The Gospel According to Eden’s Rivers
A Devotional Series from Genesis
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
3/5 Reading Portions: Exodus 16; Luke 19; Job 34; 2 Corinthians 4
Genesis 2:11-14
The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
DELIGHT
As mentioned in yesterday’s devotional thought, the rivers that we know today, post-Noahic flood, are not these rivers in Eden. The four rivers branched off from one source, a singular head:
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. Genesis 2:10
It flowed from or “out of” Eden. Eden in Hebrew, עֵדֶן (Ā-den), means “delight” or “pleasure.” The rivers we see in the world today, post-flood, have their own individual headwaters as the river’s supply.
Yet YHVH God, the consummate Revealer of the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev 19:10), presents Christ’s gospel picture from Eden’s garden concerning the truth that was ordained to come forth. First, as the Lord Jesus was the Source of all creation (John 1:1-3; Heb 1:2), He is also the Source and Stay of all things (Col 1:17). Eden is a prophetic type of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we know…
For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, Colossians 1:19
Jesus is, was, and always will be the eternally pleasing Son to the Father (Matt 3:17; 12:18; 17:5; et al), in whom the Father delighted even unto death (Psa 22:8). Now, for the gospel according to Eden’s rivers….
The River Pishon, which means “dispersed,” as mentioned yesterday, is characterized by the rich presence of the Lord Jesus Christ through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit (John 14:17).
But man, in Eden’s garden, would sin against God (Gen 3), plunging mankind into the valley of the shadow of death, as represented by the River Gihon. Gihon, גִּיחוֹן (gheey-CHŌN) in Hebrew, means “valley.” We know this word from the New Testament Greek word, γέεννα (GEE-en-na), a reference to the Valley of Hinnom, which is translated “hell” in our English Bibles.
But God, through Jesus Messiah, just as He prophetically foreshadowed in the beginning of this revelation (Gen 1:2), that the Spirit of the triune God hovered upon the darkness of the fall so that He, through the Lord Jesus, would bring redemption to a fallen people, as exemplified by the River Hiddekel, or Tigris (ESV). Hiddekel, חִדֶּקֶל (chid-DE-qel) in Hebrew, is a word with an unknown meaning and an unknown origin, which is so characteristic of the mystery of God’s redeeming love through Jesus Christ.
“Amazing love! how can it be? that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”
God’s love, grace, regeneration, and salvation, ad infinitum, could be summed up in the dying thief on the cross. How did you make it into heaven? The Man on the middle cross told me to come.
Finally, the River Euphrates, פְּרָת (per-AWT) in Hebrew, means “break forth.” When once a soul is saved by God’s grace in Christ Jesus, how can that man, woman, or child not break forth in praise, thanksgiving, prayer, proclamation, obedience, love toward God in godly fear, trusting faith, submissive loyalty, gathering with fellow believers in worship adoration of that God? Hallelujah! What a Savior!