(LONG) THERE IS A RIVER - 4 Rivers of Eden
"Blume, Michael" (mblume@porthole.entnet.nf.ca)
Tue, 26 Sep 1995 01:22:51 -0500 (CDT)
THERE IS A RIVER
(The Four Rivers of Eden)
Text:
Psal 46:4 [There is] a river, the streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy [place] of the tabernacles of the
most High.
History:
Eastward in Eden, God put a Garden. He caused a River to flow
>from Eden on into this Garden that it may water the paradise
prepared for man. From that point, the river would in turn
separate into four other rivers.
As Psalm 46:4 relates, Eden had one river that branched out into
Four others - streams, as it were.
Gene 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden;
and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Gene 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every
tree 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.
Gene 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and
>from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
These four rivers are given names and are specified from first
to last in a particular manner in the Bible. This lets us know
that there is a message for us to receive. The Lord simply does
not provide information so as to merely satisfy man's curiosity.
The Bible concerns salvation and God's plan for mankind. We
must look at these rivers, the details of their descriptions and
pray for illumination as to the message the Lord is trying to
convey to us. The thoughts we will be discussing have resulted
>from prayerful research into the message of the Four Rivers. of
Eden, and, we believe, subsequent revelation regarding them.
May the Lord further increase your study regarding these Rivers,
and bless your reading of this study.
The Rivers are listed in a particular order and are named in
Genesis as follows:
Gene 2:11 The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which
compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold;
Gene 2:12 And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is]
bdellium and the onyx stone.
Gene 2:13 And the name of the second river [is] Gihon: the same
[is] it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
Gene 2:14 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.
Application:
The name "Eden" means "Paradise". We can liken Eden, then, to
the Paradise of God of which we read in the New Testament.
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To
day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Jesus referred to what we call Heaven after the repentant thief
asked the Lord to remember him in His Kingdom. This is
mentioned again later in Paul's writings as follows.
2Cor 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
It is evident that Paul referred to himself in this passage. He
experienced a catching up into the PARADISE of God. Again, we
understand this to be Heaven.
Not only is Eden spoken of, but a Garden is also noted as being
eastward in Eden. It is commonly mistaken today that the Garden
WAS Eden, but the Bible specifically tells us that it was
"eastward IN Eden," as though Eden were a large district.
Eastward in that region of Eden did God place the Garden. This,
too, is notable, as we shall see later.
Gene 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden;
and there he put the man whom he had formed.
What would this Garden represent as a message to us in our
Christian walk?
IN order to see the application for us as Christians notice that
something is evident. From the above verse we can also notice
that God made Adam from the dust of the ground and afterwards
PLACED MAN in that Garden. Man was not made from the dust of
the Garden. He was made OUTSIDE of the Garden, and afterwards
put within it.
Looking at our present relationship with Christ, we can discern
the truth that, as Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, we
were placed within the Kingdom of God at new birth. Jesus told
Nicodemas that one must be born of water and spirit to enter the
Kingdom. A kingdom is ruled by a King. And since Adam was to
reign the world from that position in the Garden, we can tie
these thoughts together. The Garden, therefore, represents the
KINGDOM OF GOD from which Adam ruled.
Jesus said the Kingdom is within you.
Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for,
behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Paul spoke of the world of the Holy Ghost when he said:
Roma 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
The Church comprises God's Kingdom. Later, this Kingdom will
manifest in all the world, but for now WE are already in the
Kingdom! Praise God!
So Adam represents those who are put within the Kingdom of God.
Luke tells us that Adam was a son of God since he had no earthly
father. Sons of God rule. Notice the following verse in
respect of this thought:
Colo 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and
hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:
We were put into the Kingdom of God where Jesus rules, as Adam
was put into his kingdom in the Garden.
Gene 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul.
As Adam was filled with God's breath of life, we were filled
with God's Spirit when God readied us for entrance into the
Kingdom of God. God took us out from the dust and dirt of this
world and filled us with His Spirit, and then placed us in His
Kingdom.
EASTWARD
The Garden was eastward in Eden.
In order to see the thought of this eastward position we must
consider the events involving compass points later in the Eden
story. After man was cast out of the Garden, Cain and Abel were
born. Cain murdered his brother, Abel, and was sent by God into
the land of Nod. Notice where Nod was located:
Gene 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and
dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Get the picture. The Garden was in Eden, but in the eastward
part of that region of Eden. Nod was further east, outside of
Eden altogether.
