Genesis 3:1-7
When God Steps Aside
Most people do not see it, but people are bad to repeat the same
patterns of behavior—sometimes some very bad patterns of behavior
with some very bad results.
I. Please notice a pattern.
A. Adam and Eve
1. God had a will (desire).
Gen 3:3 …Ye shall not eat of (it)…
2. \\#6\\ Eve decided to disobey.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise… she did eat….
3. God stepped aside and allowed her to do so.
a. There was no second warning.
b. No angel appeared to stop her.
c. No lightning bolts, no thunder.
4. Eve’s decision created great trouble, not only for her but
for the entire creation.
B. \\#Numbers 22:2-6\\ Balaam and Balak
1. Balak was a Moabite king who wanted Balaam, a prophet of
God, to curse the Jews. Balak offered Balaam a lot of
money to do so.
2. God had a will (desire).
Numbers 22:12 …Thou shalt not go with them…
3. Balaam decided to disobey.
Numbers 22:21 And Balaam rose up in the morning,
and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of
Moab.
4. God stepped aside. God allowed him to do so.
5. Balaam’s disobedience got him into great trouble.
a. \\#Numbers 22:22-35\\ He was almost killed by the
angel of the Lord before he arrived at Moab.
b. \\#Joshua 13:22\\ Although \\#Num 24:25\\ tells us
that Balaam went home, he must have returned because
he will be slain by the Israelis when they are forced
to fight the Moabites. He will be on the battlefield
with the Moabites.
C. Israel and Saul
1. \\#1Sam 8:4-7\\ God had a will (desire). The Lord was
King over Israel.
2. The people decided to disobey.
1Sam 8:5 …now make us a king to judge us like
all the nations."
3. God stepped aside.
4. Israel got into great trouble. Saul became a very bad
king \\#1Sam 8:11-19\\.
D. In all of these situations, there is a pattern,
1. God has a desire.
2. People want something else.
3. God stepped aside.
4. People had to deal with the consequences.
II. God allows people to exercise their own free will.
A. The Bible is clear. God gives people the opportunity to
make some choices.
B. To understand, consider the will of God as a sphere (circle).
1. The center of the circle is what God wants.
a. Every circle has only one center and God has only
one will.
b. That is the perfect will of God.
c. God wants us to find His perfect will.
d. He has given us the Word of God and the leadership of
the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us.
e. He has also given others—who if they are wise can
help direct us: parents, pastors, leaders.
f. The place of our greatest happiness and usefulness is
in the center of God’s will.
2. Outside the circle are things that God simply will not
allow to happen. Those items are just not possible.
a. Example - No matter how long I flap my arms, I am not
going to fly.
b. More practically, no matter how hard you try to work
your way into heaven, you will not.
c. Many Christians spend much of their life wanting
things that are outside the will of God for their
lives.
(1) To be younger, to be older, to change time,
to change the past
(2) Those kinds of things are obviously impossible,
but not all things that are impossible are that
obvious.
(a) I can want to be a millionaire but, for me,
it won’t happen.
(b) It is not what God wants for my life and I
do not think I could be wealthy if even if
I worked diligently at.
(c) Such wealth may be within the possibilities
of some, but God has a different desire
for me.
(d) As long as I pursue things outside of the
will of God for my life, I will be
miserable and waste my life.
3. Within the sphere are many choices and possibilities, some
God can bless. Some God must curse.
a. Some things are possible, but they are not what God
wants for you.
b. Eve had a choice.
(1) She could obey God concerning the fruit or not.
(2) There was one act—and only one act that God
wanted—but there were other actions that God
would allow.
(3) Those others actions were within Eve’s sphere.
(4) If Eve chose one of the acts that was within her
sphere of choices, God would not be pleased, but
He would step aside and allow it.
(5) Afterward, Eve would have to deal with the
consequences of making that choice.
c. Balaam had a choice.
(1) God did not want him to go—at least not like he
went.
(2) Not going was the center of Balaam’s sphere. It
was the perfect will of God.
(3) But God would step aside and allow Balaam to go,
then Balaam would have to deal with the
consequences of making the less than perfect
choice.
d. Israel had a choice concerning who would be their
king.
a. It could be God or a man.
b. God wanted the people to want Him to be their
king. That was the center of the sphere.
c. But the people wanted a king like all the other
nations.
d. God stepped aside, but Israel had to deal with the
consequences of their less than perfect choice.
C. We should always seek the perfect will of God for every
decision.
1. Sometimes we will miss it, but the choice will be close
enough to what God wanted that He can still bless us.
2. Sometimes we will miss it, and the choice will be too far
away from what God wanted to bless us.
3. Sometimes we will deliberately disobey, and God will
discipline us to get us back to the place He wants.
III. When God steps aside.
A. Let’s focus on God’s response to our decisions.
B. No rational thinking person should want God to step aside.
1. The further from the center of that sphere we are, the
more trouble and heartache we will experience.
2. God steps aside, within the sphere, to allow us to
make our own choices.
C. There are various actions God takes when He steps aside.
1. If we are trying to do His will, God works with us.
(a) We can make a wrong choice, but God convicts us,
works to bring us back.
(b) That is what happened to Peter and Jonah.
(c) Things could have gotten worse for both of them, but
they eventually yielded to God’s dealings and were
brought back to God’s will.
2. In some cases, God lets sin run its course.
Jeremiah 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct
thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee….
(a) If God does nothing, sin will lead to more sin.
(b) Saul is an example.
(1) Saul choose to do wrong.
(2) God stepped aside and did nothing.
(3) Saul liked controlling his life so he went
deeper into sin.
(4) He even began to justify his sin.
i. When we justify sin, we begin to grow a
reprobate mind (a mind that knows the
truth but turns away from it).
ii. America has a reprobate mind about many
sins - alcohol, tobacco, promiscuous sex,
abortion, euthanasia, evolution,
homosexuality, drugs.
3. In some cases, God will even help sin along.
(a) The saddest of all situations is when God not only
steps aside, but gives sin a favorable wind.
(b) You might even say God blesses the sin.
(c) Examples:
Exodus 9:12 And the LORD hardened the heart of
Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the
LORD had spoken unto Moses.
Deuteronomy 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would
not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God
hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate,
that he might deliver him into thy hand, as
appeareth this day.
(d) God not only stepped aside but helped these men’s
sins along.
(e) Why?
(1) I don’t know for certain but I believe God says
something like, "If you won’t get as close to
Me as you can so that I can show My glory, I
will push you as far from Me as I can to show
My glory."
(2) Some don’t like that it but it is what God does.
IV. Conclusions
A. If you are determined to have your way, God may step aside
but you will pay a greater price for it.
B. The worst thing that can happen to a person is to sin and God
step aside!
C. Sin is not defined by our enjoyment of it or our prosperity
while in it, but by the Bible.
I do not know the perfect will of God about everything but I do not
the perfect will of God about one thing. God wants you to be saved
right now. Turn to God today. Get into the center of God’s will.
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