When God Asks Questions

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I’ve noticed that when God asks questions in the Bible, He isn’t asking for information so much as pointing out man’s sin. The first question God asks is in Genesis 3:9: “Where are you?” He says.  The setting is the Garden of Eden and God is walking in the cool of the dat seeking fellowship with His creation. Adam and Eve have hidden themselves from Him due to fear after they doubted Him and defied Him by eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God rapidly fires off three more questions as Adam and Eve appear naked and trembling before a righteous God: First He asks, “Who told you that you were naked?” (vs. 11); He then follows up with the obvious: “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (vs. 11); and last He asks,. “What is this you have done?” (vs. 13).  I don’t believe for a minute that the sovereign, omnipotent God of the universe would be truly seeking the answers to any of these questions. He knew the answers to the questions before He asked! His questions ultimately cause man to see himself in light of God’s holiness, and man obviously falls far short of anything approaching holy, which the answers to the questions prove.
Compare God’s questions with Satan’s. The tempter’s first question is asked of Eve. in verse 1.  He encourages defiance and sin in man by using a question to point out the one restriction God placed upon him (and her) in the perfection of the garden: “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Satan questions man's understanding of what God commanded as well as the substance of what He commanded. It’s very different isn’t it? Satan’s questions are purposefully planted to cause division between man and God—and they perform their intended work when we foolishly entertain them. However, God desires for us to be reconciled with Him through the work of Jesus Christ, His only Son who willingly died for the sins of the world. Satan’s ultimate goal is to separate us from God in any way possible. Knowing this, when God whispers a question into our souls, we should always receive it with the knowledge that it is to our benefit to search out the answer and begin our journey back to the One who asked and provided an answer as well.

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