Genesis 3:12 “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”
Instead directly answering God's question, in a single sentence Adam makes a two-in-one move to excuse himself and shift the blame to the woman and to God. He begins with an attempt to disassociate himself completely from Eve. He doesn’t say “my wife,” or even “my woman,” but merely “the woman.” I’m sure that went over really well with her! If they hadn’t been standing before God, that would surely have been the beginning of the couple's first fight.
“…Whom thou gavest…” Adam continues by pulling out the oldest-ever attempt to justify sin, straight from the arch-deceiver’s playbook. Though he doesn’t quite say so, Adam's implication is, God, you made her the way she is, and this is what she did, therefore it’s on you! How many times have you heard that argument, or one of its many variants like, “This is just the way I am,” or “I was born like this,” even coming from your own lips?
Next, Adam emphasizes God’s purpose for Eve “to be with me,” as if to further blame her for leaving his side in the first place and at the same time try to justify himself for eating the forbidden fruit. “It was Your plan for her to be with me God, and I was just trying to keep us together!” Don’t make the same mistake. Don’t exchange union with the Source of Life for unity with family and friends in disobedience to God.
Finally, Adam gets around to answering God’s question and has to admit, “I did eat.” You and I must own our guilt. Why add insult to injury by blaming others or trying to excuse ourselves by comparing ourselves with others’ faults and failures?
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