There’s speculation about why Genesis 2 includes an out-of-place mention of the four rivers that flow from Eden.
I think the clue is that it occurs immediately after the mention of the Two Trees.
The rivers seem to be Empires, flowing into the sea.
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground–trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:8-17 (NIV)
We wrestle with a good God who would make a tree that points to misery and death, or a God who creates a serpent who tempts. He did.
Israel must have wondered about Assyria, Babylon, their enemies, and wondered about injustice & wickedness. But God made all of the nations.
And they all are sourced through one Adam. Sourced by one river that feeds all the land.
Israel, too, is a river. It’s the Jordan river, and long after Eden, when God steps into new covenant with man, we read this about the river:
Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
Genesis 13:10 (NIV)
The Jordan is not like the rivers that branched off in Eden. It isn’t connected to them. This is the first mention of the Jordan, and it’s almost like God is showing us the NEW way after Abram allows Lot to choose first. To humble himself. To love. And to trust God’s way.
Jonah didn’t want to preach to Nineveh, capital of Assyria, but maybe God wanted him to see that this nation was sourced in that same garden. That He cared for them, too, desiring that none would perish but that all would be in relationship with Him. In peace. Flourishing.
I can’t help but think we are being reminded to love our enemies, not just because we are told to, but because all nations flow from the river that watered the garden.
And one day, those rivers will stream back to Eden in reverse, up to the high place of God.
In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
Isaiah 2:2 (NIV)
