Sunday, December 22, 2013

THE SIXTH DAY - PART 7

ONE OF THE PURPOSES OF CREATION

As far as we can tell, when God created the animals, he immediately created both sexes of each kind of animal. The purpose was, after all, for the propagation of their own species. This was necessary to fulfill God’s desire that they should multiply on the earth. Of course, for the human
El Quetzal, Guatemala
species, both male and female are also needed for propagation, but there is also a deeper aspect of this particular relationship, an aspect that far exceeds that of the animals.
Eve was not created along with Adam, but rather at a somewhat later period. Moreover, as I noted the previous post, unlike all of the other breathing creatures, she alone was not made from the dust of the ground. Instead, she was made out of the material of Adam’s rib.
Adam himself recognized this uniqueness of Eve. When God brought Eve to him, Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23 NAS).
Adam realized that Eve had not been formed out of the ground like all the other breathing creatures, and even as he himself was. She instead had been made out of his own flesh, specifically out of his rib.
After so recently having named all of the animals,
Tepui Roraima - Venezuela
Adam was still in the mood for giving names to God’s creatures. He decided that this one that God had brought to him should be called “woman,” because, as he said, she had been taken out of a man.
I also noted earlier (part 4) some of the significance of giving a name to someone. Among other things, it is an indication of responsibility. Adam recognized immediately his responsibility for the well-being of Eve. The writer of Genesis, under the inspiration of God, said it like this: “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24 NAS).
So foundational is this teaching in the husband and wife relationship that Jesus quoted it in teaching of the sanctity of marriage, (Mark 10:7), as did the apostle Paul (Ephesians 5:31). We also often quote this when speaking of the inviolability of the marriage vows. However, the significance of this goes way beyond fidelity in marriage.
Paul recognized this when, after he had quoted the Genesis statement, said this: “The mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church”
Estado Mérida, Venezuela
(Ephesians
5:32 NAS).

There is a sense in which an understanding of the relationship between Adam and Eve is foundational for us to have appreciation for the relationship that Christ means to establish with his church.
Adam could not have realized the future significance of this, nor could have Moses, who, we think, was the human author of the book of Genesis. Even today, although we have the word of the apostle Paul to teach us the fact that the relationship between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the beginning of an understanding of Christ and his relationship with his church, find this concept difficult to understand. I might even say that it is impossible for us to understand the full implications of this. All has not yet been revealed.
Nevertheless, this much we can understand. Even from the early days of the dawn of creation, God had in his mind the relationship that he was to form with his church. The editorial comment by Moses is a clear indication of that.
And who is this church of whom Paul speaks? Who is this one that will have such a close union with Christ?
Of course, we first may think of our local church, and if our local church is true to the teachings of Jesus and redemption by his work on our behalf, then that indeed is part of it. But if we were to think that the church of Christ is best understood in terms of a man-led organization or described as some sort of a political or denominational institution, then we would be missing the idea completely.
The very best definition of the church that I can find in the Bible is not an easy one to understand, and perhaps raises more questions that it gives answers. Nevertheless, it is a compellingly beautiful passage and one worth contemplating. I do it often:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Then came one of the seven angels …and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
(Revelation 21:1-3, 9-11, 22-27 ESV)

And it all began in the Garden of Eden.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

THE SIXTH DAY - PART 6

THE HELPER

After Adam had finished the task of naming all of the animals in the Garden of Eden, he fell into a deep sleep. It had been a day full of activity and he was exhausted! However, as busy as this 6th day of creation (and Adam’s very first day) had been, it was yet far from over.
But the deep slumber into which Adam fell was more than just the natural sleep of a tired man. The narrative in Genesis 2 tells us that it was God that caused this sleep to come upon him. The Lord had something in mind for Adam. What he had in mind would be for Adam’s benefit and delight, but it would require a bit of a sacrifice on the man’s part. While Adam was in his deep sleep, God opened Adam’s side and removed one of his ribs. It was from this rib that Eve was made.
Eve was a special creation. Earlier in the second chapter of Genesis, we learned that all of the beasts of the field and all of the birds of the air were formed from the soil of the ground (2:19). Adam was also formed in the same way (2:7). Eve alone, however, was not formed from the soil. She was instead created in an entirely unique way, out of the material from Adam’s rib.