The direction of the East is mentioned several times in this
Garden account.
Gene 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden *EASTWARD* in Eden;
and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Gene 3:24 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.
Gene 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and
dwelt in the land of Nod, on the *EAST* of Eden.
Many times in Scripture we see the compass points of east and
west in relation to God's people and error. When Lot departed
>from Abraham into his backslidden condition toward Sodom and
Gomorrah, he went eastward, as did Cain.
Gene 13:11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot
journeyed *east*: and they separated themselves the one from the
other.
After the Exodus, the Reubenites requested to be positioned in
the wilderness side of Jordan and not in the land itself.
Josh 13:8 With whom the Reubenites and the Gadites have
received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond Jordan
*EASTWARD*, [even] as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them;
Josh 18:7 But the Levites have no part among you; for the
priesthood of the LORD [is] their inheritance: and Gad, and
Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their
inheritance beyond Jordan on the *EAST*, which Moses the servant
of the LORD gave them.
1Chr 6:78 and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the *EAST* side
of the Jordan, [were given them], out of the tribe of Reuben,
Bezer in the wilderness with its suburbs, and Jahzah with its
suburbs,
Reuben's heritage was foretold by his father, and it was a bad
one.
Gene 49:3 Reuben, thou [art] my firstborn, my might, and the
beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the
excellency of power:
Gene 49:4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou
wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou [it]: he
went up to my couch.
Thus it is no wonder that the Reubenites chose to stay in the
wilderness, eastward of the Land, rather than possess the land
which God promised them, in type of their failing position with
God. It seems the heritage of Reuben in the light of his erring
ways was fulfilled in the tribe after his name.
We also find that the evil city Babylon was built in an eastward
location:
Gene 11:2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed *EAST*, that
they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
Gene 11:3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make
brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone,
and slime had they for mortar.
Gene 11:4 And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a
tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven, and let us make us a
name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole
earth.
All evil things were seemingly located eastward away from the
Garden of Eden. And the Garden in Eden seemed to be the
outreach point towards the east allowing God to reach man in his
evil state eastward. SInce the Garden was EASTWARD in EDEN, we
see it as a step closer to man on God's behalf to reach man in
the EAST.
WESTWARD
Since Eden represents Heaven and the Garden was Eastward in Eden
we see which direction, spiritually, Cain went in relation to
that which represents Heaven. Cain dwelt in the land of Nod
east of Eden. Spiritually speaking, man is born outside of Eden
in the land of wandering, for NOD means, "wandering; unrest."
As Israel traveled over Jordan WESTWARD in order to get into
Canaan, we see that westward direction represents progress
towards God's will. And if we are all born in the EAST, the
CHURCH is the closest thing to Heaven, and we must travel, as it
were, westward, into the Kingdom within the Church.
As the settlers in the days of early America used to say, we
must "Go west, young man!"
Scripture tells us that Jesus will travel Westward:
Matt 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and
shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son
of man be.
One dear brother commented that revelation is like this. It
flashes from east to west, and Christ is revealed in our hearts.
The Tabernacle and Temple had only one entrance in the EAST. In
order to enter into it one had to travel westward, and in that
manner approach the presence of God in the Holiest of Holies.
This is IDENTICAL to the lay-out of the Garden of Eden.
Gene 3:24 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.
The only reason God would bar the east end of the Garden was due
to the fact that the one and only entrance was located there.
Otherwise He would have placed flaming swords and cherubims
around the full circumference of the Garden. And if you look
closely, you find there are many, many likenesses between the
Temple and the Garden. We will discuss this later, also.
With the Garden situated eastward in Eden, we find that the
closest thing to heaven, for those on earth (eastward in sin),
is the Church, the Kingdom of God.
HELP IS NEEDED EASTWARD
If the world in sin is represented as being eastward, we can
readily see how that help is to be granted to those whoa re in
the east that they might be saved.
It is interesting to notice that on the day of Atonement, one
day a year, all Israel gathered to Jerusalem. This was the day
their sins would be atoned for by a sacrifice. This was the
only day of each year the High Priest could actually enter the
Most Holy Place in the tabernacle.
