"Part 04350 - Man, GARDEN OF EDEN"

04350

THEGARDENOFEDEN

I would like to trace some different topics backward through the Bible to see what we might see about the Garden of Eden and its possible location. We will deal with a number of topics and show their relationship to one another. THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE: Take a few moments to read Ezekiel 43:1-9. Wow! Let’s turn to another text in Ezekiel and read a few verses. Ezekiel 11:22-23. The context of this passage shows the LORD has been completely disgusted with the children of Israel and is removing His special presence from His temple area. "Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city."

We see from these two texts that the LORD was in the temple in the time of the prophets, but that He left due to their sin. We also notice that He will one day return to the temple that will be built in the time of the Millennial Kingdom. The old temple was on the site of a rock. Indeed, today the Arabs have a mosque on this very site. It is called the Dome of the Rock. Most expositors agree that this will be the site of the future Millennial temple. Indeed, Jews of our own day state that this is the location where they will build the temple of God one day, for it is the site of the old temples.

Well, we have looked at JerUSAlem and the temple site in the future and in our present day, so let’s take a look at this site in its past.

HEROD’STEMPLE: In the time of Christ there was a large temple on this site which was built by Herod. This temple was destroyed by the Roman armies in 70 A.D. when they destroyed JerUSAlem. The temple burned, and they found that the heat had melted gold and that the gold had run down into the cracks between the rocks. The next logical solution to greed was to tear the temple apart rock by rock to get the gold. The only part of this temple THAT is left in our own day is what is called the wailing wall. It is a small portion of the foundation of the old temple where orthodox Jews pray.

Let’s consider the Mt. of Olives for a moment or two. Baker’s Bible Atlas gives a good description of this mountain. "Paralleling the eastern elevation of JerUSAlem, separated from it by the Kidron Valley, is the mile long ridge of limestone hills known as the Mount of Olives, OR Olivet (elevation about 2,680 feet)." (Pheiffer, Charles F.; "BAKER’SBIBLEATLAS"; Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1961) Let us look at some items of interest relating to this mountain: a. Christ prayed there: Luke 31:37, "And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount THAT is called the mount of olives." b. Christ taught of the end times there: Matthew 24:3, "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" By the way the context of this was a statement by the LORD THAT is of interest. They had just left the temple and Christ speaks to them.

"And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Matthew 24:2 Sound familiar? THAT is what happened in AD 70. c. The Triumphal entry began on the Mt. of Olives: Mark 11:1. Christ sent the disciples, from the Mt. of Olives, to get the donkey and then marched into JerUSAlem from there. d. He ascended from there: Acts 1:11-12 "Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. "Then returned they unto JerUSAlem from the mount called Olivet...." e. He will return in like manner and I would assume to the same place: Acts 1:11. Indeed, Zechariah 14:4 states this as fact. "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before JerUSAlem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." (Ezekiel 43:1-7 speaks of the return to the city as well.) f. The Glory of the LORD departed from the Mount of Olives: Ezekiel 11:22ff It seems that this temple area has some importance to God.

EZRA’STEMPLE: Prior to Christ’s time there was a smaller temple that had been constructed by some of the Jews that returned from captivity in Babylon. This return was under Ezra and the temple is mentioned in Ezra 6:13-22. Verse 16 mentions, "And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,"

Since this was a rebuilding of the temple, we must assume that it was on the site of the previous temple that had been destroyed when the people were taken into captivity. The purpose of this return and rebuilding was to restore JerUSAlem, their city. This by the way was the site of the Herodian temple of Christ’s time as well.

SOLOMONSTEMPLE: This temple was of great splendor. The site of this temple was on the site of David’s sacrifice after the sin of numbering the people. 2 Samuel 24:18 mentions, "And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." The account mentions that David purchased this floor and made the offerings. The temple site that Solomon chose is seen in 2 Chronicles 3:1, "Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at JerUSAlem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."

We see from this text that Solomon’s temple was built on the site where David offered, however a third title is given to this particular place. Mount Moriah.

What significance is there to the term Mount Moriah?

If you have a cross reference in your Bible, it will send you to Genesis 22:2 where Abraham is told to offer Isaac. "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

Since the writer of Chronicles names the temple site as Mount Moriah, there must have been basis for thinking that it was where Abraham offered Isaac.

