On a quiet afternoon in 1845, Henry David Thoreau could often be found returning to his personally constructed home near Walden Pond. While it was not much larger than a walk-in closet, his sense of privacy could always be shaken by the leftover evidence of someone who had dropped by or passed through. "They who come rarely to the woods take some little piece of the forest into their hands to play with by the way." He goes on to say that he could "always tell" if visitors had been present during his absence because they would leave behind a trail of their footprints, plucked grass by the wayside, or bended twigs in the path.¹

The broken pieces of a fig tree were evidence of shame in the garden, but it was God who made the headlines of that story. If newspapers had covered that day's events, the morning paper might have read: GLORIOUS KING TAKES WALK IN MAN'S GARDEN. And curious readers would likely flip to the article asking, "Why come out of glory to walk in some man's garden?"

"Blessed [be] God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;" II Corinthians 1:3

The Father in heaven who created all things above and all things below stepped onto the earth because He is also the "Father of mercies." The term "mercies" is often associated in Scripture with, of all things, the "bowels."

"Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where [is] thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?" Isaiah 63:15

"If [there be] therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies," Philippians 2:1

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;" Colossians 3:12

If we have cause to question what it means to equate "bowels" with something other than a restroom break, we need not look very far:

"My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war." Jeremiah 4:19

"Behold, O Lord; for I [am] in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home [there is] at death." Lamentations 1:20

The barrier that many find themselves trying to climb over is whether or not God Himself has a similar expression or an emotion so deep. Certainly we can fathom our own painful experiences when the hurt was so deep that we could feel it in our innermost place. Six weeks after losing his father to a battle with colon cancer (no pun intended), my own broken father stood in the doorway of my bedroom, made eye contact with me, and fell in my arms to weep. To this day, I will never forget the depth of his tears and the trembling of his body as the sorrow of loss hit hard. The source of our greatest cries will usually come from the pit of our stomach and the splitting core of our gut. How, if men can experience such 'gut-wrenching' pain, can we relate that to God? Truth is, we don't have to draw a connection because He already has.

"For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:8

"Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city." Lamentations 2:11

"[Is] Ephraim my dear son? [is he] a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 31:20

Making every effort to express himself in ways that we will also understand, God describes His own reactions to the earth in terms of physical depth. The "bowels of Jesus Christ" are the "depths" of His compassion. We often recite the mercies of God for not giving us what we deserve, but there is a much more profound truth behind it all.

"[It is of] the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." Lamentations 3:22

"But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies." Lamentations 3:32

"The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy." Psalm 145:8

When the Lord God acts with mercy, we might do well to recognize that He is withholding a judgmental hand, but we would cut ourselves short of understanding to forget that He withholds that hand because He actually has compassion for us as His creation. Careless statements have plagued many within dispensational circles for the false assertion that "God doesn't care about you in this age." Quite the contrary is true of this glorious and eternal King.

"And that the Gentiles might glorify God for [his] mercy." Romans 15:9a

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us," Ephesians 2:4

If you had the ability to put yourself into the fig leaves of Adam and Eve during that chilly moment when they realized their sin, imagine the first questions that might race through your mind. What will God say? What will He do? Will He even come back for us?

Modern minds probably jump to the first two questions because they involve the potential reactionary decisions of God. That last question, I suggest, is more fitting to the situation. Do we not conceive of the notion that God could have recognized what happened and decided to destroy the entire earth without saying goodbye? Certainly He could have, but there He was walking and calling out to Adam. And there was Adam, peering out from behind a bush. And there was hope in the midst of shame.

"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13

If it was you in the garden and you heard the voice of the Lord calling your name, how likely is it that you would surrender a deep sigh of relief in the midst of your shame? Simply walking into the garden that day was remarkable because He didn't have to do it. But by emerging on the scene, God introduced hope to His creation.

"For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" Romans 8:24

To have "mercy" is to have kindness toward the miserable and helpless individuals who need it. Until a verdict is read aloud before a courtroom, the accused still stands with hope that mercy will be extended in their favor. God saw the gulf that man had created with His sin and still reached across that expanse like a judge to a criminal. So long as He was there, hope remained in the company of shame.