Thread: The garden of Eden

What was or is the garden of Eden ?

Gen 2:8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

3:24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

We know that the garden of Eden and the cherubim guarding it are no longer on the Earth but the tree of life that was in the midst of the garden shows up later :

Rev 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."'

Rev 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every
month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Did God retract the garden of Eden into heaven itself, with the tree of life in its midst ? Did he place the garden or the tree of life in the midst of Paradise ? Did he originally take the garden out of heaven and plant it on Earth before he later retracted it back to heaven ? Or are all these things more metaphorical, meaning that the garden of Eden or at least its contents are less than physical or concrete ?

Well, with the curse coming in, I just assumed it all eventually died off.

Originally Posted by fuego

Well, with the curse coming in, I just assumed it all eventually died off.

Thats sort of what I thought....originally it was guarded but overtime began to die including the tree of life and became like the surrounding land

Originally Posted by fuego

Well, with the curse coming in, I just assumed it all eventually died off.

Why would it ? The vegetation outside the garden didn't die just because the curse entered the world. The tree of life would still have given Adam and Eve eternal life if they had managed to access it so how could that tree possibly die ? It's called "the tree of life".

Originally Posted by Cardinal TT

Thats sort of what I thought....originally it was guarded but overtime began to die including the tree of life and became like the surrounding land

What we do know is that the tree of life was inside the garden of Eden and was guarded by an angel. Now the tree of life is in heaven. Why would they not be the same tree ?

The origin of the garden of Eden.

We know that the angels preexisted the Earth. God himself tells us so in the book of Job :

Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

They were cheering as the Earth was formed. Per Job 1-2 one of "the sons of God" was Satan and he is mentioned here :

Ezek 28:12 “You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.

According to the above account he was in the garden of Eden before he fell. It even suggests that he was placed there when he was created. He was also on the holy mountain of God and he was cast out of that mountain but there is no mention of him being cast out of the garden of Eden upon his fall.

Did God create the garden of Eden and then (a still sinless) Satan entered it, fell to sin, tempted Adam and Eve in the guise of a serpent, was cursed along with the Earth then the garden died or went away ?

I find it much more likely that Satan's fall came before the Earth was created and therefore before the garden was planted in Eden. That requires that God took the garden from heaven and planted it on Earth and Satan who still had access to the garden came with it. Unless, again, some of these things are a bit less physical or concrete than I'm assuming above.

Similarities.

Gen 2:8 The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Rev 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

The Greek term paradise is said to originate from an Iranian term which means "walled garden". So it seems that the situation in Rev 2:7 is again the same as in Genesis 2, the tree of life is in the midst of the garden of God. The garden of Eden is referred to as "the garden of the Lord" several times throughout the Old Testament.

Is it the same garden ? If so then it must have been taken from heaven, planted on the Earth then later retracted back into heaven (maybe before the flood ?) When Jesus told the thief he would be with him in paradise then he isn't referring to the one mentioned in Rev 2:7 rather he is referring to the compartment in Hades where the OT saints were held in custody. God's paradise in heaven may still have existed concurrently just there were no human beings there, yet. Except maybe Enoch and Elijah ?

Originally Posted by GodismyJudge

Perhaps something similar along the lines of this?

(Just throwing this out for discussion or reflection)

Galatians 4:26
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Heavenly and Earthly Jerusalem
February 13, 2015
Speakers: Gloria Copeland & Billye Brim
http://www.kcm.org/watch/tv-broadcas...thly-jerusalem

Jerusalem Above and Below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzXrBXnH1-E

and/or this...

Hebrews 9:23-24
(23) It is necessary, therefore, the pattern indeed of the things in the heavens to be purified with these, and the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these;
(24) for not into holy places made with hands did the Christ enter - figures of the true - but into the heaven itself, now to be manifested in the presence of God for us;

The holy mountain of God that Satan walked on is represented by mount Zion which is above Jerusalem. The tree of life is currently found in the midst of God's paradise which is in the New Jerusalem in heaven (see Rev 2:14 in the OP) which, if we take the book of Revelation literally, will be taken out of heaven and placed on the Earth in the end times. That would in that case mean that God's paradise/garden along with the tree of life in its midst are planted (once again ?) here on Earth.

Rev 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."

That isn't an end time prophecy rather it's a promise of eternal life to those who endure to the end and die in the faith. Which is what is described in 1 Cor 15 where death is swallowed up by life and eternal life is a fact through and through, spirit, soul and (new) body. We know that there is no eternal life outside of Jesus Christ who is (the way and the truth and) the Life and also terms himself the bread of life (after the manna the Israelites ate in the desert). So the tree of life is symbolic of Jesus. If there is an actual tree in heaven then it is still connected to the person of Jesus, it is his life that is in the fruit that it yields. Jesus (the pre-incarnated Son of God) didn't wither and die after Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden so neither did the tree of life or its fruit die, that is an impossibility.