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
By Jan Brueghel the Elder

Another point of uniqueness in the creation of Eve is that when we learn of the creation of Adam and all the breathing creatures, the word that is used to describe the method that God used was that he formed them. I discussed this word at some length in Part 1.
However, this same word is not used in the creation of Eve. Instead, verse 22 of this chapter says that the Lord God made (banah) Eve out of Adam’s rib. This is a very common word in the Old Testament, and in all but just a few cases, it is used to describe a making or a building of something. For instance, it is the word used in the building of a home or the construction of an altar.
When Eve was created, she filled a need that had been previously unmet (please read the last post - Part 5). I do not mean to imply that Eve was in some way an afterthought, or that God had not previously planned on creating a female counterpart to Adam’s maleness. All of the animals and birds apparently already had a corresponding male and a female for each species. This seems to be true, since it was after the naming of the animals that the realization came upon Adam that he alone, among the living and the breathing creatures, did not have a mate.
Eve is called Adam’s “helper.” To us, this has a slightly demeaning connotation. In our thinking, a carpenter’s helper is someone who the carpenter has to bring him tools and to clean up after him. A bricklayer’s helper carries bricks all day.
But this is not the meaning in the Old Testament. The word in the Old Testament is ezer, and to get a feeling for the word, here are a few other references that include this same word:

“The God of my father was my help (ezer), and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” (Exodus 18:4b NAS)

“Blessed are you, O Israel; who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, who is the shield of your help (ezer), and the sword of your majesty!” (Deuteronomy 33:29 NAS)

Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help (ezer) and our shield. (Psalm 33:20 NAS)

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help (ezer) come?
My help (ezer) comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Ps 121:1-2 NAS)

How blessed is he whose help (ezer) is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God. (Psalm 146:5)

You can see that all of these scripture passages use the word ezer as referring to God. In point of fact, in most places where it is used in the Old Testament, it does refer to God. The word ezer is one that speaks of a rescuer or a deliverer.
We should not think of Eve as being given to Adam necessarily to merely always assist him. Rather, in many ways, Eve rescued Adam from what would have otherwise been a less than complete existence.
I will conclude this series next week.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

THE SIXTH DAY - PART 5

THE EDUCATION OF ADAM


God knew from the beginning that the man Adam would need a companion. It was after God had showed Adam around the Garden of Eden that the Lord expressed his intentions concerning this. “It is not good for the man to be alone,” God said.
After reading that at the end of each creation day God saw all that had been done as being good, it is almost surprising now to hear him say that something was not good. It was not good for the man to be alone.
“I will make him a helper suitable for him,” God said.

The Creation of Eve from Adam
Raffaello Sanzio
The word helper is an interesting word and one that is commonly misunderstood. We will talk about that a little later. However, there is one point left over from a previous blog post (part 4) that we must conclude.

