And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
The verse names Gihon as the second of four rivers flowing out from Eden by the Garden and encircling the whole land of Ethiopia. It belongs to the account of the garden God planted in Eden for Adam and Eve, created in His own image with mind and will and moral faculties, as designed in counsel before the world was. It portrays the first parents before sin in holy innocence, enjoying unhindered communion with God and sinless angels, with everything in nature pure and undefiled and abundantly supplied for their good. By eating the forbidden fruit in transgression of God's law they lost that Eden home and were shut out of Paradise, opening the floodgates of woe, and its glories were afterward marred and broken up until the lovely home became a desolated earth. That Eden home is to be regained through Jesus Christ by obedience to all God's requirements, overcoming as Christ overcame, when the earth is restored and garden life with its pleasant, useful work of dressing and keeping the ground is lived again.
Eden Home Described
The second river running by the Garden is named Gihon, one of four rivers flowing out from Eden to encircle the whole land of Ethiopia. This belongs to the account of the garden the Lord God planted in Eden as a home for Adam and Eve, arranged in counsel before the world was. There He placed Adam, created in His own image with mind and will and moral faculties after the similitude of His own mind and will.
It portrays the first parents before sin entered, in a state of holy innocence. They enjoyed communion with God and with sinless angels, with nothing interposing between them and their Maker. Through that communion came Adam's education, and in it he became the first to labor together with God.
It shows part of the loving, wonderful provision God made for them, where everything in nature was pure and undefiled and everything they required was abundantly supplied. Every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food was planted there, with fruits and flowers and beautiful lofty trees flourishing, giant forests knowing scarcely anything of decay, blooming gardens, bubbling fountains, running streams, and beautiful lakes. The whole land was enriched with gold and silver and precious stones and rich minerals for the good of men. They were given permission to eat of every tree in the garden but one. Thus the first Adam began in purity and holiness, connected with God and beloved by God, in every way more favorably situated than Christ.
God put them there to dress the garden and keep it, giving them the pleasant, useful employment of caring for it. That work meant caring for the fruit trees and cultivating and training the vegetation. This useful labor was their safeguard, to be perpetuated through all generations to the close of earth's history.
Loss, Restoration, and Instruction
The beautiful Eden given to Adam and Eve included permission to eat of every tree but one, yet by eating the forbidden fruit in transgression of God's law they lost that Eden home and were excluded from Paradise, and their sin opened the floodgates of woe upon the world. Adam lived for nearly a thousand years among men as a witness to the results of sin, and being commanded to instruct his posterity in the way of the Lord, he carefully treasured what God had revealed to him. He faithfully repeated man's holy and happy estate in Paradise, the history of his fall, the sufferings by which God taught him the necessity of strict adherence to His law, and the merciful provisions for salvation, describing them to his children and children's children to the ninth generation in order to stem the tide of evil. Yet few gave heed to his words, and he was often met with bitter reproaches for the sin that had brought such woe upon his posterity.
The Eden glories were marred because of sin and placed under blight, though the curse did not rest heavily at first. When men treated these gifts as their own and used them to forget God and disobey His law, the Flood sent torrents of rain and broke up the fountains of the great deep, uprooted idolized trees, swept away groves, gardens, palaces and costly pleasure works, heaped rubbish, earth and uplifted rocks over idolatrous places, and destroyed fruitful trees, shady avenues, forests and gardens. That judgment turned the lovely home into a broken, uneven surface and frightful solitude now seen in deep gorges and seamed and cleft rocks. Therefore Eden cannot be expected to be found in this sin-desecrated earth, where even the most desirable place will always have something to mar it, though the things of nature still speak of that home as an expression of God's love.
The Eden home is to be regained through Jesus Christ by obedience to all God's requirements, overcoming as Christ overcame by perfect obedience to His Father's commandments, and those bending their footsteps heavenward point others to that Eden home. When the earth is restored, garden-and-field life will be lived again, with people inhabiting their homes and enjoying the work of cultivating the land. The things of nature remind of the time when this home shall be restored and the earth shall be filled with the praise of the Lord, which Christ uses to teach.
Eden restored, the Paradise of God, will be grand and beautiful and is to be cultivated under the supervision of God by those who enter it. Before entering, believers must use every spiritual advantage to become skilful workers in His vineyard, showing faith and love and patience, faithfully cultivating the vineyard of the soul without boasting because it is God who works in them. They are to receive His instruction and grace and impart to others how to care for the precious plants so the vineyard of God is extended, giving sincere service at the call of Christ and not the refusal of the faithless sinner or the empty promise of the untrue son. The garden given with the task of caring for the fruit trees and cultivating and training the vegetation shows that this useful labor was their safeguard and was to be perpetuated through all generations to the close of earth's history, so that a whole-sided education must combine science with practical labor, with physical and mental powers both exercised, and from infancy children should be trained to do things appropriate for their age and ability and to become more independent in order to meet coming troubles.
