SEEING JESUS IN THE GARDENER

Seeing Jesus in the Gardener

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            In the following verse there are certain unmistakable calls from the first Adam in the garden that echo off the last Adam in another garden. “Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden … Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ She, supposing Him to be the gardener…” (John 19:41a, 20:15a). Therefore, Adam before the fall was a picture of the Jesus to come. From garden to garden. From gardener to Gardener.

The preincarnate Jesus is the One who put His own image in the paradise of God. “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). Just as there is a foreshadowing of the fall in the LORD God’s threatening Adam with death as the penalty for eating the fruit that He had forbidden him, so there is a foreshadowing of redemption in the LORD God putting Adam in the garden. Adam being taken from outside the garden and put in it foreshadows our transference into Jesus’s kingdom. “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14).

We read the following in Genesis 2:8, “The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed”, and the following in 2:15, “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” The Hebrew word for ‘put’ in the former is different from the latter. Whereas the former has more to do with conveying, the latter has more to do with depositing. We talk about transferring money from one account to deposit it in another. Whereas transference is the process, deposit is the result of the transference process. When a spiritually bankrupt human being is converted by God’s grace, he or she has the righteousness of Christ transferred to and then deposited in their account.  

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        Before he became spiritually bankrupt, what was Adam the gardener commissioned by the LORD God to do? He was to tend and keep His garden. Notice how the Lexam English Bible renders it, “And Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15, LEB). The use of the word cultivate alerts us that Adam’s work in the garden was an extension of and obedience to the Cultural Mandate of Genesis 1:26-28. “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Gen. 1:28).

The last Adam’s Great Commission is His post-Fall fulfilling of the Cultural Mandate by the power of His Spirit on earth working through the people He has redeemed. Those who have been redeemed by Christ are to be about the business of redeeming every sphere of society, be it family, church, state, nation, school, college, university, stamp club, sports club, coffee club, or whatever. Abraham Kuyper’s famous statement sums up the Cultural Mandate/Great Commission,

 

Oh, no single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry ‘Mine.’[1] 

The connection between the Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission becomes clearer when one begins to see Jesus in Adam the gardener. As was the first Adam, so was the last Adam. The former prefigures the latter. For Adam was created in Jesus’s image and likeness, to do what He was coming to do, i.e., tend and keep the garden of God – forever! “Whereas the first Adam failed miserably to tend and keep the garden, i.e., cultivate it, the second Adam succeeds spectacularly in tending and keeping the garden city.”[2]

 

“And Yahweh God took the man   and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15 LEB). The word cultivate as used here by the LEB lends itself to the whole pre-fall covenant of works with Adam as mankind’s representative head. With Eve he was commissioned by God to “be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). He was to expand the garden, yes, God’s Kingdom, throughout the earth. Other versions of the Bible translate the Hebrew word עָבַד as dress KJV, tend NKJV, care for NET, work it HCSB, ESV, NIV. The idea, then, was for Adam to serve God by cultivating His garden. The other word is שָׁמַר, which means to keep, to attend to, to hedge about, guard, to protect. Thus, Adam was to serve and protect God’s Kingdom on earth, i.e., the expanding garden.

“To serve and protect”, and variations of it, is the motto of many police forces in Western nations. This essentially is the motto for what Adam was to do in the garden. It’s ancient history that he didn’t do a very good job of this. He produced only thorns and thistles and he failed to protect his wife from an unwanted intruder. So much for “to serve and protect”![3]

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        The sword and the trowel image of Nehemiah rebuilding and defending the wall illustrates what the LORD God employed Adam to do in the garden. “Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon” (Neh. 4:17). Therefore, in this “to serve and protect”, even pre-Fall, one can see a foreshadowing of Adam beating his ploughshare into a sword and his pruning hook into a spear! “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears…” (Joel 3:10a). Of course, the last Adam is in the process of reversing this, “He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isa. 2:4; cf. Micah 4:3).

Why did the Word become flesh? He came “to serve and protect”. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). He came to serve, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28) and to protect, “I am not praying that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15, CSB).

Having seen then that the LORD God put the man in His garden to cultivate it as well as guard it from intruders, and that this foreshadows what God was putting Adam’s replacement, i.e., the Man Christ Jesus, into the world to do, let us now briefly consider what Adam was like before the fall. Westminster Confession of Faith summarises this for us,

 

After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image, having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfil it; and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change. Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.[4]

Let us note that Adam had God’s Law written on his heart and that he was created and endued with holiness, righteousness, and true knowledge. We won’t go too far wrong if we keep in mind that we are talking about God’s Moral Law here, i.e., the Decalogue a.k.a. the Ten Commandments, and not the Mosaic Law which obviously came later during the time of Moses.

