390: Hiding in the Trees | +Quigg Lawrence

Introduction

Good morning, friends. We are in Genesis 3, and I understand most of you use your Bible on your phone. That’s awesome. Whether you follow there or not, today maybe a great Sunday to pick up the Pew Bible and follow along because we’re going to be bouncing around a bit. But our home base will be Genesis 3.

The title for today and the point we're going to drive home is that when we sin, there is condemnation and shame, and so often we want to hide. We want to hide from the Lord. I know I do. And the ridiculous thing is, how can you hide from the Lord who’s omniscient? He sees everything. He knows everything. Proverbs 15 says, the eyes of the Lord are everywhere, seeing good and seeing bad.

The Context of the Passage

Now, to the theme of hiding, I’ve been thinking a lot about young mothers, watching young mothers, and even grandmothers who are taking care of littles. They are precious, would you agree? They’re precious. Yeah, they’re precious, and we value them because the Scripture says, children are a heritage from the Lord. But can we also say that while they’re a gift from God, they also can tire you out? Right? Do you ever see these moms like no sleep for three or four months in a row? Sometimes, you need to learn to find a place to hide.

Roll tape. Don’t try that at home—you may fall off the door. But that is all I’m going to say to young mothers: it is a noble task. And understand, nobody’s handing out blue ribbons, trophies, or awards. But I want you to know that God sees, He knows, and we are called to train and love our children — not just women, but men, and not just moms and dads, but those in the body of Christ.

So, I want you to know, we see you, we’re for you, we’re proud of you. Good job. Alright.

We’re going to be in Genesis 3, but the challenge is, Genesis 3 has a lot of lies embedded in it that, if you don’t look at Genesis 2, you’ll miss the line. Satan, as Chuck Smith says, rarely appears in a red suit with slanted eyes and a pitchfork because if he did, we’d all know that’s Satan. He’s much more crafty than that.

So, I want to go back and look in Genesis 2. Just turn back a little bit. Genesis 2:8. Our focus here is to see what did the Lord do and what did the Lord say? Simple. What He do? What did He say? And this will be the measuring rod to hold to Genesis 3 to see where the lies are taking place.

The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground, the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is, that’s what they say about the trees—the Lord made. Every one of ‘em was pleasant to the sight and good for food. Pleasant to the sight, good for food. Remember that.

And then it goes on and says, the tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That’s what God did: He formed Adam, made trees to spring up, all pleasant to the sight and good for food. And in the middle of the garden, there are actually two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now, let’s look more at what He said. So, the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. To work it and keep it. I heard one of the pastors I admire most—a Calvary Chapel guy—come out of that movement. He’s an amazing preacher. He preached on Genesis 3 that it wasn’t till after the sin of Adam and Eve that man had to work. Like, work is a punishment, a result of sin. And what I would say is, you didn’t read Genesis 2. Because we see in Genesis 2, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden and told him, “Work it and keep it.” The difference is, after they sin, they work it by the sweat of their brow, and the ground is hard and thorny.

But work is noble. Work is good. So, the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may eat of... how many trees?” Every tree in the garden. In other words, you’ve got the run of the place. It’s like a buffet for you. Any tree here in the garden, you can eat from—except for one tree, just one. That is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Don’t eat of it, for the day you eat of it, you will surely die. So, God's being generous, but He’s also warning them. The reason He’s warning is so they wouldn’t have the curse of the knowledge of good and evil.

You know—I might be making some of these details up—call 'em Lawrence Factoids—but I do know for a fact there’s a police department in Bedford. There’s a sub-district or jurisdiction within Bedford’s police force, and their job is to go to the dark web and try to find people doing bad things to kids. I’ll just leave it at that. Bad things.

I know some Navy JAGs—one in our church is now a judge. He said, “You know, when I was a JAG, I thought I was going to get on there and arrest people for being drunk in port.” He goes, "What I actually did most of my time was looking at the most vile pornography." And what they find in Bedford and Jack Corners, there's only so much of that wickedness and evil. There are things no human being should ever see. You know, there’s a reason God said no—I don’t want you to eat from that tree—and it wasn’t because He’s mean. He’s generous. He’s saying, "Hey, you can swing from it like a chimpanzee if you want, but you can’t eat from it." That’s because He didn’t want us to suffer eternally with the knowledge of good and evil, especially the knowledge of evil.

