The Waters of Eden / December 2007

The Waters of Eden

Contents

• The Waters of Eden

The Bible begins with the story of creation. The very last work of God in the creation story was the establishment of the garden of Eden and placing man in it. From there God formed the woman out of man to be his companion and helpmeet. The events in this garden with this man and woman set the present day context of definitions and problems for all of us. Why did God plant the garden? What does the garden represent? The garden definition is also the very point where a real solution must be found for mankind.

Let’s quickly review the story again, but this time let’s focus on the clues that speak to the solution. Let me give you a hint as you review. The Torah defines the problem; Messiah is the solution. The garden represents a place where God and His creation can meet in perfect fellowship. No sin, no shame, no disobedience. When man was in the garden and caring for it (obeying the Word of the Lord), his needs were met and communion with God was without guilt. However, now we are separated from God and His garden. The Messiah is going to solve these issues. So let us find the hints and clues to the Messiah.

This is how God formed the garden first.

And the Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:8-9

From the very beginning, God had a specific design for the garden. He gave it a specific name; He arranged the garden, selecting the various trees and plants, placing them as He chose. In particular, He placed a particular tree right in the middle of the garden – the tree of the knowledge and good and evil. Why did God choose the name Eden and why did He put this particular tree in the middle of the garden?

Some men view this story with great suspicion. They understand human nature. If you take a person, put them in a place, and instruct them not to touch something, there is a strong psychological urge to touch exactly that. It is a direct challenge to the person’s conscience. Should I honor the restriction or shall I test the limits of the restriction? They question whether God should have done that to man.

Let’s answer the question about the name of Eden first. Bible scholars don’t consider Eden to be a proper noun, although today it is. Instead, they believe the word referred to a specific enclosure, a flat smooth place. In the ancient Sumerian language, the earliest inhabitants of the land of Israel, Edin meant a “plain” place, an easy place to grow things. In the ancient Persian language this same word was an enclosure for growing things. The word was pairidaeza. It carried a stronger meaning for a park or pleasure ground. The Greeks translated “Eden” into paradeisos. From there, in English, we get paradise.

Most of us respond in a very positive and complimentary fashion when we first see a well-kept garden of trees and grass bordered by flower beds and all variety of plants. Gardens and gardening are directly associated with peace and pleasure.

God put man into His garden. His garden was paradise, a place of peace and pleasure. Eden means ‘paradise that comes from a garden.’ As we will discover, the garden of Eden was definitely a place that was enclosed and pleasurable.

Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden and then instruct man to not eat of it?

First, whose garden is it? Does the garden belong to God or man? The answer is God and that is proved by God placing the restriction on the garden. The garden wasn’t given to man, but man was placed there. Man wasn’t going to stay there awhile and, as a result of staying there, going to own the garden. The garden belonged to the Lord, and the restriction for that tree proved His ownership every day. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden proves that God owns the garden.

Governments today do exactly the same thing. Even if you have a title deed to a piece of ground, the government has the right and power to put any easement on the ground they deem appropriate. They can exercise their authority by “eminent domain.” They do this to provide benefit to the whole community with roads, water and power lines, and even mineral rights. These include restrictions for safety and the health of the community. This is no different than what others reasonably do when they put up handrails for stairs or barriers and warning signs for high voltage equipment.

God specified in His garden that the tree was not to be used for food. It’s simple: He owns the garden and can specify any easement or restriction He chooses to set. Secondly, eating of the tree kills man. Rightfully, God warned man.

Now that we see that God owned the garden and that it was a wonderful place with safety precautions in place, let’s examine the rest of His design and placement.

Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. And the name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Genesis 2:10-14

The four rivers define the location of the garden. It is essential that we know the source of water to understand the design of the garden. Originating in the garden were two rivers: Pishon and Gihon associated with two lands, Havilah and Cush. These two rivers are not known today. There is speculation as to where they are but it is not certain. However, the third and fourth rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, are well known and on any map of the ancient Mesopotamian region because they delineate modern day Iraq. Mesopotamia is where man seemed to originate here on the earth. Even unbelieving scientists agree with that conclusion. The Bible calls the region Eden and just outside the garden.

