“11) And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12) And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13) And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:11-13) Blame-shifting. Our sinful human nature makes it hard for us to acknowledge that we are to blame for our own sin. “Oh, yes, I did wrong, but it wasn’t my fault,” we are prone to say. Adam said, “God, you gave me this woman, and she gave me the fruit to eat.” It’s her fault, and it’s your fault.” Eve said, “It’s the serpent’s fault. He enticed me.”
Others who were guilty of blame-shifting:
Aaron
“21) And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22) And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23) For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24) And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. 25) And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies)...” (Exodus 32:21-25) Aaron had caused the people to sin. However, he put the blame on the people. “Don’t get so upset,” he said to Moses. “You know what the people are like. They’re mischievous, wicked, trouble-makers. And I just threw the gold into the fire and out came this calf. It wasn’t my fault.”
Saul
“13) And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. 14) And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15) And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” (1 Samuel 15:13-15) Saul blamed the people for his disobedience. “I’ve done just what the Lord said to do. It was the people who spared these animals and brought them here to sacrifice unto the Lord.”
The Lord never accepts our excuses for sin, and each of us will be punished for our own sin. Even if we are enticed by someone else, we are to blame for not turning our backs on temptation. “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (James 1:14) Our sin is our own fault -- not God's fault, not someone else's. When we have done wrong, we must acknowledge our sin and confess it to God.