Redeeming God

Liberating you from bad ideas about God

Learn the MOST ESSENTIAL truths for following Jesus.

Get FREE articles and audio teachings in my discipleship emails!


  • Join Us!
  • Scripture
  • Theology
  • My Books
  • About
  • Discipleship
  • Courses
    • What is Hell?
    • Skeleton Church
    • The Gospel According to Scripture
    • The Gospel Dictionary
    • The Re-Justification of God
    • What is Prayer?
    • Adventures in Fishing for Men
    • What are the Spiritual Gifts?
    • How to Study the Bible
    • Courses FAQ
  • Forum
    • Introduce Yourself
    • Old Testament
    • New Testament
    • Theology Questions
    • Life & Ministry

[#28] Genesis 2:8-15 – The Garden of Eden Is the Temple of God

By Jeremy Myers
5 Comments

[#28] Genesis 2:8-15 – The Garden of Eden Is the Temple of God
https://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/251070838-redeeminggod-genesis-28-15-the-garden-of-eden-is-the-temple-of-god.mp3

Do you ever think you’ll be bored in heaven, just sitting around on clouds playing harps? Well, Genesis 2 indicates that this will not happen. Work existed before the fall of humanity into sin, and it will also exist in the future state. But don’t worry. It will be work you enjoy and love.

In Genesis 2:8-15, we see why Adam was given work to do in the Garden of Eden, and why you and I still carry on this work today. We will also look at this strange description of all the rivers that surrounded Eden, and why these rivers are listed. It’s not so that we can figure out where Eden used to be located.

We will see these things, and much more, as we look at Genesis 2:8-15.

garden of eden Genesis 2:8-15

The Text of Genesis 2:8-15

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.  And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

In this discussion of Genesis 2:8-15 we look at:

  • Why Genesis 2 is a temple text describing the temple of God.
  • What to make of the 4 rivers in Genesis 2:10-14.
  • Why humanity was given work to do before the fall into sin.
  • How humanity serves as both the statue of God and the priesthood of God in the temple.
  • Why the role of humanity as the priesthood involves protecting the Garden of Eden.

Resources:

  • Order my new book, The Atonement of God
  • Heiser, The Unseen Realm – Amazon
  • Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology – Amazon
  • Walton, The Lost World of Adam and Eve – Amazon or CBD
  • Zevit, What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden? – Amazon
  • Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

You must join a discipleship group or login to download the MP3 and view the transcript.

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member


Do you like learning about the Bible online?

Do you like learning about Scripture and theology through my podcast? If so, then you will also love my online courses. They all have MP3 audio downloads, PDF transcripts, quizzes, and a comment section for questions and interaction with other students.

If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

You can see the list of available courses here, and if you join the Discipleship group, you can take all the courses at no additional cost. Go here to learn more and join now.

God is Redeeming God Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study Podcast, church buildings, creation, Garden of Eden, Genesis 2:8-15, One Verse Podcast, temple

Advertisement

You will never believe how Jesus spent $3,150,000,000 in 2014!

By Jeremy Myers
51 Comments

You will never believe how Jesus spent $3,150,000,000 in 2014!

billions of dollarsArthur Sido recently brought to my attention that in 2014, United States churches spent $3,150,000,000 on church buildings.

$3,150,000,000

And this amount is down 80% since 2002!

I wrote about this in one of my books (I cannot recall which one), and I have written previously on this blog about how churches spend money. See:

  • Money, Missions, & Ministry
  • How Churches can Solve the World’s Water Crisis
  • Tithing $50,000,000,000

But it recently occurred to me that since Christians are the representatives of Jesus Christ on earth, since we are His ambassadors, since we are the “Body of Christ,” this means that when we spend $3,150,000,000 on church buildings in one year, it is Jesus Christ spending this amount of money in one year.

We are spending HIS money.

And it really made me wonder … If Jesus had $3,150,000,000 to spend, do I really think He would spend it on church buildings?

Somehow, I really, really doubt it…

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: church, church buildings, Discipleship, ministry, missions, money, Theology of the Church, tithing

Advertisement

How Church can Solve the World Water Crisis

By Jeremy Myers
10 Comments

How Church can Solve the World Water Crisis

world water crisisIn a previous post, I presented a theoretical plan for solving the world’s water crisis. I proposed a way for churches to come up with that money by “taxing” themselves 1/3 of what their property taxes would be if they were paying property taxes. We could get the needed $10 Billion in one year to fully fund the work that needs to be done to solve the world water crisis.

Now, Todd Rhoades, over at Monday Morning Insight has got me thinking about another way churches can do this. He writes that according to a recent study, churches in America spent $8.1 Billion on sound and video equipment last year.

So we can either give a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name to every thirsty person on planet earth, thus solving the world’s water crisis, OR we can have state-of-the-art sound and video projection equipment in our churches.

Hmmm. World water crisis…. state of the art sound systems. Which to choose?

It seems like an easy choice, right? I mean, after all, to really be in touch with Jesus, we’ve got to feel the music and have our eyes massaged by the swirling lights on the screen.

If we don’t get those music-induced goosebumps on Sunday morning, how will we ever make it through the week? And besides, most people will stop coming to church if we cannot compete with the high-def surround-sound movie screens down at the Omniplex theater.

So I guess all those people around the world who just want a cup of clean water will just have to go thirsty a little bit longer.

