One good example is Leviticus 26:12 AND I WILL WALK AMONG YOU AND BE YOUR GOD. If strong wind is a better translation, then it would not be saying that God was walking in the garden, but instated that He was moving in the garden. It doesn't say they viewed God with their eyes. Thanks for taking the time to read and leave a comment. 16 I also will do this unto you I will appoint unto you terror consumption burning ague that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart and you shall sow your seed in vain your enemies shall eat it17 and I will set my face against you 18 and if you still dont listen to Mei will punish you 7 times more for your sins please not that it is sin that seperates man from god. The Lord God Walking in the Garden. (Vs. 21) Did the wind drive them out of the garden? But its entirely different to claim that the Bible teaches or implies that they did when there just arent any statements in the text that teach or imply that position. This is why Christians generally believe that all human life is precious. Genesis 2:15-17 doesn't provide many details, 15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. Although I agree, you simply cannot prove this one way or another, however I believe the scripture gives us enough evidence to assume with confadence, that Jesus did take a physical form and did actually, literally walk through the garden. Hello Tim, I honestly do not understand why you are so hellbent on trying to make a point of saying that Adam and Eve did not walk with God? Seems to me there was plenty of interaction & communication between Adam (& Perhaps Eve) and God. And therefore, it seems to me familiarity was brought about by regular communion/ communication/ visits from the Lord. I was putting together a Bible lesson today for my twin girls on the Fall of Man. This is something I have heard countless times, and based on the number of responses trying to justify such a view, its pretty clear that a lot of others have heard it and/or taught it. Here is just one example about working the land 26:1 make no idols. First, we are told that God made man from the dust of the ground, and he didnt become a living being until God breathed the breath of life into him (Genesis 2:7). God communicated many things to Adam. But, despite the beauty of God's new world, there was one thing missing. Keep up the search for accuracy. Now turn to Chapter 4 of Genesis verse 13 Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is more than I can bear. 18? (Genesis 3:8). 3. Im pointing out that possible understanding of the text. (Gen. 3:8) Adam is placed in the garden to "cultivate (abad)" and "keep (samar)" it (Gen 2:15). Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of over sixtybooks and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. Yes, Adam and Eve were made in His image (as are all of us), but I would argue that angels are probably made in His image as well, and even the holy angels arent in ongoing (i.e. In terms of the theological questions of how God could do this, one answer could be that it is an embodied pre-incarnate Christ, the Angel of the Lord, who is himself the Lord and who appears many times in the Old Testament. Do you think the lord actually cares if pastors are saying Adam and Eve did walk with God? With that in mind, what makes you say, from the text of Genesis, that the phrase translated cool of the day would be better translated a strong wind? If strong wind is the better translation, when prior to this event did God manifest himself to Adam and Eve in a strong wind in such a way that when they heard the strong wind on this occasion, they knew instantly that it was the sound of God? Ive heard this, believed this, and repeated this on more than one occasion. They were not merely spiritual beings at that point. Later that day, God was walking in the Garden of Eden. The anthropomorphic description of God walking (mithallek) in the garden suggests the enjoyment of fellowship between him and our first parents. It seems likely that many people have just remembered some of the wording in this verse and assumed that it says Adam and Eve walked with God. Thanks for this article, it was an interesting read. That he still comes to them even after theyve sinned emphasizes that they have made the first move away from him, before he moves them away from Himself by putting them out of Eden. The children of Israel had a great amount of lifestock during the time of their exodus. For Adam to know that the sound he heard was the sound of God, he must have heard it before. God Arraigns Adam and Eve. I dont recall a specific instance of this, but since the promised land was repeatedly spoken of as a land flowing with milk and honey, I take that to mean that their flocks would thrive and they would have an abundance of milk (in addition to honey and more). Many people assume that this one verse is symbolic, as . Sin Of Walking. Then ended up here. When God said, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat Adam knew what a tree was, what the garden was, and what eating was. The natural connotation, to me, is that God often did this, perhaps daily in the cool of the day, but