So, Adam had inward commands, i.e., the Ten Commandments, and an outward command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is what is meant by “true knowledge”. It has to do with man being made in God’s image and likeness. God’s Ten Commandments are an internal revelation of God’s character. All of this is summarised in Jesus’s command, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31). This is what Adam was mandated to do. In the Triune Godhead each Person loves God and loves His Neighbour as Himself. Adam was commissioned to reflect this character of God on planet Earth.

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            This is an area where people stumble around tripping over things like the shortsighted Mr Magoo without his spectacles. Some think that the only commandment Adam had was the command to refrain from eating the forbidden fruit! What is Adam had murdered his wife, Eve? Would God excuse him because he didn’t know that murder was wrong? What about stealing? Would God let Adam off for pinching someone else’s apples like some mischievous kid?  What about Adam killing himself and Eve by eating his fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Therefore, God’s Law was written on pre-Fall Adam’s heart.

What was God’s pre-Fall Law like? The Ten Commandments, as we know them, presuppose sin. However, Adam, before the Fall, was without sin. Adam, the image and likeness of God, was created to expressly image the character of God in creation. In short, he too was to love God and His neighbour as himself. The Ten Commandments add more detail to the summary, the first four of which express how we are to love God, and the last six how we are to love our neighbour as ourselves. What are the Ten Commandments in positive form?

 

1.              Worship God exclusively.

2.              Worship God spiritually.

3.        Worship God sincerely.

4.       Worship God as He will be worshipped.

5.        Respect authority.

6.        Respect the life and rights of others.

7.        Be pure and loyal.

8.       Be honest.

9.        Be truthful.

10.     Be happy and content.[5]

These are the Ten Commandments before the fall that were written on Adam’s moist ‘clay’ heart. After the fall, God wrote the same Commandments in negative form on tablets of hardened clay, (i.e., stone, metaphorically like Adam’s heart after he had fallen). So, true knowledge has much to do with knowing God, of which His Ten Commandments is very much a part of.

The difference between the Ten Commandments put in positive form before the Fall and put negatively post-Fall is the difference between, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31, NIV) and whatever you do not want others to do to you, do not do to them. Whereas in the former, one needs to be actively engaged in doing good things to keep the commandments, in the latter one can stay at home sitting on one’s couch watching television and be keeping them simply by not doing anything.

For the purpose of illustration, please pay particular attention to number 4 in the following as found in Westminster Larger Catechism Q 99,

 

Q. 99. What rules are to be observed for the right understanding of the Ten Commandments?

A.    For the right understanding of the Ten Commandments, these rules are to be observed:

1.     The law is perfect, binding everyone to full conformity in the whole person to its righteousness, and to entire obedience forever; requiring the utmost perfection of every duty and forbidding the least degree of every sin.

2. The law is spiritual, reaching the understanding, will, affections, and all powers of the soul, as well as words, works, and gestures.
3. One and the same thing may be required or forbidden in several commandments, in different respects.
4. Where a duty is commanded, the contrary sin is forbidden; where a sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded. Likewise, promises imply threats, and threats imply promises. 

Thus, we see that Christianity, as it was for Adam before the Fall, is not only about refraining from sin but actively doing good works. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10).

It doesn’t take a theological genius to see that holiness and righteousness are inward and outward expressions of God’s Moral Law. Adam was to serve God by setting Him apart in his heart inwardly (holiness) which would be expressed outwardly by his works (righteousness). No, to be sure, Adam was not trying to earn salvation before the Fall, as he had not yet fallen. However, his commandment keeping was through doing righteous works. Let us return to the Westminster Larger Catechism to illustrate this,

Q. 98. Where is the moral law summarily comprehended?

A. The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments, which were delivered by the voice of God upon mount Sinai, and written by Him in two tables of stone; and are recorded in the twentieth chapter of Exodus. The four first commandments containing our duty to God, and the other six our duty to man.

Notice that the first table contains our duty to God and the second, our duty to our neighbour. Though you cannot have the one without the other, the former table has much to do with holiness and the latter with righteousness. 

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Notice where we are to set apart, i.e., keep holy as in sanctify, the LORD God, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts” (1 Pet. 3:15a). The heart is to be like the holy of holies in the temple – set apart. Our duty towards God is to Worship God exclusively, spiritually, sincerely, and as He will be worshipped. This is what holiness means and this is what it means when we say that Adam was created in holiness. It pertains to the first four commandments of the Decalogue. In negative terms and in abbreviated form they are: 1. You shall have no other gods before Me, 2. You shall not make idols, 3. You shall not take the name of God in vain, 4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Whereas these Commands have to do with loving God, the last six show us how to love our neighbour. Here they are abbreviated: 5. Honor your father and your mother, 6. You shall not murder, 7. You shall not commit adultery, 8. You shall not steal, 9. You shall not bear false witness, 10. You shall not covet.

