2. God calls them to an account for what they had done, and they, through fear, hide themselves from his presence; which shews how soon ignorance followed after the fall. How unreasonable was it to think that they could hide themselves from God? since _there is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves_, Job xxxiv. 22. 3. God expostulates with each of them, and they make excuses; the man lays the blame upon his wife, ver. 12. _The woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat_; which contains a charge against God himself, as throwing the blame on his providence, _The woman whom thou gavest to be with me_. And here was an instance of a breach of affection between him and his wife: as sin occasions breaches in families, and, an alienation of affection in the nearest relations, he complains of her, as the cause of his ruin, as though he had not been active in this matter himself. The woman, on the other hand, lays the whole blame on the serpent, ver. 13. _The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat_. There was, indeed, a deception or beguiling; for, as has been already observed, an innocent creature can hardly sin, but through inadvertency, as not apprehending the subtilty of the temptation, though a fallen creature sins presumptuously, and with deliberation; however, she should not have laid the whole blame on the serpent, for she had wisdom enough to have detected the fallacy, and rectitude of nature sufficient to have preserved her from compliance with the temptation, if she had improved those endowments which God gave her at first. We shall now consider the aggravations of the sin of our first parents. It contained in it many other sins. Some have taken pains to shew how they broke all the Ten Commandments, in particular instances: But, passing that by, it is certain, that they broke most of them, and those both of the first and second table; and it may truly be said, that, by losing their innocency, and corrupting, defiling, and depraving their nature, and rendering themselves weak, and unable to perform obedience to any command, as they ought, they were virtually guilty of the breach of them all, as the apostle says, _Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all_, James ii. 10. But, more particularly, there were several sins contained in this complicated crime; as, (1.) A vain curiosity to know more than what was consistent with their present condition, or, at least, a desire of increasing in knowledge in an unlawful way. (2.) Discontentment with their present condition; though without the least shadow of reason leading to it. (3.) Pride and ambition, to be like the angels, or like God, in those things, in which it was unlawful to desire it: it may be, they might desire to be like him in independency, absolute sovereignty, _&c._ which carries in it downright Atheism, for a creature to desire thus to be like to him.