Another thing that is interesting to me in this narrative is that after God articulated Adam’s need for a helper, he did not immediately create Eve for him. Although God knew of this need, I wonder if Adam himself perhaps did not realize it. I mentioned in that same previous post what I believe was Adam’s superior intelligence, but even the smartest of us can be idiots when it comes to women. God decided that he needed to help Adam out a little.
Adam, at this time, was completely happy in his environment. I cannot speak for all men, but I know that for me, there is a feeling of complete contentment when I am in the woods. I lack nothing, even if I am alone. Over the years I have come to understand that there are several aspects about my personality that are not common to many other men, but I think that in this particular feature, I am not alone. It is the case of very many men that I know, that if you give them a backpack full of gear and drop them at the edge of a wilderness; you will discover one happy and
Oh, to someday return to Kashmir...
contented fellow.
In this same respect, I think that Adam was one happy and contented fellow. The garden was full of wonderful and awe inspiring places to explore and full of the creatures to observe.
But speaking of these creatures, what do we call them? It is almost unimaginable for us to think that it would be possible to be surrounded by such a menagerie of creatures and not put names to them.
When God suggested to Adam that Adam should give names to the animals, I am sure he welcomed the task. As I wrote in Part 4 of this series on the 6th day of creation, we do not know how large this undertaking was. However, God helped alleviate some of the logistics in the task of naming all of the creatures. God brought the animals in turn before Adam, so that Adam could assign names to each one. This was the original animal classification system.
But God had more than one purpose for this task. One of the things that had motivated God to give this job to Adam was the acknowledgement of the need for a helper for the man. God wanted to bring some femininity into the garden. The process of naming the animals was also part of the education of Adam in this regard.
There is little detail given as to how this naming was
More from Kashmir
done. It simply says God brought the animals to the man to see what he would call them. I suspect, however, that God did not bring the animals individually, but in pairs, the first male and the first female of each species.
After the naming of the animals, there is one simple commentary on the education of Adam concerning the need for a wife; “But for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”
I mentioned above that Adam had been previously happy and contented in the Garden of Eden. I think that if he had been asked if there was anything that he needed, he would not have been able to think of anything. He had ideal living conditions, meaningful work, abundant food, and complete fellowship with God. It was not until he noticed that every animal had a corresponding mate that Adam may have been able to see that there was indeed something that he needed. Adam suddenly felt less than complete.
I also understand this sudden realization in Adam. In this sentiment, I know that I am not alone among men. This is an overwhelming commonality that men have. As we are hiking around the woods and the hills and enjoying the beauty of our natural surroundings, we are totally content. Suddenly, however, a twinge of incompleteness comes upon us. We would like someone to share this with. It is not enough to enjoy this alone.
But for Adam, “there was not found a helper suitable for him.”
It was with this thought that Adam fell into a deep sleep.

*******************************************************

I want you to know that it was my full intention to get to the creation of Eve in this post, but I see now that I have been a little long with the word. It has already reached the length to which I try to keep each individual post entry. I am going to have to wait until the next time to talk about Eve and the word helper. In many ways, the creation of Eve is the pinnacle of the creation story.

Monday, December 2, 2013

THE SIXTH DAY - PART 4


Like a potter forming an intricate clay pot on a potter’s wheel, on the sixth day of creation God formed the first man. “It is good,” He said. God was pleased with his creation.

Adam had not been created within the Garden of Eden, but from the dust of the ground outside of the garden. It was in some other location that God “breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life.” God had in his mind to create the woman as well, but interestingly, he did not do this immediately. He first took Adam to the garden to present to him his new home and to give him an orientation.


I cannot begin to imagine the wonder that Adam must
The Garden of Eden by Thomas Cole
have felt as the two walked around the garden! God, we know, was well pleased with his creation and must have been like a proud artist explaining his work. He showed Adam the trees of the garden and the many animals. He specifically instructed Adam about the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The text does not say so, but I suspect that God took the time to explain how all of the individual aspects and creatures of his creation were to exist together in total harmony. I say this because we know that God instructed Adam in his responsibility to “cultivate” the garden and to “keep” it (see the post – Part 3). I am filled with amazement just to try to imagine the conversation that the two had. But even today God still likes to share his work with us, if we care to listen.


Adam was not the only creature that God had formed
Jan Luyken, Amsterdam 1708
out of the ground. God had also formed “every beast of the field and every bird of the sky (
2:19). These included “living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind” (1:24).

After Adam’s orientation of his new home in the Garden of Eden, one of the first tasks that God gave to him (perhaps the very first task), was to give names to all of the animals. I do not know how big of an undertaking this was. It is impossible to say what the exact number of animals that God brought to Adam to see what Adam would call them. When the text mentions “living creatures after their kind,” we do not know if the word kind would most closely equate to our present day classification of species or if it would be closer to our word genus.