That’s what God did and that’s what He said. Now, let’s move to the main passage. Are you ready? Let’s go.

The Deception and The Lie

It starts out, and I just—I hate this verse one. It says, “Now, the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field.” The serpent. I don’t know what you guys hate—I hate canned peas. I hate canned beats. I hate obnoxious people, political people on the far left and far right who won’t come up for a breath because they’re telling you the truth and the way it is. And I hate snakes. I understand snake lovers. Some of them meet mice and do other nice things. I don’t care. You can come to my yard, get every snake you want. If I see him, pow pow pow—he’s a dead duck. Okay? So, I hate snakes.

Now, it says here, but it actually doesn’t say snake, does it? It says, “Now, the serpent—the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field.” The serpent, the serpent, the serpent. So, the obvious question is: who or what is the serpent? Who or what is it? Is it just a nice little garden snake? A poisonous viper? Like that 16-foot boa constrictor that swallowed a woman last week? Look it up. Google it. Swallowed a woman whole.

Who or what is the serpent? Well, you always say you let Scripture interpret Scripture. Some of y’all won’t get past that, will you? That’s rough, rough. So, where in the Scripture do we go to find out who the serpent was? Well, could I tell you? In Revelation 12:9, it says plainly:

The great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan. — Revelation 12:9

It’s clear as can be. Who’s the serpent? The devil. Who’s the serpent? Satan, the adversary. It says it both in Revelation 12 and in Revelation 20, but you may go quick—I might be a doubting Thomas—I need more evidence. Sometimes, evidence hits you in the face; sometimes you have to look between the lines.

Let’s look in Ezekiel 28. Sorry to the first service—I realize this looks so big on my laptop; it was big when I was preparing the slides. Is it a little small to y’all in the back? Okay, I’ll learn from that. So, here’s what I want you to see: there are two things going on in Ezekiel 28 and later in Isaiah 14. Two things. We’re reading these passages to learn something about who the serpent was, okay?

This is a little complex, so put on your thinking caps. There is a principle of Bible interpretation called the principle of double reference. Double reference. In other words, here in Ezekiel, the Lord is speaking through Ezekiel, and he’s speaking about the king of Tyre. But as you’ll soon see, he’s not only speaking about the king of Tyre, an enemy of God’s people; he’s also referring to Lucifer—an angel, Lucifer—who rebelled against God, who was prideful. Some verses say he was cast down; some say he fell. I believe he was cast, and then he fell. Okay? So, let’s look at this and see what part is for the king of Tyre and what part is for Lucifer, the devil, the serpent.

Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre. This is what the sovereign Lord says: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect, and beauty. — Ezekiel 28:12

I’m not sure if this part is pointing to the king of Tyre or to the evil one, but at least read it. You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect, and beauty. The king of Tyre probably thought he was all those things, right? Everybody thinks, I’m pretty good.

But by the time we reach verse 13, it gets really clear. It’s not talking about the king of Tyre:

You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering. — Ezekiel 28:13

Now, help me out here—I do the Bob Williams thing. Remember Colombo? Help me out. I’m confused.

You remember you taught me this twenty-five years ago? Help me out. I’m confused.

Who was in the garden that we know from Genesis? First of all, God. Okay. God was there, walking in the garden. Who else? Adam and Eve, and at least one other creature: the serpent. Was the king of Tyre there? So, automatically, you realize there’s no way the king of Tyre could have been in Eden.

So, this is a double reference. It’s pointing not just to the king of Tyre, but now it’s speaking about someone else. It’s speaking about Lucifer, Satan, the ancient serpent, the dragon, who will be cast down.

It says:

You were created, and I want you to hone in on verse 14 because it’s another great one. I should have highlighted it in yellow. It says, You were anointed as a guardian cherub. You were anointed as a guardian cherub.

For so I ordained you. You were on the Holy Mountain; you walked among the fiery stones.

So, the question I want to ask you is: when it says, “You were a guardian cherub,” who is that referring to? Is that referring to the king of Tyre? I mean, this whole thing says it’s about the king of Tyre, but men never are angels. Angels never are men.

