Page 47 - Genesis: Book of Beginnings and Science Behind it

Genesis 2:8-17 – The Garden of Eden

8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the
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man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to
spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree
of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil.

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and
became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that
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flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good;
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bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed
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around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria.
And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

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15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And
the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the
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tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely
die.” (ESV)

God planted a garden in an area of the earth named Eden. This was to be a special dwelling place for
man where he would have perfect fellowship with his creator God. In this setting, God would provide all
the instructions to live in this world, how to manage and steward the creation, and how to interact with
the creation, both animals and other men, even though there was no one around.

Some people believe that the exact location of the Garden of Eden could be found since there are
names of rivers listed here. There is also a lot of specificity concerning where the rivers flow. However,
we must remember this is the pre-flood world. These rivers would have been destroyed in the flood.
The names are the same as other post-flood rivers since the memory of certain rivers would still be in
our collective memory. As they saw rivers appear after the flood, it caused them to think back to a
better time and select names that reminded them of something from when the earth was perfect.

To answer the question, “Where was the Garden of Eden?” the answer is, “We have NO IDEA specifically
where it was. We can presume a general location in the Mesopotamian Valley, but we cannot be
dogmatic. Like the rest of the pre-flood earth, the Garden of Eden was destroyed with the global,
cataclysmic flood recorded in Genesis 7.

Many have questioned why God placed the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” in the garden. One
thing we can be sure of is that it was for man’s good. It was also not to tempt mankind since James 1:17
says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I have been tempted by God”, for God cannot be tempted by
evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”

One thing to consider in answering this question is why God created man in the first place. Man was
created to have full, freely chosen fellowship with God. God was going to lavish his love, attention, and
blessing on man, and His desire is that man, of his own free will, would choose to reciprocate. When we
consider choices, an action is not a choice if there is no alternative action. For God to allow man to
choose to return His love, He must give man an alternate choice to say no.

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