The Garden was only a part of Eden.
Did you know that the Garden was only a small part of Eden? Everyone talks about Paradise being the Garden of Eden. Even in Israel today, when the Jewish people talk about heaven, they call it "Gan Eden." The Hebrew word "Gan" means "Garden." But the garden was simply a small area in the whole area of Eden. We simply know and talk about paradise as: "The Garden of Eden," as a whole because that's the area in Eden where Adam and Eve roamed around and walked with God, but ate from the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and were then banished from the garden, where God put Cherubim (Guarding Angels) and a whirling flaming sword to guard the way to the Tree of Life.
See, Genesis 2:8 tells us that the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden and that there in that garden He put the man that He had formed. Meaning God probably didn't even form man from the ground in the Garden, but somewhere else in Eden. See the verse tells us that God planted a garden in the "east of Eden." The Emphasis needs to be on the word "OF." The story of Adam and Eve, the serpent and God takes place in this garden, which God made in the East area "OF" the place called Eden. This makes you think. What else existed in the rest of the place called Eden? As humans, I honestly believe that we can't even begin to comprehend the glorious place that awaits God's children, but it is because of God's amazing Grace and Mercy that at least He gave us a small glimpse of what lies before us, because of the "eye witness" who was Adam and Eve after God judged them and banished them out of the entrance/way from the Garden of Eden.
Now what I'm about to tell you is really going to make you think. When we look at the Bible as a whole, we can see that it can almost be likened to one big "Law Trial" right? See, there was a law, it was broken, there was an eye witness, there was a judgment, and then because of Jesus, the sentence was paid for and the defendant was set free, where the defendant (humans) is once again being allowed to return to Paradise when the time comes. Correct? What's interesting, is that we can even see this whole story explained when only looking and unraveling the Hebrew word for "Eden" alone. Let me explain:
In Hebrew the word for Eden is spelled like this: "Eden - E.D.N - ע.ד.ן"
The first two root letters of the word, which is "Ed - עד" in Hebrew mean: "Witness," like an eye-witness. The second two root letters of the word, which is "D.N - דן" in Hebrew mean: "Judge." So together we can see the word Eden in Hebrew means "Witness" and "Judge." Adam and Ever were their own eyewitnesses who were judged because of their disobedience, but they were also the only eyewitnesses of the existence of the Garden of Eden and what life in Paradise looked like.
Now even more than that, for those who don't know. The Hebrew alphabet was the first written alphabetical language ever created and is known today as Paleo Hebrew, in which every letter was actually a Pictograph of something. For example, the first letter in the Hebrew Alphabet, known as Aleph symbolized the head of an ox. Now when we look at the Pictographs of the word Eden, we can see the following:
The letter: Ayin (E - ע) means: Eye - Watch (Witness)
The letter: Dalet (D-ד) means: Door - Entrance - (Gateway)
The letter: Nun (N -נ) means: Continue - Heir (Son)
So in short, when we look at the pictograph meanings of every letter in the word, together with the meaning of the two root letters of the word Eden, we can see that the very word Eden, tells us the story of what happened: Adam and Eve were Judged, and banished from the Gateway of the Garden, but were the only two Eyewitnesses, who could tell the generations after them about what happened through Continuing the story of Eden through their Heir, their Son.
Then last but not least, the Hebrew verb for the word Eden means "to soften" and "refined." The curse of God's judgment on Adam and Eve's disobedience was that the ground became hard to work, labor pains became hard, and basically, life became hard. But Eden is soft and refined. As God's children, it is only natural for us to instinctively long for our return to already being refined in the fire, set free by Jesus, and returning to our Eden. But we can thank God that after all these thousands of years, because of Adam and Eve, being an eyewitness, we can have the knowledge of the existence of Eden, and the trial that took place with what happens when we disobey God and that in truth because of Jesus being known as the second Adam, setting us free (Romans 5:12-21) we have a paradise to look forward to, which is clearly going to be much larger than just a garden in the east of a place called Eden. So if I can encourage you today, just like the apostle Paul did 2000 years ago:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of WITNESSES, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2
Starting prayer for the day: Dear heavenly Father. Thank You for not destroying us when you had all the reason in the universe to do so. Thank You for allowing us to have the knowledge of what blessings lie ahead for those who love You. Help me to be a living witness and testimony of your loving sacrifice to those around me today. Amen.
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