what was remarkable this time was that man was afraid, because he had sinned. Due to the craftiness of the serpent, sin found its way into the Garden and everything fell apart. Adam and Eve said, 'Lord, when we were in the garden, You walked with us every day. The same two words are translated elsewhere . Its not like Genesis 5:24 (Enoch walked with God) or Genesis 6:9 (Noah walked with God). Since the Bible doesnt make this claim, its impossible to know for sure where people get the idea from. But that isnt the point of what I wrote. This would have been after God made Eve and Adam awoke and uttered the words in Genesis 2:23. In my searching I found your website and I am so glad I did. But your claim is based on only such a narrow standard. Because they nearly always cite the verse about Adam and Eve hearing the sound of the Lord walking in the garden. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. That is exactly how his walking with Adam and Eve in the Garden is depicted. Hi Ed, But thats not at all what is going on here. I will make a helper suitable for him" ( Genesis 2:18 ). Hi David, Just because Adam and Eve had no sin they still were not privileged to seeing God in physical form. This is a different subject. Because we are made in Gods image, we are called to image God. With that in mind, I would disagree with you on the reason you give for why God came to the garden that day. In fact it comes to mind that the statement can be transcended as a statement of faith, that the Lord God was loving and personal as he claims himself to be and did walk with them, who knows. Its about urging people to take a closer look at the text so that they do not make false claims about it. Much of the talk of the Adam & Eve story revolves around how they ate the . Yes, I see that there are similarities, and I dont deny the possibility that God was present in the garden in a special way compared to the way that He is omnipresent. Thanks for the kind words. It is possible that the Lord taught them how to do certain things, as you say, but it certainly wasnt necessary. Two things that they did see. I would assume that they drank goats milk during this time as well. Psalm 104:3. God does not require a garden to have a direct relationship with man, so I dont see how the fact that God created a garden would have anything to do with whether they had a direct relationship (and by extension, that they walked together). It was part of the sad deception that the man and woman who wanted so much to be like God, rather than obtaining the stature of deity, are afraid even to commune with him. I would be with this item all day and be close to me at nite. WHY? Genesis 3:2-5. Noah walked with God Genesis 6:9. Also, Adam didnt necessarily say that he heard Gods voice (some Bibles translate it that way), but it could just as accurately be translated as your sound in the garden. 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, >>>>>and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. Apparently, you have missed the point of this entire post. In this environment, Adam and Eve had safety, abundant food, meaningful work and fellowship with God. I have no problem with that. I guess its just hard to let go of certain ideas, but we must always allow our thinking to be challenged by what Scripture actually says rather than what we want it to say. I believe God appeared to Adam and Eve and Cain and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob (when He wrestled with Him) and the parents of Samson, and even to Balaam and his donkey, the same way He appeared to John. Please read Genesis 3:8-10: "Later they HEARD the VOICE OF JEHOVAH GOD as he was walking in the garden about the breezy part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the face of Jehovah God among the trees of the garden. It means closeness, intimacy, communion. Thanks! The complete bible account of the story of Adam and Eve can be found in Genesis 1:26 to Genesis 5:5. Fifth, if someone doesn't like the idea that God knew they would be . God created human beings to have fellowship with him. I never really gave it much thought that Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden.God can and does whatever He wants to do. They will live forever, and as well see in the coming chapters, some of them have been given dominion over certain things. In conclusion, the whole of chapter 2 & 3 causes me to conclude that Adam regularly communed with God somehow; and to me probably daily (or at least almost) since we know we are the apple of His eye. It says, "they heard the sound of God walking in the garden", and, " they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. I would think that they received one on one instruction from God. Behold we shall not sow,nor gather in our increase: now look at 21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year and it shall bring forth fruit for 3 years 22 and you shall sow the 8th year and eat of the old fruit until the 9th year until the fruits come in. I think you misunderstand what was meant by the possibility of God coming in the wind. I plan to search through it much more. They turned to their own