After the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place with the
atoning blood of the Lamb, he did something very enlightening as
to our pertinent study of the Rivers of Eden.
The High Priest walked into the Tabernacle, towards the West.
He passed the veil with the blood in his possession:
Levi 16:14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and
sprinkle [it] with his finger upon the mercy seat *EASTWARD*;
and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with
his finger seven times.
For the above to occur, the High Priest would have to walk
Westward into the Holiest of Holiest, where he then confronted
the Ark of the Covenant, and then walk around and behind the Ark
and turn Eastward and face the entrance from which he entered
into the Most Holy Place. In other words, he faced the people
who were Eastward, outside the Tabernacle, patiently waiting for
the High Priest to conclude the all-important sprinkling of the
blood in the Holiest Place, and accomplished the sprinkling
ceremony.
Blood is the life of the flesh. LIFE. And LIFE was sprinkled
EASTWARD. Man is in sin, eastward, in the wandering state of
NOD. Man wanders aimlessly without direction without Christ.
Only the sprinkling of His blood on the Mercy Seat of Heaven,
eastward, or, typically speaking, for the *purpose* of lost
humanity, can redeem them back to God.
Israel WANDERED through the WILDERNESS on their way to Canaan,
representing the return to the GARDEN.
Psal 107:4 They *WANDERED* in the *WILDERNESS* in a solitary
way; they found no city to dwell in.
Recall that Abraham was also in that land, and his descendants,
Jacob and the eleven patriarchs left Canaan and traveled into
Egypt, where Joseph dwelt in rulership during the famine. They
LEFT THE LAND. And Israel had to return, just as man left the
Garden of fellowship with God due to sin, and must return in
salvation today!
Humanity is eastward. Eastward direction in the Bible often
indicates the idea of being lost and of wandering. In the
wandering *desert* we find that Israel dwelt in a *dry place*.
The enemy is said to lurk in the dry places. Even Jesus had to
go through the dry wilderness for forty days and then be tempted
of the devil in that dry wilderness.
Jordan marks the end of wandering and the beginning of life in
the Garden. The day Jesus was baptised was the day He entered
that wilderness to be tempted. The Devil was in the realm of
the dry place of the Wilderness. And notice that He was
baptized IN JORDAN. As Israel had to cross Westward over Jordan
to enter the Land, Jesus, as it were, left the land of Heaven
after His baptism, typically, and entered lost humanity's
domain. Jesus typically left the Garden to where we were, in
the wilderness and dry places. There He experienced all the
temptations we face and overcame them all as He began His
ministry!
Understand that Adam was thrust out of the Garden, Eastward.
All man is born in sin, as it were, Eastward of the Garden. God
came down from Heaven as a man and walked Eastward over Jordan
to where we were. Since Adam failed, and thrust all of us
Eastward into sin, Jesus, the Last Adam, walked Eastward to
retrieve us and overcame that which bound us. (No man can lead
anybody through a victory over which He has not already proven
Himself victorious).
When Jesus crossed Jordan into the wilderness, we see a picture
of God coming to rescue us from wandering.
Note that Israel followed a pillar of fire and cloud towards
Canaan. We will not wander in Nod if we only FOLLOW CHRIST.
Psal 107:4 They *WANDERED* in the wilderness in a solitary way;
they found no city to dwell in.
Psal 107:5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Psal 107:6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble,
[and] he delivered them out of their distresses.
Psal 107:7 And he *HE LED THEM* forth by the right way, that
they might go to a city of habitation.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
*follow me*:
John 21:22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I
come, what [is that] to thee? *follow thou me.*
With this idea of following the Shepherd, Jesus, in mind, notice:
Psal 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD [is] *MY SHEPHERD*; I
shall not want.
Psal 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: *HE
LEADETH ME* beside the still waters.
Psal 23:3 He *RESTORETH* my soul: he *LEADETH ME* in the paths
of righteousness for his name's sake.
He is the Light. He is clothed with a cloud. He is the pillar
of cloud and fire that led Israel through the dry wilderness.
He leads us out of the wilderness into the Garden.
The picture, then, of sprinkling blood Eastward gives us the
beautiful truth that Christ's death was accomplished *for lost
humanity*, who is Eastward in the dry places of wandering.
Ministry must be accomplished Eastward. All of lost Humanity is
Eastward. It seems the RIVER that flowed eastward from Eden
into the Garden, and, in turn, branched out into four rivers
that left the East entrance of the Garden to all the world,
speaks of the Spirit of God reaching outward in ministry to lost
humanity.
We read of four rivers leaving the EAST region of Eden, and
THEN, from there, to all the world. This tells us that the
WHOLE world is typically EASTWARD, compared to Heaven, and
wandering in sin.
THE RIVER OF THE SPIRIT
As the River of Eden came forth into the Garden FROM
Eden/Paradise, The Spirit of God descended from heaven
(paradise). This is a wonderful parallel!
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost *descended* in a bodily shape like
a dove upon him, and a voice came *from heaven*, which said,
Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
The Spirit descended from Heaven above.
Another point to notice is that Jesus likened the Spirit of God
to LIVING WATER. The River of Eden was the RIVER OF LIFE.
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the
gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink;
thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee
living water.
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of *water springing up into everlasting
life*.
John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,
out of his belly shall flow *rivers* of *living water*.
John 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that
believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet
[given]; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
One day, in a vision, God pointed Ezekiel to the River of God's
Spirit which flowed EASTWARD, exactly as the River of Eden
flowed into the Garden.
Ezek 47:2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate
northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate
by the way *that looketh eastward*; and, behold, there ran out
*waters* on the right side.
Ezek 47:3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went
forth *eastward*, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought
me through the waters; the waters [were] to the ankles.
Ezek 47:5 Afterward he measured a thousand; [and it was] a
river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen,
waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.
Ezek 47:8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out *toward
the east country*, and go down into the *desert*, and go into
the sea: [which being] brought forth into the sea, the waters
shall be healed.
Ezek 47:9 And it shall come to pass, [that] every thing that
liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall
*live*: and there shall be a very great *multitude of fish*,
because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be
healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
Ezek 47:10 And it shall come to pass, [that] the *fishers shall
stand upon it* from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a
[place] to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to
their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.
What a beautiful picture of God's Spirit. It travels eastward
into the dry places of the world, where God's Spirit is not
known. Multitudes of fish, souls of men, are found and freed
>from the wandering in the seas of life, wherever the Spirit
flows. Jesus told us to be fishers of men. We depend upon the
Spirit in our efforts to win souls, as the fishermen STOOD UPON
THE RIVER. Without the strengthening and anointing of the
Spirit of God upon us, we cannot minister to lost humanity.
Since BLOOD is LIFE of the flesh (Lev. 17:11) we can also see
this picture of the RIVER OF LIFE in the blood which the High
Priest sprinkled Eastward in the Tabernacle.
It is noteworthy that the evil spirits, that are cast out of
people, go into dry places.
Luke 11:24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he
walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he
saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.
Spirits of Satan hate God's Spirit and Presence. The Spirit of
God is like a River. And if anything represents the abode of
evil spirits it would be a desert and dry place, void of the
wetness of the Spirit.
Creatures of darkness and desert life are used to describe evil
spirits in the words which God gave concerning Idumea, typically
the enemies of the Church.
Isai 34:13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and
brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an
habitation of dragons, [and] a court for owls.
Isai 34:14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with
the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his
fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for
herself a place of rest.
Isai 34:15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay,
and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures
also be gathered, every one with her mate.
We need to saturate this world with God's LIVING WATER OF SPIRIT
and drive out all evil spirits everywhere!
The woman at the well who met Jesus thirsted in a spiritual
manner, for she lived in sin and in a dry place spiritually for
many years.
JUNCTION POINT OF THE SPIRIT
If the Spirit is pictured as flowing from Eden as a River
towards and into the Garden of the Church, and branching into
four more rivers at this Garden, we see that the Garden is like
a JUNCTION POINT. The four rivers leave the Garden and go into
four more regions.
Gene 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and
>from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
Gene 2:11 The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which
compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold;
Gene 2:12 And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is]
bdellium and the onyx stone.
Gene 2:13 And the name of the second river [is] Gihon: the same
[is] it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. {Ethiopia:
Heb. Cush}
Gene 2:14 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. {toward...: or, eastward to Assyria}
The number 4 biblically indicates something about THE WORLD.