The first four Commandments pertain to holiness and the last six to righteousness. Adam, therefore, was created with true knowledge, holiness, and righteousness. This is what he lost when he sided with Satan against the LORD God and ate the forbidden fruit thereby breaking all the commandments.

True knowledge, holiness, and righteousness is what is recovered by the last Adam, Jesus Christ. He does this by writing His Law on our hearts, “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Heb. 8:10b). We are to “put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Col. 3:10) and we are to “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24b).

What Adam the gardener lost for us in the garden is regained for us by the new Gardener, viz., true knowledge of God, holiness, and righteousness. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned … For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:12, 17-19).

Who does the better job of tending and keeping the paradise of God? Gardener Adam or Gardener Jesus? Here’s some of gardener Adam’s work,

 

The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away; the haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. Isaiah 24:4-6. 

And here’s some of the work of Gardener Jesus,

 

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse.  Revelation 22:1-3a.  

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[1] James D Bratt, Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader, (Eerdmans Publishing, 1998), 488.

[2] Neil Cullan McKinlay and D. Rudi Schwartz, The Kingdom: Every Square Inch, (Weemac Publishing, Brisbane, Queensland, 2024), 480. See also Neil Cullan McKinlay and D. Rudi Schwartz, Gods Kingdom: What! On Earth?, (Weemac Publishing, Brisbane, Queensland, 2026), 283.

[3] Ibid., The Kingdom, 250-251, God’s Kingdom, 162.

[4] Book of Forms, Reformed Churches of Australia, (Reformed Churches Publishing House, Geelong, Victoria,1991), 154.

[5] Francis Nigel Lee, (quoting Yost), The Covenantal Sabbath, (The Lord’s Day Observance Society, London, 1966), 24.

SEEING JESUS IN THE ONE WHO PUT ADAM IN THE GARDEN

 Seeing Jesus in the One Who Put Adam in the Garden

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        “The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:8-9).

Did Adam, before he sinned, have the right to eat of the tree of life? Notice the word right as used in the following verse, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7, NIV).

This paradise of God is the same one that the repentant thief on the cross was going to with Jesus (Luke 23:43). It is the same paradise of God that Paul was caught up into where he heard “inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:4). This is the same paradise of God from which the LORD expelled Adam after he had sided with the serpent and rebelled against God. “Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’—therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken” (Gen. 3:22).

So, in answer to our question asking if Adam had the right to eat of the tree of life before the fall, the answer is yes. However, he forfeited that right when he exercised his free will and chose to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We note then that the One who put Adam in the garden and gave him the right to eat from the tree of life is the same One who ejected him after he had instead chosen to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which had been forbidden him. Therefore, Jesus is the One who gave the right to eat of the tree of life post-Fall, and, because He is the LORD God, He also can take away that right.

The paradise of God is a garden planted by God in the east of Eden. To us it sounds like and orchard, what, with all the fruit trees. And with all the animals, it also sounds to us like a park, what we might call a safari park. So, what is it then? A garden or an orchard or a park? Both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures accommodate all these descriptions. Jewish scholars translated the Old Testament into the Greek Septuagint. They translated the Hebrew word for garden as paradeisos (παράδεισος), which had been borrowed from and ancient Persian word pairidaēza, meaning a walled enclosure. A walled garden makes even more sense when we remember that the LORD God “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” (Gen. 3:24b).

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        This walled garden or orchard, or safari park is being developed into the garden city of God by the last Adam, i.e., Jesus. The city will have twelve gates when the Developer is finished. Note the precious stones and gold etc.,

 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide … The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. Revelation 21:16-21 abbr., NIV.

Now, we’ll get into this in more detail up ahead, but we need to introduce in broad terms one of the creatures in the garden, orchard, park – a snake, otherwise known as a serpent. The Hebrew word here for serpent has to do with the noise it makes, hiss, which is related to whisper (as in whisper magic spells) and enchant.

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        A more distant relative of the Hebrew word is copper. We are immediately reminded of the fiery or brass/bronze serpent on a pole, the snake on the stake (Num. 21:8-9). The fiery (as in burning) serpent is a poisonous snake that gets its name from its copper colour. Upon quick observation, the burning might seem to relate to the aftermath of its bite. However, upon further reflection, if you heat copper until cherry red and immediately plunge it into water, you will hear it hiss! Thus, we favour the copper appearance over the aftereffects of a bite for the name of the serpent. (And won’t he hiss when he is fully immersed forever in the lake of fire?!)

