In the Beginning: A Prophetic Journey Through the Book of Genesis

PART 1

In the Beginning

CHAPTER 1

Genesis 2:7–9

⁷ Then the LORD God formed a man[a] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.⁸ Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. ⁹ 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.

The Birth of a Man: Verse 7

In starting our investigation, we are going to begin with a basic look into the affairs that surrounded the beginning of creation. Here we have the written account of God creating the first man in the entire history of the human race. The body that the first man (Adam) possessed was formed from the dust of the ground. The Lord breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. In doing so, the Lord put a unique spirit into the man, a spirit created in the image of God. Before the Lord breathed into Adam and gave him a spirit, Adam remained a lifeless, empty shell which lay upon the earth.

But once the Lord breathed into Adam and placed in him a unique spirit (a spirit in the image of God), Adam became a living being. From this relevant detail, we can conclude that death, as we know it today, is the separation of the spirit from the body. This also leads to the understanding of why people breathe their last breath before their spirits exit their earthly flesh. God breathes life (spirit) into our bodies, and when the time comes, we exhale that same breath of life (spirit) back to God while the body returns to the earth from which it came.

The Grand Estate of the East: Verse 8

The translation you may be reading will sometimes give you a slight variation in the wording of various biblical accounts throughout the Holy Scriptures. Studying from the NIV and NKJV version, we see that although God owns all things in creation, He chose to claim the area of Eden as His own allotted land with a special focus on a garden He Himself created in the east. If you read Genesis 2:5–6, you will notice that the earth was void of all shrubs and plants. There was also no rain at the time, but there were rivers that watered the whole earth. He then created a garden east of Eden, where He placed Adam to live and manage it. Many would argue as to the location of the land of Eden and its garden. I don’t believe, however, that the Lord would make its location a grand mystery. The answer as to the whereabouts of Eden and its garden has been broadcast throughout the entire Old Testament. There are many scriptures that point out to us where Eden once resided. The two scriptures I will share, is Ezekiel 20:1–16 and Isaiah 19:24-25. In Ezekiel 20, the Lord speaks of the eviction of the Jews from the land of Israel due to disobedience. He calls Israel the most beautiful of all the lands because it was the Lord who personally pruned it from the time of Eden. In Isaiah 19, the Lord makes a specific reference to Israel as His inheritance.

The location of the land of Eden is in fact ancient Israel. The garden which was in the land of Eden was located in the city of Jerusalem. When the world was barren of all shrubs and plants because man had not yet worked the land, the Garden of Eden was the only land that was worked by the very hands of God Almighty. Referencing verse 8 of Genesis 2, we receive the confirmation that God planted a garden in the eastern part of Eden and placed the first man there to work the Land.

In the land of Eden, there were four great rivers which flowed and watered the land like a garden hose (Genesis 2:10-14). Over the course of the millenniums following the great flood of Noah, there were major changes to the tectonic plates redirecting the four major rivers out of their original boundary lines (Genesis 7:11-12). This is why it is difficult to locate the exact ancient boundary lines of these four rivers in their original estate. When we come to understand this, we begin to realize why Israel is the epicenter of the world; Jerusalem is the epicenter of Israel, and the Temple Mount the epicenter of Jerusalem. At the end of the age when our Lord Yeshua returns, He will reinstate the heavens and the earth back to its original estate. He will make Eden even more glorious than before, when he brings from heaven the new Jerusalem as a bride ready to meet her bridegroom (read Revelation 21-22).

When we realize the relationship between Eden and the eastern garden as it is compared to Israel and Jerusalem east of Israel, we receive a better understanding as to why the Lord claimed Israel specifically as His own estate on earth. Here is an interesting thought: Over the course of history there have been many nations that warred over Israel, claiming that the land belonged to them. The land went from the hands of the Canaanites to the hands of the Jews to the hands of Middle Eastern kingdoms to the hands of Europeans, then back to the Middle Eastern nations and finally back to the hands of the Jews in 1948. But even the Jews do not own the land of Israel, they are only permitted by God (the true owner of the estate) to occupy and work the land, in the same manner as Adam. In the exact same turn of events, when they failed to abide by His rules, they were evicted just like Adam (Genesis 3:22-24 and 2 Kings 25).

