As we have seen throughout Scripture, God’s Word expresses
His Triune Nature as Father, Son and Holy Spirit by clustering significant concepts, people and objects in groups of three. Some of the
earliest triplet patterns occur in Genesis
2, with the description of the Garden of Eden introducing the central.theme
of the Bible. Man is sinful and deserves God’s judgment, but God’s mercy saves him.
This garden was Paradise on earth, created by God for man’s
enjoyment (v. 8). God filled the
garden with three types of trees: every tree that is pleasant to the sight,
and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the
garden, and the tree of knowledge of
good and evil (v. 9).
Through the first two types of trees, God blessed man with beautiful scenery, delicious food, and the promise of perfect life free of aging,
illness or pain. The third tree of knowledge of good and evil was a test of
man’s faith, submission and obedience. Adam
and Eve failed that test by doubting
God’s Word, pridefully seeking their
own desires rather than pleasing God, and disobeying His commandment (Genesis
3:1-6).
Their rebellion led to guilt
(v.7, 10), loss of
fellowship with God (v. 10) and suffering the consequences of God’s judgment. This included
a threefold curse on the serpent (v.
14-15), on Adam (v.
17-19), and on Eve (v.
16). But God in His mercy restored
fellowship by seeking them out as they hid from Him (v.9), covered their sin
with animal skins (v. 21), and expelled them from the Garden (v. 22-24).
Although the expulsion from Eden was part of the judgment and consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin, it was also an act of mercy. Had God permitted them to
remain in the Garden of Eden, they could have eaten from the tree of life (v. 22). This would have given them
eternal life, which would be more of a curse than a blessing. They would have lived
forever in their fallen state, continuing to experience the endless toil of physical labor (v.
17-19), the strife of relationships broken
by sin (v. 16), and sorrow (v.
16-17).
Instead, God in His mercy had them leave. The duration of their physical life ravaged by
sin would be limited (v. 19), and God would give Eve a son whose descendant
would bruise Satan’s head (v. 15).
In so doing, God began His perfect plan of redemption, not only for Adam and Eve, but for everyone who
would believe in His Son as Deliverer,
Lord and Saviour (John 3:16; 1
Timothy 1:1; 2 Peter 1:11). The animal skins with which God
clothed Adam and Eve required the shedding of blood, foreshadowing the shed
blood of Christ, the perfect Sacrifice Who cleansed us from all our sins, past, present and future (Romans
5:9; Revelation 1:5).
God watered the Garden of Eden with four rivers defining three
lands or countries: Havilah, Ethiopia, and Assyria (Genesis 2:11, 13, 14). Based on current
geography, it is difficult to determine from this description the exact former location
of the Garden of Eden, as the global flood in Noah’s day would have
considerably altered the terrain.
Through their future inhabitants, these three lands remind
us of man’s sin, God’s judgment, and His restoration. Havilah was a source
of three treasures: gold, bdellium and onyx (v.12). But it also
was the dwelling place of Israel’s
enemies: the sons of Ishmael (Genesis 25:16-18), as well as the
Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:7)
Ishmael represents the consequences of man taking matters into his own hands,
rather than trusting God and waiting on the Lord’s perfect timing.
God had promised to give Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah) a natural born son in their barren old age; to make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars; and
to give him the Promised Land to
inherit (Genesis 15:1-7). As
part of a sign to Abraham confirming this promise, God asked him for an
offering of three beasts: a heifer,
a she goat, and a ram, each three years old (v. 9).
Had Abram and Sarai only waited for God’s perfect timing,
they would not have sinned before they heard the rest (and best) of the
promise: God would make Abraham the
father of many nations, He would be
God to him and his descendants, and he
and his descendants would possess the land of Canaan forever (Genesis 17:4-8).
But Sarah accused
the Lord of keeping her from childbearing, violated God’s plan for marriage by giving her maid Hagar to
Abraham, and persuaded him to have a
child by her. Because of Ishmael, the son of this adulterous liaison, Hagar hated Sarah, Sarah wanted to be rid of Hagar, and Abraham was caught in the middle (Genesis 16:2-6).
God promised to make Ishmael the father of innumerable
descendants (v. 10), just as He did
for Isaac, Abraham and Sarah’s promised son born after Ishmael. But unlike
Isaac, Ishmael would be a curse, and not a blessing, to Israel, for he would be a
wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him (v. 12). The world today is still reeling from the impact of radical
Islamists tracing their roots back to Abraham through Ishmael.
The Amalekites, also inhabitants of Havilah, were another
thorn in Israel’s side. As the Hebrews fled from Egypt, Amalek attacked them in
a fierce battle at Rephidim. Israel prevailed while Moses prayed, assisted by Aaron
and Hur (Exodus 17:10-12). God swore that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation (v. 16).
God used the Amalekites and Canaanites as an instrument of
His judgment against the Hebrews for complaining
about Him, lacking faith in His
promise by believing an evil report about
the Promised Land, and planning to
disobey Him by returning to Egypt (Numbers 14). The
judgment was threefold: they would be
struck by pestilence and the sword; the adults would die in the wilderness (except for Joshua and Caleb who
brought a good report); and the children would wander in the wilderness
for 40 years before entering the Promised Land.
As severe as this sounds, it was
a lesser punishment than they deserved for their lack of faith despite God’s faithfulness, His signs demonstrating His great power, and the report from Joshua and Caleb of the land flowing with milk and honey.
But God pardoned them (v. 20), for He is longsuffering, and of
great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression (v. 18).
The Amalekites continued to threaten
Israel (Judges 3:13; 6:3, 7:12), and God commanded
King Saul to kill every one of their people, herds and flocks (1 Samuel 15:1-3). But
Saul disobeyed God by sparing the life of their king and the best of the
livestock. This sin cost Saul dearly, for God judged him by taking away his kingship (1 Samuel 15:7-35). Yet He restored a Godly king to Israel by
selecting and anointing David (1
Samuel 16:1-13), a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) who ultimately defeated
the Amalekites (1 Samuel 31).
Because of God’s great mercy, He does not give us what we
deserve, namely eternal punishment in hell, for we are all sinners (Romans 3:23; 6:23). His holiness, perfection and justice (1 Samuel 2:2) demand that sin be
punished, but He reconciled us to Himself by the atoning sacrifice of His Son (Romans 5:10-11), Who was crucified, buried, and rose again
on the third day so that all who
trust Him have everlasting life (1
Corinthians 15:1-4).
We see God’s mercy daily (Lamentations 3:22-23,32) as He works all things together for our good (Romans 8:28), protects
us from the full consequences of our transgressions, and gives blessings to mitigate the judgment
He requires. Sometimes He allows us go through trials, knowing that they will strengthen our faith, conform us to the image of His Son, and
equip us to help others going
through similar trials by giving us compassion,
wisdom and experience,
Like Havilah, the other two lands comprising the Garden of Eden, namely Ethiopia
and Assyria, also have lessons for us regarding man’s sin, God’s judgment, and His
restoration, as we shall see next week. Praise God that even from the beginning,
He knew that man would sin,
requiring judgment, but that He had a plan to redeem us!
© 2015 Laurie Collett
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