A River Went Out of Eden (Genesis 2:5-14)

2022-08-18

It is interesting to dream of what life was like in Eden. Whatever it was, we cannot comprehend it, because the world became drastically different in subsequent generations. It was a world without sin or death. It was a lush garden where all needs were available. People walked with God “in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). There was peace with God.

A river was in this garden, dividing into four separate rivers. Two of them were the Tigris (Hiddekel) and the Euphrates; we know where these are to this day. What are the Gihon and Pison Rivers? Gihon is mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, but it is in Israel, not Mesopotamia. The Gihon springs are known to this day. However, the river “compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia” (Genesis 2:13), so this is hard to imagine. We cannot necessarily equate these two locations as one.

There was a mist that came from the ground that watered herbs, “for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth” (Genesis 2:5). It likely never rained until the Flood, because a rainbow in the sky was introduced after the flood (Genesis 9:13).

The age of men reduced after the Flood from 900+ years old to about 400+, and more so after Babel, or about 200 years.

Many hypotheses have been proposed as to why these things would be. The Flood could explain things such as the continental drift and the rock layers that are said to be formed over millions of years. But the bottom line is that we can only know this for sure: 1) Sin ruins things, and 2) the flood drastically changed our world.

Because of these two things, to make conclusions about more than what is written in the Scriptures about Eden and the antediluvian world is to project our modern experience into those days. One positive thing we can affirm is that our future in Christ in the new heavens and the new earth will be just as different as what we see today. We will walk with our Maker again and behold His glory.