From Eden to the New Jerusalem: An Introduction to Biblical Theology

by T. Desmond Alexander

(1) the biblical description of our future existence has more in common with our present life than most people assume;

(2) the concluding chapters of Revelation offer a window through which the main themes of the biblical meta-story may be studied.

Yet, no matter how many stories we hear, we may still be left with a sense of emptiness, for few stories address the fundamental questions of life.

Although its diversity of authorship and genre give ammunition to those who wish to dismantle the story into contradictory parts, there is more here to unite than divide.

There is not a book within the whole collection that can be interpreted satisfactorily in isolation from the rest. Each book contributes something special to the meta-story and, in turn, the meta-story offers a framework within which each book may be best interpreted.

By resolving an intricate plot that runs throughout a story, a good denouement sheds light on the entire story.

The very strong links between Genesis 1 – 3 and Revelation 20 – 22 suggest that these passages frame the entire biblical meta-story.

Due allowance must be given for the symbolic nature of elements within John’s visions.

aspects of what follows may need to be emended in the light of constructive criticism and/or further evidence.

There is something of value in seeing the big picture, for it frequently enables us to appreciate the details more clearly.

The scholarly tendency to ‘atomize’ biblical texts is often detrimental ...

With this remarkable vision of God coming to dwell with humanity on a new earth the biblical meta-story comes to an end.

This first earth, as I shall argue later, is designed to be a divine residence, for here God intends to coexist with people.

The complex story that follows centres on how the earth can once more become a dwelling place shared by God and humanity.

Whereas Genesis presents the earth as a potential building site, Revelation describes a finished city.

Underlying the construction of this city is the expectation that God will reside within it, sharing its facilities with people from every nation.

From there he occasionally descends to meet with selected individuals, although these encounters are always relatively brief and sometimes unexpected.

the construction of a lavishly decorated tent that becomes God’s dwelling place in the midst of the Israelite camp. This event represents a major advance forward in the biblical meta-story, for God now resides permanently with one nation.

Due to the temple, the entire walled city of Jerusalem is also perceived as being God’s dwelling place.

As the books of Haggai and Zechariah highlight, the restoration of the temple was divinely sanctioned, underlining

The incarnation is a further development of the concept of God living on the earth.

The death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus paves the way for another significant step in the process by which God comes to inhabit the earth alongside human beings.

The church, which quickly comes to include Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles, becomes the new temple of God. Wherever the followers of Jesus meet, God is present with them by his Spirit.

Coinciding with this new development, as Jesus predicted, the Jerusalem temple is destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.

when God makes all things new, his presence and glory will fill a rejuvenated earth.

The description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 – 22 contains features that have strong associations with the temple Solomon constructed.

Although the numbers may be symbolic, as is often the case in this type of literature, they nevertheless convey something of the immensity of the city.

The symmetrical dimensions of the New Jerusalem are most unusual for a city. It is as high as it is long or wide. Interestingly, however, the proportions of the city match those of the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary of the temple, the only other cube specifically mentioned in the Bible. As 1 Kings 6:20 states, ‘The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high.’

The New Jerusalem also resembles the Holy of Holies in that both are made of gold. While, according to 1 Kings 6:20, the inner sanctuary was overlaid with gold, Revelation 21:18 records that ‘the city was pure gold’.12

the entire New Jerusalem is an expanded Holy of Holies.

The case for Eden being a divine residence rests largely on the striking parallels that exist between the garden and later Israelite sanctuaries.

Eden and the later sanctuaries were entered from the east and guarded by cherubim

The tabernacle menorah (or lampstand) possibly symbolizes the tree of life

The Hebrew verbs ‘ābad, ‘to serve, till’, and šāmar, ‘to keep, observe, guard’, used in God’s command to the man ‘to work it (the garden) and take care of it’ (Gen. 2:15), are found in combination elsewhere in the Pentateuch only in passages that describe the duties of the Levities in the sanctuary

Gold and onyx, mentioned in Genesis 2:11–12, are used extensively to decorate the later sanctuaries and priestly garments (e.g. Exod. 25:7, 11, 17, 31).22 Gold, in particular, is one of the main materials used in the construction of the tabernacle and the temple.

The Lord God walks in Eden as he later does in the tabernacle

The river flowing from Eden (Gen. 2:10) is reminiscent of Ezekiel 47:1–12, which envisages a river flowing from a future Jerusalem temple and bringing life to the Dead Sea.

This seventh day is not a theological appendix to the creation account, just to bring closure now that the main event of creating people has been reported. Rather, it intimates the purpose of creation and of the cosmos. God does not set up the cosmos so that only people will have a place. He also sets up the cosmos to serve as his temple in which he will find rest in the order and equilibrium that he has established.24

If Genesis portrays the Garden of Eden as a sanctuary or temple-garden, a number of things follow:

(1) Since the garden is a place where divinity and humanity enjoy each other’s presence, it is appropriate that it should be a prototype for later Israelite sanctuaries. This explains why many of the decorative features of the tabernacle and temple are arboreal in nature.28

(2) Because they met God face to face in a holy place, we may assume that Adam and Eve had a holy or priestly status. Only priests were permitte...

(3) Although it is not stated, the opening chapters of Genesis imply that the boundaries of the garden will be extended to fill the whole earth as human ...

Understood in the light of ancient Near Eastern practices, an increasing population would create a city around the temple. Through time, the whole earth would become a holy garden-city.

God intends that the world should become his dwelling place. Remarkably, this blueprint is eventually brought to completion through the New Jerusalem envisaged in Revelation 21 – 22.

In Genesis 2:15 the man is divinely commissioned to ‘work and keep’ the garden. Interestingly, the verb ‘keep’, in Hebrew, šāmar, may also be translated ‘guard, protect’. In Deuteronomy 5:12 the same verb is used to instruct the Israelites to keep or guard the sanctity of the Sabbath. In all likelihood, Adam was commissioned to keep or guard the garden so that it would remain holy.

Interestingly, the verb ‘keep’, in Hebrew, šāmar, may also be translated ‘guard, protect’. In Deuteronomy 5:12 the same verb is used to instruct the Israelites to keep or guard the sanctity of the Sabbath.

When Adam failed to guard the temple by sinning and letting in a foul serpent to defile the sanctuary, he lost his priestly role, and the cherubim took over the responsibility of ‘guarding’ the Garden temple:

While ’ādām is placed in the garden to till/work and ‘keep’ (šāmar) it (2:15), the cherubim are placed at the east of the garden to ‘guard’ (šāmar) the way to the tree of life (3:24)…. when ’ādām is expelled from the garden, all that is left to do is to ‘till’ or ‘work’ the ground (3:23). The task of keeping or guarding the garden has been passed on to others.31

when ’ādām is expelled from the garden, all that is left to do is to ‘till’ or ‘work’ the ground (3:23).

By obeying the serpent, rather than God, Adam and Eve fail to maintain the sanctity of the temple-garden.