Back
To Eden
By Pastor F. M. Riley
May
22,
2021
“I know that whatsoever
God doeth, it
shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor
anything taken from it:
and God doeth it, that
men should fear
before Him,” Ecclesiastes
3:14.
INTRODUCTION
Who made the Garden of Eden? Adam
or God?
If the reader actually believes God’s Word, taking it
at face value for
what it actually and literally says, then the answer to the
question is glaringly
obvious. It was
God who planted the
garden.
THE ORIGIN OF EDEN
In Genesis 2:8 the inspired Word explicitly says, “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in
Eden; and there He put
the man whom He had formed.”
It was
the Lord God who planted the garden.
Adam had nothing to do with the planting of the
garden. Then in
the light of our Scripture text, that
garden has never gone out of existence, and never will. Why? Because it was
brought into existence by the
Lord God. Read
the Scripture text again,
and believe what it says!
The Lord God, in planting the garden, filled the
garden with every
tree “that is
pleasant to the sight,
and good for food,” 2:9.
This
included “the tree of
life in the midst
of the garden.” But it also included “the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 2:9.
There was also a river which watered the garden, and
was the source of
water for four rivers, 2:10.
Since
these four rivers are explicitly named
here in 2:11-14, I expect them to exist on the earth in the
future “ages to come,”
Ephesians 2:5-7.
Then
in 2:15 God Himself placed Adam in
the garden. The
Lord had obviously
“prepared”the garden as a dwelling place for the man which
He had brought into
existence. Compare
John 14:2.
There is
a great truth about God set forth
here, that many Bible students completely overlook. God created the
earth, and then “prepared” a
dwelling place for the man which He created. The Garden of Eden
was one of the things which
God did in preparation for, and on behalf of all of mankind
Therefore,
according to our inspired text,
the garden of Eden is still in existence, and will be
restored to the earth in
the future. Glory
to God!
THE FALL OF ADAM
I
remind our readers that the fall of man came through Adam’s
disobedience. God
did not make Adam sin!
Adam was created in the image and likeness of
God, 1:26-27. Does
God have a free will,
or is even Almighty God being directed by some “higher
power?” Any
true believer knows the answer to this
question. Almighty
God is the Supreme Ruler
and final authority over the entire universe.
This means that Adam was created with a FREE WILl,
enabling him to make
his own choices. The Lord
God commanded Adam not to eat of “the tree of the
knowledge of good and
evil,” warning him that if he did, he
would die!,
2:16-17. Adam
then, of his own free
will, made the choice to disobey the Lord’s command, and
brought sin and death
upon all of mankind, Romans 5:12. Then, apparently to keep
Adam from eating of
the “the tree of
life” in his fallen
condition, both Adam and Eve were evicted from the beautiful
Garden of Eden,
which the Lord Himself had planted for the blessing and benefit
of mankind, 3:22-24.
WHAT THEN HAPPENED TO
THE GARDEN?
I do not have a definite answer to this question. But in view of the
inspired Word explicitly
stating that “…..whatsoever
God doeth, it
shall be forever…..” it is obvious that the Garden of
Eden did not
go out of existence. So
what happened to
it? Where is
it?
It
is
obvious that at some point after Adam had sinned,
and before
the flood, that garden was removed from off the surface of
the earth. So
where was it taken?
The answer to this question may or may not be
found in Songs
6:1-2. Notice that the espoused bride of the Lord is ask
where her beloved has
gone? Her reply
is that her beloved “…..is
gone down into His garden….”
Songs 6:2. This
may or may not
be referring to Paradise, which preceding the resurrection
of Christ, was
located somewhere down in the lower parts of the
earth,” Luke
23:39-43. Compare
Luke 16:19-26. I
cannot think of a better place for the
Garden of Eden to have been preserved, than in Paradise,
which, preceding the
resurrection of
Christ, was located
somewhere in the bowels of the
earth.
But then after the resurrection of Christ, Paradise
below was moved into
the heavens above, Ephesians 4:8-10. So
it is entirely possible that the Garden of Eden may now
be in Heaven. Now
pray for the Lord’s guidance, and draw
your own conclusions, John 16:13.
THE RESTORATION OF
EDEN
Now
let’s
go forward in time prophetically, and go “Back to
Eden.” We go
beyond the end of these “last days,”
beyond the seven years of the Tribulation period, beyond the
Battle of
Armageddon, and we look at the preparation being made for
the Millennial
Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Following the final battle of Armageddon, there will
be a seven year cleansing
of the earth, Ezekiel 39:9.
It is during
this same seven year period that the Millennial Temple will
be built on Mount
Zion in Jerusalem. This
Temple of the
Lord is described in detail in Ezekiel 40 – 48.
It is only after the Millennial Temple has
been erected, and the
Lord Jesus has entered into the Temple, and taken His place
on the “Mercy
Throne” (the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant) as
described in Ezekiel 43,
that the Garden of Eden will be restored upon the earth.
Why? Because
the Lord Himself is
the source of “living
water,” John
4:10-14. Notice
in Ezekiel 47:1, that
the “living water” flows out from beneath the threshold of
the Temple in which
Christ has entered in the 43rd chapter.