Four Gospels are written, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, for the
world to hear and be saved. Often we read of the four corners
of the earth. The inhabitants of the world are described in
four consecutive terms:
Reve 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to
take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Reve 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on
the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and
people,
Judgments against man are pictured as four:
2Chr 20:9 If, [when] evil cometh upon us, [as] the sword,
judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house,
and in thy presence, (for thy name [is] in this house,) and cry
unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
Ezek 14:21 For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I
send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the
famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off
>from it man and beast?
So we can see that the four rivers leaving the Garden speak of
the Spirit of God reaching out to all the four corners of the
world from the Church in ministry! Praise God! We must
understand why the Spirit is within us.
The Upper Room was a sort of GARDEN where God's Spirit descended
>from Heaven as a mighty river of wind. From that point of the
world, in the Garden of the Upper Room in Jerusalem, Jesus
foretold that the believers would MINISTER TO FOUR POINTS. And
the same passage tells us why the RIVER of Spirit is given to us:
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost
is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in...
1) Jerusalem,
2) and in all Judaea,
3) and in Samaria,
4) and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
The Sprit IS POWER TO WITNESS. This speaks of ministry to the
world. We must WITNESS of Christ's resurrection and salvation
to the world in sin. From the Upper Room, where the saints
first received the SPIRIT OF POWER, they were to go out into all
the world (indicated by the four regions mentioned).
Jesus Christ, before the day of His crucifixion, PRAYED IN A
GARDEN (Gethsemene), and HIS BLOOD, HIS VERY LIFE, sweat out
through His flesh. He prayed in this manner for lost humanity
and the death He must experience on the cross for mankind. A
RIVER OF LIFE FLOWED IN A GARDEN FOR ALL THE WORLD OF LOST
HUMANITY!!
Praise His name!
WORK AT THE JUNCTION POINT
Gene 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the
garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Since the River junction point between God and the world was
situated in the Garden, these two efforts of *dressing* and
*keeping*, reserved for Adam's work, were most important! The
River flowed purely into the Garden and it must remain pure that
it may reach its destination in its purity. Wherever the River
would flow, fruitfulness and life would flourish. I believe God
desired the Garden to spread, as it were, across the face of the
world. It would increase its boundaries due to the fruitfulness
that the Rivers would provide to the outside regions.
Should the River be cut off, the fruitfulness would cease
spreading outward to the world, and dryness of sin and evil
would remain.
The Kingdom of God must be preached to all the world. It is
spreading at this very moment. And when all nations have heard,
and a believer stands in every one of those nations, the work
has been accomplished, and Christ will reign one thousand years!
But we cannot allow ourselves to be contaminated with
fleshliness and thus corrupt the unadulterated ministry of the
Spirit through us to the world! We must maintain our purity in
Christ, that we, in turn, may dress and keep the Garden that the
River remain pure that it may reach the world in purity.
Satan had to find a way into the Garden to stop this work of
God. He subtly entered the serpent, a beast of the field (not
"of the Garden") in order to gain entrance. If Satan could stop
man from dressing the Garden (building it up and outward) and
Keeping the Garden (protecting its sanctity for the River's
sake), the devil could rule earth instead of this "son of God"
(Luke 3:38). And the earth would be a huge desert rather than a
fruitful garden!
So, the picture of four rivers leaving the Garden tell us of the
Spirit of God transformed into ACTIVE MINISTRY in the
Garden/Church from which it will leave and minister to the whole
world.
Ministry of the Spirit, whether it be in preaching, healing, a
word of encouragement at the right time, is that which was
formerly incorporeal and intangible and "unrelateable" to the
world, being "translated" into activity that humanity CAN relate
to. The world cannot see nor hear God. But WE CAN! Therefore,
we as the Church are a JUNCTION POINT.
Praise God! The Church is a vital place in the plan of God. It
is strategically located between heaven and the world of lost
souls as a transformation centre where the Spirit of God flows
into the Church to be transformed into ministry in the physical.
The Church is the temple of the Holy Ghost where man meets God.
The Church is the Body of Christ. With our regenerated
spirits, we are a contact point between lost humanity and God.
We can hear God, whereas the world is deaf to His voice. And
unless God can use us to minister in this world, the message for
them will never reach them.
We are like a HYDRO PLANT where water flow is transformed into
POWER to light the dark world!
