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10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. ~ Genesis 2:10-14
Today, we return to our study of the book of Genesis. The theme of the Water of Life begins here in the book of Genesis and goes all the way through the book of Revelation. You will remember that Eden means "delight." In today's passage is mentioned areas that were named before the Flood occurred. All who lived before the Flood knew these areas. They no longer exist as they did before the Flood, but at one point they did and they were known throughout the inhabited world at that time. The rivers names are Pishon, meaning "increase" or "to spring up;" Gihon, meaning "bursting forth;" Hiddekel, meaning "rapid or purpose;" and Perath, meaning "fruitfulness."
The proof that this account is no myth is that two of the rivers mentioned can still be identified. We have certain geographical landmarks given to us. Remember this account describes something that existed before the Flood had undoubtedly widely changed the surface of the earth. Yet, certain of these rivers can be identified. The Hiddekel River is the Tigris today. And the last river was the Euphrates, of course, still bears the same name. The other two rivers are perhaps identical with certain streams which still flow.
In v.10-12 of today's passage we read, "10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there."
Coming out of the Garden of Eden was a river that watered the garden. The first river that flowed out of the garden was full-flowing, and it makes sense that God wants us to experience a full-flow of His Presence and power in our lives. Once it left the garden it split into 4 branches. Here we have the mention of the first of these four rivers that flowed out of Eden and it was named by God the Pishon River. This river’s name means "to spring up." As was the case with all four rivers, the Pishon River came from one source. Combined with the other three rivers, together they wound their way around the world speaking to all of the God who made them.
Sadly, many today dismiss the Garden of Eden as a legend or a myth, thinking they are not a real historical account. Nevertheless, today's account itself is highly detailed, giving the sense of a historical narrative, not a myth or legend. Moreover, we do have geographical evidence, as two of the four rivers identified are still in existence today.
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush."
The second mentioned river was the Gihon River. This river’s name is based on a verb meaning "to burst forth." The previously mentioned land of Havilah is unknown regarding its whereabouts, but it is mentioned four more times in the book of Genesis. As mentioned previously, Havilah had gold and precious stones. The land of Cush may refer to a region of modern-day Ethiopia, so that this river would have gone further to the west. One goes to the south and one goes toward the west, and the Gihon flows west of the Mesopotamian Valley toward modern Ethiopia.
If there had only been one full-flowing river coming out of the garden, we might have concluded that all God was concerned about was us experiencing fullness on a personal level. However, if we move beyond "fullness" and are "bursting forth," then the nature and character of God coming out of us is bound to influence and impact others as well.
In John 4:14 we read, "Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst, not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
It would seem that the message of the Gihon, bursting forth or gushing is that God doesn’t want us merely living lives of survival or of just success, but to move beyond that and truly live lives of significance, not merely focusing on what we need or want for ourselves, but on what we can contribute to others.
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates."
The name of the third river was Hiddekel which meant "swift" or "darting." The idea it gives is that of purpose. For the believer in Christ we get our purpose from being defined by God Himself. Hiddekel was the name some Assyrian monuments had given to the Tigris River which flowed east of Assyria. The two other rivers went south and southwest. Of course the Mediterranean Sea went to the west. And, then there was the Euphrates River. Euphrates means "sweet" or "fruitful." Metaphorically, when we have the first three rivers flowing in our lives with fullness, overflow, and purpose, the result is us experiencing His sweetness and fruitfulness for ourselves.
The Garden of Eden was a massive garden that God provided for man in His original creation. It had rivers flowing out of it. God had been gracious and kind to Adam. This gave Adam no reason to rebel against God but he did. Adam rebelled because he has the freedom to choose God or to choose his way. And, out of that choice, as we know, Adam chose very unwisely. Adam's unwise choice has rendered the chaos, distrust and violence that we see throughout our world today.
Thank God that the Lord Jesus made the way to reverse these evil effects in our lives for eternity by going to the cross and bearing the payment for our sin which had separated us from God. I trust you have invited Him into your life. These four rivers remind believers in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are God’s garden today, and the message in the names of those original four rivers communicate what God wants operative in our lives today. God wants us to know Him intimately and to go forth and to bear His fruit before a lost and dying world!