I’ve heard people say in this church that when their loved ones die, oh, they’re going to be such an awesome angel in heaven. And I’m like, I don’t know what book you’re reading, but it’s not the Bible. People don’t become angels. This passage is clearly pointing, speaking about Lucifer, the devil.

Let’s look at another quick passage, because time’s short. Isaiah the prophet is speaking in the Old Testament, referencing the king of Babylon—wicked Babylon, wicked king. But as you read this passage, you’ll see it has to be someone more than the king of Babylon, because some of these things wouldn’t be true of a human being:

How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations. — Isaiah 14:12

Was the king of Babylon ever in heaven? No. So, automatically, you see this is not about a human. He says, “I will ascend to heaven, I will make myself like the Most High.” The last part says:

I will make myself like the Most High. — Isaiah 14:14

If you watch the news, political figures, there’s some good politicians—amen, a few. But a lot of them display pride, a desire for power. Pride and grasping for power. And this passage, ultimately, refers to Lucifer, who said, “I will ascend to heaven above; I will set my throne on high. I will make myself like the Most High.”

Friends, this is what every cult does. This is what every religion that’s not Christianity does—particularly the cults, especially in the New Age. You know what they do? It’s so simple: they bring God down—bring God down. Reduce Him from the Almighty God to your brother, your friend, but not God.

Cultures and false religions, they pull God down, and then they raise man up. That’s the core lie.

My family was in the Episcopal Church, and after my parents’ divorce, my mother was looking for fellowship. We didn’t have life groups in our church—I don’t even know if they were around then. It’s a lie—there were early church gatherings, but we didn’t have what we call today.

She hooked up with a Christian group run by her brother, a psychiatrist, who had many patients—warning Wil Robinson. On weekends, I doubt current patients would go on religious trips with their doctor, but anyway.

It started out very Christian—sang from the Methodist Hymnal, had some scripture, good fellowship. But the messages got weirder. I remember at eleven years old, he said, “I am the second Noah.” You’d think he was a kook if you just heard that. But since there was Christian stuff around, it almost didn’t seem weird.

It got worse over the years, getting further from scripture, until he wrote in his last book that our ultimate destiny as humans was to become gods. I love my uncle—I look like my uncle—and I defended him. But when he said, “Our ultimate destiny is to become God,” I said, “I love you, Uncle George, but that is blasphemy. That is not true.”

Back to the serpent—more crafty than any other beast of the field the Lord God had made. He said to the woman:

Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’? — Genesis 3:1

See, that word irritates me. Actually, did God actually say? You don’t even need that “actually.” If you use Grammarly, you wouldn’t need it. But he says:

Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’? — Genesis 3:1

That’s the lie. Subtle. It’s a lie.

Then the woman answers back, kinda like Jesus being tempted by Satan, but rather than quoting Scripture, she repeats:

We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. — Genesis 3:2

Is that true? Yes, it is true. So she’s got two truths and a lie. She says:

But God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden,”— Genesis 3:3

She refers to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Did God say they could not eat from that tree? Correct. So, that’s two truths. But then she adds:

Neither shall you touch it. — Genesis 3:3

Wait, I’m confused. Did God ever say, “You shall not touch the tree”? No. God is specific. Remember Moses—he was told to speak to the rock; he touched it. So, notice:

Did God ever say you shall not touch the tree? — Genesis 3:3

What’s going on is Eve is adding to God’s Word. She’s doing what people do—a legalist, a Pharisee, or even what I often do. She adds to God's commands.

Satan then says back to her:

You will not surely die. — Genesis 3:4

Is that true? Might seem like it at first—you know, he didn’t smoke them right there. But do they end up dying? Yes. So, was Satan lying? Yes. Jesus called him the father of lies. He’s a liar.

He’s been lying to some of us, telling us things that aren’t true. That’s why the Bible says, “Take every thought captive”—or else Satan is going to sucker punch you.

In verse 5, the serpent says:

For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God. — Genesis 3:5

That pattern of wanting to be like God is nothing new. We see it here in creation. It’s still happening today—people want to step into the divine. They don’t want to be religious; they want to be spiritual, and they desire to attain that by various means—trips to India, Ashrams, or following some guru.

So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit and ate it.

