Shalom in the Garden of Eden

The first two chapters of Genesis describe the work of God as Creator of the world. They tell us that God was pleased with His unfolding creation, so pleased that He repeatedly described it as “good.” In fact, verse 31 of the first chapter tells us that following the sixth day of creation, when God looked over all He had made, the results of His craftsmanship were “very good.” God, acting in space and time, created a perfect, harmonious universe of night and day, water and sky, land and seas, trees and plants, sun and moon, fish and birds, livestock and wild animals, and finally men and women. Nothing more was needed and He took the next day, the seventh day, off.

God’s intention for His created order is powerfully illustrated in verses 8-9 of Genesis 2 where it describes how He created all kinds of trees in the Garden of Eden, trees that were both “pleasing to the eye” and “good for food.” God’s creation activity was marvelously economical!

In these few brief chapters of Genesis, we can see God’s original desire for creation. He created a beautiful garden where harmony existed between nature and animals and humans, where there was lots of good food for all who lived there, and where men and women were given creative work to do with God as the employer. The Garden of Eden is a picture of true shalom.

An interesting note: The Bible begins with the story of creation, depicted as a beautiful harmonious garden, and the Bible ends in Revelation 20-21, with the vision of a world gloriously restored and made whole by God after Jesus returns in all His glory. Lots happens in between, of course, and perfect shalom did not continue, but we will look at this later.

So What?

• When we look at the world around us – the beauties of our world, the plants, the trees, the flowers, the animals – it is exciting to realize that God designed this world for our pleasure as well as our use.  It was created to be both impressive and practical.  Let’s be impressed and take care of this creation.
• When we see relationships that are broken among people we know, let’s work to bring reconciliation, rather than just ignore this conflict and hostility.  This is peacemaking in our own backyard and we can make a difference.