Garden or Wilderness
Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. – Genesis 3:22-24, NLT
“Throughout Scripture, the essence of sin is to put human judgement above divine command.” – G.J. Wenham
“It was a sad part of the deception that the man and woman who wanted so much to be “like God,” rather than obtaining the stature of deity, are afraid to even commune with him.” – Kenneth A. Matthews
I have to confess, that I haven’t given garden or wilderness a lot of thought until I hit on it as a theme for this year’s Lenten focus. As I’ve begun to study it (see resources at end), I have come to find it all over the story of Scripture. For my devotional reading, I’ve been in Isaiah and his use of wilderness/garden imagery has been amazing to observe carefully. Isaiah 51:3 nearly lept off the page at me;
“The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.”
Here God is making wasteland like Eden! What an amazing bringing together of these two themes well beyond Genesis 3 or Revelation 21-22.
In reflecting on Genesis 2-3, it is wise for us to observe our current setting, metaphorically speaking. I follow the idea that this time now, is a time of existing in the wilderness. It is a time of waiting for God to restore Eden. But, that does not mean deprivation or neglect. I have a God who promises to supply my needs. Being now in the wilderness also doesn’t mean that temptations won’t come (see Genesis 4 and Matthew 4). It does mean that God is able to make me strong enough to withstand the temptations (1 Cor. 10:13), and if I fall prey to them to find full and free forgiveness in the ministry of Jesus (1 John 2:1-2).
A final aspect of this that I’ve found helpful is to observe more if the culture in which we live (and the way I live in particular) is trying to reconstruct the garden life without the redemptive price or timeline. In other words, if we look around, we will find people striving to recreate the garden. But, they do so without God. And, their ‘gardens’ all end up being a mirage or, worse still, a new kind of oppression for themselves and those around them. Knowing this does bring a new level of understanding to much of what is going on around us all the time.
Questions to ponder/discuss/apply:
· Am I cultivating a mindset suitable for wilderness living?
· How am I trying to ‘recreate’ Eden in my life? How is it harming me? Others?
· What temptations must I be extra careful to guard against?
· Who can help me live into the truth of God and His word and resist the temptations of the Evil One?
Further Resources: