If the Christian god is omnipotent, how come he couldn't find Adam in the book of Genesis?

Question

After Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, God came looking for them and could not immediatly find them. There are other examples of this.

Answer 1

My youngest daughter likes to hide. I might even say where are you? That does not mean that I can't find her. God is calling for them to come out of hiding.

Answer 2

Simple, really! God wanted Adam to know that He cared enough to find Him, though he was hiding. He could have immediately appeared to Him, but Adam was probably terrified since he had sinned and been told he was naked. His conscience was troubling him, and an immediate appearance by God would have been shocking. Also, the Bible records that God came looking for him "in the cool of the day." He was in no rush, and probably did not want to communicate the idea that He was hurrying to judgment as if He had been hiding somewhere spying on them just waiting for an "aha!" moment.

Tom

Answer 3

It is not possible. Adam and Eve did not successfully hide anything from God. He new exactly where they were but allowed them to think they were hiding while knowing that their new-found iniquity has caused them shame against Him. ....... you must be "born of the Holy Spirit", which God sends down to dwell in all who have fully and sincerely repented of their sins and have accepted Jesus Christ into their life as Lord and Savior, to completely understand the Scriptures as they were intended. You could read the Bible a thousand times and you would still not be able to understand it in the true spirit in which it was written if you have not received the Holy Spirit. God will only reveal the true meaning of His scriptures to those who truly seek Him.... "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
(1 Corinthians 2:13-15)..... "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
(1 Corinthians 1:17-19)

Answer 4

God's question was not intented to learn Adam's geographical location. Rather it was intended as an opportunity for Adam to own up to what he had done.

Like the mother who walks into a kitchen to find her three year on the floow, with the cookie jar on his lap and chocolate chips all over his face. Her first question is "What are you doing?" That mother knows exactly what the child is doing. She just wants to see if he will own up to actions or make excuses.

God's question to Adam was meant the same way. Apparently Adam understood the question, because his reply was not a physical location, but rather an attempt to excuse himself ("I'm hiding because...")

God was not dealing with the issue of Adam's physical location, but the more important issue of where Adam's heart how was. Because of sin, he was afraid of God and unable to have a trusting relationship with God. His question was intended to point that out to Adam.

Based on Adam's answer, He was successful.

Answer 5

In this example, look at it as a father with a child.
Both know a wrong has been committed. Is it better to allow the child to come foward and confess, to accept the responsibility for his actions... or for the father to just be authoritarian and administer justice? God gave him an opportunity to come forward... he has given the same opportunity to us, today.

Forgivenness requires a desire for restoration and sorrow for the offense. Yet Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. Your choice to repent and come forward with Christ, or try blaming something or someone else other than yourself for your actions (sins/offenses).

Answer 6

God knew exactly where Adam was. He wanted Adam to come clean with Him. There is NO place that we can go to hide from Him- He calls to us, to make us take the step toward Him, and confess what we did.

Answer 7

Actually, God was giving Adam a chance to reveal himself. It wasn't that God could not find Adam, He wanted to know if Adam would be humble and show himself. It is really a "forshadowing" to what would happen later in "New Testament times". See, we are given a chance to show ourselves after our rebellion against God, just as Adam was. It is the act of revealing ourselves to Him, along with our repentance, that brings Him closer to us and allows us to be worthy of standing in His presence.

Answer 8

for fireball
Genesis 3:9
"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

Good question, I've often wondered about this one myself.

Answer 9

If you have read the Bible many times you will realize that God did and said many things so man would understand and He even said it was said for man's understanding. Adam and Eve hid from God and God knew they were hiding. Like any good Father He wanted to hear their answer. Most good fathers know the answer. They just want to hear the answer from their children.

Answer 10

To emphasize the distance that Adam (man) and Eve (woman) have placed between themselves and God.

Answer 11

The Bible does not say that he could not find them. You are misquoting - bad tactics.

"'And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?'"

"And he said, 'I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.'"

God knew where they were. He wanted them to admit what they were doing.

This works with misbehaving children as well. Surely someone has posed a question to you in a similar manner.