I doubt if there are many people who would think that when the text mentions that there were “cattle,” it is intended to mean that there were Holsteins, Guernseys and Scottish highlander cows (plus all the other cattle variations). Only the progenitor of all of these types came before Adam on that day to be named.
(From Flemish Tapestry Factory)

A species is usually defined as a group of animals capable of interbreeding and reproducing, such as a Holstein cow breeding with a Guernsey cow. However, there is no viable cross-species reproduction. A Holstein cow cannot successfully breed with a horse, for instance.

Scientists have today identified almost 5,500 different species of mammals that currently exist in the world, and almost 10,000 species of birds. We know that species of animals do evolve in small ways (micro-evolution) to form types or subspecies within the species. And then there is crossbreeding, such as the aforementioned Holsteins, Guernseys and Scottish highlander cattle. There has even been some research to show that a single species of organisms could develop into two separate ones (this is called speciation, although it seems that this work is inconclusive).

However, I am not of the persuasion that all the species of mammals and birds have one common ancestor (such as an evolutionist would say). There has never been any evidence to demonstrate that this mechanism of species development is a viable one. This is something that has never been observed and is only a “reality” in evolutionary theory.


Nevertheless, if one were to assume that there must have been at least one of every species of animals and birds that still exists today (every beast of the field and every bird of the sky), it is quite a large number, and some others have become extinct. The consideration that Adam may have had to give names to 15,500 animals on that 6th day of creation (and more if he also gave names to the 9,000+ reptiles) is a difficult one indeed.

Some might say that the word “kind” in the Genesis text may equate better to our broader classification of “genus,” but even with that, the task that Adam was given that day must have been formidable (I was not able to find out an estimate of the current number of genus in the world, I think because there is not agreement among biologists as to what actually constitutes a genus).

If one depends very heavily upon speciation, one could make some calculations about how it could be possible for Adam to name all of the species in the Garden of Eden within a 24 hour period. However, this view would require the continual development of new species on our planet in order to reach the current level, and this level of speciation has never been observed in our natural world. In fact, to be honest, I do not think that speciation has actually ever been observed in our natural world.

To creationists, such as myself, the word speciation is more tolerable than the word evolution. However, with such a high level of speciation necessary to accommodate Adam naming all of the animals in such a short period of time just several thousand years ago, at what point does it cease to be mere speciation and begin to become evolution?

Adam, I believe, was of much higher intelligence than any person alive today. The effect of a sinful nature has had a degrading effect up not only our spirits, but also upon our minds and bodies. But even with this, the naming of so many animals would be quite formidable, and I do not get the sense that God was in a hurry to “get things done” before the end of the 24 hour day. Moreover, God is never in a hurry.
Rembrandt Scetch


With all of the above considerations, I have come to the opinion that, while some speciation has occurred in species development, I think it is best not to insist that the 6th and the other creation days were of necessity the 24 hour days that we see today. My best understanding is that I need to leave the actual length of the creation days open to consideration and not to hold adamantly to our current 24 hour day. I do not think that these days were ages or eons, as some would say, but still a relatively short period of time.

Actually, we have no way of determining the length of the day at that time. The days of creation were unique in every sense, even to the point that the day length was not determined by the rotation of the earth in relation to the sun. God did not create the sun and moon until the fourth day. Thus we know that, in at least the first three and a half days of the six day creation, the sun played no part in the length of the day.

I am also quite sure that there are many considerations of the exact details that are unknown to us. When we know all of the facts, we will also understand. In whatever way that it was accomplished, God intended it for a reason and it was done in the way he has revealed it to us.



But I do not wish to become overly technical here. The marvelous aspect to me is that God brought all these animals to Adam to be named instead of naming them himself and then telling Adam what the names were.

I said above that there was a reason that God did this. Actually, there were at least a couple of reasons. The first of these have to do with the fact that God intended that people were to “have domain over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

The naming of something or of someone is normally reserved for whoever is to have immediate responsibility for it. It is the pet owner who names his dog, it is the farmer who names his cows, and it is the parents who name their new child. Giving something a name is an act of recognition that I am in some way responsible for the well-being of it. By naming something, I have put even my own identity with it.

