[b]THE GARDEN OF GOD
Part 1
[size=xx-small]Robert Wurtz II[/size]
[i]And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
It is a wonderful thing that God would be mindful of man. Job asks the question; What is man, that you would magnify him? and that you would set your heart upon him? (Job 7:17) Man is the greatest of God’s creations upon the earth. And as great as he is there is yet a great gulf betwixt man and God. Why should God bother with such a creature so far beneath Himself? Man was made a little lower than the angels, how much lower than God? Yet He has set His heart upon man. He has desired to care for them and provide for them even as a nurse for her children. The Psalmist asks a searching question; what is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you visit him? Surely the answer is found in knowing that God has created all things for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11). It has pleased God to create and set His heart and mind upon man.
From the beginning God has desired to walk among His people and Satan, that old Serpent, has sought to drive Him far from them. That desire for fellowship with man was realized when God planted a garden in the east called Eden. When God thought of a wonderful place to place His beloved creation He did not build a beautiful mansion filled with luxury and pleasantries. Matthew Henry once noted that when sin entered the human race so did clothes and houses. The majesty of such a place was not found in the wonder of man made structures- but in the fellowship in innocence that man had with God. Long before man would lust after earthly possessions and measure himself by the breadth of his possessions- there was a simple fulfillment and contentment in this Garden of God.
Several hundred years later on a mountain top in the Negev Moses would plead with God to show him His glory (Exodus 33). But sinful man could not look upon the face of God and live. So God hid Moses in the cleft of a rock and caused His goodness to pass before. To the people below the mountain appeared to be on fire as the glory of God was manifest. They heard thunderings and lightenings and were in great fear at the sight. Moses would settle for nothing less than seeing God’s glory. What a contrast! God had planted a garden to meet with Adam and walk with him in sweet communion. What would Moses have given to have walked with God like that? Truly the Garden of Eden was a precious place; a place unlike any other on the face of the earth. It was a place where God and man walked hand in hand.
God walked with man in the cool of the evening. As the sun went down the wind would begin to blow as the signal that God was near. The Hebrew word for ‘cool’ is ruach and it means wind or breath. This is an important point to remember as we will discover in the book of Acts. God was coming to commune with Adam. What a wonderful thing to consider! There was a time when God knew man face to face. This was God’s design and His intention. God never wanted a distant relationship in which man would occasionally seek His face. God desired an ongoing communion.
We live in a time when material wealth and earth bound desires have grossly clouded man’s perception of what it is to know God. Worldly lusts have so taken hold of men’s hearts that they have set their affections on this world and not on things above. Suppose I were to ask you what Heaven is like? Some might answer, streets of gold or mansions bright. Some think of gates of pearl or loved ones that have gone before. What about Eternal Life? What comes to mind? Jesus gave us a definition in John 17:3; This is life eternal, that we might know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. God wants to dwell among His people. The Garden of Eden was once that place.
God gave Adam a responsibility and a commandment. We read in Genesis 2:15; And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Genesis 2:15) The word for ‘keep’ in Hebrew is sha-mar (shaw-mar) and it means to hedge about (as with thorns), or guard and protect. This was an ancient practice similar to how today farmers use barbed wire. Others use a purple paint or a sign that reads, NO TRESPASSING. This was Adam’s job, to ward off trespassers. The word ‘keep’ is the same word that will be used later to describe the flaming sword that kept the way of the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:24). Adam’s responsibility was to make sure that the environment in which God was meeting with Him was protected. This is God demonstrating the need for prevention.
God knew that Satan walked about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He knew his plan and gave Adam this responsibility as one of the very first things. He was to guard this place. Man had a unique privilege in walking with God. But Adam failed first in not keeping the environment safe. Why did he allow the Serpent into the garden in the first place? Here was man- the first man- long before sin had entered and dulled his faculties. Here was a man so intelligent that he named all the animals upon the face of the earth. Here was a man that could hear the sound of God coming- but did not notice the Serpent coming to level wholesale destruction and damnation upon our race. Adam where art thou is the necessary question God asked- but we might have asked, Adam where were you? How did you allow this temptation into the garden? Why did you allow this Serpent to speak to your wife unthwarted? Where was the hedge of thorns? Why was Satan trespassing?
As plain as we can say it, he allowed the Devil in and it was not long and they were all driven out. They left this precious environment. Angels guarded the way of return. A piece of property where once God walked with man is somewhere today- just as common as any other piece of property. There is nothing special about it any more. Why? Because God is gone. Satan accomplished his goal. He introduced sin and it drove God and man out of fellowship. Sin came in and God rolled out. This is a pattern observed from Genesis to Revelation down unto this day. God creates a meeting place for Him and man to commune and Satan fills hearts to introduce sin and bust up the fellowship. It’s the oldest strategy in human history and the enemy works it effectively every day. This is the enemy working to keep God and man out of each others presence. This is Satan introducing sin that would cause God to withdraw from the people. He has worked that strategy from the beginning and in every generation since.
It is our responsibility to hedge about our fellowship with God. To hedge in our hearts and put up metaphorical NO TRESPASSING signs. To cast down imaginations and every evil thought that contends with the knowledge of God. To be sober and vigilant and understand what the enemy is trying to do by introducing temptation into our lives. He is trying to drive God away. He is trying to do to us what he did to Adam and Eve.