When Adam departed the garden and began working the land, the land he began to till became his own personal estate. This became the standard for all future generations. The land in which they plowed became their territory. There were three conditions in which the owner would lose the territory he possessed. He could pass it down as an inheritance to his descendants upon his death. He could sell it to an interested buyer, or he could lose it through conquest. So when it comes down to it, we must ask ourselves a few questions. What descendants on earth should the Lord give the land as an inheritance upon His passing? Is He not the eternal God? What price can a man offer the Lord for His estate? Did He not create the very riches of the cosmos? Who can defeat the Lord in battle and possess His land through conquest? Is He not the perfect Warrior, undefeated in battle? The Lord only has one true heir—the Lord and Savior of our souls, Jesus Christ. Exodus 15:6-18 makes the clear and sound declaration of our Lord’s great sovereignty, in which we understand the glory and majesty of Yahweh in all of creation. In Romans 8:14-16, we receive our reassurance as the children of God through the testimony of the Holy Spirit which dwells in the hearts of the believer. With this reassurance, we become co-heirs with Christ. In Deuteronomy 10:17, the Lord speaks His unmatched supremacy as He has no equal. The Garden of Eden was the original cradle of life. After the great flood of Noah, mankind began to rebuild what became the location of the new cradle of life: Babylon (Genesis 11:1-9).

The Two Trees of Fate: Verse 9

God was the first person to plow the lands and bring forth the trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Later Adam was appointed by God to do the same after Him. In the middle of the garden, God planted two special trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. As we have learned before, Eden was where Israel currently resides, and to the east of Eden was the garden where Jerusalem currently resides. Genesis 2:9 confirms that there were two special trees which were planted in the Garden of Eden. These two trees were located in the heart of Jerusalem on the temple mount (also known as Mount Moriah), where the temple of Solomon once stood. Let us now search the Scriptures briefly for evidence.

In Genesis 22:2, Yahweh gives specific instructions to Abraham in regards to where He wanted Isaac sacrificed. This was on Mount Moriah, the same location where the Holy temple would be built. 2 Chronicles 3:1–2 confirms the building site to be Mount Moriah through King Solomon. 2 Chronicles 36:19 makes a vital connection between the burning of the temple in the exact same location of Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. We have just observed in 2 Chronicles 3 that the temple was built on Mount Mariah which is also Jerusalem. When we read Ezra 5:1–2, we receive additional confirmation that these two names, Jerusalem and Mount Moriah, are in the same place. In Revelation 21:1–3, 9–10, and 22–24, we are told that there will be a new heaven and earth, there will be a New Jerusalem from heaven and finally, there will longer be a need for a temple because God Himself will be the temple. This has to be on Mount Moriah where the Lord will descend and settle. This is further validated in John 2:18-22 when Jesus declared to the Pharisees that if they were to destroy the temple (His body) he would rebuild it in three days, while He was in Jerusalem.

So far we have observed a historical audit trail of how the Lord led Abraham to the very spot where his faith and obedience in Him would be tested through his son, Isaac, and where God’s temple would be built. We also observe how the Lord declares His body as the holy temple that will be rebuilt in three days as a spiritual, perfect, and indestructible one. This is confirmed in Revelation 21:22–24. We also see that the throne of God will dwell in the same spot that the past earthly temple once stood. Now that we have a firm grasp of this, when we read Revelation 22:1-5, we see that the evidence is pretty much undisputable. In Jerusalem on the Temple Mount where the Lord will place His throne, he brings forth the leaves from the Tree of Life which are used for the healing of the nations.

As we can now see, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil were on Mount Moriah, also known as the Temple Mount. However, the Tree of Knowledge was not seen in the New Jerusalem since it had already done its damage in the original Garden of Eden. Now that mankind has learned the consequences of disobedience through six thousand years of earthly hardship, they’ve finally come to realize that obedience is better than sacrifice.

A scripture of high interest that validates Jerusalem as the land of Eden is found in the story of King Melchizedek. Far before the time of Israel’s possession of the land, God had a priest who ministered to Him in Jerusalem, which was previously known as Salem. Melchizedek was the representation of who Jesus would be as a priest and a king long before the Torah was ever introduced (Read Genesis 14:18–24 and Hebrews 7).

CHAPTER 2

Genesis 2:23–25

²³ The man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man. ²⁴ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. ²⁵ Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Two Becomes One: Verses 23–24

When the Lord placed Adam in the garden to manage it, He decided to create a suitable helper for him from his own rib, Eve. This is the first marriage documented in biblical history. When the two, male and female, become one flesh before the Lord, the Lord considers them as one body. The man is the head, and his wife is his helper. In marriage, the head of the household has great responsibilities in caring for and providing for the family. He is also held accountable for the decisions made on behalf of the family, decisions that bring blessings to the family as well as those that bring judgment.

Innocence of Guiltless Consciences: Verse 25

When Adam was formed from the dust of the earth, he stood as a naked man before the Lord. Eve, taken from the rib of man, was present in the garden naked as well. Both of them felt no reason to be ashamed. Now shame is defined as the following from the Webster dictionary:

"a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the