When God brought the animals to Adam so that Adam could give them names, it was a demonstration of the fact that Adam was to have dominion over these animals; he was to be their “keeper.” There are some aspects of our relationship with the animal kingdom and with nature in general that have changed since those first days in the Garden of Eden, but this one aspect; that is, that we should be the caregivers of our environment, has not changed.

There is a second reason that God brought the animals before Adam to be named. We shall look at that reason in a week or so.
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Thursday, November 28, 2013

A THANKSGIVING DAY THOUGHT



On this Thanksgiving Day in the United States, let me offer a thought (only one).
In the ministry of visiting the elderly (among others) that God has given to me in these days, there is a realization that has come to me.
Some of these older folks that I visit are in their 80’s, others in their 90’s and there are even two that are over 100. Most of them are still very sharp in their thinking, although at times some of them seem a bit confused (and who isn’t?). In visiting with them, I sometimes do most of the talking and they sit and listen. But sometimes it is I who does most of the sitting. I just listen to them talk about whatever is on their minds.
Do you know what they talk about more than any other thing? They do not usually talk about what they accomplished in life (or did not accomplish); they do not talk about dream houses that they had built for themselves or lands that they have acquired. All of these things hold very little significance for them.
What they talk about more than any other thing is people. They talk about their families; they talk about friends that they have known, students or teachers that they have had, besides many other people who in large and small ways had become part of their lives.

We know that houses and lands and riches will not last into eternity, but if we take the words of these octogenarians, these whatever-it-is-you-call-people-in-their-90’s, and these centenarians, all of these material things are not even important in this life. That which looms large in importance for these folks are the people that they have known and who have been part of their lives.
This Thanksgiving I give thanks for the people in my life. There are many. When I think of all the people who had a positive influence upon me in my childhood and growing-up years, all of the people with whom I have worked in many countries, and all of those who befriended me, it leads me into deep thanksgiving.
I know that many people that I have known in the past regularly read this blog, and if you are one who has befriended me in some corner of the world or here close to our home, I want you to know that I thank God for you! I have been enriched because of you!

Philippians 1:3-7 NAS
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart.
Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Monday, November 25, 2013

THE SIXTH DAY - PART 3



TRUE ENVIRONMENTALISM
In the Genesis account of the creation of man, there are four words that describe God’s intentions for man’s responsibility to his environment. The first two of these words are found in Genesis 1:28 where God tells the man and the woman “…Subdue the earth and rule [have dominion] over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The words here that have to do with man’s responsibility to the earth are to subdue it and to rule or have dominion over it. These are words can be construed as having a rather strong and even oppressive intention.

Subdue the Earth
The word subdue (kabash), for instance, is most used in Scripture as relating to the state of the nations who have lost in warfare. For instance, when the early Israelite nation was entering into Canaan, Joshua told them, “The hill country shall be yours…for you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have chariots of iron and though they are strong.”
Indeed, the result of this warfare was that the land was “subdued” before the Israelites (Joshua 17:18-18:1). In most cases in the Bible, this is the sense of this word subdue. (See also 2 Samuel 8:10-11)


Have Dominion over the Creatures of the Earth
The word for rule or dominion (radaw) is much the same, although perhaps a little less stern. As an example, when God was later giving the Law to the Israelites, and in the case of an Israelite who may have become so poor that he would have had to sell himself into slavery, God told the one who may buy him, “You shall not rule over him with severity, but are to revere your God” (Leviticus 25:43 NAS). This ruling was not to be with a heavy hand.
In the Psalms it is sung of Jesus, “In his days may the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon is no more. May he also rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth” (Psalm 72:7-8 NAS).
Here is dominion that brings peace to the earth.

These two words, subdue and rule, are the words used in the first chapter of Genesis to describe the relationship of man to all of the domain of the earth. At first blush, this may seem like it could be a rather strong-handed relationship.
But we need to read on.

In part one of this series on the 6th day we saw how the account of the creation of man was introduced in the first chapter of Genesis, and then expanded in the second chapter. It is much the same in this case.  As we move on to the second chapter of Genesis, we learn more of what man’s relationship is to be with the environment. Two different words are used.

Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15 NAS)

Cultivate the Garden
The first of these words is cultivate. The Hebrew word here is ‘abad. The word in this particular verse is variously translated to dress the ground, or to till or work it. All of these terms are good words for this verse in Genesis, since the sense of the verse is that the man would be farming the ground.
However, of the more than three hundred times that this word ‘abad appears in the Old Testament, it is most usually translated as serve, or some form of that word. In fact, there is only eight or nine times when it is not. For this reason, I prefer the English word cultivate concerning the relationship that Adam was to have with the Garden on Eden.
Here is why I prefer this:
It is easy to see that our word cultivate is closely associated with the word agriculture. Indeed, they both come from the common Latin root colere (variation cultus.) This Latin word had two separate meanings which may seem unrelated to us, but which to the ancient Latin speaking people had a connection.
The first meaning has to do with the tilling of the ground and with agriculture as we know it. The second meaning for the word is to worship. As we see in the Genesis account, the tilling of the ground was one of the original occupations of man. This is why I have said in other places (perhaps with some bias), that farming is the most honorable of occupations. This is also why this word till also a good translation in the above verse.
However, there is another aspect to this, and it has to do with the inflection of serving, which is how this same word of Genesis is used in other parts of the Scripture.
The Spanish language has been derived more directly from Latin than has English. When I was first learning Spanish, I was a little surprised to learn that the worship service in the churches was called the culto. In North America, I was accustomed to hearing the word cult only in relationship to a religious organization or church that has deviated from the truth of the Gospel in some way.
However, like the words agriculture and cultivate, this Spanish word culto is also derived from the same Latin word colere, which has the alternative meaning of to worship. This is why Spanish speaking people call their worship service the culto (pronounced cool’tō, or something similar to that).
When God gave Adam the task of tilling the ground, it was more than an occupation. Adam was, in some ways, to serve the ground. It was the way in which the Lord intended man to worship God, by serving the creation which God had made.
In God’s original intent, we see true environmentalism. It is true that the earth was made for the good of the man and the woman and that they were free to utilize its resources. God told them to “Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth…Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you” (Genesis 1:28-29 NAS).
However, the attitude in this dominion was not to be exploitation, but service. It is by taking care of our environment that we show worship to God.

Keep the Garden
The other word in this verse in Genesis 2 that has to do with man’s relationship with the garden is the word keep; Adam was also to keep the garden. This is not used in the sense that we would normally say that someone has a well-kept garden. This word is shamar, which means to hedge around (as with thorns), or to protect or guard.

We might ask; what threat was present at that time against which Adam had to protect the garden? The Garden of Eden, we have always thought, was a perfect environment. And so it was. There was no evil that was present there. However, there was evil lurking around the edges. It would eventually come to the garden. It did eventually come, we are told, using the form of a serpent.
We do not know specifically when God created the angels and the heavenly host. However, at the end of the sixth day, God looked at all that he had made and saw that it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Thus, it seems that up to this point, Satan had not yet led the great demonic rebellion against God.
But soon-to-come rebellion was not a surprise to God. He knew that sin would become a threat to the garden environment. Thus God told Adam that one of his tasks was to protect and to guard the garden from the introduction of
evil. As we know now, this was a task at which Adam later failed. Satan did enter the garden and deceive the woman Eve into sin, after which Adam also sinned.

When we consider all of these four words in relation to man’s role in the earth, we can understand that when Adam sinned, it was not only the human race that was affected, but also all that was under his domain. This included all things on earth and even the earth itself. God’s original intent for man was that he should subdue the earth and to rule over it. Man was to cultivate and to keep it. This was to be his service to the Lord.
That is why the Apostle Paul writes of creation of being “subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it” (Romans 8:20 NAS).
But neither is this the end of the story. Again we need to read on:

“Creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21 NAS).

In the end, we will see God’s original intent and assessment of his creation. We will look on it all and see that it is “very good.”