ways, sinful ways. God told them to be fruitful and multiply. Thanks for your thoughts and kind words. Lets take a teacher in a class room full of students, then have the teacher leave the room, chaos will ensue, amen? However, God could have manifested himself as a human being, but this would not be the glorious spirit being that he actually is. The parts of the claim that are not in quotes are my reasonable inferences of your intent, given what you do *say verbatim*. If He did or didnt is still and can always be up for discussion , its a gut instinct in me that says no but at the end of the day Im just glad Im saved and can sort it out when I get to Heaven! Possible the sound he heard was uncharacteristically harsh & is why he was afraid. Hi Warren, As I mentioned in the post, even if He walked through the Garden to speak to Adam and Eve it would not prove that they used to take walks with Him. Genesis 3:1-12; 21-24. The reasoning for this conclusion may make more sense in the next post on Cain and Abel. 8 Then GOD planted a garden in Eden, in the east. Or maybe they read Gods mind. I believe it is very important to know what is and isnt in the Bible. Adam said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself (Genesis 3:10, ESV). Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, surrounded by fruit trees and beautiful things. It saddens me to let go of the notion that God would hang out with them in the cool of the evening. He does indeed come down, but this time for confrontation and judgment, whereas before it had been for fellowship. Adam and Eve got to literally hang out with God all day long, face to face. I believe one of the biggest weapons used against it is when secular opponents are more aware of the accuracy of the passages like this than we Christians who misuse and misquote them. Considering that each year subtracted from Cain and Abels ages at the time of Abels murder could be added to Adam and Eves time in the Garden, its quite possible that Adam and Eve spent many years in the Garden, which would make their sin all that more sorrowful. There is a possibility that we should understand that Hebrew text to be speaking about something more like the whirlwind at the end of Jobthat they heard the sound of God moving about (not walking) in the Garden. Although Exodus established that God was present everywhere through the judgement on Egypt, it also taught that God would be present in a special way in the tabernacle (later to be replaced by the temple). Hi Tim. God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden where grew the tree of life. How many pastors and other teachers have taught that the Bible says Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden? Finally, there are many who use the idea of Adam and Eve actually walking with God to stress the theological point of mans closeness to God prior to sin in order to contrast that with mans lost condition after sin. I must stand corrected as I also remembered Adam and Eve walking in the cool of the afternoon with God. What is the one thing that He values the most, as we know it? So there minds were NOT YET CORRUPTED until God ALLOWED there FREE WILL to be tested, just as the Father through the Holy Spirit ALLOWED Christ Jesus to be tested in the wilderness. When God asked them how they knew they were naked, and asked them if they had eaten from the tree they were not to. Hi Janice, 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. If He was walking, then this must have been a theophany - a pre-incarnate appearance of the Second Person of the Trinity. Where is the specific support for this argument found anywhere in the scriptures? Hi Tim, But what comes to my mind is why would you choose this debated part to address the concern. Genesis 3:8. Why would anyone ask such a silly question? This walking refers to living a life that pleases God. But again, that doesnt change my point. But there is no need to make the text outright say something it does not, in fact, outright say. Song of Solomon 4:6. The Garden of Eden, the terrestrial Paradise known also as the Garden of God, is one of the most famous settings in the Bible. Tim please do a small word study on walking and when you do you will find that walking refers to a living relationship with the said persons mentioned . I would agree with much of what you wrote, and I believe Ive stated as much in the article and follow up comments. Nothing in that passage says it, and thats the main point of this post. I have found Bible studies that indicate that God fellowshipped or walked with Adam and Eve, and they refer to Genesis 3:8. Here is a link to the Wikicommons page showing that this illustration is in the public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_009.png. Tim. Adam and Eve, according to the Old Testament, are the First Humans who ever walked on earth from which all humans descended. Adam & Eve hid themselves from God. I agree that it is very possible that God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden but there is no written statement(s) that support this. Even the best of our actions is imperfect. 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