Since the Bible says that the earth was watered by a mist each day and that a source within the garden was the headwaters of four rivers, it follows then that the source of life for the garden was in the garden as well. In fact, the Bible specifically says that the water of the garden was not the watershed of rain (precipitation). Rain didn’t come until Noah. Therefore the combination of a heavy dew and springs of ground water are the source of water in the garden. This is an essential definition of the garden.

Any good gardener will tell you that the choice location for a garden is not limited to fertile ground. A source of water must be part of the garden definition. This is exactly what God has done in defining His garden. Here is the garden and how it is arranged, and here is the water for the garden. Note to the reader: Please remember the source of the water for the garden. It has profound implication to our faith; it has something to do with the Messiah.

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 2:15-17

I want you to note that the commandment to not eat from the tree was given to Adam before there was Eve. God’s instruction to not eat of the tree was given to man and he was to pass it on to his wife.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

Genesis 2:18-19

Why did man need a helper? Because man’s task in the garden brought about the need.

Have you visited a beautiful place and sent the card “Wish you were here?” Sometimes a delight and joy just has to be shared to bring out the fulness of the joy. God intended the garden to be a place where He could meet with man. God desired the companionship of man with Him in the garden. It followed that He knew that man had a similar need.

One thing is certain in this matter. Man did not deserve the garden or his wife. All of this was the grace of God. It is as Proverbs says for every man who finds a wife.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains [umerited] favor from the Lord.

Proverbs 18:22

On a humorous note, I have shared with young men in premarital counseling aspects of the garden story. One such observation is, “Man is not complete until he has a wife; then he is finished.” With all due respect to my own wife and the entire female gender, Adam had a great job and career working in the garden, he had lots of pets and friends, he had a great Boss in the Lord, but everything changed when he got a wife.

Back to the serious side, whenever I hear a wife complain that her husband doesn’t deserve her for all she does for him, I agree with her. God says that a wife is unmerited favor to the man. She is a gift to her husband. This is symbolized by the giving of the bride by her father and family to the groom in the wedding ceremony.

And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place. And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:20-22,25

Please take note of the last verse. This is a subtle proof that the garden was a safe and peaceful place. No one walks around naked and unashamed unless they are in a safe place with trusted relationships. This is where the story of the garden shifts in the other direction.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said,' You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’” And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

Genesis 3:1-7

A “crafty” person does not create new things. He takes other materials and fashions them into something different. The Devil did not create a new thing in the garden; he twisted and repositioned them into something different. He is actually trying to distort or destroy. It began by the Devil questioning Eve and distorting what God had actually said.

The Devil tries to kill us first. If he is unsuccessful, then he attempts to prostitute us until God judges us. Did God say, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? No. God said that they could eat from all the trees except one. They were not to eat from the tree in the middle – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Eve’s response was the very thing that tripped her up. She responded, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’” No, God did not say that they couldn’t touch it; He said they could not eat from it. If they were tending the garden, then it would be appropriate that they could touch it. Eve’s additional restriction of not touching it is what the Devil used against her. This is a minor mistake but it gave the Devil the leverage to work against her. The deception was getting Eve to say more than God and her husband had said.

This simple deception is the same mistake made by Godly people when they become religious. Do you remember Paul’s description to the deception against us?

If you have died with the Messiah to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using) – in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

Colossians 2:20-23

Eve added the fleshly instruction of ‘do not touch’ to make God’s instruction better. She was deceived, it did not make it better. She diminished the instruction of the Lord. Religious men do this all the time as Paul explained.

The Devil’s statement, “You surely shall not die!” was true based on what Eve had said. Touching it will not cause you to die, but eating it will. Then the Devil went further with his deception now that Eve was compromised. He offered another motive for God’s prohibition.

For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. This is actually a true statement. As a result of Adam and Eve eating of the fruit, their eyes were opened to their nakedness. They also did become like “one part of God,” which got them kicked out of the garden to prevent them from eating of another tree – the tree of life. And… they didn’t die right away; they died later after being separated from God.

