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| April 2010 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| God's Garden |
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| God was the first gardener. “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden” (Genesis 2:8). The first requirement for a garden is a location. God chose a spot in Eden.
A garden needs a water supply. “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden, and from there it divided; it had four headstreams. The name of the first is Pishon . . . the second river is the Gihon . . . the third river is the Tigris . . . and the fourth river is the Euphrates” (Genesis 2:10-14). A garden implies plants. “And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food” (Genesis 2:8-9). The garden was fertile and luxurious, teeming with vegetation. Gardens come in two basic types: flower and vegetable. This garden was both. The first home for human beings was prepared by God to give both pleasure and sustenance. A garden requires labor. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). People were put into the garden, given productive work to do, and charged with caring for the garden. A garden exists to be shared. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. But for Adam no suitable helper was found” (Genesis 2:18). God created woman as a companion and sexual partner for Adam. Just as each of the plants and animals of the garden had seeds in them to be able to reproduce after their kind, so did the people. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Adam and Eve lived together in the garden in a state of perfect innocence and harmony, walking and talking with each other and with God. Before the entrance of sin into the world, the garden was literally a Paradise on earth. As such, it is associated with Heaven, as well as with the Peaceable Kingdom of Isaiah 11:6. The garden is a prototype of the larger world, given to human beings to provide for our needs. It is our home, where we live together as family. It is the realm where we do productive work. We are to care for this world, our home, and not to exploit it for selfish ends. If we care for it, this world will provide us with our needs, the needs of those living beings we share it with, and the needs of future generations. If we care for the people in our lives--family, friends, neighbors and other co-inhabitants of the planet--we can at least give people a glimpse of Paradise here on earth. |