The verse names Gihon as the second of four rivers flowing out from Eden by the Garden and encircling the whole land of Ethiopia. It belongs to the account of the garden God planted in Eden for Adam and Eve, created in His own image with mind and will and moral faculties, as designed in counsel before the world was. It portrays the first parents before sin in holy innocence, enjoying unhindered communion with God and sinless angels, with everything in nature pure and undefiled and abundantly supplied for their good. By eating the forbidden fruit in transgression of God's law they lost that Eden home and were shut out of Paradise, opening the floodgates of woe, and its glories were afterward marred and broken up until the lovely home became a desolated earth. That Eden home is to be regained through Jesus Christ by obedience to all God's requirements, overcoming as Christ overcame, when the earth is restored and garden life with its pleasant, useful work of dressing and keeping the ground is lived again.
Eden Home Described
The second river running by the Garden is named Gihon, one of four rivers flowing out from Eden to encircle the whole land of Ethiopia. This belongs to the account of the garden the Lord God planted in Eden as a home for Adam and Eve, arranged in counsel before the world was. There He placed Adam, created in His own image with mind and will and moral faculties after the similitude of His own mind and will.
It portrays the first parents before sin entered, in a state of holy innocence. They enjoyed communion with God and with sinless angels, with nothing interposing between them and their Maker. Through that communion came Adam's education, and in it he became the first to labor together with God.
It shows part of the loving, wonderful provision God made for them, where everything in nature was pure and undefiled and everything they required was abundantly supplied. Every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food was planted there, with fruits and flowers and beautiful lofty trees flourishing, giant forests knowing scarcely anything of decay, blooming gardens, bubbling fountains, running streams, and beautiful lakes. The whole land was enriched with gold and silver and precious stones and rich minerals for the good of men. They were given permission to eat of every tree in the garden but one. Thus the first Adam began in purity and holiness, connected with God and beloved by God, in every way more favorably situated than Christ.
God put them there to dress the garden and keep it, giving them the pleasant, useful employment of caring for it. That work meant caring for the fruit trees and cultivating and training the vegetation. This useful labor was their safeguard, to be perpetuated through all generations to the close of earth's history.
Loss, Restoration, and Instruction
The beautiful Eden given to Adam and Eve included permission to eat of every tree but one, yet by eating the forbidden fruit in transgression of God's law they lost that Eden home and were excluded from Paradise, and their sin opened the floodgates of woe upon the world. Adam lived for nearly a thousand years among men as a witness to the results of sin, and being commanded to instruct his posterity in the way of the Lord, he carefully treasured what God had revealed to him. He faithfully repeated man's holy and happy estate in Paradise, the history of his fall, the sufferings by which God taught him the necessity of strict adherence to His law, and the merciful provisions for salvation, describing them to his children and children's children to the ninth generation in order to stem the tide of evil. Yet few gave heed to his words, and he was often met with bitter reproaches for the sin that had brought such woe upon his posterity.
The Eden glories were marred because of sin and placed under blight, though the curse did not rest heavily at first. When men treated these gifts as their own and used them to forget God and disobey His law, the Flood sent torrents of rain and broke up the fountains of the great deep, uprooted idolized trees, swept away groves, gardens, palaces and costly pleasure works, heaped rubbish, earth and uplifted rocks over idolatrous places, and destroyed fruitful trees, shady avenues, forests and gardens. That judgment turned the lovely home into a broken, uneven surface and frightful solitude now seen in deep gorges and seamed and cleft rocks. Therefore Eden cannot be expected to be found in this sin-desecrated earth, where even the most desirable place will always have something to mar it, though the things of nature still speak of that home as an expression of God's love.
The Eden home is to be regained through Jesus Christ by obedience to all God's requirements, overcoming as Christ overcame by perfect obedience to His Father's commandments, and those bending their footsteps heavenward point others to that Eden home. When the earth is restored, garden-and-field life will be lived again, with people inhabiting their homes and enjoying the work of cultivating the land. The things of nature remind of the time when this home shall be restored and the earth shall be filled with the praise of the Lord, which Christ uses to teach.
Eden restored, the Paradise of God, will be grand and beautiful and is to be cultivated under the supervision of God by those who enter it. Before entering, believers must use every spiritual advantage to become skilful workers in His vineyard, showing faith and love and patience, faithfully cultivating the vineyard of the soul without boasting because it is God who works in them. They are to receive His instruction and grace and impart to others how to care for the precious plants so the vineyard of God is extended, giving sincere service at the call of Christ and not the refusal of the faithless sinner or the empty promise of the untrue son. The garden given with the task of caring for the fruit trees and cultivating and training the vegetation shows that this useful labor was their safeguard and was to be perpetuated through all generations to the close of earth's history, so that a whole-sided education must combine science with practical labor, with physical and mental powers both exercised, and from infancy children should be trained to do things appropriate for their age and ability and to become more independent in order to meet coming troubles.