Eve fell completely when her lusts (lust for food, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life) overpowered her judgment and she turned away from what the Lord had said. Adam joined with her, choosing his wife over the Lord.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:6

Where was Adam when all this was said? Was he off hoeing some weeds or raking some leaves? No, he was standing right there by his wife, but not defending her. He did not speak nor defend her. He LET his wife hurt herself and him. He was a coward, being afraid of his wife’s possible displeasure and disagreement in his refusal to eat what she had eaten.

I have no problem believing the story of the garden of Eden today. I see men and women fall prey to very simple deceptions and make the same decisions made in the garden daily. Whether it be adding things to what the Lord has said or being a wimp as the head of a family, the same problems repeat themselves throughout history and today.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” And the man said, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children; yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:8-19

Having eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man was able to see that he was naked and he was ashamed. It is fascinating that the blame for the event went from Adam to Eve to the serpent. In similar fashion, the judgment went from the serpent to Eve to Adam. What followed next was even more devastating. Adam and Eve were forced to leave the garden.

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” – therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:22-24

Suddenly, man was now forced to make his own garden for food and cultivate the ground. He was forced to provide for his own covering of clothes. Everything became more and more difficult. With the aging process, he became weaker and weaker until he suffered mortal death. Tragically, he lived long enough to see one of his sons murder his son. It was not good.

I want you to read an interesting ancient Jewish teaching about Adam’s life at this point. It is from an extra-biblical source but it provides some interesting insights that affect us today. According to this teaching, Adam was distraught once he was removed from the garden. He looked about him and there was something from the garden that still remained – the rivers that provided the source of water to the garden. In a desire to be back in the garden again, Adam went into the waters and immersed himself. He wanted to get back to the garden and the presence of God. What makes this story so profound for us who believe in the Messiah is the immediate parallels to the teaching of the Messiah. We are instructed to share the Lord with others, teach them, and immerse them in the mikvah (baptism).

For example, why did Yeshua’s ministry originate with John the Baptist? He was calling men to repentance (a return to the garden). Yeshua submitted to being baptized by John and encouraged others to be baptized. This is the first step, like Adam, to return to the garden. (You should be thinking, why do I need to return to the garden?)

When God judged the world with Noah and the flood (the first time it precipitated) God made a promise to Noah and us that He would not use water again to judge us. It seems that God did not want to mix the waters and judgment again. He strictly declared that waters were to be a symbol of life. The splitting of the Red Sea for Moses and the children of Israel was the defining moment for the salvation of Israel out of Egypt. The waters from the Rock in the wilderness was another special moment to send a clear message of life and salvation. Moses’ name means ‘out of the waters,’ which is consistent with this message. But maybe the most powerful water element in the Exodus story is God’s requirement that everyone have a mikvah bath before the Lord came down on the mountain to give the Ten Commandments. The last time God spoke to man and gave him a commandment was Adam in the garden to not eat from the tree. The children of Israel were immersed first before the Lord spoke.

John the Baptist’s message of baptism (mikvah) was completely consistent with the same instruction of Moses. Before God speaks to us again, we need to be immersed. We need to take the remaining element (the waters) of the garden and go back to it. Mikvah (baptism) symbolizes many things in our faith: the living waters, burial and resurrection, cleansing, and a return to the garden.

Do you remember the source of the waters for the garden – the heavy mist and the springs of ground water? The waters that delivered Israel in the wilderness were from the ground – the Rock. Yeshua made direct reference to these waters, the waters from within the garden and from the Rock when He spoke in the temple on the last day of Tabernacles. This was the water libation ceremony as the waters from the pool of Siloam are poured on the altar.

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried out, saying, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified.

John 7:37-39

Yeshua made the most direct comparison here by stating that belief in Him resulted in being born of the Spirit of God. Where in the previous Scripture was Yeshua referring to? It seems that Yeshua was referring to a well understood message of the prophets:

For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 2:13

O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake Thee will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:13

Jeremiah clearly associated that the source of living waters was the Lord Himself. This was the source of the waters in the garden. Do you remember the four rivers in the garden, the Pishon, the Gishon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates? By the way, the numbers four, four hundred, and four thousand are thematically consistent with the Messiah. Therefore, the four rivers in the garden is a picture of the Messiah in the garden. It is consistent then that immersing ourselves in a mikvah is about being immersed in the Messiah – our salvation and deliverance.