Sunday, November 17, 2013

THE SIXTH DAY - PART 2



A MOST UNUSUAL RIVER
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers (Genesis 2:10).

In our reading of Genesis and of the account of the Garden of Eden, we learn about a river with some characteristics that are very unusual. In fact, there is no river today on the earth with such characteristics. This river of Eden, which originated within the garden, then flowed out of the garden and later divided to create four separate river systems.
This simply does not happen. In our experience, we see rivers that have their headwaters usually in the higher altitudes, and then begin their long journey to the ocean. On the way across the continents, they are joined by other rivers that have begun in other regions. These rivers all
The Garden of Eden by Thomas Cole
merge to become one larger river. They are later joined by yet others, until they all become one very large river. The
Mississippi is a good example of this, as are large river systems in every continent.
On rare occasions, there are rivers that will divide and become two rivers. This is called bifurcation (two forks). The largest river on the planet where this occurs is on the Orinoco in Venezuela. The Orinoco is a huge river. It is so large that the fresh waters flowing out of the river into the Atlantic reduces the salinity of the water far out into the ocean. The outflow of the river is so great, that on his third journey, Christopher Columbus knew that he must be sailing toward a very large continent with a large river system instead of another of the small Caribbean islands.
Deep in the jungles of southern Venezuela, where the Orinoco originates, there is one spot where the river divides. One fork remains the River Orinoco, and the other river becomes the Rio Negro. The Rio Negro, in turn, joins in the normal fashion with the great Amazon River. Thus, in this case, one river divides to become part of two separate large river systems.
     When we lived in Venezuela, and when I was on a flight to Brazil, I once had the opportunity to fly over this region and believe that I saw this bifurcation of the Orinoco. I saw the point where the Rio Negro joined the Amazon.
But this phenomenon is extremely rare. What is more, in the case of the river of Eden, the river divided and became not two, but four rivers. Two of these rivers can still be identified as the Tigris and the Euphrates. The other two rivers, the Pishon and the Gihon are unknown to us today.

All of this is interesting to me, but of even more interest is the life giving nature of the River of Eden. The river seems to have had its source in the garden itself. It supplied water for the garden before flowing out of it and becoming the four separate rivers.
In our experience, rivers do not originate in this way. Large rivers require large watersheds. They begin small with many tributaries, and grow in volume when the tributaries join together.
The River of Eden rose within the garden itself. How it did this, we do not know. However, before God had prepared the garden, we are told that there was a mist that emerged from the land to water the face of the ground (Genesis 2:6). This is perhaps an indication that there was a large water source beneath the surface of the ground that bubbled out in an artesian springlike way and gave rise to the river of Eden. The river watered many the many trees of the garden. Among them was the Tree of Life.
We cannot be certain how this all was, but it makes me think of another river that we learn about in the Scriptures. Indeed, it is one of my favorite passages and one that I read every so often. I have even carved a stylized wooden motif of it that forms a part of the railing of my balcony upstairs in our house. The Scripture is found at the opposite end of the Bible from where we read of the river of Eden:

To explain this motif: There are twelve round
“fruits” on the tree, and the leaves for the
healing of the nations. The line down the
middle signifies the River of Life flowing
out of the roots of the tree. The river also
forms a cross – the Cross of Calvary

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb The river was flowing down the middle of the great street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)

Here again is a very unusual river. It appears in the new kingdom, when God will bring all things to completion and again to perfection. Like the River of Eden, this new River of Life does not have a large watershed to collect its waters. Rather, it rises from the very throne of God to water the trees along its bank.
     And what is the tree? It is the very Tree of Life that was once found in the Garden of Eden. Pure life and perfection will be restored!

Oh to drink from the crystal flow that comes from God’s own throne. 
Along its banks, a tree will grow – the tree of life in my new home. 
Oh, to lie in the shade of this tree; the nations, by its leaves will be healed.  (Revelation 22:1-2)
And its fruit will be life-giving to me, and to all that the Spirit has sealed.  (Ephesians 1:13)

(Excerpt from a poem I wrote years ago entitled, Foreign Shores – a poem for the road weary worker)