The seraphim mentioned in Isaiah 6:2, 6 are from the same Hebrew word. To be sure, fiery stones, i.e., sparkling jewels, are not the same as fiery coals but only resemble them. However, notice what the seraph has in his hand, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar” (Isa. 6:6). Now notice who was in the garden of God walking amongst the fiery stones. It is the king of Tyre that is being spoken to directly. However, you begin to realise that Satan is being spoken to indirectly when you realise that the king of Tyre is simply a vassal of serpent when you see what is being said to him. “Thus says the LORD God:

 

You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. Ezekiel 28:12b-14.

We get the impression that all these precious stones were just laying around the place in God’s garden and that the anointed covering cherub walked among them. Also, note that that the garden, the orchard (as in a walled garden), park was on a mountain, “the holy mountain of God” (Ezek. 28:14). 

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        Speaking of mountains, not quite the garden of Eden, however, a town on the edge of the Great Dividing Range, located 132 km (82 mi) west of Queensland’s capital, Brisbane, gives echoes of Eden. It is around 700 metres (2,300 ft) above sea level. There are two valleys, originating from springs, forming two waterways. The soil is so rich that Toowoomba has become known as ‘The Garden City’ and holds an annual event called the Carnival of Flowers.

Meanwhile back on the mountain of God.“By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones” (Ezek. 28:16). Matthew Henry comments,

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High Priest wearing ephod with precious stones

[The king of Tyre] seemed to be as wise and happy as Adam in his innocency. “Thou hast been in Eden even in the garden of God; thou hast lived as it were in paradise all thy days, hast had dominion over all about thee, as Adam had.” His rooms were set around with jewels, so that he walked in the midst of them, and fancied himself as glorious as if, like God, he had been surrounded by so many angels, who are compared to a flame of fire. Gold is mentioned last as far inferior in value to those precious stones, and he used to speak of it accordingly.[1] 

If we were to begin adding it all together, we should see then that, among other things, Ezekiel was giving us a picture of the paradise of God. The king of Tyre was picturing both the pre-Fall Adam and the pre-Fall covering cherub before they were subsequently cast out of the garden of God.

If we were using Sherlock Holmes’s three‑step method of deductive reasoning, which is to observe details, connect them to previous knowledge, and then construct a chain of inference, we would draw the logical conclusion that the covering cherub, yes, the shining serpent, must have been cast out of the paradise of God at some point after he had deceived Eve, yes, when she offered Adam the forbidden fruit and he ate.

After Adam and Eve’s encounter with the serpent, all were ejected from the paradise of God. “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” (Gen. 3:24). The One who cast them out of the paradise of God was the same LORD God who put Adam in the garden in the first place. “The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed” (Gen. 2:8). He is the Angel of the LORD, He is the preincarnate Christ, He is the One mentioned in the following verses. Read them with the paradise of God in mind and notice things like the golden band, eyes like a flame of fire, feet like fine brass, voice as the sound of many waters, countenance like the sun shining in its strength.

 

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength … These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass. Revelation 1:12-16, 2:18, (cf. 19:12).  

We see Jesus walking among the precious stones in the garden city which was “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2b). Remembering that “the Word became flesh and dwelt (i.e., tabernacled) amongst us, “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God’” (Rev. 21:3).

Speaking of the Word becoming flesh, i.e., Jesus, and walking among precious stones and a bride adorned for her husband,

 

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:4-9.

We may wonder why the LORD God mentions gold. “Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stones are there.)” (Gen. 2:11-12). Bdellium is a precious stone, some say amber, others say pearl. Where the same word is used in Numbers 11:7, the Geneva Bible footnote says that bdellium is “a white pearl, or precious stone”. Pearl or pearl-like would, of course, correlate with the “pearly gates” in the garden city which is “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”. Speaking of brides, says geologist Ian Plimer, (perhaps a little with tongue-in-cheek),

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        The only currency that’s been around for thousands of years is actually gold. And if you don’t believe me, go to the Bible. In Genesis 2 verse 12, we see the land of Havilah where gold was produced. Gold is the first mineral mentioned in the Bible. Now, the biggest consumer of gold is women, in their jewellery. And so we see in Genesis 12 verse 22, only ten verses later, that God creates women. So, first He created gold, then He created women. The Bible can’t be wrong![2]

We can just about hear William Blake singing, "Bring me my bow of burning gold! Bring me my arrows of desire!"

