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The Garden of Eden, Genesis 2:4-17

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God Waters the Garden (Genesis 2:10-14)

“A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.” (Genesis 2:10-14)

While this passage in Genesis is packed full of symbolic language, it is not fiction. The way it reads is historical—the rivers are identified, down to the details as to where in the land each one winds. Today, we know where the Tigris and Euphrates are, but evidently the Pishon and Gihon have evidently dried up. 

But taking the text literally does not mean that we should skip over the spiritual symbolism that God intends us to see beyond the physical facts. We are told in verse 10 that “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.” Stop and picture in your head the imagery here. Before, the land was simply watered when “streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground” (Genesis 2:6), but now a flow of water coming from Eden. This abundant supply of water flows from Eden through the garden and out to the four corners of the earth. This flowing water of life provides food for the man in the garden, and life to the entire world.

The imagery that we have here in Genesis 2 is this: The Garden of Eden is a sacred temple where the first man resides in the sacred life of living in the relationship of worship with the Holy One. The world that God originally created was actually a cosmic sacred temple in which God would reside and commune perfectly with his people. 

It’s best described as concentric circles of holiness. The presence of God in Eden is the first circle—the “Most Holy Place.” The next circle out is the Garden of Eden, and it is next in holiness for it is where God visits and relates to his creatures in sacred relationship—it is the “Holy Place.” 

God would later have ancient Israel build their temple to show these same circles of holiness. The inner chamber was the Most Holy Place, where God dwelt with the Arc of the Covenant, guarded by giant golden cherubim. The next level out was The Holy Place, where the priest would enter for the special time of sacrifice and worship to God. In this outer chamber we see images meant to remind us of the Garden of Eden: the Table of Bread provided food for the priests, and the Seven-branched Lampstand (or Great Menorah) was a symbol of the Tree of Life. The next concentric circle out was the temple courtyard, where people were allowed to come and offer sacrifices. The next circle out was the camp of Israel, which had its own rules for purity that had to maintained. And, finally, there was the space outside the camp. The flow of blessing originates in that first circle—the Most Holy Place, and flows outward into each circle. Everything points toward that Most Holy Place.

The imagery that God is drawing for us is this: God originally intended for all of us to live in the paradise of the Garden, the Holy Place, where we would live in perfect relation with our loving Father. From God’s presence in the Most Holy Place flows the river of life—and we who live in the garden were to be the beneficiaries of God’s flowing river of love. But, since sin entered the picture, we have been pushed out of the Holy Place, and we are now somewhere outside of that place of intimacy with God. We now live in a place that is not very holy, a place where evil freely reigns, where things like the World Trade Center catastrophe can happen, where cancer can happen, where starvation can happen. 

Adam was the first representative head of all humanity. That first man in the Garden of Eden was the high priest, living his life as a living sacrifice—we are told that “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” This was sacred work—much like the sacred work that the Israelite Priests would later do in the Holy Place of the Temple. That is what we were created for—to live our lives as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. 

But how can we re-enter this Holy Place? If we are guilty of sin, we dare not go in there!

Adam was the first representative head of all humanity, but he failed to be that perfect priest in the garden—we will read this story in chapter 3. Jesus is the new representative head of all humanity. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. He offered his own body as a sacrifice for our sins, and in doing so, we all are granted entrance once again into the Holy presence of God! Until Christ, we were on the outside looking in at all those concentric circles of holiness. When we thought of God, we were awe-struck, we were rightfully scared—for anyone who thinks of God realizes, if they are honest, that God is purely holy and righteous, and we are not. 

But Christ opens the way so that we can confidently, even though we are sinful people, enter again into relationship with God. Remember that at the moment that Jesus died, the Gospels report that the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was supernaturally torn in two from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45). It is through the death of Jesus that access to God is again re-established. 

The writer to the Hebrews tells us, 

“…since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22)

Christ is the “great priest” who offers the ultimate sacrifice so that we can all become what we are supposed to have been all along—a royal priesthood, the People of God offering our lives to God as living sacrifices, capable of coming near to God because our faith is sincere and because our guilt has been washed away by what Jesus has done for us on the cross. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are called a “royal priesthood” according to Peter in his first letter (see 1 Peter 2:9-10). 

And what is true spiritually of those who have placed their trust in Jesus right here and now will become our literal experience in the future as well. Revelation 22 pictures the restoration of Eden as the great cosmic temple in which we all will live in perfect relationship with God again. John is whisked into the future and is escorted into what will be the incredible place where all who trust Jesus Christ will live:
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1-2)

Do you see it? The river of the water of life is there again, flowing from the throne of God, and there again is the Tree of Life, with healing in its leaves. It is Eden all over again. It is the place where we were supposed to live, and it is the place we will once again live since we have faith in Jesus Christ’s death. It is Christ’s death that tears the curtain that separates us from this wonderful existence. 

And it is Christ’s death that we celebrate at the Lord’s Table. The Bread represents his body broken for us, the cup represents the blood spilt for us. We come to the Table because we are hungry and thirsty for God. In this sacred act of worship and communion in which we participate now we anticipate the time in the future when we will again have access to God, the source of the River of Life. We come to the Table of Communion seeking in part now what we will experience then in whole. 

Look at Paul’s words in his first letter to the Corinthians:

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

We will not continue the act of the Lord’s Supper forever. When Jesus Christ returns, we will no longer do this, because then we will live in perfect communion with Him at all times. 

But now, in this time and place, we do this… Why? Because we can truly experience this here and now because we are now in communion with God because of what Jesus did on the cross. We are not experiencing this perfectly yet, but we are experiencing it more and more each day. Because of what God has done through Jesus, we are now told to see ourselves as priests—living our lives as sacrificial offerings to God for His glory.

That is why we are told in Romans 12:1,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” 

As you take communion today, see yourself as the priest you are—able to enter into the Holy Place, the Garden of Eden, and called to offer your life as a living sacrifice. As you pray, kneeling at the Communion Table, meditate on this. Re-commit yourself to living your life as a sacrifice, every act you do an act of worship, every word you say, a word that honors God, every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

As you take communion, see yourself in the garden again—receiving from God the life-giving water from the river flowing from his presence. Let him know that you are thirsty for more. Thank him for his provision!

Questions for Application and Discussion

1. What evidence have you seen, both obvious and not so obvious, that we no longer live in “paradise?”

2. Why do you think we long for “utopia” or “paradise” or the “perfect life of bliss”? Do you actually think we can attain it? If not, why not? If so, why?

3. As believers in and followers of Christ, we are called a “royal priesthood,” living “priestly lives.” Is this a new concept for you or have you always thought of others as priests and yourself as something else?

4. How does seeing yourself as a member of the “royal priesthood” change the way you live every moment of your life? (In answering, reflect on Romans 12:1). 

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