A garden in the East named Eden
Posted on June 4, 2011 by Pastor Tom
The story moves on to describe the marvelous place God prepares. The Lord God provides a beautiful place in which man can live. Here we discover what is now referred to as the first paradise. Moses gives us a couple of initial details about this place. It is a garden which we will soon discover is an enclosed and protected area with trees and vegetables designed to produce food. It is a place where man is close to the place from which he came – the earth.
This garden is in the East. In the ancient world, the east represented life. It is the place from which the sun rises. So the North South flowing Nile river has the temples of life on the east side. The monuments of death including the pyramids, tombs and valley of the kings are on the west side. In Europe, many cathedrals were constructed on an east/west axis with the altar facing east. This garden in the east was in Eden. This place has water and moisture, a perfect place for a lush garden. In fact in verse 10 we see a river flowing from Eden. This river becomes four streams that water the entire land.
This picture of a river flowing from God occurs throughout Scripture. In keeping with the life-giving Spirit of God, the river is a life-giving supply of water. So in Ezekiel 47, a river flows from the new temple to give life. In the final chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, John sees a river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God down the middle of the great street of the city. The original Eden had a similar great life giving river.
We also discover that the prophets understood Eden to be in or connected to some sort of mountain. In Ezekiel 28, the prophet speaks to the King of Tyre who is a type of Satan. The prophet condemns the king for his pride especially since he was once in Eden. So Ezekiel 28 gives us some more insight into Eden. In Ezekiel 28:13 the prophet speaking for the Lord says to King of Tyre, “you were in Eden, the garden of God, every precious stone adorned you. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God.”
Next time – What’s with all the trees?
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