The Garden Mountain

This week on the podcast, we started studying Mount Eden. That’s right, I said Mount Eden. Ezekiel 28 sheds light on the fact that Eden was not just a garden, but also the mountain of God.

This week on the podcast, we talked about the ancient concept of a cosmic mountain: a garden mountain (often said to be where the “gods” resided). This idea goes all the way back to God’s Garden Mountain of Eden.

In case you missed it, you can listen to this week’s episode right here:

Venn diagrams

So what’s the difference in a cosmic mountain and a regular mountain? To help explain this concept, I provided a few ways to imagine Eden. First of all, think about Venn diagrams- something we’re all familiar with- using a pair of overlapping circles to demonstrate how two different things can have commonalities.

Since I can’t take anything seriously, here’s some funny ones:

How does Eden factor into this? Eden is in a place of overlap between the physical and spiritual realms. It’s a place you could visit that acted as a hub between earth and heaven.

But there’s more going on than simply that. Eden was a TRIPLE Venn diagram. That means there are actually three things going on here. Here are some examples of triple Venn diagrams:

Here’s another one that’s similar, but I love the biblical angle:

Triple Venn diagrams certainly add a layer of complexity. Back to our lesson: Eden was not just an overlap of the physical and spiritual; Mount Eden was a point of convergence between three realms: the earthly, heavenly, and underworld.

This is hard to conceptualize; no 2D graphic—even of a 3-dimensional object—can properly convey the (4-dimensional) spiritual reality of Eden.

Was Eden a place on planet earth? Yes. But when you went there, you weren’t simply remaining in an earthly location. You were at this hub between all three of the realms.

It was at this location that God met with His divine council.

Of course, when sin entered the picture in Genesis 3, man was expelled from Eden.

Amazingly, you can find many parallels between the original Edenic state of Genesis 1-2 (the first two chapters of the Bible) and the eternal state in Revelation 21-22 (the last two chapters of the Bible). What was lost in the garden will be redeemed and returned- including, and most especially, the fellowship with God that was lost through sin.

This Week

Coming this week, we’ll continue to develop these themes with a specific look at gardens. This episode (and the next) will connect some dots between the Old and New Testaments, and hopefully contain some fun surprises.

Until then, have a great week- and a Weird Wednesday!

-Luke

PS:

For those who read to the end, here’s one more prize to scramble your brain: a QUADRUPLE VENN DIAGRAM.