Questions God Asks 02: Who Told You That You Were Naked?

The second question of the Bible has to do with nakedness. So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” (Genesis 3:10-11).

According to God’s question, there were only two possible ways to become aware of being naked: listening to the wrong person or disobedience (eating from the tree knowledge of good and evil). Adam and his wife, Eve, were created with divine innocence. The closing sentiments after their creation were, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” 

In times of obedience and faithfulness, nakedness is a sign of innocence. However, when we listen to the wrong person or through disobedience, we forfeit our connections with God; nakedness becomes a sign of shame, painful failure, and loss. Adam and his dear wife, Sister Eve, found themselves in this situation and immediately sought fig leaves to cover themselves. 

Context

I was thinking about Adam’s brokenness when he realized he was naked and could not be comfortable in that outfit anymore. I was surprised to learn that this may not mean much to contemporary society. You see, nakedness does not mean anything to the world today. People seem to be tired of clothes. An average human being today, when dressed at their best, still appears to be struggling to show as much as they can. Is rampant nakedness another sign of a broken and breaking world?

That sobering thought aside, God’s question, “Who told you that you are naked?” is very important. Everything God provided after creating Adam and Eve was perfect and all they needed to be happy. But after eating the forbidden fruit, a direct result of listening to the wrong person—Satan coming in the outfit of a Serpent—they were placed in a situation where their happiness demanded external influence. 

They immediately began to piece together fig leaves, hoping they could be as innocent as before, but they got none. All these efforts could not bring them safety before God; when they heard His voice, they hid themselves from His presence like all sinners do. Nothing invented by sinners can bring sinners to the presence of God. Only what God can do for sinners can bridge the gap created by sin and disobedience. 

Who Told Them?

But who told Adam that they were naked? 

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

NKJV Genesis 3:6-7

No one told Adam and his wife that they were naked. They were only told that God was hiding something better from them and that they would be better off if they placed themselves in a position where they knew the difference between good and evil. Unfortunately, they lost what they had (innocence and satisfaction from life’s simple blessings in its authentic and natural state). They gained what they didn’t want—an experience in disobedience, a realization that they were naked and needed to sew fig leaves to cover themselves. 

Life Application

There are a lot of naked people in the world today who are so, not because they were seeking nakedness but because they listened to the wrong people. Many people are suffering in the cold of brokenness who seemingly were out to get something they deemed better for their well-being and progressive advancement. Many people have lost the best they had because they are busy seeking what they don’t need. 

It is essential to be selective about the people we listen to. The time in which we live is a time of information ubiquity. There are a lot of people talking everywhere and on every subject. Many podcasts and talks are uploaded to our digital spaces, seeking our audience. Even people who, at best, are just mere opinionists label their content as an authoritative source of guidance in the various fields they talk about. We must be careful whom we listen to. 

The fact that everything we listen to or read impacts our lives and worldviews should make us appreciate the gravity of being selective about whom we grant the noble privilege of being our informers. Eve listened to the devil and thought there was something better in what they didn’t have in the provision given by God. In their desire and longing for a sophisticated sphere, they lost what they had and acquired what they didn’t need–nakedness and ruin. The bitterest part of it is that this was an irreversible procedure. They got what they didn’t need, and the worst part was that they were stuck with it. 

Disobedience and deliberate forfeiture of the safety of godliness take something out of our hands that we cannot recover unless God interposes.

Many people try solving this through fig leaves—arguments used to cover disobedience. Unfortunately, like for Adam, every argument to cover disobedience will fail to recommend us before God, and we will hide when we hear His voice where we usually meet with him. 

So, who told you that you are naked? Come on and tell God the truth!