What happened to
the Garden of Eden?
The question about exactly where the Garden of Eden was and
what became of it is often asked by people today. Many ask the question as an
attack against Christianity, in an attempt to question Biblical testimony. As
believers, however, our approach is different: We do not doubt the truth of
Scripture. We believe that the Bible, as God's Word, was inspired by God
himself through His Spirit and therefore gives an accurate account of the
facts.
1. The Garden of Eden really existed
Unlike many people in our day, we believe in a real six day creation of everything that exists as it is described in Genesis 1-2. The Garden of Eden was therefore created by God as a home for Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:8-15).
Everything that God created was good, including everything in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 1:1-31). Evil and sin entered the world when Adam and Eve, in rebellion against God's command, ate of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the Garden (Gen. 3:1-7). There were many consequences for this act of sin, but one of the consequences was that the Lord put Adam and Eve out of the Garden, closed the entrance to the Garden and placed an angel there to guard it (Gen. 3:23-24). No one could ever enter this Garden again.
According to Genesis 2, the Lord planted the Garden of Eden for man (v8), by placing in it all kinds of trees that were good for food (v9). A river sprang from the garden and divided into four branches (v10). The names of these four rivers are given to us (v11-14) as Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel (also known as Tigris), and Euphrates.
The Scriptures teaches us that the
Garden of Eden was a real place in which two real people, Adam and Eve, lived
until the fall.
2. The global flood really happened
Like Adam and Eve, their descendants also sinned, and the evil in the world increased to such an extent in the days of Noah that God had sorrow that He made man (Gen. 6:5-6 & 12-13). That is why God sent a worldwide flood to wipe out all mankind, with the exception of Noah and his family (Gen. 6:17 & Gen. 7:6-9, 21-23).
This flood wiped out every living thing that God made over all the earth, except Noah, his family and the animals that he took with him in the Ark (Gen 7:4). The details does not testify to a localized flood, but a flood that overcame the whole world. The rain fell on the earth for forty (40) literal days and completely covered it (Gen. 7:12, 17-20), and it literally took a hundred and fifty (150) days for the water to subside (Gen. 7:24).
Evidence for this global flood has been found. For example, deep layers of sediment, that in places in the world are even as deep as three kilometers, bear witness to such a flood. Most Scientists today deny the Creation story and the story of the Global Flood and therefore believe that these layers developed through millions of years of death and destruction. The believer sees in these layers confirmation of the Word of God which gives an explainable answer to these layers thousands of years before any scientific theories arrived. The worldwide flood of Genesis 6-7 is true.
3. The modern localization of the rivers
In ancient Mesopotamia known today as Iraq, two rivers existed, and still exist, known as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is however unlikely that these present day rivers are the same rivers that flowed from the Garden of Eden. Apart from the fact that the rivers Pishon and Gihon were not found, there is also no branching out into four rivers as described in the Bible of these rivers. These rivers, according to biblical description, ran to lands that were known for Gold, Bdellium and Onyx Stone (Gen. 2:12). However, countries near these modern day rivers are more famous for Oil than for the things the Bible describes. The countries described in Genesis 2:13-14 are Cush (Ethiopia) and Assyria, making the location of Eden in Iraq unlikely.
To the best of my knowledge, no river or river division has yet been found that matches the Biblical description of the river that sprang from Eden. However, this does not mean that the Biblical description is wrong, because the Bible itself explains to us why the rivers as described in Genesis 2 cannot be found.
Genesis 6 and 7 describe a global event that would have had such an astronomical effect on the typography of the world that nothing would ever be the same again, the global flood. It is unrealistic to think that after such a catastrophic event anything on earth would look like it did before. Rivers would no longer run where they ran; once luxuriant groves and forests would be totally destroyed: Nothing would be the same.
But there is another reason why any places and things like rivers cannot be found after the flood. The flood would have covered the entire earth with sedimentary layers. These layers are explained by most Scientists today as the result of millions of years of death and destruction, but they came about as a result of the Global Flood. It is estimated that these sedimentary layers may be even deeper than three kilometers in some places.
The sedimentary layers would lie on top of the rivers and the Garden of Eden which would be buried beneath them. No typographical descriptions of areas before the flood would compare to their description after the flood. The rivers and Garden as described in Genesis 2 lie buried under thousands of meters of sediment and therefore bear no relation to the rivers known today as Tigris and Euphrates. It would be wrong to compare the two rivers in modern-day Iraq with those in the Garden of Eden.
This may leave you wondering why
the modern rivers in Iraq were given the names Tigris and Euphrates. The most
logical answer is that Noah, or his descendants, after the flood, named these
rivers after those well-known rivers we read about in Genesis 2. The same thing
still happens today where place names from well-known places are given to other
places which have no relation whatsoever with the original place. An example of
this is the town of Bethlehem in the Free State (in South Africa) which is
named after the birthplace of our Lord Jesus.
Apart from the name there is no similarity between these two places.
Similarly, Noah, or his descendants, saw these rivers and, in memory of the
rivers in the Garden of Eden, gave these names to two rivers in Mesopotamia.
4. The position of the Garden of Eden
The Lord closed the Garden of Eden and placed an angel at its entrance with the aim that no one would be able to enter this garden again. Later, the Lord sent a worldwide flood that not only destroyed this Garden, but the entire world and buried it under sedimentary layers.
Any attempt to locate the Garden of Eden or even to determine in which region it would be is therefore completely impossible and would be nothing more than speculation. While it may be a very interesting study to find the exact location of this Garden, it is not possible for us to give an answer to that with any accuracy.
However, our inability to determine the position of the Garden of Eden does not change its reality. The Garden of Eden, with its four flowing rivers as described in the Bible really existed and the biblical description of it is absolutely accurate. The Bible also describes the reason why the Garden may not be entered or even found.
As believers, we believe that the
Bible is God's Word and that it describes the story of real people and real
events in real places. This is also true for the Garden of Eden. The Bible
itself gives sufficient explanation why this Garden cannot be found in our day,
and in that we should rest without any doubt or concern.
The Garden of Eden was nothing more than a foreshadowing of
the eventual future Paradise where all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
will go. There is no reason for us to look back or look for the Garden of Eden,
because there is a better and more glorious eternal Garden waiting for us. In
that eternal Garden the relationship between every believer and God will be
completely restored. What Adam and Eve destroyed in the Garden of Eden will be
completely restored in our eternal rest with God (Heb. 4:4-7). The believer may
perhaps nostalgically think back to the Garden of Eden, but only if he does so
with the prospect of much better eternal rest with God.
ds. Leon Harmse
Pastor of Sunward Park Baptist Church