Notice the phrase the mountain "...which I will tell thee of." There was a special place that the LORD wanted Abraham to meet him with his offering. It is also of interest that the priest that came out to meet with Abraham after Abraham had saved Lot from the armies was from Salem. Melchizedek was the king and priest of Salem. Salem, by the way is JerUSAlem. Do you begin to feel that the temple site in JerUSAlem and the city of JerUSAlem are of some importance to the LORD our God? Might we take one step further backward and see what we can discover?

CAINANDABEL’STEMPLE: Cain and Abel offered sacrifices according to Genesis four. Genesis 4:3-4, "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:"

We don’t want to get into the offerings and problems, but we DO want to notice one thing from the verse. Both "brought". What does that indicate? They "brought: this term would indicate that they brought it to a specific place. Since God was showing Moses the history of man, it would seem that the LORD was trying to indicate that the sons of Adam brought their offerings to God. The $64,000 question is just where did they bring the offerings. Well, since the text does not tell us might we make a sanctified guess that it was to the same place that Adam and Eve probably took their sacrifices. Since there were only four people on earth I must assume that there was only the First Baptist church. They wouldn’t have had time to split and start the Bible church yet. The next question is the same as the last, Just where did they bring the offerings? I am sure in my own mind that the LORD told Adam and Eve where to bring the sacrifices. He doesn’t just let us make up our own minds about such things. Can you think of where Adam and Eve would take their sacrifices? Where is the last place that they saw the LORD? Turn to Genesis 3:22-24, "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."

What do you make of all that? Do you see anything in that text that rings a bell with other Old Testament items?

Cherubim - where do we know them to be? Over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. The sword of flame - could that be similar to the pillar of fire and smoke that was over the tabernacle when the Jews were wandering in the wilderness.

There is some interest in the word "place". It can, and is translated dwell in other texts in the Old Testament. The verse would then read "so he drove out the man; and he dwelled at the east of Eden...."

It is likely in my mind that when Adam and Eve sacrificed, they did it at the entrance to the garden where the Cheribium were. If they taught their sons to sacrifice, then it is logical that they would bring their sacrifices to the same location.

God was quite possibly dwelling at the entrance to the Garden of Eden where he had placed His Cheribium! If you look at Isa. 6, and Ezek. 1, you will find that the Cheribium are a part of the throne scene of God.

So, what conclusions might we draw? The garden of Eden was in the area of JerUSAlem and the gate quite possibly was at the site of Mt. Moriah, the site of Ornan’s threshing floor, the site of Solomon’s temple, the site of Ezra’s temple, the site of Herod’s temple, the site of the Dome of the Rock, and the site of the coming Millennial temple. Does that grab your interest just a little bit? By the way the cheribim in the Holy of Holies were at the east end of the area, which faced east. The entrances to the temples were on the east and here we see that the cherubim were on the east of Eden. A couple of texts that might be of interest to you now:

Psalms 48:1-2 "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King."

Zion was another name for JerUSAlem. Zechariah eight tells of the restoration of JerUSAlem. It also shows the great love that God has for this city. Zechariah 8:1-3 "Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of JerUSAlem: and JerUSAlem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain."

Ps. 87 mentions the importance of the city to God as well. "His foundation is in the holy mountains. The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah." And one last reference, Isaiah 51:3, "For the LORD shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thankgiving, and the voice of melody."

One last thing that may add to the information that we have drawn together.

Turn to Genesis 2:8-14, "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every three 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. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: THAT is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is Bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: THAT is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates."

One river that divides into four rivers. The Euphrates is named and is probably the one that we know of today which is to the northeast of Israel. The Hiddekel is thought to be by most the Tigris also of which we know. The other two rivers are unknown to us. I would like to notice however, that one of these is related to Ethiopia which has always been viewed as being south of Egypt. The only river related to that area would be the Nile, OR the Red Sea. Or might we wonder if the one is the Nile and the other is the Red Sea?

If we were allowed to wonder about that, might we know what the first river is then? The only possible is the Mediterranean Sea, and guess what is at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea! A rift THAT is over 10,000 feet deep! In places it is 12,960 ft below sea level.

