This teaching is part 8 of teaching number 84, The Fall and Rise of Adam.
In the last teaching, we covered how Adam's conversations with the voice of God were received in knowledge without wisdom and understanding. His hastiness with what God told him caused him to reach beyond his measure and try to save his wife from sin. This was part of Adam's disobedience that we don't talk about because it's not mentioned in the actual story of Adam and Eve. (We discussed this in the last teaching.) Most of the focus is on Adam eating from the tree God commanded him not to eat from. That is the part that is clearly referenced in the story of Adam, and it's the second part of how knowledge affected Adam that I want to get into here.
Disobedience played a considerable role in causing Adam to be separated from God in Genesis 3. The apostle Paul specifically mentions his disobedience in Romans 5 and teaches how sin entered the world by one man's disobedience. The disobedience Adam committed started the mess that would become the fallen Adam and the fallen world. His disobedience resulted from acting off the knowledge of God's words in his conversations before he was put in a deep sleep. Still, the after-effect of his disobedience created a much more profound effect than what we see on the surface.
The thing is, disobedience could have easily been forgiven by acting on obedience in God's presence, so it was more than disobedience that was the problem. After he ate the Tree of Knowledge, the shock of what he learned from that tree was too heavy on his conscience to overcome. He could not find repentance because his consciousness wouldn't let him. Therefore it was the after-effect that was the real problem for Adam.
Adam couldn't handle the truth.
After Adam disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he discovered the one thing God had not revealed yet; he was naked. He learned this knowledge through being disobedient, not because God told him. The revelation of knowledge revealed the truth of what God was doing, and because Adam didn't have wisdom and understanding, he didn't know what to do with it, and therefore, it brought him to a very dark place in his mind.
When his eyes opened, he saw things he didn't know about himself. When he became aware that he was naked, his iniquity was exposed, and he immediately became ashamed. Because of his nakedness, he began doing works that went beyond God's commandments, namely, covering himself with fig leaves to hide the iniquity he had just learned about. (Job 31:33)
(Note: This was the ultimate cover-up. Obviously, he thought God could not see his nakedness or iniquity. This is how knowledge separates you from God. You think you know something God doesn't know about you, and it causes you to stop trusting Him, and you begin doing some form of work to fix it.)
When he heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden, he hid himself among the trees. He hid because he feared God would see his iniquity, which wasn't there before he ate from the tree. (It was always there, but because his eyes were not open to see it, in his mind, it wasn't there.) After receiving the knowledge of his iniquity, he now had a revelation of sin that his disobedience put action to.
Knowing about his nakedness changed how he thought God looked at him. It teaches us that the revelation of sin is something we want God to teach us and not something we want to learn on our own.
Of course, God already knew he was naked, and the fact that God didn't tell Adam teaches us how patient and loving God is toward us during our growing up.
As we read about Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, we see the massive toll that knowing the truth puts on the mind when you go beyond God's instruction and learn it before you're ready. When you don't understand God's will for your life, you will be fearful and ashamed and begin to think He doesn't understand you, and your shame will cause you to hide.
Can you handle the truth that knowledge presents?
Many people believe they can handle the truth of God and often pray for it, but Adam discovered that knowing the truth wasn't as glorious as he thought it might be. Being a god requires great patience and a readiness to see all things as they truly are. Timing is the key to learning the whole truth of what God is doing, and we must also have wisdom and understanding to help us handle the truth of God.
To be clear, the Tree of Knowing Good and Evil was not bad. Adam needed more time to learn what the Tree of Knowledge spoke and taught. This tree had much to teach Adam, but the fact that God commanded him not to eat of it speaks to several things, not least that Adam was not ready to know certain things yet. (Although God uses deep sleep to bring Adam to this awareness.)
We see Jesus referenced this same idea in John 16:12-13 when He spoke to His disciples,
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Adam was an earthly soul that needed an upgrade of the Spirit within to help him understand the things the tree was to teach him. Until he was ready, God continued to walk with him and teach him what he was prepared to learn. After all, he was earthly and had never been taught certain things concerning the celestial realm where spiritual secrets exist. God knew when the time was right, Adam could learn the whole truth of God. Just like Jesus knew about His disciples, it's the same with us today.
We should all consider this principle when learning the truth of God. Sometimes we are not ready for the whole truth, but if we continue growing and learning, Jesus will reveal everything to us to help us become one with him in His kingdom.
Today it's easy to believe that you're saved and safe from the lies of the devil, but there is much more to learn about yourself after you commit your life to Jesus Christ. How you handle the truth when knowledge is presented will affect your future significantly. My counsel is to continue going forward, but let God give you the knowledge of sin in His time. Instead of running to the scriptures to gain more knowledge and make the scriptures your enemy, trust that God can teach you, and all things will be revealed in His time.