Jonah was told to go to Ninevah and preach judgment of God to
the people there. Why did not God speak directly to Ninevah,
Himself? It was due to the fact that Ninevah could not have
heard God's voice. No wonder God took Jonah through such awful
lessons in order for him to obey God and go to Ninevah!
Without us, Church, the world will be lost without hope.
God placed Adam in a very important location in the world! The
most important place in the world!
Since the River of Life was to flow into all the world, the
junction point determined its purity being preserved. You see,
evil was in the world. A corruptive element was already at work
when God placed Adam in the world. Satan was out there. If
this were not so, why did God put Adam in the Garden to dress
and to KEEP it? KEEPING the Garden means "PROTECTING" it.
Protecting it from what? Obviously something outside the Garden
was the element which God wanted to remain OUTSIDE the Garden.
And Adam's job was to do just that. Keep it outside.
By dressing and Keeping the Garden, Adam would maintain his
position of rulership under God.
Gene 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all
the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth.
The work of dressing and keeping is a work in which we as
believers must all labour. Jesus likewise told the disciples in
the GARDEN of Gethsemene to do TWO THINGS that night in the
Garden. WATCH AND PRAY. Watching is KEEPING or PROTECTING.
Praying is DRESSING.
We must dress this Garden and maintain its beauty and build it
up and increase its borders. Prayer maintains our relationship
with God and enhances our spirituality so that our effectiveness
in ministering to this lost world may be at maximum potential.
Watching is keeping a look-out while we work for God that we do
not become invaded by lies from the Devil. We must keep the
world out of our lives and our Garden. If the corruption from
the world enters our lives, and we are adulterated from purity
of union with God alone, the work of the Spirit in us will be
tainted with fleshliness and worldliness. This will cause us to
exude an impure work of God to the world. Flesh will be mingled
with our ministries, and a distortion of God's will will then be
manifest to humanity.
Perhaps the River was cut off when Adam fell from the Garden.
At any rate, God will cut off the flow of the Spirit into our
lives if we do not remain pure. He does not want His Spirit
corrupted by fleshliness in His desires to minister that Spirit
outward to lost humanity through us.
Since He has chosen to flow through us by way of His Spirit, we
must accept our responsibility of remaining sensitive to His
voice through prayer, and pure for His use through watching.
But Satan entered the Garden and LIED to Eve.
Gene 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every
tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gene 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die.
Gene 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not
surely die:
A LIE felled Eve, and she succumbed to the temptation and
sinned. In turn, she urged Adam to sin, and he, too, fell.
Both were cast outward to the east away from the Garden.
The junction point was corrupted.
In the Garden of Gethsemene the devil possessed JUDAS as he
formerly possessed the serpent, and in that manner entered the
Garden to attempt to fall the Son of God, the LAST ADAM, as he
did the first Adam.
As the serpent used its mouth to SPEAK FORTH A LIE to Eve, JUDAS
BETRAYED JESUS WITH A KISS of his mouth. Praise the Lord that
He did not fall as Adam did, but went all the way to the cross
despite the shame and agony.
THE END AND A RETURN TO THE GARDEN
The picture of the Tree of Life and the RIVER OF EDEN is seen
again in the end of the Bible in Revelation. The Tree and the
RIVER are there IN THE NEW CITY, JERUSALEM as they were in the
Garden of Eden.
Reve 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Reve 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.
The River is clear as crystal. Pure.
Note the preceding verse to this passage as follows:
Reve 21:27 And there shall *in no wise enter into it any thing*
that *defileth*, neither [whatsoever] worketh abomination, or
[maketh] *A LIE*: but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life.
Speaking of the New City, we are told that nothing unclean can
enter the City should they defile the City. And it specifically
points to the very thing that caused the River of Eden to be
contaminated in Genesis, as it lists all that which is barred
>from the City. "Whatsoever...maketh a LIE." A LIE felled
mankind and corrupted the River, in a sense, and a LIE is
specifically noted as being one of the elements which are barred
>from ever entering that New City. All will be restored as it
was in Genesis, only, the Garden will be replaced by the
progressive phase of a CITY. This hints that God's original
intent was for Adam to dress the Garden and build it up into a
City with all his descendants living in that great paradise of
the Garden. How else would Adam and his children dwell in the
Garden together? This, of course, though, was thwarted by
Adam's sin.
