(c) Eva Marie Everson
Question 9: “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9).
The Path of Silence: Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you (Psalm 139:7–12).
The Path of Memory: Take time to write your thoughts, about your daily journey or memory,
The Path of Questioning: Read Genesis 3:1–9.
Imagine knowing only the good life has to offer. Imagine not knowing anything about murder or rape. Child abuse or elderly abuse. Depression or disease. Imagine living in a world without arguments or dissention. Imagine working side by side during the day with someone the Lord Himself created for you, and then in the cool of the evening, being blessed by God’s presence as He walks alongside you in a lush and spectacular garden you call home. Now, imagine walking naked with God and your spouse and feeling noshame.
This was Adam and Eve’s existence. We don’t know how long they enjoyed such splendor, but I believe it wasn’t too long. Satan does not want for us to enjoy all God has to offer. Not for too long, anyway. And so that specific serpent came in a manner Jesus would describe thousands of years later as to steal, kill, and destroy. [i]
The Word of God tells us straightaway what we need to know about the serpent: he was crafty, the Lord God made him, and—for reasons not explained to us in Scripture—when he approached the woman, she was not afraid of him. Perhaps she had seen others like him before. Perhaps, before revelation and sin entered the world, all beasts lived in harmony with the man and the woman. And so then perhaps Satan came as something that Eve, specifically, would not be afraid of. Something that had become familiar to her. That type of familiarity is when something or someone can become the most dangerous to our relationship with God.
Now the serpent was more crafty,the Bible says. If we review the Hebrew word for “crafty”—aruum—we discover that its root word is ‘aram,’ which means “to be made bare.” Satan laid out his intentions with his first words to her: “Did God really say, ‘You may not eat from any tree in the garden?’” This was not what God had said at all, but if there is one thing Satan is good at, it’s twisting truth. Millenia later, Jesus, when challenged by the Pharisees, said, “When [Satan] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”[ii]
What God had said was this: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Eve relayed this to the serpent, but she added something to the command. We do not know if this is because she had misheard her husband or if he had misspoken when he told her what God had told him. What we do know is that she added “or touch it” because if they did they would surely die.
Satan challenged such a statement by rebuking the death penalty and saying instead, “God doesn’t want you to eat of it because then you will be like God. You will know good from evil.”[iii]
Then when the woman saw that the fruit from the tree (we’ve often referred to it as an apple, but the Word gives us no reference to any specific fruit) was edible, beautiful, and could give her discernment, understanding, and wisdom, she plucked it from the branch.
Can you hear it? That snapping of the fruit from its vine? Leaves rustling as the limb sprung back into place? The intake of breath before that first bite was taken? Not only from Eve, but from her husband Adam, who the Word tells us “was with her.”
Can you see it? The blink of their eyes as they looked at each other, as the fruit slipped from their sticky fingers and fell to the ground? The horror on their faces when they realized they were naked.
Naked, in Hebrew, is ‘eyrom.’ Its root word is ‘aram;’ the same root word for naked is the root word for crafty.
To be made bare.
There were no more secrets to be had. They knew. What’s more, God knew. God knew of their sin—but was that sin disobedience or simply not trusting Him? Not taking Him at His word? And which do you think hurt Him most?
The Bible tells us they immediately grabbed some fig leaves and sewed them together to hide their nakedness. But why? They’d seen each other before. They were man and wife. Why should there be such shame?
Perhaps they were not ashamed to be seen by each other but devastated for God to see them—when He returned for His “in the cool of the day” walk with them, He would see that they had been made bare.
There is no hiding from God. We can attempt it—Adam and Eve surely did—but the results will always be the same. When God comes looking for you, He will find you with one simple question: Where are you?
What was God asking Adam and his wife? What does He continue to ask us? Is He wondering where we are physically … or where we are in relationship to Him? With Him? Have we allowed ourselves to be conned by one who is so crafty, he takes truth, bends and twists it, and then whispers it in our ears when we are at our most vulnerable? Have we seen what looks good and seems okay to touch, only to be burned by that “father of lies?” That snake?
Where are you? Right now, in relationship to Him and with Him, where are you? Until we are able to answer this question, we will find ourselves stalled on the third path.
***
Now it’s your turn to journal on The Path of Questioning. Noting the words I have underlined, plus any words you may have underlined as well, along with the question God asked the first couple—and now asks you—write your answer to Him.
Circle toward the labyrinth’s center with The Path of Prayer. Then, sit quietly for a few moments with God before returning to life as you know it.
Question 10: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9).
The Path of Silence: I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of burning heat (Hosea 13:5).
