“A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.”
In the creation narrative of all things, before animals had names and before Adam had his perfect partner, a river must be described. Are rivers worth your time? This one should be, because it is worth God’s time!
As one might expect with the “boots on the ground” view of Genesis 2, certain geographic marks are named. In this case it is the four main rivers in the area in which God’s people resided at that time. It is the and that’s how that thing you know came to be moment of the creation story. This is quite important for all people and is worth emphasizing, but it is not the most important aspect of the narrative.
Once again, God is intentionally revealing himself as all-powerful Creator and wonderfully-gracious Life-giver. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The river flowed out! As has constantly been the case in creation, God once again uses his handiwork to show humanity his intention of giving life to his people.
Have you ever followed the rivers and streams of Scripture? Are rivers worth your time? The Bible ones should be. God uses them to reveal himself.
“Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.”
Reading further into Ezekiel 47, notice where the river flows from and what the river does.
“And as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.”
“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.””
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city…”
There are many more streams, rivers, brooks, and creeks to be seen in God’s Word, but these few get the point across. Whether you’re Jacob wrestling God on the bank, Joshua crossing the river to witness God’s promises fulfilled, Ezekiel bearing witness to the culmination of all ages, Jesus fulfilling God’s salvation plan, or John bearing out that even fuller reality of the new heavens and earth, rivers are useful revealers to God. May that revelation not pass us up. May God bless us with the life-giving river flowing out from him.