Gardens in the Bible
COURSE NOTES:
The
Garden of Eden
Genesis
2:4-10, 15-17; 3:17-19, 24
2:4 In the day that the Lord God made
the earth and the heavens, 5when no plant of the field was yet
in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had
not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the
ground; 6but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the
whole face of the ground— 7then the Lord God formed man from the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
the man became a living being. 8And the Lord God planted a garden in
Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out
of the ground the Lord God
made 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 the knowledge of
good and evil. 10A river flows out of Eden to
water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches.
15 The Lord God took the man and
put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16And
the Lord God
commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day
that you eat of it you shall die.’ … 3:8The
man and wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the Garden at the time
of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord
God among the trees of the garden. … 17And to the man he said,
‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the
tree about which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it”, cursed is the
ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it
shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your
face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you
were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’ 24He drove out the man; and at
the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and
turning to guard the way to the tree of life.
______________
·
How does
Adam’s gardening in Eden compare with God’s command to Adam in Genesis 1:26 and
29?:
26 Then God said, ‘Let us make
humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ … 29God said, ‘See,
I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the
earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
·
Were there
any pests or plant diseases in the Garden of Eden?
·
Has farming
the land ‘East of Eden’ (outside Paradise)
been a good challenge for human skill and creativity or a curse that has
led to inequality and hunger?
·
How does this story of Paradise express human
longings – with regard to the past and the future? ___________
Psalm
148:7-10, 13: Praise the Lord from the earth, you
sea-monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and fog, tempestuous wind doing
his will; mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild beasts and
all cattle, creeping things and winged birds. … Let them praise the name of the
Lord, for his name only is exalted, his splendour is over earth and heaven.
Solomon’s Garden
Song of Solomon 2:1-5, 10-13; 4:12-16; 6:2-3
2 I am a rose of Sharon, a
lily of the valleys. 2 As
a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens. 3 As an
apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With
great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his intention
towards me was love. 5 Sustain
me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me: ‘Arise, my love, my fair
one, and come away; 11 for now the winter is past, the rain is
over and gone. 12 The
flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice
of the turtle-dove is heard in our land. 13 The fig tree puts
forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise,
my love, my fair one, and come away.
4
12 A garden
locked is my sister, my bride, a garden locked, a fountain sealed. 13 Your
channel is an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with
nard, 14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees
of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices— 15 a
garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon. 16 Awake,
O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden that its
fragrance may be wafted abroad. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its
choicest fruits.
6 2 My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to
pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he pastures his flock
among the lilies.
___________
Compare ‘Solomon’
on his garden in Ecclesiastes 2:4-6:
“I made great works; I built houses and
planted vineyards for myself; I made myself
gardens and parks, and planted in
them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from
which to water the forest of
growing trees.”
I Kings 4:33-4 refers to Solomon’s wisdom about trees:
“He would speak of trees, from
the cedar that is in the Lebanon to the hyssop that
grows in the wall; … people
came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon; they came from all the kings of
the earth who had heard of his wisdom.”
_____________
·
What
features does the writer highlight about the garden? What do you find especially attractive about
them?
·
What
human senses does the writer appeal to?
·
What
kinds of experience have you had in gardens?
·
Why do
you think the Song of Solomon was
included in the Bible, given that it is a love song that celebrates human
emotion and passion?
_____________
Matthew
6:28-9: Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory
was not clothed like one of these.
Jesus
the Gardener
Sowing:
Mark 4:26-9 26 He also said, ‘The kingdom
of God is as if someone scatters seed on the ground, 27and sleeps and rises night
and day; the seed sprouts and grows, he knows
not how. 28The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head,
then the full grain. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his
sickle, because the harvest has come.’
Matthew
13:24-30 24 He put before them another
parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed
in his field; 25but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds
among the wheat, and then went away. 26So when the plants came up
and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27And the slaves of the
householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your
field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” 28He answered, “An enemy has
done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather
them?” 29But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would
uproot the wheat along with them. 30Let both of them grow
together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers,
Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the
wheat into my barn.” ’
Pruning
John 15:1-2 1 I am the true vine, my Father is the vine-grower. 2He
removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit
he prunes to make it bear more fruit.
Harvesting
Matthew 7:15-20 15 ‘Beware of false prophets … 16You will know them by their
fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17In the same way, every good
tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad
fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will know them by
their fruits.