If you ever travel to Israel with me on a tour, I will take you to the head waters of the Jordan River. At a place called Banias, the second of three source locations, waters flow out of a large rock formation. From a set of springs nearby waters flow from the ground, faithfully supplying the same water during rainy or dry years. These all flow to the Sea of Galilee where Yeshua operated His ministry. When people see the source of the waters, a mikvah in the Sea of Galilee or the Jordan River carries more meaning and spiritual value. Jordan actually means ‘out of Dan.’ Dan means ‘judge’ and it is a reference to God.

When Yeshua came to Jerusalem to do the work of redemption for all of us, He seemed to have a favorite place in the Jerusalem area where He could get away from it all, the Garden of Gethsemane. It is on the Mount of Olives just across the Kidron valley facing the Eastern Gate of the city and the Temple. It was a place of decision. On your journey from Jericho or Bethany to Jerusalem you had to decide whether you would go the narrow and straight way to the temple or the wide and downward way toward Gehena (the Hebrew word for Hell) and the lower parts of the City of David. The narrow and straight way was a priestly bridge directly into the temple. The other way went down to Gehena.

The garden of Gethsemane was where the olives were brought to be squeezed. Messiah means ‘Anointed One’ from the use of olive oil. It was in this garden that Yeshua the Messiah was squeezed and crushed for us. By the way, olives are squeezed three to five times. The first squeeze (press) is for the best oil, especially for anointing. The second squeeze produces oil for cooking and fuel for lamps. The final squeeze is to make soap. The Messiah is our Anointed One, the Light of the World, and the One who cleans us up.

Therefore, it is completely consistent with the original story in the Garden of Eden. The Messiah waited in the garden, was arrested in the garden, was crucified in the garden (Golgotha is the place of the skull; it is a cemetary on the south edge of the Mount of Olives), was buried in the garden, arose from the grave in the garden, and ascended back to His Father from the garden. All of these events occurred at the Mount of Olives. He obviously did the work of redemption to restore the garden. Do you remember the words of Yeshua to one of the men being executed with Him? “You will be with Me in paradise.” Remember paradise is the word for Eden.

Prophetically, we have a powerful message given to us about the Messianic kingdom that relates directly to the Garden of Eden and the return of the Messiah. The Messiah will return to Jerusalem to again become the source waters, from within, for a new garden. This garden will have the tree of life, from which we may freely eat. It will be the perfect place for fellowship with our Lord, as before the fall of man. New Jerusalem is defined for us in this manner.

And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him;

Revelation 22:1-3

Let me conclude this article by sharing a personal testimony from a brother who passed away a few years ago. His name was Jed Burt, and he was the sportscaster for Channel 11 in Colorado Springs known as “Jed Jackson.” About the time he became a Messianic believer, he was suddenly diagnosed with colon cancer. They performed surgery but it was to no avail. I was with him, anointed him, and covered him with my tallit when the doctor said he had about three months to live. Mercifully, God allowed Jed to live eleven more months. Two weeks before he passed, he publicly announced his problem and resigned from broadcasting. He called for me to be with him during the last few days. At this stage, he had his final surgery where they had frozen the nerves to his abdomen to give him as much relief as they could. He was overwhelmed with thirst, consuming large cups of Gatorade. When I came to him, he asked to speak privately with me and told me of a dream that God had given him.

What Jed shared with me shocked me. He had never heard this teaching before.

He said that he saw himself walking into the presence of the Lord. Everything was pleasant, there was no concern. Beside the Lord was a flowing river. The Lord then directed him to walk into the waters. He walked in until he was immersed. That is when the Lord told him to take a drink. He said the water tasted wonderful. Jed looked at me and said directly to me, “Monte, I am not thirsty anymore.”

We have heard it said before. Yeshua is a drink that if you drink of Him, you will not be thirsty anymore. It is just as the Bible concludes:

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

Revelation 22:17

But, my mind didn’t go to the conclusion of the Scriptures that day with Jed. Instead, the Spirit of God showed me the waters of Eden. My friend Jed had found what Adam and every man is looking for.

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