9th March 2025

Message – 09/03/25 – Martin Mowat

Readings: Genesis 3:1-13, Revelation 22:1-6a

This morning I’m taking a break from our series about Bible heroes in order to read you something really beautiful, written by an American Bible scholar that I follow on-line.  It speaks into our personal lives in the context of what is going on in our sorry world at the moment, and at the same time it follows naturally from what David was saying so brilliantly last week about listening to God. It might be a tad longer than usual, but it’s worth it.

It talks about Adam and Eve, so can I just say that whether you believe Adam and Eve were real people or mythical people, can we remember that the account was written under the direct guidance of God, the Holy Spirit, to teach us some important spiritual truths. 

So Ralph Wilson writes: The third chapter of Genesis describes Adam and Eve sinning by eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil. But then the text portrays a scene of quiet, of intimacy -- or of what should have been such.

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?'

He answered, 'I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.'

And he said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?'" (Genesis 3:8--11)

God was walking in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, as was his custom. Ancient Near East monarchs would commonly construct private walled gardens near their palace, with fountains, streams, trees and flowers, even with birds and animals, where they could walk and enjoy shade, coolness, and privacy. The king might invite an honoured guest or a family member to join him in his daily enjoyment of the garden.

I think this is what we see in Genesis 3. The Garden of Eden was Yahweh's own garden and Adam and Eve were its caretakers.

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day...." (Genesis 3:8a)

$This wasn't the first time God had walked in his garden; it was his frequent practice. In the Holy Land, "the cool of the day," or better, "the breezy time of day" is the late afternoon, when the heat of the day begins to drop off and the cooling breezes begin to pick up. As we read the story, we sense that Yahweh looked forward to finding Adam and Eve there in the Garden. He was so fond of their company. Together they would walk slowly, casually, no hurry. They would tell him about their day and he would listen as they described their challenges and problems. He enjoyed their presence as they enjoyed his.

Before the sin, before the Fall, Adam and Eve walked with Yahweh naked, yet unashamed, joyful, with nothing to hide from God or each other, fully right with God, fully trusting. What a beautiful picture.

In God's Garden there was peace. The animals that come before Adam to be named posed no threat to him -- or to one another. The law of the jungle had not yet come; food for both man and beast came from ample supplies of vegetation. It was an untroubled time.

But that day, as God sought Adam and Eve in the Garden, they were hiding, nowhere to be seen. Yahweh knew what is going on, but it still hurt deep in his heart. He missed them. He mourned their innocence, their unfeigned affection. Sadly though, he knew that those pleasant walks were now over. Things would never be the same again.

"A-dam," he calls. "E-v-e. Where are you?"

God knew perfectly well where they were, but needed them to come out from their hiding voluntarily, rather than him have to chase them down. Adam finally answered.

This story is the prototype of the tragic tale of sin and separation. It takes away the innocence that nakedness represents and replaces it with the shame and distance that sin inflicts upon us.

Somehow, peace in the animal world was also shattered by the Fall -- just how we are not told. Now animals became predators. The world became a dangerous place. It was literally "dog eat dog." Only the fittest survived, and they only so long as they were strong and healthy. The world was now a place of fear and pain. And, not unsurprisingly, the twenty-first century hasn't seemed to lessen the danger, the pain, and the separation.

But there is hope. In the prophets, we see glimmers of a profound restoration of peace to come.

"The wolf will live with the lamb.... They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain...." (Isaiah 11:6a, 9)

When, oh when, Lord? 

In Revelation, we read, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4)

You can count on it, my friend, an end to pain, a time of joy. A day when our tired, damaged world will see a new dawn of peace. We see this in the Book of Revelation. The New Heavens and the New Earth, where righteousness dwells, represent the Kingdom of God come in all its glory. And clearly, in a symbolic sense, this is Eden restored.

In Genesis we read of "a river watering the garden [that] flowed from Eden...." In Revelation we see "the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb." This is the water that brings life to the garden and eternal life to those who drink from it.

In Genesis the Tree of Life grows in the Garden, causing one who eats of it to live forever. In Revelation, this Tree is growing in the City of God beside the River of Life yielding monthly fruit. And its leaves, like a soothing herbal poultice, bring healing to the nations. All citizens of the city may eat its fruit and thus live forever.

The gentle walks with God in the Garden of Eden of long ago culminate in the New Heavens and the New Earth where there is a renewed intimacy: "The dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them." (Revelation 21:3) "They will see his face!" (Revelation 22:4).

"Face," is a Hebraic way of expressing a person's immediate presence. On that day we will experience God’s presence in full, with no impediments whatsoever. With the songwriter, my heart cries,

"Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face,
There to sing forever of His saving grace;
On the streets of Glory let me lift my voice;
Cares all past, home at last, ever to rejoice."

Adam and Eve hid from God that day. But ever since, he has been seeking them -- seeking us. That's when he sends Jesus, to search for us, and find us.

Jesus told the story of a sheep lost in the wilds, until its shepherd came after it and brought it back with joy. He told of a poor woman who had lost her silver coin and turned her house upside down until she found it. Come, she said to her neighbours, I have found my coin that was lost, let's party. 

Jesus also told of a father, whose younger boy had left home and ruined his life. Yet when the father saw the prodigal son far down the road heading home, he gathered up his robes and ran out to meet him. God is seeking us today and he won't be satisfied until he finds us.

Moreover, God seeks to restore in us now -- not just in heaven -- to restore that fellowship of walking in the Garden with Him. 

Jesus talked to a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, whose life had been diminished by sin to the point of near isolation. In the course of the conversation, he told her something of God's heart desire.

"A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." (John 4:23)

"Seeks” or “is seeking" is the verb zēteō, "to look for in order to find”. Our Father is actively seeking worshipers, people who want to draw close to him, to know him, to walk with him in the Garden in the cool of the day and talk with him, people who refuse to hide any longer, who are drawn to him out of love, out of truth. 

My friends, he is seeking you. He is seeking me.

And, by the Holy Spirit, we can enjoy times of blessing in the presence of the Lord. If not all of the time, at least some of the time.

If you haven't already, I encourage you to set aside some time every day when you will come to the Garden to walk and talk with your Lord. If this is your habit, renew it, refresh it, and take time away from your devotional pattern just to listen and share.

When Andrew first met Jesus along the Jordan where John the Baptist had been preaching, he asked Jesus where he was staying. Jesus didn't answer him, but invited him to an extended conversation. "Come and see," Jesus told Andrew and his friend. "Walk with me."(John 1:38-40)