We have seen something of what the pre-Fall paradise of God was like: Adam to tend and keep the garden, a riverhead and rivers to irrigate the garden, precious stones to beautify the garden (gold, bdellium, onyx), a covering cherub (Satan) walking among them, (presumably) to guard the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, instead of guarding it, by deceiving Eve, the devil invited Adam to eat of it. The fall of “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan” preceded and precipitated Adam’s fall. Yes, Adam, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).

Satan was the covering cherub in the garden. The Old Testament word for covering has to do with entwining like a screen, (see Strong’s Concordance 5526). Though his role in guarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would be more like a scarecrow guarding a paddock, one cannot help thinking of the net that covers (entwining) a fruit tree to protect its fruit from marauding birds etc.

There was a bit more song and dance to ejecting the devil from Paradise. Now, we know that Satan, the devil, was cast out of the holy mountain of God, i.e., the garden (Ezek. 28:16). And we know that he will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 3:9). This is where the one who walked among the fiery stones in the paradise of God, now meets with the last Adam, yes, outside the garden, orchard, or park. Notice what the devil is walking amongst in the wilderness where he challenges the last Adam, “Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread’” (Matt. 4:3). Jesus, why don’t You turn these stones into something to eat, yes, reminiscent of Adam and the forbidden fruit. But Jesus kept God’s commandments.

So, we’re back to Jesus giving people the right to eat the fruit of the tree of life in the paradise of God. Unlike the pre-Fall Adam who chose to break His commandments by eating from the wrong tree, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).

The LORD God put Adam in the garden. The LORD God gave Adam the right to eat of the tree of life before he disobeyed Him. The LORD God cast Adam out of the paradise of God. We see that the LORD God is Jesus. Thus, we have seen Jesus in the One who put Adam in the garden.

Crown Him the Lord of peace,

Whose power a sceptre sways

From pole to pole, that wars may cease,

Absorbed in prayer and praise.

His reign shall know no end;

And round His piercèd feet

Fair flowers of Paradise extend

Their fragrance ever sweet.[3]

---

[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary in One Volume, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1961), 1064

[2] Ian Plimer, a Geologist, plugging his book, Gold: Everything You Need to Know, on Rowan Dean’s, The World According to Rowan Dean on News24, 11 September 2026.

[3] Matthew Bridges & Godfrey Thring, The Revised Church Hymnary, (1927), Hymn 136.

THE PROMISE & THE PILGRIM

 

THE PROMISE & THE PILGRIM

“All the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” Genesis 15:3.

Introduction

I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying, “The best things come to those who wait!” Well, that’s the way it is for Abram in our text, and that’s the way it is for each of us. The LORD promised him an inheritance some 4,000 years ago. Abram’s still waiting to receive it. The LORD promised him land and descendants. He lived long enough to see a few descendants. However, Abram died and was buried without receiving the inheritance of the land he was promised. So, either the LORD made a promise and failed to deliver, or the promise is still good.

In the following I hope to demonstrate that the LORD’s promise to Abram is still good. The general gist of what we’ll be looking at is: Faithful saints hold fast the good promise of the LORD.

The Promise

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We see then that the LORD said to Abram, “All the land which you see I give to you and your DESCENDANTS forever.” Therefore, the LORD has made a promise to Abram and his descendants or seed. So let us focus for the moment on the promise as it relates to Abram’s descendants.

Now, this is the third time the LORD has come to Abram promising him land and descendants. The other two times are recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 where it says, “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” And again, in Genesis 12:7a, “Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’” This is the third time the LORD has promised Abram land and descendants, and it’s not the last. The LORD confirms this promise to Abram again in Genesis chapters 15, 17 and 18.

If the telephone company or somebody thinks you owe them money they keep on sending you reminders. One time we received a couple of reminders from somebody who got their wires crossed. So, you notify them and you get it all straightened out – or so you think, until you get another reminder in the mail! But here’s the LORD for the third time, in the text before us, reminding Abram of His promise to him and to his descendants.

Abram doesn’t even have any descendants, and Lot, his next of kin, has separated from him. However, the promise is to Abram and his descendants, not to his next of kin. Therefore, land was promised to Abram’s descendants.

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So, we ask: What land was promised to which descendants? Well, Abram’s descendants were promised the land as far as Abram’s eye could see. We take it that he’s on some hill or mountain. And the LORD is telling him to pan all around. “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward, westward...” (Gen. 15:14).

