The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.
Genesis 2:8
The 7 days of creation were complete. The laws of nature were established. Then God planted a garden.
In this garden, the Lord God planted trees. He planted every tree that is beautiful and good for food. The Tree of Life was in the middle of the garden along with the Tree of Knowledge.
At that time, there was no rain on the earth, but there went up a mist from the earth and watered the ground. A river went out of Eden to water the garden and from there it became four rivers:
- Pishon in the land of Havilah where there is gold, bdellium and onyx stones
- Gihon in the land of Cush (Ethiopia)
- Hiddekel that goes toward Assyria (Tigris)
- Euphrates
The Lord God put Adam and Eve in the garden and told them they could eat freely from every tree except the Tree of Knowledge, warning them that if they ate from that tree they would die. But the evil serpent persuaded Adam and Eve to go ahead and eat from the Tree of Knowledge, so they did.
Because Adam and Eve broke God’s covenant, he sent them away from the garden. The Lord God said, “man has now become like one of us, to know good and evil; and cannot stay in the garden because he might also eat from the Tree of Life”. Therefore, God guarded the Tree of Life with cherubim armed with flaming swords.
But that’s not the end of the Garden story. The following is found in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 22:
- To him that overcomes I will give him permission to eat from the Tree of Life which is in the middle of the paradise of God.
- And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal; proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of the street (the street will be pure gold) and on either side – there was the Tree of Life. It bore 12 kinds of fruit and the leaves of the tree were for healing the nations.
- Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the gates into the city.
- And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there.
- Blessed are they that wash their robes and have the right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the gates to the city.
PROPHECY
Sometimes we overlook the fact that God planted the Garden of Eden after he created it. He loved mankind so much he wanted to take the best care of us. He wanted to build an eternal relationship with man. He planted trees for food, for healing, for knowledge and for life.
God had a plan. He made a covenant with Adam and Eve to protect them from death, but they broke the covenant and listened to the serpent instead. From that time on, the rules changed. There was a limit to how long people could live before they would die. If Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of Life after having disobeyed, they would have been trapped in eternal sin with no one to take their place or teach them grace.
About the 4 rivers. Prior to the flood, the land mass was in one piece. You can easily see how this worked by looking at a globe. If you remove the oceans and seas, you can see how the continents originally fit together. Without this bit of information, the placement of the 4 rivers doesn’t make any sense.
At the flood, the protective covering of the earth came off, and the earth was tilted on its axis causing the north and south poles to freeze very quickly. The fountains of the great deep broke up and the windows of heaven were opened – and it rained for the first time.
But God did not give up on mankind. He moved the Tree of Life to Paradise. He built a nation to lead us to his promises, his covenant and his blessings. Along the way he teaches and guides, comforts and heals. He continually extends his hand of grace and mercy to those who will accept his covenant and follow him. His vision of a perfect Garden will return.
Prophecy is the ability to tell the future before it happens.
Wisdom is the ability to choose the right hand for the journey.