The trap is their sin. Not the physical or mental act upon which the focus of shame and distrust have come to rest. Not even the knowledge of the coming scorn of those who have not yet embraced the similitude of their travesty. That sin shall dwell with them at length and be the source of sufficient angst to plague them beyond their desire to bear it. They shall pay a price. And beyond that, they shall pay more than is due. They shall pay again even though the price has been well met and faithfully discharged. For it is a trap in itself, that monster of repeatedly confessing and justifying and repenting of that which has been done away with.
Yet it is not the trap by which they are tethered; shackled perhaps but shackles can be broken. They are tripped up by it perhaps but the righteous rise seven times. Slowed down, waylaid, distracted, hindered; are you getting the picture? All of these slow down and delay but do not halt. They shall persevere. It is the promise. They shall overcome. It is their destiny. Yet there is the trap.
They do as they have always done. They do as everyone before them has done. They do as Adam and Eve have done. They are trapped. These who have sinned and cannot get past it. They have sinned for more grievously in that they doubt His Word. They see liberty and forgiveness and redemption and complete restoration for every one EXCEPT themselves.
Grace has been exampled and explained and yet they wonder. “Did He really mean me?” “Especially after what I just did?” So I stand before you as a Servant of the Most High God Jahweh and declare YES! By the limitless expanse of who He is, He sees the price is paid , the restoration is complete and He is the victory. He has declared it. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, or any thing for which he hath sent me unto you.
You have NOT listened. You have NOT believed. You doubt what He says can be true and accept the whispered half truth of the slithering sneak in the garden. Did God REALLY say…? When you refuse to believe, when you refuse to listen, when you refuse to be transformed by grace, you make yourself the authority. You make yourself God, at lest in your own mind for a little while.