ELTB TT The Garden

ELTB TT The Garden [∞]

God created the garden with Adam watching. Adam would know that God was doing good things for him. When Jesus read the scriptures, he understood the prophetic riddles. He knew they spoke of him. He had confidence that the Father was doing good things in his life as well.

God put all kinds of trees in the garden which bore fruit good for eating. There were many things God wanted Adam to learn. Jesus learned many things from the OT scriptures. Since he chose to be a baby and learn things from scratch, he had to learn who he was, and what he was to do. The Dietary Law told him about character. The history told story after story of the cross. Everything he needed to fulfill his purpose was hidden in the prophetic riddles.

One stream of water was split into four rivers. The word of God was divided into four voices: prophet, judge, priest, and king. People in these roles told us of God. The prophetic riddle also has the same four voices. The prophet always speaks of Jesus; called 'doctrine'. The judge confronts sin; called 'reproof'. The priest fixes sin; called 'correction'. The king teaches us how to live; called 'training in righteousness'. [] Jesus learned from them all.

When the garden was ready, God put Adam in it to dress and keep it, or serve and preserve it. Adam was allowed to eat from all the trees but one. If he ate from that one tree, he would die. When Jesus came into his kingdom, his garden among the Hebrews, he came to serve and save them. He was allowed to learn from all the pictures of the cross. When he learned the final picture, he had to die.

But God saw that Adam needed a helper. God loves word-play. 'Helper' etser עזר is also ' bride ז wrapped in flesh ע()ר. He and his bride were naked, or in skin. But later God made clothing of skin for them. Jesus also needed a helper. The word 'marriage' in Hebrew also means 'doctrine'. The bride is a symbol for those who are taught by Christ. He would teach people to help him.