Thursday 26th January
Read Genesis 2:10-14
“A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.” (NIVUK)
This passage, at first glance, seems like a strange diversion in the story of creation from the ‘earthly’ perspective. You could read the story fluently from v9 and starting again in v15, so the author has interrupted the flow of the narrative to insert these lines. There must be something here we need to pause and comprehend.
The first thing to note is the continued importance of spatial relationships. These are all named rivers and places, familiar to those who were reading this if not completely comprehensible to us. The waters flowed from Eden out into the desert providing life and sustenance. The water flowed all through the land. More than that the land was blessed with wealth, gold, resin and onyx. All the requirements for flourishing, creative, human culture are provided by these waters flowing from Eden.
This same water seeps out from the temple envisioned in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 47:1-9). It is the water offered to the woman at the well (John 4). Water that heals and satisfies. And this water is at the heart of the new creation where the water also brings life and sustains a flourishing culture (symbolised by the city) centred on Yahweh.
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1-2) (NIVUK)
Simple geography or spiritual geography? Drink of this living water and share it with others.