Since most agree that after the flood, there were some tremendous upheavals and down drafts. Might we assume that possibly the Mediterranean was one of the down drafts as was the Dead Sea. Indeed, if you look at maps that show the lay of the land the rift goes to the northeast corner of the sea and it is possible that the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan river and the dead sea were a part of one of the rivers.

Unger holds that the garden was in the Tigris Euphrates valley and that the other two rivers were canals between the Tigris and Euphrates. He does not speak to the question that he leaves - what the first river was.

Unger mentions, "Shifting river beds and accumulation of enormous deposits of river silt make the task of locating the site of the Pishon or the Gihon virtually impossible. But the other two rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, are well known." (Taken from: "UNGER’S BIBLE DICTIONARY"; Unger, Merrill F.; Copyright 1957, Moody Bible Institute of Chicago; Moody Press. Used by permission. P 406) Baker’s Bible Atlas interestingly enough places the land of Havilah on the south east coast of the Red Sea!

If our thought is correct, it certainly fits with the Scripture. Pishon is related to Havilah which is the Red Sea and Gihon is related to Ethiopia which would be the Nile!

You might ask if there are any authorities that agree with my thinking? No, to this date I have found none. I will read a comment from Baker that backs up a belief in much of what I have said. To quote Baker’s Bible Atlas, "The temple Mount, the location of Araunah’s Treshing-floor purchased by David and later used by Solomon as the site of the Temple, appears to have been north of the original Zion. It is traditionally associated with the place where Abraham offered Isaac -- Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2; 2 Chronicles 3:1), Although the land of Moriah in the patriarchal record appears to have been a remote spot, removed from human activity. The Moriah of David’s day is the central portion of the eastern hill, and the term Zion, initially used of the Jebusite fortress to the south, came to be applied to the Temple Mount as well (cf. Psalms 55:1; Jeremiah 31:6). Once the site of Solomon’s Temple and the Temple built by the jews who returned from Babylon, the Temple Mount is now the location of the Dome of the Rock, a beautiful octogonal structure built late in the seventh century to serve as a mosque." (Pheiffer, Charles F.; "BAKER’SBIBLEATLAS"; Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1961, p 150) This is something that I have been thinking about and teaching as serious THEORY for some time. I have worked on it since in the 70’s and have added to it as I have found references that might relate.

I trust that others might build upon this study as time goes forward. There is to me, a large amount of information that indicates that the entrance to the garden was at the site of the temples. Notice I used the term "indicates." We want to realize that the Bible does not state this clearly. This is only a logical conclusion based on the information available to us.

APPLICATION:

1. The pillar of smoke and flame was Christ Himself. He was over the tabernacle, and at the gate to the garden of Eden. Can we say that Christ was always the access to God the Father? I think that we can! The last phrase of Genesis 3:24 is of interest to us in this context. "...sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." One commentary translates the verse as follows: "And He (God) dwelt at the east of the Garden of Eden between the Cherubim, as a Shikinah (a fire tongue or fire-sword) to keep open the way to the tree of life." (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown)

Indeed, Christ is the only way that we can ever see the tree of life that will be in the eternal state according to Revelation 22:2, "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

2. Christ is the Angel of the LORD, and the Angel of the LORD is the pillar of fire/smoke over the tabernacle. Exodus 13:21, "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night."

There are a number of references to the pillar leading the Israelites. The pillar also came down so God could communicate with Moses at the door of the tabernacle. As a side note to the idea of a pillar in relation to meeting with God, Jacob after the vision of the ladder and the angels, took the rock that he had used as a pillow and "...set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it." (Genesis 28:18) Then in 28:22 mentions, "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be GOD’S house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." This was at Bethel. (Bethel was a little way north of JerUSAlem.)

3. If this has been a profitable study and we see that it may well be true, then are there any questions of Scripture that are unanswerable if we have the time to seek all through Scripture for information that relates to the question?

I have very few questions raised about scripture that I cannot find an answer to, if I take time to do the proper study. A few are still bothering me, and I am boiling those on the back burner until the rest of the information that I suspect is there is brought to my mind.

I trust that the study is of value and interest to you. We should come away from it with a feeling that our God is very definitely interested in meeting with man. We, in the New Testament age have easy and free access to His throne. We should enjoy that privilege to the utmost.