“And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. “
Keep in mind that this was before herbs and the trees…most likely on the third day. At this time, G-d made to grow every tree that is pleasant to look upon and that was good for food. These were only fruit trees, ones that would be able to sustain life. And in the center of the garden was the infamous tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The garden was a paradise in the midst of primordial earth. Outside there was nothing, no trees, no life as we know it.
“And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.”
There is a distinction that needs to be made here. A river from Eden went out of Eden to water the garden. Think about it. The water that fed the garden came from a land called Eden, but the garden was not in Eden. So why do we call it the Garden of Eden.? G-d continues to call it the Garden of Eden through his word. Before we go any further, we must revisit verse 2:8.
“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden…”
If you look at the Hebrew, you’ll find that the word “in” isn’t there. Instead we find the words “min-nee”, which means “out of”. The verse should read,
“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward out of Eden…”
With that said, God planted a garden, a paradise east of Eden, which was watered by one river from the Land of Eden. It may have been attached to Eden, or adjacent to Eden, but G-d wanted us to know it was not part of Eden. The question that I ponder and ask anyone who reads this is, "Why would G-d want us to associate the garden with the land of Eden.?" Nothing is in the Bible that does not have a reason. Our mission is to explore his word to find out and gain a more intimate knowledge of our creator.
As the river leaves this garden just to the east of Eden, it splits into four separate rivers, which we will discuss next time.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Genesis 2:9-10: Where is the garden?
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These are like episodes of "LOST". None of these seem get you anywhere and we have no clue where you are taking us.
ReplyDeleteWhen is the madness going to end?
As with episodes of Lost, these are small but informative steps in the creation account. Occasionally, we have to take tiny steps backwards in order to fill in the gaps. At the end, you’ll step back and see the whole picture. Wouldn't say that is what's wrong with the Christian church today? They look at the Word of G-d myopically and don't get the whole picture. Doesn't G-ds Word say that he put his message out "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little there a little"?
ReplyDeleteG-ds Word also says that it is to the glory of G-d to conceal a matter, but it is a privilege of a king to search out a matter. G-d did exactly that. Since we are kings and priests of the kingdom, we have the privilege and authority to search it out. What do you think?
I just don't want to die before I hear the end.
ReplyDeleteThanks...I needed that. LOL It's been a long day. I'll try to speed it up a little....no promises though. ;-)
ReplyDelete