Here’s the honest truth: When we sing worship songs on Sunday morning, we are listening to the sound of water being poured onto the idolatrous altar of music.

Of course, I’m in the same sinking ship, but on a smaller scale. I bought an MP3 player (a cheapo $30 job) last month, and purchased a few songs off iTunes. Jesus might be asking what I did with the $40 He gave me, but if He is, I can’t hear Him, because somehow, I got water in my ears.

Update: And there are so many innovative ways of helping these areas get water. Check out these:

  • Drought Masters pulls water from the air.
  • Giant Basket Pulls water from the air.

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: church, church buildings, Discipleship, ministry, mission, missional, money, service, the poor, the thirsty, Theology of the Church, water

Advertisement

Church Additions

By Jeremy Myers
Leave a Comment

Church Additions

One of the blogs I read daily is The Ongoing Adventures of the ASBO Jesus. The author is a pastor in the UK who writes a comic strip about Jesus, Christianity, and the church. Most often, I find his comic strips spot on.

The one below is true on multiple levels.

Additions

This is true first of all as he has shown it. The church has made so many additions to what the church is supposed to be and do, that we barely represent the church any more. We need to strip all this away, and get back to being and doing what Jesus intended.

But also, this comic strip could be true of the offer of eternal life, how to be a follower of Jesus, and just life in general. Simple is always best.

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: church, church buildings, Discipleship, gospel, Theology of the Church

Advertisement

Liquidating our Church Property

By Jeremy Myers
16 Comments

Liquidating our Church Property

Liquidating our AssetsI attended a church planting Conference in Irving, TX a while back in which Todd Phillips shared that, according to current studies and using modern water purifying technology, $10 Billion could solve the world’s water crisis. This got me thinking about my earlier post related to Money, Missions, and Ministry.

Church Property Value is $500 Billion

I am not aware what the value of church property in America is currently, but I know that in 1931, the estimated value of church property in America was $4 billion. When you realize that the average home price in 1930 was $7,000, imagine how much churches are sitting on today? The average home value today is around $230,000, an increase of 3300%. So $4 billion in 1930 would be $1.3 trillion today. I have no clue how accurate this number is, but let’s say it’s less than half of that and call it $500 billion.

If only 2% of the churches in America sold their buildings, and put the money toward solving the world’s water crisis, we would have enough money.

But churches don’t want to sell their buildings. After all, where would they meet?

Churches Paying Taxes on their Property

Okay, then, here is another option. In 1930, it was estimated that since churches were tax-exempt organizations, they were being “subsidized” by the government at $250 million annually. In other words, if churches were being taxed, the government would receive $250 million from them annually (which is 6%). Again, I don’t know how tax rates have changed since 1930, but let’s say they haven’t changed at all.

If, in 1930, the government could have gotten $250 million by taxing church property (valued at $4 billion), then today, if our property value is only $500 billion, our taxes today would be over $31 billion!

So if churches in America decided that for ONE year, we would put aside only 1/3 of what we would owe the government in property taxes for that one year, we could solve the world’s water crisis in one year! Should churches do this (or something similar)?

Absolutely.

Will churches do this if made aware of the opportunity? Call me pessimistic, but probably not.

Maybe we could just spend less on sound systems.

Challenging my own Finances

So the question then becomes, “What am I doing personally to help solve the world’s water crisis (and similar needs) around the globe?” Rather than pointing the accusatory finger at the churches and their vast wealth, I need to take a hard look at my budget, and my possessions, and where my money is going. I may not have $50 million to put toward a building, but if I have $50 which I am going to spend on coffee this year (it’s probably more than that), maybe I should consider giving up my coffee so someone else can simply have water…

But that’s too convicting.

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: church buildings, Discipleship, ministry, missions, money, taxes, tithe

Advertisement

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »
Join the discipleship group
Learn about the gospel and how to share it

Take my new course:

The Gospel According to Scripture
Best Books Every Christian Should Read
Study Scripture with me
Subscribe to my Podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to my Podcast on Amazon

Do you like my blog?
Try one of my books:

Click the image below to see what books are available.

Books by Jeremy Myers

Take Online Courses
with N. T. Wright

Choose from Six Courses:
*N. T. Wright on Jesus
*N. T. Wright on Romans
*N. T. Wright on Galatians
*N. T. Wright on Philippians
*N. T. Wright on the Gospel
*N. T. Wright on Worldviews

Theological Study Archives

  • Theology – General
  • Theology Introduction
  • Theology of the Bible
  • Theology of God
  • Theology of Man
  • Theology of Sin
  • Theology of Jesus
  • Theology of Salvation
  • Theology of the Holy Spirit
  • Theology of the Church
  • Theology of Angels
  • Theology of the End Times
  • Theology Q&A

Bible Study Archives

  • Bible Studies on Genesis
  • Bible Studies on Esther
  • Bible Studies on Psalms
  • Bible Studies on Jonah
  • Bible Studies on Matthew
  • Bible Studies on Luke
  • Bible Studies on Romans
  • Bible Studies on Ephesians
  • Miscellaneous Bible Studies

Advertise or Donate

  • Advertise on RedeemingGod.com
  • Donate to Jeremy Myers

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!

© 2023 Redeeming God · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Knownhost and the Genesis Framework