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]

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[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.