The Garden Temple of Eden

QUOTES:

God Dwells among Us: A Biblical Theology of the Temple (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology | ESBT) (Chapter One: Eden as a Temple: The Context of Genesis 1–2)

J. R. R. Tolkien diagnoses the roots of our longing: “We all long for [Eden], and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, its gentlest and most humane, is still soaked with a sense of ‘exile.’

God Dwells among Us: A Biblical Theology of the Temple (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology | ESBT) Chapter One: Eden as a Temple: The Context of Genesis 1–2

“our hearts are restless until they find their rest in [him].”

God Dwells among Us: A Biblical Theology of the Temple (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology | ESBT) The River of Life

Just as the Holy Place contained the lampstand, shaped like the tree of life, and the bread of the presence to sustain the priests, so the Garden of Eden is the place of the tree of life (Gen 2:8–9) and provides food to sustain Adam (Gen 2:16). Just as the outer court of Israel’s second temple provided a place for the nations to come, so the land and seas to be subdued by Adam outside the Garden are the nations of Cush and Assyria (Gen 2:13–14);

Psalm 36:5–9 (NASB95)

Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens,

Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

Your judgments are like a great deep.

O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!

And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;

And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.

For with You is the fountain of life;

In Your light we see light.

John 3:1–7 NASB95

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

1 Peter 1:23–25 NASB95

for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.

DAVIDSON: METANARRATIVE

After surveying the many and varied suggestions for what constitutes the “center” of Scripture, I suggest that as in any other book of non-fiction, where one discovers the major thesis of the book by reading its introduction and conclusion, so the central thrust of the Bible appears in its opening and concluding chapters. Genesis 1–3 reveals a multi-faceted “center” of Scripture, including the following: (1) divine creation and God’s original de- sign for His creatures; (2) the character of the Creator, as the transcendent Elo- him and personal Yahweh (in the complementary chapters Genesis 1–2); (3) the rise of a cosmic moral conflict concerning the character of God (Genesis 3); and (4) the Gospel solution to this ongoing conflict with the coming of the Promised Seed to bare His heel over the head of the venomous snake, i.e., to voluntarily lay down His life in substitutionary atonement in order to crush the head of that ancient Serpent and bring an end to evil (Gen 3:15). In the final chapters of the book of Revelation (especially 20–22) we find the repetition of this same multi- faceted metanarrative, with the wind-up of this cosmic warfare (Revelation 20; 21:6), the creation of a new heavens and earth, and restoration of humanity through the second coming of the Messiah (Revelation 21Ð22), a final revelation and vindication of the character/name of God (esp. Rev 22:4, 6; cf. 19:1Ð2), and the Gospel promises of redemption centered in Jesus the Lamb (esp. Rev. 21:6, 22, 23; 22:16Ð17) (P. 103-104).

Ellen White urges the study of the Bible in light of this “grand central theme”: The Bible is its own expositor. Scripture is to be compared with scripture. The student should learn to view the word as a whole, and to see the relation of its parts. He should gain a knowledge of its grand central theme, of God’s original purpose for the world, of the rise of the great controversy, and of the work of redemption. He should understand the nature of the two principles that are contending for supremacy, and should learn to trace their working through the records of history and prophecy, to the great consummation. He should see how this controversy enters into every phase of human experience; how in every act of life he himself reveals the one or the other of the two antagonistic motives; and how, whether he will or not, he is even now deciding upon which side of the controversy he will be found (P. 104).

DAVIDSON: DOCTRINE OF SANCTUARY

Doctrine of the Sanctuary. While teaching this course over the span of nearly two decades, I have been impressed by the immense amount of material in the Bible related to the Sanctuary. Some 45 chapters in the Pentateuch are devoted exclusively to the Sanctuary building and rituals; some 45 chapters in the Prophets deal directly with the Sanctuary; and the whole book of Psalms—the Temple Hymnal—with explicit references to the Sanctuary averaging one per psalm. The New Testament has similar Sanctuary saturation, with profuse allusions to Sanctuary terminology and ritual as fulfilled in Jesus. Whole NT books are structured around the Sanctuary, such as the Gospel of John, the book of Hebrews, and the Book of Revelation. It could be forcefully argued that there is more material on the Sanctuary in Scripture than any other subject (P. 104).

the Sanctuary provides a heuristic key to the whole system of biblical truth: “The subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery of the disappointment of 1844. It opened to view a complete system of truth , connected and harmonious . . . (P. 105).

DAVIDSON: TEMPLE PARALLELS WITH EDEN:

It is a commonplace to recognize that the moral conflict on earth arose at the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden—so states Genesis 3 emphatically. What is not so widely recognized is that Moses under inspiration of God clearly depicts the Garden of Eden as the first earthly Sanctuary (P. 108).

