no walls separating them. There had been no shame in their vulnerabilities, there was nothing hidden, there had been no need to hide! There had been nothing but open loving, respectful, intimate communion. But now the honeymoon was over.

Since they knew each other’s vulnerabilities, they now knew how to hurt each other. He could hurt her by telling her what an ugly nose she had. She could withdraw respect, and punish him with distances and silence. But not only could they see the others vulnerabilities, they could also see their own!. As we shall see next day, this caused them to go into hiding, to build high towering walls cutting themselves off from each other and from God. Eve had been deceived into thinking that eating the fruit would make her wise, and while certainly she gained knowledge, it was very far from something to be desired (Genesis 3:6). Likewise for us, the pleasures of sin for a season (Hebrews 11:25) looks so tempting, so desirable, but always, always, always there are undesirable consequences. As we said earlier, sin takes you further than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more and you want to pay! It is never worth it!

Father, I keep coming back to the thought that when You say no, You do so for our provision and protection. And though we know it is not worth it, still the tempter knows our weaknesses and our vulnerabilities. And it delights him when we sin, because sin separates us from each other and from You. But he doesn’t know everything! He did not know that when he provoked the crowd to cry out for the crucifixion of the Lord of glory (Luke 23:21; 1 Corinthians 2:8), that this was the very thing that would purchase our redemption. I want to thank You again this morning Lord that You so loved me and the world, that You sent your One and only Son so that those who believe in You should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Hallelujah Amen

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