Paradise? I have to WORK in Paradise!?!

Many throughout history have wondered where the garden of Eden was. Today, we shall see . . .

8. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. The self-existent God planted, notice it does not say created, a garden in Eden and placed the man whom He had moulded. Where was the garden? In the land of Eden. Now where was the land of Eden, hmm?

10. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The self-existent God sprouted from the soil every tree pleasing to view and to eat; the tree of life centered the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Note that by using the Jehovah God (KJV - Lord God), Moses (the penman) shows that all owes its existence to the One that exists because He exists.

10. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. Now we get further details. The garden had an irrigating stream that split into four rivers after it left the garden. I've always wanted to have a garden with fruit trees and a slow stream meandering through it.

11. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; The first river was Pison or Pishon meaning dispersive and encompassed Havilah (meaning circular) famous for its gold.
12. And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And not just good gold, but precious stones of bdellium and onyx.
13. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. Gihon means stream and it encompasses Ethiopia. (I know where that is :D).
14. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. Hiddekel is not a Hebrew word but Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible puts forth the notion that this river is the Tigris. Notice that it flows East towards Assyria. Euphrates means to break forth, rushing. Also notice that Moses did not include a reference to where Euphrates lies. Another point to notice in reference to the location of the garden is that landmarks familiar to those reading the book of Genesis were used. These countries were not listed as being in existence prior to the flood.

15. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. God assigned man a task: care for his home.