THURSDAY
The tree of life in the garden narrative gives us another image pointing to Eden being a temple. The menorah in the temple (the 7 branched candlestick) was intended to represent the tree of life. We will talk about this more when we come to the tabernacle and the temple. But for today, the menorah, representing the tree of life, in the temple supports the point that Eden is to be viewed as a temple.
Genesis 2:8–9 (ESV) 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 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.
We talked a little about the tree of knowledge of good and evil yesterday. This symbolizes humanity’s attempts to define good and evil for themselves apart from God. The assumption is that God will teach his people the knowledge of good and evil in his time, but the humans decide to define it for themselves instead.
Conversely, the tree of life symbolizes the abundant, eternal life of God that he offers to humanity. He offers every tree in the garden for humanity to eat from. This would include the tree of life. The one exception to this generous blessing and provision is the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:16–17 (ESV) 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the 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.”
Therefore, God graciously offers humans participation in his abundant, eternal life. This abundant, eternal life is found only in God’s presence—that sacred space with him. The question is whether or not we humans will receive his life on his terms. His terms are following his definitions of good and evil, not defining them for ourselves. This is the same question before us now—will you work and keep God’s garden, eating from the tree of life in his space? Or will you seek to define good and evil apart from him?
Our culture, like every culture, presents us a picture of the good life apart from the presence of God. Our culture’s vision is a secular vision, contrasted with religious visions like in Muslim countries. It includes the freedom to be self-determined apart from anyone else’s definitions of who we are. We want the freedom to define ourselves even to the level of our sexuality and gender. We want the freedom to do whatever we want to do even if it conflicts with what God says is good. We want the freedom to decide what is true for ourselves even if it conflicts with what God says is true. As you can likely see, this is the same temptation to define good and evil for ourselves apart from God as in the garden.
In our secular humanistic vision of the good life we pursue satisfaction and luxury. Our vision of the good life is one of wealth so we can buy whatever luxuries money can afford. Our vision of the good life is a life pursuing whatever pleasures the world offers to us. We see this in movies and music’s portraits of casual sex, partying, and even power. On the more “common folk” level, we pursue endless vacations and long for retirement, which means we can choose to do whatever we want whenever we want.
We long for pleasure and luxury and we seek it apart from Eden. You’ll remember Eden means land of pleasure or luxury. God has already offered pleasure and luxury to humanity. It is found in his presence alone. The tree of life and the Garden of Eden coincide well with John Piper’s concept of Christian hedonism. As humans we have these deep longings and desires. Religious teaching and practice has, at times, taught that pious religious observance means stuffing those longings down like a dirty sock in an overflowing laundry basket. But the tree of life in Eden reveals that God wants to satisfy our longings. But they are only satisfied in him and on his terms. C.S. Lewis says it well in Weight of Glory
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Additional Content
Reflection
Where are you looking for satisfaction apart from God? What is at the core of that longing? Do you not trust that God has your good in mind? Do you not trust that only he can satisfy your longings? Are you afraid that you’ll be missing some part of the good life if you surrender that fully to God and pursue him only?