Lot, as you know, lifted his eyes and he saw the well-watered plain of Jordan. He saw what looked like the lush land of Egypt. It was like the Garden of Eden (Gen. 13:10). But the LORD didn’t invite Abram to look at rivers, green grass, shrubbery and that sort of thing. No! Abram was invited to look at the dust – the dust of the earth. “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered” (Gen. 15:16).

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            I used to have enough trouble counting my homing pigeons when they were flying around. Who could count even a handful of dust, never mind the dust of the earth! This is no “Guess the exact amount of lollies (i.e. candies or sweets) in the jar and you win the prize!” No! There was no guessing the amount of descendants. They were to be as the dust of the earth.

In the Hebrew, the word eretz can be translated either land or earth. Dust of the land, dust of the earth, eretz – land or earth. The word is used in the first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the eretz.” You wouldn’t translate it ‘land’, would you? So, usually the context determines whether the Hebrew eretz is to be translated land or earth. And we find these words recorded in Genesis 15:18, “On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.’”

As Abram walked the length and breadth of the land, between these two great rivers, what would he have been thinking? He would be thinking: “This is some promise the LORD’s given me and my descendants! The LORD’s shown me the land as He promised. Now He’s saying that we are heirs of this land, that my descendants and I will inherit it!”

No wonder he moved his tent and built an altar to the LORD. Abram’s hit the jackpot! You see the way some people carry on when they win a million bucks. They leap and jump all over the place kissing and slobbering over anyone standing next to them. But hang on a minute. All Abram has at the moment is a promise. All he has is the LORD’s Word. And is that not all that any of us has?

I remember as a new Christian trying to come to grips with eternal life. “Wow! I’ve got eternal life. So, this means... what does it mean?” I remember thinking, “What good is this eternal life? I still have to die.” Then I began to understand what Jesus was on about where He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). So it’s the promise of eternal life I have. And who’s the One who’s making this promise to me? Well, it’s the same LORD who made the promise to Abram and his descendants. And what did the LORD promise Abram and his descendants? Genesis 13:15 again, “All the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” Take note at this point, the word descendants may also be rendered seed as in one or many. However, since we’re focusing on the promise, we need to ask to whom was this promise made? In other words: Who are the descendants of Abram? We take it that at this point in time Abram didn’t know. He didn’t know because he didn’t have any descendants at this time. And we find in the chapters up ahead that Abram first off thinks that one of his servants will have to be counted as his offspring. Then the LORD tells him that Abram himself will be the father of a child. So, he gets tangled up in the mess with Sarah’s servant Hagar. Then the LORD tells him that his, up till then, barren wife Sarah is going to bear his child. But for now, all Abram has is the LORD’s Word he will have descendants like the dust of the earth. And in 1 Kings 4:20-21 we read, “Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. So, Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River [i.e., the Euphrates] to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.”

So, we see that, at the time of David and Solomon Abram’s descendants are innumerable. They are living in the tract of land promised to Abram and his descendants. And apparently, it was much the same again during the inter-Testamental period. But were all those people really the ones to whom the promise of the land was made? Remember, the promise was made to Abram and his descendants.

Was Rahab, the harlot who was rescued from Jericho, a descendant of Abram? Was Ruth the Moabitess, who married Boaz, a descendant of Abram? Well, according to the Apostle Paul both Rahab and Ruth were descendants of Abram. He says, for instance, in Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

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            It’s true that Jesus says to some Jews who were claiming to be Abram’s descendants, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants” (John 8:37). But He was talking about descendants as to flesh. For Jesus went on to say to these same men, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do [etc.]” (John 8:44). Therefore, their real father was the devil, not Abraham!

“When [John the Baptiser] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matt.3:7-9).

Paul in Romans chapters 3 and 4 goes to great lengths to tell the Jews their fleshly decent counts for nothing In Galatians 3:7 he says, “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abram.” Both Rahab and Ruth were of faith, as were all the Old Testament saints. So, to cut the long story short, the descendants who receive the promise of the land are only those who believe along with Abram, the father of all believers (Rom. 4:11;16).

Right then, if the LORD is giving the land to Abram and his descendants and we Christians are his descendants, then the land is ours, right? Does this mean that all Christians should start chartering airplanes to the land of Israel? Should we go there and demand that the present Christ-denying occupants give us our promised land? If that’s what you’re thinking, you’re missing something, something very important. Hopefully it’ll become even more clear to you as we move into our second point. But just before we move on, let me recap what we’ve looked at.

The LORD has made a promise to Abram. He has promised him descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth. We’ve taken note that the New Testament stipulates that Abram’s descendants are like him, i.e., believers. That Abram is the father of the faithful, therefore it is faith and not race or ethnic origin that makes a person a descendant of Abram. It’s faith and not flesh that counts with God.