Now, I want you to think back to Genesis 2. What did it say about every tree? It was delightful to the eyes and good for food. That was the original description. But now Satan is tempting her with doubt, desire, lust, pride. And he adds:

This tree is desirable to make one wise. — Genesis 3:6

You see what Satan’s playing on—her pride. You wanna be wise? You wanna be different and better than everyone else? Eat it.

Maybe Eve thought, how in the world could I do that? Well, if it’s an apple, fruit, or pomegranate, whatever—I’m not interested in fruit. But other things—shiny, beautiful, tempting—there’s that pull. Back and forth, until it’s almost magnetic. You just want to do it because your flesh wants it, your pride makes you want to have it.

So, they eat. After Eve eats, she goes to her husband. He eats it—bad move, Adam.

Then, verse 7, it says, “The eyes of both of them were opened, and they were naked.” Now, if you’re from the North, let me translate: I love people from the North, but down South, we say “naked” like “buck naked.” Ever heard that? Yeah.

You know what? Little children, babies, toddlers starting to walk—they could be buck naked and running around. Nobody cares. Nobody’s ashamed. That’s the Garden of Eden. At some point, those kids realize—maybe on the playground out back—you can’t run around buck naked.

But here, Adam and Eve, there’s nothing wrong with their bodies. No shaving, no shame, no guilt. They had innocence. In Genesis 2, it says they were both naked and not ashamed.

But now they’ve sinned. They see through distorted lenses. They see their bodies and private areas as sinful or bad. They want to hide and cover up.

Let’s finish the story. What do they do, after they sin and are ashamed? When their eyes are open and they see their nakedness? They sew fig leaves together and make loincloths. I think often our religious attempts to cover ourselves are just as silly—like trying to sew fig leaves. First, it’s not a very sturdy garment. But second, it’s just human effort to cover shame.

God never meant for His people to atone or pay for their own sins. Ultimately, in His fullness of mercy, He’ll send the lamb of God, innocent and blameless, shedding His blood so that we might be covered and forgiven.

Verse 8, then, they hear the sound of the Lord walking in the garden. The Lord God is walking, and they hide themselves from His presence among the trees.

Do you have a video? Go back to the moose for a second—I saw this guy in Saskatchewan. It was out of season, so I couldn’t bring it home for steaks, but I just want to say to Mister Moose: do you know I can see you? You have a huge body—the one I saw was behind one tiny tree.

Go to the next picture. Like, bro, are you kidding? You’re the size of a tractor trailer, hiding behind a little sapling? It’s not working. That’s funny.

But go to the next slide. This is not as funny. Do you recognize that posture? I’ve had people refuse communion for twelve years because of that shame. I’ve had people stop coming to church for twenty years because of it. And the Lord wants to teach us today—just come to Me. Be honest. Confess your sins. Don’t try to hide.

Where can you hide from the Lord? Proverbs 3 says:

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, observing good and evil. — Proverbs 3:20

If I ascend to the heights, He’s there. If I make my bed in Sheol, He’s there. Even Google Earth—heck, they say they can see a cigarette on the ground. You think God isn’t bigger? Brighter? He’s omniscient, all-knowing, everywhere.

If I run to the heights, He’s there; if I hide amongst the trees, He’s there. They were naked, and they were afraid.

You see, that story’s tough because Adam and Eve had it all—everything was perfect. They sinned. God, being just, punished them. He sent them out of the garden. You might think that’s harsh. No, it’s merciful. He didn’t want them to live forever with the knowledge of good and evil, especially the evil. He placed cherubs or angels at the entrance to guard the garden, saying, “You may not come back in.”

God is just. But in His justice, He’s merciful.

And there’s one last part I didn’t read earlier—verse 21. God does something for Adam and Eve: He takes garments from the skins of animals and clothes them. How do you get animal skins? You kill the animal. Innocent, blameless—He sheds His blood so that their shame and condemnation might be covered, pointing us forward to Jesus, who shed His blood—He’s the righteous, holy, blameless Lamb of God—so that you could be covered and forgiven.

Application

Church, we’d love to invite you into this time of prayer and worship. We invite you to stand with us. If you’d like to sing, please do. If you want to pray, come down to these curved rails. If you want to pray by yourself, respond to the Lord. If you’d like prayer with someone, prayer ministers will be at these straight rails.

For the rest of us, let’s join in worship.