Genesis 3:11 (NIV) And he said, “Who told you that you were naked?
That's
really kind of a loaded question. The first
attribute I see of God in this question is His willingness to defend His
children. Who told you? His first thought was to blame someone else
for their shame.
Most parents who love their children don’t want to believe
that their child could do wrong. Their
initial reaction is to blame someone else.
What’s the first question asked when a parent walks into a room and
finds a broken lamp, even if there is only one child and one parent in the
house at the time? The first question
asked is, who broke the lamp?
Before I even confess my sins to God He doesn’t want to
believe I’ve sinned in the first place.
He wants to blame someone else for my shame.
Who told you? The
second attribute of God that I get from this question is His jealousy. Every time I read the first three words of
that question I can almost hear the pain in God’s voice. Who told you?
Who has the right to tell you, Adam, that you’re naked? Who have you put in front of Me... and listened
to?
In this question, I first see God’s jealousy. And many times through scripture I'm
reminded of His jealousy. Exodus 34:14 (NIV) tells me, "Do not worship any other god, for the LORD,
whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
Whenever I put something or someone before God, He gets
jealous. He wants me to listen to Him
and only Him. How many times do I hear the jealousy coming through in
God’s voice? How many times do I hear it? Karl, who are you listening to besides
Me? Who told you?
The third attribute of God in this question is His desire
for me to be whole. Who told you that
you were naked? Who told you something
about yourself that you needed to feel shame for? I made you perfectly, Adam, naked and all,
who told you that you needed to cover yourselves before Me and before each
other?
You see, when I listen to what others say about me and
believe it, instead of listening to what God says about me and believing that,
I am sinning and I feel shame. In
Psalm 81 the Psalmist talks about how Israel listened to other gods and how
because of that God wouldn’t bless them.
Yet if the Israelites would listen to God, the true God, he would listen
to them.
All through Israel’s history I read about how when they
listened to God they would be cared for and prosperous, but when they listened
to other gods or false prophets they would be taken into slavery or not have
God’s favor upon them.
When I came to know Christ, when I accepted Him as my Lord
and Savior, I became new. I don’t need
to listen to anyone else.
In 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 I learn that I am a new creation.
When I listen to what others say to me or about me and
start believing it, I start forgetting what God says about me.
In Galatians 4:6-7 I learn that I am an heir.
This is for you, Reader, and me... who told you? When we
get discouraged at work because a co-worker or boss tells us that we're not good
enough and we start feeling worthless, God is right there asking, who told you
that you are worthless? When we go to
school and we hear others tell us that we’re dumb or stupid, God is right there
pleading, who told you that you are dumb or stupid? When we’re at home and we get lost in the family
business of recitals, and practices, homework, and chores and we start to feel
insignificant, God is right there screaming through the loneliness, who told
you that you are insignificant? When we
go to church and we feel that we can’t serve because we don’t know this, or in
our past we’ve done this, God is right there shouting through the judgment of
others, who told you that you can’t serve Me?
When we’ve been abused physically, mentally, emotionally or even
spiritually by others and we’re left feeling broken and discarded, God is right
there frantically exclaiming, who told you that you aren’t whole?
Karl, who told you that you are naked? And why are you believing them instead of believing
Me?