And we’ve seen, in particular, that the land was promised to the descendants of Abram, i.e., you, me and every believer that has ever lived or will live. So, let’s move on.

The Pilgrim

The land was also promised to Abram. Yet Abram never took possession of the land, did he? But look at what the LORD says to Abram, “All the land which you see I give to YOU” (Gen. 13:15). Look also at Genesis 13:17, “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to YOU.” But Abram remained a pilgrim, a sojourner, in the land until his dying day. In fact, Abram had to buy a field with his own money as a place of burial. So, in order to help us understand what’s really happening here, we need to bring the rest of Scripture to bear on this text.

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        Now, this is what we’re doing, we’re trying to understand what the LORD has in mind here. We are NOT trying to see how well Abram understood the LORD’s promise. We have the benefit of the rest of Scripture to help us understand this promise. However, you might be surprised at how much Abram had grasped already.

Always keep in mind that the LORD revealed His promise to Abram in one lump sum as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3. Then as a preacher expounds and opens up the Scriptures to his congregation each week, so the LORD opened up the understanding of Abram to what He has already said. The word of promise remains the same but under the LORD’s tutelage, Abram’s understanding grew by instalment. Like every other believer, Abram would grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ only so far as He had revealed Himself at that time. But as I said, we’re not trying to see how deep an understanding Abram had of God’s Word. Rather we’re seeking to understand what the LORD means by the promise of land and descendants.

The promise was made to Abram, and we Christians today testify that we are Abram’s descendants. Abram lived to see the birth of Isaac and other children. But you wouldn’t say he saw descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth. And neither did he receive the land the LORD promised him. Speaking of the land, listen to what Stephen says about it, “And God gave him [i.e. Abram] no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abram had no child, He [the Lord] promised to give it to him [i.e. Abram] for a possession, and to his descendants after him” (Acts 7:5).

Just think about that for a moment. We see that Abram was to receive this land, and the LORD promised it to him and to us. Therefore, the question we need to answer is this. How or when is our father Abram and we, his descendants, supposed to receive this promised land?

I was at a funeral where a man said that he was not going to miss his friend who had just died. He said that he wouldn’t miss his friend because his friend would be with him always in his heart. Is this how Abram was going to inherit the promised land? Was Abram carried around in the bosom of his descendants? Is this what the LORD meant when He promised the land to Abram? Is this what the LORD means when He promises the land to us? What do you think?

Look again at the words of Genesis 13:15, “For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants FOREVER.” So, that word FOREVER sounds like a long time, doesn’t it? But did Abram ever possess the land even for five minutes? No! Have any of us possessed the land for any length of time? No! So there must be more going on here than the naked eye can see. Look at Abram. He was a pilgrim, wasn’t he? Like the words of the hymn,

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but Thou art mighty;

Hold me with Thy powerful hand:

Bread of heaven, feed me till my want is o’er. 

Abram was a pilgrim in a barren land. His nephew and fellow believer Lot, well, he spied the well-watered plains of Jordan. He rushed off to the place that was lush like the land of Egypt, like the Garden of Eden. But Abram was to walk the length and breadth of a barren land looking at and counting particles of dust. This was the land which couldn’t support Abram and Lot and their herdsmen. As Abram looked at the dust he surely must have wondered how this land would ever support a multitude like the dust of the earth! How would this land ever feed them? It couldn’t even sustain a bunch of herdsmen and their livestock. So Abram must have had a few questions running around in his head. Not the least of which was, how was he supposed to possess the land forever. I mean it’s all very well for the eternal God to say to Abram, “I’m giving you some land FOREVER.” “Oh! That’s nice, but it’s just a pity that I won’t be able to live forever to enjoy it forever!” At least Abram got to see it for a few years. But what about you and me? When you look at a passage like this, you’re thankful you’ve got the whole rest of the Bible.

So, as we begin to tie things up into a nice big bow, let’s shine some New Testament light onto the subject. Speaking of the Old Testament saints (including Abram) the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13).

So, Abram died along with Isaac and Jacob after him without receiving their inheritance. But as a sailor catching a glimpse of land in the days of the old wooden ships, so Abram saw the substance of God’s promises in the far off distance – “Land ahoy!” So rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub, Abram, Isaac and Jacob, have yet to inherit the promised land, the land they saw far off in the distance. So, when then are they and we for that matter, supposed to inherit this land? Well, first let’s see if we can get a better idea of the length and width of this our inheritance.

