Peter Gregory – Morning Devotions 1
Peter Gregory (IONA missions) Had morning Devotions each day, and whilst they were all powerful messages, I was struck by the simplicity and impact of this one.
“The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.” [Gen2:8]
For us to have the proper understanding of this passage we must understand two things…
- Eden=Pleasure/Delight
- Garden=Surrounded/Enclosed
Therefore, Adam and Eve were Surrounded and enclosed with pleasure and delight, it sounds like a pretty good place to be.
Naturally, gardens need water to sustain life, so God created 4 rivers to water the garden and each of their names also had a certain quality or meaning;
- Pishon=Increase
- Gihon=Bursting forth (blooming)
- Hiddekel=Speed/Energy
- Euphrates:Fruitful
These are the things that life consisted of in the garden…
That is of course until Genesis 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.
When this happened, what did they lose?
- Access to the Tree of Life
- Their Garments of light (we were made in God’s image and we see in Psalm 104:1-2 that God wears garments of light)
- Face to face communication with God.
Each of these elements taught a principle, the Tree of life teaches length of life, while the robes of light teach the quality of that life, even though we no longer have robes of light we still feel the desire to replace them with whatever we can, be it talent, clothing, looks or skills (or any one of the million other things people think they can find their worth in). Finally, they lost face to face communication with God which teaches us about the Author of Life.
Eden and the Sanctuary
It never ceases to amaze me, as diligent students of the Bible discover more parallels to the Sanctuary in scripture, notice that what they lost in Eden was essentially restored to them, symbolized in the sanctuary;
- Shewbread=The Tree of Life
- Lamp=The Garments of Light
- Alter of Incense:the Face to Face Communication
In Numbers chapter 17 you can read about Aaron’s staff being placed in the Sanctuary, the next day it had burst forth with life, bearing ripe almonds, there is surely a lesson for us in that if we desire to have the qualities of the rivers: having an energetic, fruitful bountiful life, which is increasing and bursting forth, we must abide where Aarons staff did, in the sanctuary, in the midst of;
- The Word of God which we now have as the Bible (shewbread)
- The Holy Spirit (the lamp or garment of light)
- Prayer (the alter of incense)
If we abide in the sanctuary (Eden) daily, we will have the qualities of those rivers, and the characteristics of Aaron’s staff.