4.1 The Absence of Divine Intervention
As I reflect on this tragedy, I realize we shouldn’t be surprised at the failure of Adam and Eve to discern the ill intent of Satan. This is because, as noted earlier, even though they were created in the form of full-grown adults or young adults, they were mere “infants” insofar as they lacked the experience of mature adults “who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14 ESV). Therefore, we should not be surprised that Adam and Eve did not ace the test with flying colors. But what really should surprise us is the fact that God was totally absent from this tragic event. For it seems quite evident that if He had not hidden Himself in this manner, Adam and Eve would not have eaten from the forbidden tree. His holy presence would likely have deterred their disobedience. On the face of it, suffering in this world could have been averted, and we would not be fumbling for the meaning of life today—if only God was not absent on that day to forestall the tragedy. So, where was God? Why didn’t He step in to intervene and shoo that serpent away?
As a parent myself, if my infant child was playing in the backyard and I perchance noticed a snake slithering out of the bush toward him, my parental instinct would have hurried me to grab my child away from the snake. But God, to whom Christians look up as the ultimate model for parenting, was nowhere to be found even though this snake in Eden was patently more dangerous than the one in my backyard!
Now, I must pause briefly to reiterate my position on a trivial point. And that is, even though God had hidden Himself from Adam and Eve, He did not cause them to fall into sin. God “is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else” (James 1:13 NLT). Human free will precludes God from being implicated in their willful disobedience. And by the same token, humans cannot be exonerated for their waywardness.
In any event, we have no reason to believe that God was negligent since Psalm 121:4 emphatically declares that He “never slumbers or sleeps” (NLT). He constantly watches over His people. Therefore, it is indeed very odd that He was apparently sitting passively on His hands, if you will, all the while watching the conversation between His newly minted humans and Satan unfold and knowing full well the tragedy that would ensue. God could have easily availed Himself on that day to protect the humans from Satan’s duplicity. But alas, He didn’t!
Incredibly enough, it would seem God could have at least given Adam and Eve the so-called spiritual gift of “discerning of spirits”—a spiritual gift that is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:10 (KJV). This spiritual gift is available to Christians in the New Testament era and had enabled the Apostle Paul to easily discern the evil spirit that was speaking through a demonized girl described in Acts 16:16–18. Wouldn’t it be marvelous if God had endowed Adam and Eve with this spiritual gift the moment they were created from the dust of the earth? If only God had equipped them with this spiritual gift, they would have easily recognized the satanic spirit that was in the form of a serpent speaking lies to them and they would not have fallen prey to his deception. However, God must have decided, for some reason, to withhold this vital spiritual gift from them. Why? What could have been on His mind?
Perhaps, as you are reading all this, you might be squirming uncomfortably, wondering how to defend God. And if you happened to lean toward atheism, you might even be exuberant, thinking that your point of view that Christianity is irrational has been validated. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. For it is the objective of this book to offer an explanation to justify God’s apparent perplexing disposition in Eden.
For now, we will note squarely that God’s lack of intervention and absence from the scene on that day is indeed counterintuitive. On the surface, His hiddenness in Eden stands out like a sore thumb.