Luke 13:6-9 6 Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree
planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found
none. 7So he said to the gardener, “See here! For three years I
have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it
down! Why should it be wasting the soil?” 8He replied, “Sir,
let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on
it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not,
you can cut it down.” ’
____________
·
Do
Jesus’ illustrations ring true in terms of your experience of plants?
·
What gardening
images would you use to illustrate a point about human life?
·
Do we
try to manage our gardens and our lives too carefully? Does the trend to
‘re-wilding’ suggest a new approach to both the environment and ourselves?
____________
What would the world be, once bereft
of wet and wildness? Let them be left.
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
long live the weeds and the wilderness yet. (Gerard Manley Hopkins)
of wet and wildness? Let them be left.
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
long live the weeds and the wilderness yet. (Gerard Manley Hopkins)
The
Garden of Gesthemane
Matthew
26:36-39: 36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to
his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ 37He
took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and
agitated. 38Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to
death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ 39And going a
little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is
possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’
John 18:1-5 18 After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across
the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his
disciples entered. 2Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the
place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3So
Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief
priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and
weapons. 4Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him,
came forward and asked them, ‘For whom are you looking?’ 5They
answered, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ Jesus replied, ‘I am he.’ Judas, who
betrayed him, was standing with them.
Eusebius
of Caesarea (about 324 AD): Gethsimane.
Place where the Christ prayed before the passion. It is located at the Mount
of Olives where even now the faithful fervently utter prayers.
___________
·
What
might have been the attraction of the Garden of Gethsemane for Jesus?
·
‘Gesthemane’
means ‘oil-press’ and it may well have been an olive grove. Which of these stories and symbols resonate
for you most with the Bible’s Passion accounts?
- When King Solomon died, the trees of the garden mourned, shedding their green leaves, but the olive
tree kept its canopy. The other trees asked:
“You, king of the trees, do you not mourn the death of our King?” The olive
tree replied, “You have shed
your leaves so that all might see your sorrow, but my sorrow is hidden in my
heart and it is greater than yours, for behold, my heart is dry and the sap of
my trunk has withered!”
- The
olive only gives its oil when pressed.
- The Roman general Titus conquered
Jerusalem in 70 AD and destroyed all the ancient olive groves in the area. But
olive trees can grow back from the roots when cut down, and some of the trees
in the garden are at least 900 years old.
·
What
difference does time of day make to your experience of a garden?
_________
Anon: “I walk in my garden,
not so much seeking peace as assured of it.
I have only to step from my door to the small patch of earth where
flowers grow to become a different person.
My small worries vanish and even the great burdens seem lighter.
Walking in the garden is like praying. My mind is still, my senses sharpened, and
the gentle Presence is there: near,
above, around me. My mind is at
rest. I wonder, gaze at the lilies, I
breathe the scent of the roses, I watch the tiny ladybird and listen to the
bee’s hum. I do no work in the
garden. It is enough, more than enough,
just to be there and marvel. Sometimes the promise of Jeremiah comes into my
mind:
‘Their soul shall be like a watered garden
… They will sorrow no more.’ “
(Jeremiah 31:12-13)
The Garden of the
Resurrection
John 19:41; 20:11, 15-18:
41 Now there was a garden in the
place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which
no one had ever been laid. …
11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. …
She turned round and
saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus
said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing
him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away,
tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16Jesus
said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’
(which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to
me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and
say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God.” ’ 18Mary Magdalene went
and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that
he had said these things to her.
John 12:24: Very
truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
St
Cyril of Jerusalem (4th Cent.):
Jesus was planted therefore in the earth in
order that the curse that came because of Adam might be rooted out. The earth
was condemned to thorns and thistles: the true Vine sprang up out of the earth,
that the saying might be fulfilled, ‘Truth sprang up out of the earth, and
righteousness looked down from heaven’ (Psalm 85:11).
2 Corinthians 5:17: If anyone is in Christ, there is a
new creation: everything old has passed
away; see, everything has become new!
_________________
·
Why didn’t Mary Magdalene
recognise Jesus?
·
What must it
be like to celebrate Easter in autumn, as they do in Australia?
·
What does a
‘new creation’ mean and look like?
·
Is there a
garden that has been the site of a turning-point in your life?
________________
To ponder:
v In your life just now, which Biblical garden do you
feel you are in? Which would you like to
be in?
v If you met Jesus in one of these gardens from the
Bible, what would you say to him?
v Revelation 21 imagines the final destiny of
creation to be the new Jerusalem, a holy city – not a garden. What do you imagine the ‘new heaven and new
earth’ to be?
v Having considered these gardens in the Bible, is
there a practical action that you intend to undertake?