The Path of Memory: Take time to write your thoughts, about your daily journey or memory.
The Path of Questioning: Read 1 Kings 19:1–18.
Elijah was a prophet, a man of miracles, who lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during King Ahab’s reign, which was 900 years before the time of Jesus. This was a time when too many in Israel worshipped false gods. They’d been introduced, in part, when Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethobaal I, the king of Tyre. Through Jezebel’s influence, King Ahab stopped worshipping God alone.
King Ahab did “evil in the eyes of the Lord,” but he didn’t invent the concept. He did, however, bring it to a whole new level. If you take time to study 1 Kings 15 and 16, you will read of King Baasha, who “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”[i] After he died, Elah, his son, rose to the throne.[ii] But Elah only reigned two years before one of his officials killed him while he (the king) was in a drunken state. Then Zimri, the official, reigned … until seven days later when he set the palace on fire and died. The throne then went to a man named Omri, who had previously been the commander of Israel’s army. And if you think things got better, think again. According to 1 Kings 16:25, Omri was the worst of the worst (at least up to that point, because …
Oh, but wait. Twelve years later, here comes Omri’s son, Ahab. First Kings 16:30–33 says that “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.”
In other words, these were bad times, and the land of Israel was inhabited by citizens who had turned their backs on God.
The prophet Elijah, upset by the turn of events, told Ahab there would be “neither dew or rain in the next few years except at my word.”[iii] Furthermore, Elijah explained, his message came by the authority of God—the God whom Elijah served.
Then, because God told him to, Elijah went to the Kerith Ravine, where he hid and where he drank from the brook and was fed by ravens.
Meanwhile back at the palace, Ahab called in Obadiah, the palace administrator (and a man who fervently believed in God), for a meeting. I wonder if Obadiah quivered in his sandals. You see, Jezebel had been killing the Lord’s prophets while Obadiah had bravely hidden a hundred of them. Not only hidden them, but somehow made sure they had food and water. For a nation in the midst of a famine, this could not have been a small feat.
So Obadiah went to the king, who apparently knew nothing about the hidden prophets. At some point, the king suggested (okay, ordered) that Obadiah scout out the springs and valleys in hopes of finding enough grass for the livestock. Ahab was worried about having to kill the animals. The prophets of God, he wasn’t so concerned about. But the animals … killing them weighed heavily on his mind.
“You go this way,” Ahab said, “and I’ll go that way.”
So they did, and whom should Obadiah meet along the way but Elijah. As soon as he saw the prophet, he bowed.
“Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here,’” Elijah said.[iv]
There is no doubt whatsoever that, at this point, fear and Obadiah became companions … but he did as Elijah commanded. Ahab, in turn, went out to see Elijah, this prophet who had pronounced a death sentence on Israel.
Elijah was ready for the nonsense of Baal worship to be over. He told Ahab to call for Israel’s people—including the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah “who eat at Jezebel’s table.”[v]
Ahab did just that. And when they had all assembled on the coastal mountain range of Mount Carmel, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea, Elijah asked the question: How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
And the people did … nothing. Said … nothing.
Now the real show began.
Elijah called for two bulls to be brought to the mountain. Baal’s prophets chose one, then cut it into pieces and placed the pieces on unlit wood. Elijah told them to call on their god to light a fire under the bull and consume its flesh.
They did, then they commenced to shouting. They got nothing. They danced. They got nothing. Not so much as a spark. They shouted louder. Still, nothing. They even slashed themselves until their blood splattered on the ground. Across the rocks and the wood and the flesh of the bull.
But from Baal, they got nothing.
Now it was Elijah’s turn. He went to the altar of God that had, at some point, been destroyed. Then, with twelve stones, he built an altar. He dug a trench around the altar. He arranged the wood. He laid the pieces of the second bull on the altar. He poured so much water over the flesh and the wood that it pooled into the trench.
Then, he prayed. And God showed up. The sacrifice burned up, the wood along with it, the stones became scorched, and the water was “licked up” from the trench.[vi]
And the people? They fell prostrate in worship. (Wouldn’t you?) Elijah seized Baal’s prophets and put them to death. Then, turning to Ahab, he said, “I hear the sound of heavy rain.” (I love that line!)
You’d think Elijah would feel unstoppable at this point, wouldn’t you? You’d think he would have done a happy dance that out-boogied all dances before and since. But often, after an extreme moment of spiritual glory, an equally opposite emotion overtakes us. So it was with Elijah.
When Jezebel heard her prophets had been killed, she put a death sentence on Elijah. And Elijah—prophet of God with an obvious direct line to the Almighty—did the unthinkable: he ran … all the way to the southern region of Israel where he collapsed under a broom bush, which is really more tree than shrub. There he asked God to “take him.”