Recall that Abraham LOOKED FOR A CITY as he journeyed into the
land of Canaan, which land typifies the Garden. In fact, the
spies called the Land a land flowing with milk and honey. A
Garden, as it were!
THE FOUR RIVERS
The SINGLE River of Life entered the Garden and became FOUR
RIVERS. The text at the beginning of our study notes a single
river from which STREAMS (plural) go forth and make glad the
CITY of God. What a wonderful parallel!! The four rivers are
the streams that leave the Garden, or the counterpart to the NEW
CITY, and reach all the world.
When the church of God, His people, are doing their part in
labouring for His cause by watching and praying, keeping and
dressing, the flow of the Spirit outward is maintained. And
when we fulfill our part for Him, oh!, how we, the CITY of God,
are glad!!
Psal 46:4 [There is] a river, the streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy [place] of the tabernacles of the
most High.
Notice that the passage above also speaks of the TABERNACLES of
the Most High. The Tabernacle, Garden and NEW CITY are all
speaking forth the same thought of God's junction place in this
world - The Church!
Nothing can make a believer as glad as working for God's Kingdom!
Jesus worked, as the Last Adam, in the Garden. That is why HE
*SWEAT* BLOOD. Sweat indicates work. And the type of work He
did was INTERCESSORY work, for the behalf of lost humanity.
The workers in a HYDRO PLANT must maintain their efforts of
efficiency so that the "CURRENT" of electricity continues to
FLOW to the world and ENLIGHTEN the darkness.
We, too, must maintain our dressing and keeping of this Garden,
that the POWER of the Spirit continues to work in us that we
might WITNESS of Jesus Christ, the LIGHT OF THE WORLD, to lost
humanity.
The rivers are given names for a special reason. We can glean a
wonderful truth from these names. And they are not only given
names, but these rivers are given a specific priority in
relation to one another by being referred to as the FIRST RIVER,
SECOND RIVER, THIRD RIVER and FOURTH RIVER.
Gene 2:11 The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which
compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold;
Gene 2:12 And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is]
bdellium and the onyx stone.
Gene 2:13 And the name of the second river [is] Gihon: the same
[is] it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
Gene 2:14 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.
1) PISON - Pison is translated as the following:
Strong's numbers:
06376 Piyshown {pee-shone'}
from 06335;; n pr
AV - Pison 1; 1
Pison = "increase"
Above, PISON is seen to be derived from the following:
06335 puwsh {poosh}
a primitive root; TWOT - 1751,1752; v
AV - spread 1, grow up 1, grown fat 1, scattered 1; 4
1) to spring about
1a) (Qal) to frisk, act proudly (fig.)
2) (Niphal) to be scattered, be spread
Pison implies the idea of spreading and increasing. DISPERSIVE
is the word. Since DISPERSIVE is the thought behind the meaning
of the name of the First River, we can see a wonderful thought.
God's first and foremost priority in the thought of having His
Spirit flow through us to the world is the idea that it MUST BE
DISPERSED. As much of the dry world as possible must be
saturated with the Spirit of God! This must be our first
priority after receiving God's Spirit. Jesus said it was given
to us as Power TO WITNESS!
2) GIHON
Strong's numbers:
01521 Giychown {ghee-khone'} or (shortened) Gichown
{ghee-khone'}
from 01518; TWOT - 345a; n pr m
AV - Gihon 6; 6
Gihon = "bursting forth"
1) one of the four rivers of the Garden of Eden
2) a spring near Jerusalem where the anointing and proclaiming
of
Solomon as king took place
BURSTING FORTH! Hallelujah! Can you see the second priority of
the Spirit?
It is derived from the following word:
01518 giyach {ghee'-akh} or (shortened) goach {go'-akh}
a primitive root; TWOT - 345; v
AV - come forth 3, take 1, bring forth 1, draw up 1; 6
1) to burst forth
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to burst forth
1a2) to draw forth
1a3) to bring forth
1b) (Hiphil) to break forth
Our second priority in understanding our part in maintaining the
flow of the Spirit is that it must ALWAYS FLOW BOUNTIFULLY,
BURSTING FORTH from us. We are not meant to merely trickle
forth the Spirit of God. We must be FILLED with the Spirit so
that it OVERFLOWS forth everywhere!