The description of God “walking around” ( Hithpa˛el of hålak ) is found only twice in the Old Testament, once in connection with God’s walking in the garden (Gen 3:8) and the other His walking in the midst of the camp of Israel (Deut 23:14 [Hebrew 15]) (Article, P.109)

10. In Eden the work assigned to man was to “till” ( ˛åbad , literally “serve”) and “keep” ( çamar ) the garden, and it seems more than coincidence that these are the very terms used to describe the work of the Levites in the Sanctuary (Num 3:7–8, etc.). (P. 110)

11. Note also how the term for light (greater and lesser light) used to describe the sun and moon in Gen 1:14Ð16 is elsewhere in the Pentateuch used only for the light of the menorah in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary (Exod 25:6; 35:14; 39:27, etc.) (P. 110).

If indeed the Garden of Eden was the earth’s original Sanctuary, and the trees in the midst of the Garden comprised its Most Holy Place, then Satan, upon his expulsion from the Holy of holies of the heavenly Sanctuary, gains access to Adam and Eve at a place that is none other than the Holy of holies of the earthly Sanctuary! Here we see him conducting the same strategy as in the heavenly Sanctuary, attacking and slandering the character of the God in His Sanctuary. He urges Eve to set up herself as equal with God, just what Satan himself had aspired to in the celestial Sanctuary. Rebellion against God, and rivalry with God—the earthly battle lines again are drawn, and the battlefield is the earthly Sanctuary. Adam and Eve capitulate to the enemy’s side, and the Great Controversy enters human existence (P. 111).

CANALE, PHILOSOPHY & SANCTUARY

the notion of Being determines the general nature of reality of which human nature, world, and God a re regional aspects. The meaning of Being, then, determines the general meaning of reality to which any specific reality belongs. Once first principles are interpreted by philosophy, they become grounding hermeneutical principles for any science of reality. In simple words the meaning of Being provides the hermeneutical principle necessary to interpret human nature, world, and God (P. 184).

INTERPRETATION/APPLICATION: The PROPER UNDERSTANDING of EXISTENCE (Being), MUST BE GROUNDED in the SELF-EXISTENT ONE (the eternal BEING, YHWH ELOHIM).

PURPOSE & PRESENCE; PRESENCE & PURPOSE

God Dwells among Us: A Biblical Theology of the Temple (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology | ESBT) The River of Life

Since the river of life flows from God’s presence into the lands of nations, so our mission to the nations must flow from the life found in God’s presence. When the source of our commitment to mission is located only in the backwaters of our idealism, then we can burn out and become bitter. Many idealistically plunge headlong into a sacrificial commitment to the poor or unreached or hurting, compelled by brokenness over their plight, but the resources of that idealism run dry when tested by the challenges of costly obedience. However, when our resources run dry, we drink more fully and deeply from the abundance of life found in God’s presence. Our God gives joy and strength to endure! The life that we find in God’s presence is more than enough to overcome every challenge for the mission God has placed before us. However, life must clearly flow from God’s presence into the needs of the nations, and the needs of the nations must drive us to drink more fully from the life found in God’s presence.

If Christians are to be effective ministers of the Gospel of Grace, we must live in and out of the Presence of Almighty God. MOREOVER: Our purpose is to IMAGE GOD; the only manner in which we might properly do this is by BEING in HIS PRESENCE (mirror neurons, Jesus says Ho only does that which He sees the Father doing: John 5:19). Being in His Presence is the ONLY WAY by which MAN CAN FULFILL HIS PURPOSE!

God Dwells among Us: A Biblical Theology of the Temple (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology | ESBT) The River of Life

Like the Israelites before us, we forsake the river of God’s presence and hew out empty cisterns that do not hold water to satisfy our thirsts (Jer 2:13). Will we satisfy our soul at the fountain of living waters? Or will we hew out cisterns of putrid water that do not satisfy?

God Dwells among Us: A Biblical Theology of the Temple (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology | ESBT) (The River of Life)

WE SACRIFICE FOR WHAT SATISFIES. The soul-satisfying riches in the presence of God propel us out of our comfort zones, calling us out of the warm confines of our beds to our knees in early-morning prayer and meditation on God’s Word.

God Dwells among Us: A Biblical Theology of the Temple (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology | ESBT) Eden and the Longing for Purpose

God placed Adam in Eden to work it and keep it (Gen 2:15), a priestly work in the Garden-temple of Eden. His work is not only working the soil (Gen 2:5) but serving God (e.g., Deut 4:19), and he keeps the Garden (Gen 2:15) as he keeps God’s commands (see Lev 18:5) and guards it from pollution and corruption (see Num 1:53). The verbs to work and to keep are sometimes used together outside Genesis 2:15 in a priestly context:

And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the work of the tent of meeting. (Num 18:5–6, translation altered)

The longing for purpose found in the human heart is satisfied when life works according to its purpose, which is life lived in the presence of God.

G. K. Beale and Mitchell Kim, God Dwells among Us: A Biblical Theology of the Temple, Essential Studies in Biblical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2021), 15.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

JERE. 2:11-13

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 2

Has a nation changed gods

When they were not gods?

But My people have changed their glory

For that which does not profit.

12 “Be appalled, O heavens, at this,

And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD.

13 “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.