Listen to what he said: “I’ve had enough, Lord,” he said, “I am no better than my ancestors.” (Every time I read, write, or speak these words, I am grieved to my very core.)
Exhausted, Elijah fell asleep. Think about this for a moment. He was in the desert, under a broom tree. He was afraid. Fatigue had taken hold of him. There, God provided rest. “This is the resting place,” God’s Word records in Isaiah 28:12, “let the weary rest.”
Sometimes we simply need to sleep. We need to stop whatever we are doing, no matter how important we think the task is … and close our eyes. Elijah slept, until an angel woke him and told him to eat.
Eat? Odd, considering where they were, but sure enough when Elijah looked, he saw bread baking over hot coals, and a jar of water. Elijah ate and then he slept some more. Until…
The angel woke him again. Listen to what he said: “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”[vii] So, Elijah ate. He drank. And then he walked forty days and nights until he reached Horeb.
Do you remember Horeb, first referenced in Exodus 3:1? This is where God first spoke to Moses about the mission to free the Hebrew slaves from Egyptian captivity. Everything changed for our Hebrew/Egyptian prince-turned-shepherd on Horeb, and life will take a beautiful turn there for our prophet as well.
After arriving, Elijah found a cave—a safe place, a shelter—and there he slept again. And then … a voice. The Voice asked, “What are you doing here?”
Elijah broke down with raw honesty (because if you cannot be raw and honest with God, who can you be raw and honest with?). “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”[viii]
God responded by telling Elijah to go out of the cave because He was about to pass by. Elijah left the safety of the cave, stood out in the open, and waited. This had to have been quite a moment for the prophet. One has to wonder if the story of Moses standing in the cleft of the rock as God passed by him (see Exodus 33) came to Elijah. No man can look upon the face of God and live, God had said to Moses. Did these words pass through Elijah’s thoughts as he stepped out?
We don’t know. But we do know that just then a powerful wind whipped through. I think it’s important to note this was not a breeze. A gentle rustling of the leaves. This gust was strong enough to part Elijah’s hair. I imagine it may have blown Elijah back a few feet. He may have even stumbled. But if he thought God was in this—even with this being wind or ruach, which is Hebrew for Spirit or spirit—he was mistaken.
Suddenly, the earth shook in a violent quake. Elijah held on, and I imagine he fell to his knees, but God was not in the shaking. Then, a fire rose from the bowels of the earth, but God was not within the fire,[ix] even though God had shown Himself through a display of fire in previous stories.
And then … not a wind … not a quake … not flames of hot burning fire … but a whisper. Specifically, the Word says, a gentle whisper.
Shhh … God is speaking.
Do you remember me mentioning my friend Robert Benson? He said something years ago that so resonated inside of me, I’ve never forgotten it. I want to say it to you now. Listen carefully: The only person who knows what God has whispered into your heart is you. But you won’t hear Him if you don’t hush.
And what is God asking? “What are you doing here?”
***
We often go through times when we feel we are alone. Alone in our faith. Alone in our call. Alone in our convictions. Alternately, there are times when we are forced to fight alongside others in God’s army—to be His hands and feet. Then, like with Elijah, right when we should be riding a high, we suddenly face the opposite emotion. We could use some rest and we need to be fed by God. We need the Bread of Life … the Living Water.
So often we find ourselves in situations where God asks, “What are you doing here?” Stop for a moment. Think about where you are now—whether spiritually or in your job or your family life. Where are you in your walk with God? Where are you in the call He has commissioned you to? What has brought you to where you are … right now?
***
We huddle in the cleft of the rock to avoid the storms, not to stand on the craggy heights and let them exhilarate us.[x]
Calvin Miller
***
Now it’s your turn to journal on The Path of Questioning. Noting the words I have underlined, plus any words you may have underlined as well, along with the question God asked the prophet—and now asks you—write your answer to Him.
Circle toward the labyrinth’s center with The Path of Prayer. Then, sit quietly for a few moments with God before returning to life as you know it.
[i] 1 Kings 15:34
[ii] 1 Kings 16:6
[iii] 1 Kings 17:1
[iv] 1 Kings 18:8
[v] 1 Kings 18:19
[vi] 1 Kings 18:38
[vii] 1 Kings 19:8
[viii] 1 Kings 19:10
[ix] 1 Kings 19:12
[x] Miller, Calvin, Into the Depths of God (Bethany House, Minneapolis, MN), 226.
[i] John 10:10
[ii] John 8:44
[iii] Genesis 3:5
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