3) HIDDEKEL
Strong's:
02313 Chiddeqel {khid-deh'-kel}
probably of foreign origin;; n pr m
AV - Hiddekel 2; 2
Hiddekel = "rapid"
1) one of the rivers of Eden which coursed east toward Assyria;
better known as the Tigris (the LXX equivalent)
RAPID!! (And another source informs us that the thought of
"Sharp Voice" in meant to be taken from the name.) Our third
priority in working with the Spirit is the thought of a quick
work that God desires to accomplish through us. Clearly we must
sound the truth as we let the Spirit flow through us.
4) Euphrates
Strong's:
06578 P@rath {per-awth'}
from an unused root meaning to break forth;; n pr m
AV - Euphrates 19; 19
Euphrates = "fruitfulness"
1) the largest and longest river of western Asia; rises from
two chief
sources in the Armenian mountains and flows into the Persian
Gulf
Fruitfulness! Is not this the end result of the flowing of
God's Spirit in proper ministry as it is meant to flow through
us? The land will be fruitful, if maintain the above three
priorities.
The Junction point for the River must be protected from
corruption of fleshliness and worldliness. If Satan manages to
invade the Garden, then he knows he can stop the flow of the
pure Spirit of Life to all the lost world. The Garden had to
remain HOLY! And from our text, we find that the streams from
the river make glad the City, the holy place of God.
Immediately after speaking of the four rivers we read that God
put man in that junction point.
Gene 2:14 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.
Gene 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the
garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
THE TREE OF LIFE
The River in the New City is clear as crystal. It is pure!
This water FEEDS the tree of Life, since it WATERS the Garden,
according to Genesis:
Gene 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and
>from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
As the River watered the Garden, it watered the tree of Life.
The eternal Life from the Tree's fruit was meant to be partaken
of by man, but without the River of Life watering that tree, we
see that the fruit would not manifest for man's benefit.
Jesus is the fruit of Life on the Tree. Although the Cross was
a tree of death for Him, it became a TREE OF LIFE for you and
me! Thank God!
John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you.
John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Since He is the Word made flesh, we can readily apply John
6:53-54 to believing HIS WORDS. Its not the literal Body of
Jesus He is referring to, but the WORDS He spoke.
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth
nothing: the *words* that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit,
and [they] are life.
John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we
go? thou hast the *words of eternal life*.
Leaves are for shelter and comfort. We read of the leaves of
the tree of life as being for the purpose of healing the
nations. With the troubles of sin and iniquity having been
around since Adam's fall, there is much healing required for all
the nations.
Reve 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.
Jesus is like the fruit on the Tree of Life and also the LEAVES.
The Tree of life was anointed by the River of Life, the Spirit,
for the distinct purpose, among others, of healing:
Luke 4:18 The *Spirit* of the Lord [is] upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent
me *to heal* the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at
liberty them that are bruised,
Jesus is the SUN of righteousness, for healing:
Mala 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go
forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
(Wings, like leaves, are used to indicate the thought of
protection and shelter - Luke 13:34).
The Spirit of God anointed Jesus to heal, as the River of Life
watered the tree of life that it's leaves might heal the nations.
No more curse exists in the City, as opposed to the curse that
was first introduced in the Garden.
Reve 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of
God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve
him:
THE CHURCH TODAY
Had Adam not fallen, what would have occurred with mankind in
relation to the Garden. It was a holy place, where God's very
presence walked with Adam. Perhaps Adam would have remained as
High Priest, in a sense, while He ruled the world under God. We
do know that Jesus, the Last Adam, was High Priest. Of course,
Adam would not have offered a blood sacrifice, for blood was
only for the remission of sins. There would be no sin had Adam
not fallen. But it may be that all Adam's descendants would
gather to the Garden and regularly partake of the fruit of the
Tree of Life.
Well, this did not occur, but, in a sense, it is occurring
through another means. The Church. The Church is the Garden.
It is a paradise with God to be born again and in the Church.
What a life! The preaching of the cross, the Tree of Life,
offers, in the form of words, fruit of life. Jesus' words are
fruit of eternal life to those who come to the Body of the
Church to hear and believe them.
Could the River of the Spirit branching out and reaching all the
world be attracting people to the source of that River - the
Garden?
We have been given Jesus' holiness. All that we can do in the
form of works, is to keep it. We cannot attain it, nor work to
get it. But we can work to keep it. Adam could not create the
Garden, but simply KEEP it, or protect it.