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            Is our inheritance that piece of land which runs between the River Nile and the Euphrates? David in Psalm 37 mentions a couple of times, verse 9b, “Those who wait for the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.” And then in verse 11, “The meek shall inherit the earth.” And also in Psalm 25:13, speaking of the man who fears the LORD, he says, “His descendants shall inherit the earth.” However, the word for earth (eretz) in these instances may also be translated land, which is how the New International Version renders it in each case.

But what about what Jesus says in Matthew 5:5? Even the NIV renders it, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” But alas! The Greek word for earth used there is sometimes also used for land. So maybe we should charter some planes and boats and trains to the Middle East and claim our inheritance. But hold the phone! Let’s ask the Apostle Paul to help us. “For the promise that he would be the HEIR of the WORLD was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Rom. 4:13). So faithful Abram and his faithful seed, yes, even you and even me, are HEIRS of the WORLD!

But wait a minute. Does that word world really mean world, or does it really mean land? Well, the New Testament Greek word Paul uses is cosmos, the same word used by Jesus in John 3:16 “For God so loved the WORLD (Gr. cosmos)…” And I’ve yet to see any Bible commentator translate the word cosmos as land. For God so loved the LAND? No, He loved the cosmos! And as Paul uses it in relation to Abram it means the earth. So, the LORD has promised Abram and us the world, the universe!

So, here’s the tricky bit, how or when are we and Abram supposed to receive the earth or the world? Abram’s been dead for 4,000 years or something. So the LORD’s going to have to resurrect Abram, isn’t he? The LORD’s going to have to raise Abram from the dead in order to present him with the earth. And if you don’t think that Abram believed in the resurrection of the dead, then ask yourself what Abram was doing placing Isaac on an altar as a sacrifice? Hebrews 11:19 says Abram was, “Accounting that God was able to raise him [Isaac] up, even from the dead.”

And don’t forget that Abram has already seen a foreshadowing of Isaac’s resurrection. “Sarai is barren” (Gen. 11:30). Her womb is dead. Therefore, any child conceived therein and born therefrom is rising from the dead as it were, “as a root out of dry ground” (Isa. 53:2).

“Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son” (Gen. 18:11-14).

Abram’s body crumbled back to the dust, so did Isaac’s and Jacob’s after him. Your body, my body, all our bodies are going to crumble back to the dust, aren’t they? All of the children of Abram sleep in the dust. So will we. But what does the Prophet Daniel say? “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to everlasting shame” (Daniel 12:2). And what does John the Baptiser say to the Pharisees and Sadducees? “Do not say to yourselves, ‘We have Abram as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matt. 3:9b).

But none of this makes any sense without Christ. Christ is the true descendant of Abram, isn’t He? Those words of the Lord’s Apostle Paul, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Gal. 3:16). But again, Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

If we belong to Christ, then whatever belongs to Him belongs also to us. Therefore, the promise of the earth is made to us in relation to Christ. Only those who trust in Christ, as did believing Abram, will receive their inheritance in Christ. And doesn’t Psalm 2:8 say that the nations are His inheritance and ends of the earth His possession? And where do the nations live? In Palestine? Between the two great rivers? No! The nations are scattered over the whole face of the earth like dust; Christ’s inheritance is Abram’s and our inheritance in Christ.

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        And Christ’s resurrection guarantees Abram’s resurrection and our resurrection and secures our inheritance. And it’s through the spread of the Gospel as the poured out Spirit applies it, that the LORD raises up the children of Abraham from the dust of the earth. As the flood waters in Noah’s day were God’s poured out judgment-curse upon the earth, so the Holy Spirit in our day is God’s poured out blessing upon the earth. So this means that even those dry and parched nations will yet turn to the LORD, for they, and all the ends of the earth belong to Him. This was the promise the LORD made to Abram when He said, “All the land which you see I give to you and your DESCENDANTS forever.” The whole world and everything in it is ours in Abram’s Seed Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

God has promised that faithful Abram and his faithful offspring, even you and me, will inherit the earth. He has given His promise to pilgrims. The promise given Abram is the promise given us. We are the heirs of the world. The meek SHALL inherit the earth. So, even though Abram’s body, like ours, was made of dust and crumbled back to dust, the promise of God remains. So like Abram our father, we look forward to that day when all the graves shall open up. As Jesus Christ says, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:28).

Oh what a day that’s going to be! And father Abram is going to look into the faces of all his children, including your face and mine. But he won’t be able to number us. We’ll be as numerous as the dust, the dust of the earth, the earth we’re inheriting for our habitation forever.

We’ve seen then that the LORD’s promise to Abram is still good. And that we too, like our father Abram, should hold fast the good promise of the LORD, because the best things come to those who wait. Therefore, wait on the Lord Jesus Christ.