(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
The fourth of The Four Gardens of God is the recreation of Edenic (Garden of Eden) characteristics in the New Jerusalem described in Revelation 21 and the first five verses of 22. Our featured Scripture is just two verses, Revelation 21:5 and 6:
Then He who sat upon the throne [God Himself] said, “Behold,
I make all things new.” And He said to me [John, the apostle],
“Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said
to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Begin-
ning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of
life freely to him who thirsts.”
The LORD made all things new at the beginning. The Garden of Eden contained everything that humanity would need to live a full life in fellowship with God. But it was lost when our first parents disobeyed their Creator and ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil! (see Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-6; 22-24). He will reestablish Eden again when He creates “…the new heaven and a new earth…” (Revelation 21:1). Although this ‘fourth Garden of God’ is not named ‘the second Garden of Eden,’ the revealed characteristics of this fourth garden are what was manifest in the first garden of Eden!
Resident Human beings there will be perfect!
- Adam and Eve were created in the image of God – perfect! (Genesis 1:26). There was no sickness, injury, or death. They were designed to live forever!
✞ In the new Garden of God, we will be like Jesus: “...we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (I John
3:2 – see also Philippians 3:12; I Corinthians 13:12).
✞ We are told in Romans 6:9 concerning our Lord, “...Christ,
having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no
longer has dominion over Him.” (Romans 6:9 – see also Rev-
elation 1:18). Jesus said of His own followers in...
➔ ...John 5:24 – “Most assuredly, I say to you, he
who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me
has everlasting life, and shall not come into judg-
ment, but has passed from death to life.”
➔ ...John 10:28, “...I give them eternal life, they
shall never perish....”- God had told Adam in Genesis 2:17 that, “…in the day that you eat…of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…you shall surely die.”
✞ The moment Adam and Eve ate, death came!
➔ Their spiritual connection with the LORD died
immediately! For when God came to fellowship
with them, “Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the LORD God among the
trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8).
➔ Physical death caught up with them many years
later (see Genesis 5:5).
✞ Romans 5:12 – But through Adam, death infected us all!
“...just as through one man sin entered into the world,
and death through sin, and thus death spread to all...
because all sinned.”
- Not only was physical death introduced when our first parents sinned, but sickness and disease began…
✞ ...leading to degeneration of body and mind, which in
turn leads to death!
✞ But we are told in Revelation 21:4, “...God will wipe
away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more
death, nor sorrow, nor crying, and there shall be no
more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
All nature, yes, all creation was affected by the curse of sin! For Saint Paul wrote in Romans 8:18 through 23:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be re-
vealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation
eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the
creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but be-
cause of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation
itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know
that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs
together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption
of our body.
- It is implied in Scripture that before sin entered into the world, all animals, reptiles, fowl, sea creatures, even insects lived in peaceful harmony!
- Much of that implication is from the description of the animal kingdom in the new heaven and earth described in Isaiah 11:6 through 9 (International Standard Version):
The wolf will live with the lamb; the leopard will lie down
with the young goat. The calf and the lion will graze togeth-
er, and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear
will graze, and their young will lie down together, and the
lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play
over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his
hand on vipers' dens. They will neither harm nor destroy on
my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge
of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
“The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden…” (Genesis 2:9). Partaking of this tree’s fruit produced eternal life, according to Genesis 3:22. For this very reason God expelled our sinful parents from the garden of Eden!
- That reason is found in Genesis 3:22, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he…take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever — ….” Can you imagine someone totally given to evil like Hitler or Osama Bin Laden living forever?!
- But in the New Jerusalem, the tree of life is not only restored, but multiplied! “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:2)
Rivers were an important part of the garden of Eden, as well as the fourth Garden of God!
- In Genesis 2:10 a river is mentioned that “…went out of Eden….” There is very little information given in Genesis 2 about this river, but we are told that “…it parted and became four riverheads.” They are named…
✞ ...Pishon, which means dispersive in Hebrew. ✞ ...Gihon, which simply means stream. ✞ ...Hiddekel which is thought to be the Tigris River. ✞ ...Euphrates River meaning in Hebrew rushing. These last two rivers have figured in Bible history for thousands of years!
- Back on March 22nd, 2013 I wrote a Gem called Ezekiel’s Miraculous River! This is the river that is mentioned in Revelation 22:2 above. I would challenge you to read that early Gem, and see why I call it Miraculous! Here are three of the reasons:
✞ The source of the river was a trickle from the east en-
trance of the temple. But it gained strength and depth
quickly with no other obvious means of input! (see Ezek-
iel 47:1-5). I believe these next two Scriptures from
Ezekiel are references to the multiplied tree of life.
➔ “...there, along the bank of the river were very
many trees on one side and the other.” (Ezekiel
47:7).
➔ “Along the bank of the river, on this side and
that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food
....They will bear fruit every month, because
their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit
will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
(Ezekiel 47:12).
✞ The waters of this river bring healing wherever it flows!
Ezekiel 47:8 through 10:
This water flows toward the eastern region, goes
down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it
reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it
shall be that every living thing that moves, wher-
ever the rivers go, will live. There will be a
very great multitude of fish, because these waters
go there; for they will be healed, and everything
will live wherever the river goes. It shall be that
fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim;
they will be places for spreading their nets. Their
fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the
Great Sea, exceedingly many.
✞ Verse 1 of Revelation 22 opens the chapter describing the
New Jerusalem thus: “And he [the angel mentioned in Revela-
tion 21:9] showed me a pure river of water of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb.”
This is Ezekiel’s Miraculous River!
The most significant point of both the garden of Eden and The Fourth Garden of God is that the LORD God is there!
- Genesis 3:8 – “And they [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” This gives the idea that God regularly walked in the garden to fellowship with His highest creation – human beings!
- Revelation 22:3-5:
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God
and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall
serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall
be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there:
They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God
gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.This is the Fourth Garden of God!
Oh, What a Heritage every Christian Has!
Let Us Prepare…
And Live for Him Here and Now!