The Garden of Eden
The account of humanity began in the garden of Eden. After God created the first man He gave him the garden as a generous gift. God caused every tree to grow out of the ground in that garden (Genesis 2:9) and He put the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden.
The garden was watered by a river that flowed through it (Genesis 2:10) and God put the man in the garden to care for it and work it (2:15). In other words, Adam was to protect and nurture the garden as a vocation. In this garden Adam and Eve were to enjoy a paradise, free of pain and agonising labour. By creating Eden, God intended that the first humans were to live in perfect harmony in a perfect world.
Eden, though, was much more than a paradise for Adam and Eve to enjoy. The garden of Eden was a sacred place that made perfect relationships possible. It was here in the garden that God created Eve from Adam’s body (Genesis 2:21), and it was here that God spoke intimately and directly with His children (3:8). They could eat of the tree of life – a tree whose fruit could give them eternal life. As far as we can determine, Adam and Eve could have lived eternally in the garden if they had not sinned. The garden, then, was a place very different from our world today. There was no sorrow, no strife, no death and no separation from God.
God gave Adam and Eve one simple command to remember as they lived in Eden. They were never to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which stood in the middle of the garden. The literal serpent, which in the ancient Near East represented chaos and death, tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the tree (Genesis 3:1-7). Even though Adam was there with Eve at the temptation, he was silent Eve seems to have done all the speaking with the serpent. In the end, they both gave way to the serpent’s deceitful words and disobeyed God. They ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (3:6). The silence of Adam and the naïve innocence of Eve brought sin into the world and ruined their paradise.
It is important to note the results of the first sin: God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23,24). He cursed the serpent (3:14) and the ground (3:17). Eve would bear children with great pain (3:16) and Adam would work the land with agonising labour (3:18,19). No longer would the earth be as the garden of Eden. In fact, the earth would be a daily reminder to humanity that they had lost Eden.
After Adam and Eve left the garden, their children became either nomads who wandered the land, farmers who faced the woes of nature, or city dwellers who longed for lush gardens. Never again would men and women enjoy the bliss and innocence that the lush garden brought to their lives.
Though the first humans were expelled from the garden of Eden, their children have never been able to forget Eden. Nor have they been able to return. The writers of the Bible allude to the garden throughout scripture (Song of Solomon 4:12-15; Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 28:13). In later passages, the garden of Eden symbolises peace and prosperity. Many of these passages speak of humanity’s desire to return to the garden.
When we think about the garden of Eden, we should keep the book of Revelation in focus. The story of the Bible begins in a garden but ends in a beautiful new city called the New Jerusalem, where the righteous will dwell forever. There are a few hints in the book of Revelation that refer back to the garden of Eden. Revelation 22:2 tells us that a river flows through the middle of the city; on each side of the river will be the tree of life.
The account in Genesis began tragically with man and woman being expelled from the garden and the tree of life. But it is in the last chapter of Revelation that the dreams and aspirations of humanity are fulfilled. Humanity is no longer cut off from the tree of life, so they can live eternally.
However, each of us yearns for the ‘Garden of Eden’ and so it should be, for God created the garden as a paradise that resonates with the longing in our hearts. But He has something far greater waiting for us as Christians. Like Abraham, we are to look for that city which “has real foundation – the city planned and built by God” (Hebrew 11:10).
Bro Mbiaoh Anthony (Kumba, Cameroon)