This water will become a great river, exactly as
described in
47:2-5. Study
the whole chapter! Along
both banks of the river there will be
an abundance of trees; trees “pleasant to
the sight, and good for food: the
tree
of life also in the midst of the garden,” Genesis 2:9.
So we see that here in
Ezekiel 47, the Garden of Eden
will be restored to the earth, for
the
benefit of mankind. Glory
to God!
THE LOCATION
But where is all this prophesied to occur? Why, in Jerusalem
of course, and specifically
on and around Mount Zion.
That area will
be the site of the Garden of the Lord in the “ages to
come..” Praise
the Lord!
Mount Zion is to be raised or lifted up above all of
the surrounding
mountains and hills, and the Millennial Temple will be built
on the flat surface
at the top of Mount Zion.
See Zechariah
14:10-11. A
highway will then be built
up the side of the mountain, so that the redeemed will be
able to come to the
top of the mountain to worship the Lord, Isaiah 35:8-10. Those from all the
nations of the earth, who
have survived the tribulation, will go up Mount Zion each
year, to worship the
Lord and observe the Feast of Tabernacles, Zechariah 14:16. Hallelujah!
THE PURPOSE OF THE
GARDEN
Dear readers, there will be a remnant of mankind, living in their
natural flesh and blood
bodies, who will have survived the tribulation period. The Lord created
flesh and blood people, and
such will exist for ever, for “whatsoever
God doeth, it shall be for ever…”
Ecclesiastes 3:14.
Don’t
forget this Scriptural truth!
This surviving remnant will still have the Adamic
“sin nature” in their natural
bodies. But the
Lord God does not intend
for them to remain “sinners,” grow old and die.
Rather, they will be redeemed from all sin and their
“sin nature” as
they drink from the river of “living water,” and eat the
fruit from the “trees
of life.” This
will totally purge their
natural bodies
of the old Adamic “sin
nature,” and they will then live for ever in their
cleansed and redeemed
bodies. Doesn’t
the inspired Word
clearly prophesy a time in the future when there will be “no more death?” Read it
for yourself in Revelation 21:4. Read
also Joel 3:20-21. The
“living water”
from the river, and the fruit from the “trees of life,” will
cleanse the blood
in the bodies of the surviviors. Today
SIN is in the bloodstream of mankind, and is passed on in
the birth process,
Romans 5:12. But
in the future, the
blood of all the surviving remnant will be cleansed of their
“sin nature” and
every baby born will be born WITHOUT a sin nature. Glory to God!
From that time forward there will be NO MORE DEATH. Notice 47:12.
The word “medicine” in this Scripture is a
mis-translation. The
Hebrew word literally means HEALTH. No one will ever
again get sick, grow old,
and die. Compare
Rev. 22:1-2. The
leaves of the “tree of life” will be
edible, and eating them will keep people completely well and
HEALTHY.
Have our readers ever contemplated on why there are
large planets
surrounding the earth in the solar system?
None of them are presently able to support life. But they will be
in the future “ages to
come,” Ephesians 2:7. Redeemed
mankind
on the earth will multiply until the earth is filled to
capacity. Then
mankind will colonize the planets in the
solar system around the earth.
Some
readers
may not believe this,
saying
that these planets cannot support life.
Is that so? And
Almighty God who
created the entire universe will not able to supply the
planets with the air
and water and
vegetation needed to
support life on them? Read
Matthew
19:26, Mark 10:27, and Luke 18:27, and this time believe
what is stated! Read
and believe also Isaiah 9:7, “Of the increase of His
government and
peace, there shall be no end…..” Believe
it!
CONCLUSION
In this study I have set before our readers only one
of the
wonderful blessings the Lord has in store for His people. This is just a
small foretaste of what our
gracious Lord has waiting for His people in the future. Glory to His
Holy Name!
Child of God, your life here on earth today may be
hard, filled with
heartache, suffering, and pain. But
after our present trials are over, the Lord has a far better
life and a better world
awaiting us, which He is “preparing” for all who have truly
received the Lord
Jesus as their own personal Savior.
Is the reader one of the Lord’s believing people? If not, why not? The Lord Jesus
Himself loved you enough to
die for you at Calvary, making it possible for you to be
saved. John
3:16, 3:18, and 3:36 are still in the
Bible, and the truth they state works.
Just bow your head, and in simple, sincere prayer,
ask the Lord Jesus to
come into your heart and save your soul, AND HE WILL! Read
Ephesians 2:8-10 and act upon it, and
you WILL be saved.
Dear
readers,
in this study I have just “scratched the surface” of the
great things
the Lord has for His people in “the ages to come.” I don’t
want any reader to miss out on what the Lord has
prepared for those who
love Him.
Our Lord and Savior is coming VERY SOON to rescue and
receive His peopIe
to Himselt, 1 Thess. 4:13-18. I would
like to meet every reader in glory when He comes. Please
don’t disappoint me!
<<<<<<<
O
>>>>>>>
Pastor F. M. Riley
francisriley1934@gmail.com
14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO 65401
573-202-6493
<<<<<<<
O
>>>>>>>