I have written much about Eden and the Garden eastward in
that land. Of course, the Garden of Eden is believed to be in or around
Ur in present-day Iraq, but that is based on the map of the world as it is at
the present. It certainly did not appear then as it does today. In other words,
it is futile to use a modern map to search for the Garden of God as it was in
the beginning.
On the third “day” of Creation the world was generated from
the earth (particles of matter) and existed in space (heavens): [1]
God said, Let
the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the
dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the
gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
(Gen 1:9-10)
Therefore, on the third “day” the land which scientists call “Pangea” was formed in the midst of the seas. The Bible, I believe, called the original continent before drift, “Eden” (Gen 10:25,32). Sometime thereafter, perhaps during the flood, Eden devolved into seven separate continents (physically six as Europe and Asia are actually one continent now called “Eurasia.) It is possible that Eden was the area of land which later became Eurasia, and not inclusive of all the continents. The Mediterranean Sea, meaning “Center of the Earth” surely refers to the middle of the Earth after continental drift for that sea to even exist. For now, consider the land called “Eden” the territory around and including the Mediterranean Sea.
I have discovered three known locations named Eden: (1) The unidentified land mass in the Creation Story, (2) the name of the land of Dan before his tribe moved northward toward Lebanon, and (3) Aden (also interpreted as Eden) - a protectorate into this century on the south tip of the Arabian Peninsula (now called Yemen.) Therefore, Eden included at least the territory inclusive of Arabia and to the sea eastward of Jerusalem. Scripture indicates that even Zarephath (Sarapeta) in Lebanon shall be possessed by the Israel.
“Israel” is the promised land - that empire promised to Abraham and given by God to King David. The triangular area in Figure #1 is the extent of the “promised land” of Israel.
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Figure 1: Promised Land (theisraelbible.com)
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KEY VERSES (About Tyre in Lebanon):
1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre,
‘Thus says the Lord God:
“Because your heart is lifted up,
And you say, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods,
In the midst of the seas,’
Yet you are a man, and not a god,
Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel!
There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
4 With your wisdom and your understanding
You have gained riches for yourself,
And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
5 By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”
6 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
7 Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
The most terrible of the nations;
And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
And defile your splendor.
8 They shall throw you down into the Pit,
And you shall die the death of the slain
In the midst of the seas. (Ezek 28; NKJV)
Some say that the key verses are metaphorical and only compare Tyre to the Garden of Eden. As a literalist when literalism is not precluded, I identify Tyre as a portion of the Garden of Eden. Indeed, it is at the extremity of the triangular area of land sitting off the present-day coast of Lebanon. The name Tyre means “Rock” as it is also expressed as follows, “And they (its adversaries) shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock” (Ezek 26:4). (That finally happened with Babylon commencing the destruction, and Alexander the Great finalizing it.) Tyre existed on both the isle and on the main land in ancient times and is one of the oldest cities on Earth (ca 2900 BC). Where am I going with this?
The Lord God
sent him (Adam) out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which
he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of
the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the
way to the tree of life. (Gen 3:23-24)
The station of the cherubim was east of the Garden of Eden. The
globe was not the same before continental drift. (See figure #2 for the
land masses before drift according to speculation.) |
| Pangea (mymodernet,com) |
The continents drifted outward in a spiral around the Mediterranean Sea if this representation is fairly accurate. Indeed, the Foundation Stone in Jerusalem is called, “the navel of the world” and is known as the celestial axis between the Earth and the celestial sphere. Let’s say that Pangea is somewhat representative. The directions of Israel may have rotated if that is correct. For that reason, ignore “east of the Garden of Eden” in Genesis 3 above. Why so? Tyre was in the northern sector of the Kingdom of David. My hypothesis is that Tyre was the place where cherubim were to guard the way to the Tree of Life in the passage above.
Also, in the key verses, the prince of Tyre became as god. The “princes” of Tyre were most often allied with Israel. Even the cedars of Lebanon were given for building the Temple of God. That a prince of Tyre would be as god was a new thing. Before that, their princes were allied with Israel. As a port city, Tyre was an ideal location to prevent entry into the Davidic Kingdom. It seems that the princes of Tyre were symbolic of cherubim which guarded the way to the midst of the Garden where the Tree of Life stood!
A further hint was that Tyre’s prince, whoever he was, thought he was as wise as Daniel, and thought of himself as god. Remembering that cherubim were angels that guarded the way to Paradise, and that even angels often turn on God, the prince of Tyre turned on Israel and their God when he sided with Babylonia. That does not mean that the prince of Tyre was angelic, but that he was symbolic of fallen angels. Ezekiel reminded the prince that although he sat in the seat of God, he was not a god! Neither were the cherubim! Now examine supplementary key verses:
SUPPLMENT TO KEY VERSES:
12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre,
and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you. (Ezek 28)
The king of Tyre (the “prince”) was the “seal of perfection.” That describes cherubim who guarded the way of the Tree of Life. Ezekiel was literal about the symbolism: “You were in Eden, the Garden of God.” Ezekiel identifies the Kings of Tyre as from the cherubim! He revealed their guardian post when he wrote about Tyre as in the Garden of God in Eden. Of course, the Garden was eastward in Eden (Gen 2:8), and was a smaller area than Eden.
I contend that the Garden of Eden was the Kingdom of David, and that the “midst of the Garden” where the Tree of Life stood was the city of Jerusalem (Gen 2:9).
Ezekiel goes on to say, “You were the anointed cherubim who covers.” Cherubim covers the face of God as we know from the cherubim atop the Ark of God. The King of Tyre were those princes who were anointed as cherubim, not as God! At some point in time, iniquity was found in the cherubim who guarded the way to the Tree of Life just as iniquity had been found in Lucifer:
You have said in
your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars
of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides
of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the
Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the
Pit. (Isa 14:12-15)
Well, the King of Tyre was brought down in much the same way as Lucifer! Then Tyre was cut down, and the prince of Tyre brought down to Sheol as well. Tyre went from mountain to pit when its walls were breached.
The object of this commentary was to help identify Eden, the Garden of Eden, and the middle of the Garden. That Tyre was the outlying guard post of the Garden of Eden helps identify the Promised Land to Abraham as the Garden itself, and of course, God’s House and Tree were in the midst of the Garden. By that I mean Solomon’s Temple and the Holy Cross of Jesus! That the Foundation Stone was Ornan’s Threshing Floor and God’s Threshing Temple is further evidence that the central point of Eden was the rock that the Dome of the Rock covers. In other words, Ur may have been part of the Garden, but Israel was the entire Garden of Eden. Eden then, must be all the world including Israel, indicating that Pangea is Eden.
The Bible describes where it all happened in the beginning. We must cease looking at the way things are now, but the way they were. Those regenerated will live for eternity in the Garden Paradise in Eden. I believe it to be the Promised Land promised to Abraham. That is reinforced by Revelation 21. I believe that the middle of the Garden where the Tree of Life stood is in the same place, but in a different realm – one that we cannot see because the gulf of death must be crossed to see what Ezekiel saw!
[1] In
my book, On the Origin of Man and the Universe, I contend that “days”
are better interpreted in that context as “processes.”
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