FULLY FURNISHED

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed – Genesis 2:8

God planted and FULLY FURNISHED a garden-home for man to life a flourishing life. The rest of creation was fully prepared before God brought Man on the scene. After He formed Man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; this “new creation” stood there for the first time in creative history, in the midst of the luxuries of creation. But he needed a dwelling, a home, a place to live. God designed wonderful features for humanity’s home – the Garden of Eden – the most beautiful and bountiful paradise imaginable! God’s goodness is seen in Eden’s design – Man’s paradise, his utopia. Eden’s features clearly depict how God cares deeply for our welfare, provision, security, joy, and fulfilment.

“The Lord God planted a garden…” (v.8a). Eden was a real, physical place, planted by God Himself. It was not a fable, fiery tale, or figment of imagination. It was not just symbolic of the ideal earth toward which man could strive. The specific direction of the Garden is given: “eastward in Eden” – toward the great fertile plains of the Tigris and Euphrates. The general location is given (vv.10-14). Real lands are mentioned: Havilah, Ethiopia, and Assyria. Real rivers are listed: Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel or the Tigris, and the Euphrates. If the rest of creation account is historically accurate and real, then the Garden of Eden must be a real, historical place. If it is fiction, then the fall of humanity is a fable, because it took place in the Garden, and redemption is unreal! If redemption is unreal, then we only need to strive towards an ideal earth by our effort! Praise God, our redemption is real, and Eden was not a fable!

Eden met Man’s need for a comfortable, furnished, and special home. Man needed a place where he could be centrally located; that he could call home. God met that need: He created the most beautiful paradise imaginable; then He took Man and put him into the Garden. The word “garden” (gan) means a place that is enclosed, protected, and sheltered. It also carries the idea of being covered, of being perfectly protected. The word “Eden” (edhen) means a place of delight, pleasure, and bliss – a paradise. The earth was a perfect and unthreatening environment, overflowing with an abundance of beauty and fruit. But the Garden of Eden was further exceeding in beauty, bliss, and provision. The Garden gave man was a place to live and establish a home and community; a place that was enclosed, protected, and sheltered from the elements of nature and of the weather; a place that provided care and covering – the fully furnished home that humanity needed.

Eden met Man’s physical and emotional needs for food, shelter, beauty, and pleasure: “The Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food...” (v.9a). The Garden provided discovery, and encounter. Every tree, shrub, flower, and plant imaginable was there, each with its color and fragrance; everything to satisfy the taste and nourishment of man. Moreover, Eden’s beauty was bound to give man a sense of awe and worship – to stir praise and thanksgiving! However, that man could still fall in Eden suggests that we cannot use our environment as an excuse to sin, fail or come short. Man began in an ideal environment and still fell into sin! Our problem is not our environment, but our heart. Nothing and no environment can fully meet man’s spiritual hunger or need for worship: not possessions, pleasures or powers of the earth! Only God can fully meet such need!

As Matthew Henry noted: God did not put man in a palace made of silver and gold, nor in a house made of ivory, but in the most beautiful and artful place of all: a Garden furnished and adorned by God Himself. Praise God, the paradise lost in Adam is restored in Christ! He who fully furnished Eden, and fully furnished your environment in the womb is more than able to fully furnish your life in this world!