The four headwaters of the Galilee turn into seven by the time they reach the lake. 

Photo by H. Alewine

Thirsty?  Believers in Yeshua who study the Torah (to better keep it) are all looking forward to the resurrection and restoration to the Garden of Eden as described in Genesis Two.  The more students go back to the Tree of Life to "lay hold of her," the less mystery surrounds those prophetic resurrection rivers:

 

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, "'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (Jn 7:37-39)

 

Yeshua gave us the key to a moist body.  Uh....what? A moist body?  Scripture tells us that when Moses died, "his moisture was not diminished."  Moses drank from the rivers that Yeshua spoke of, and his face shone, but still he died. It was not Moses' job to take Israel into the Land of Israel to "dwell," but to prepare them for war and dwelling. There is a big difference!

 

A river in Hebrew  nahar, and its verb means to burn, to radiate, and to shine.  There is a wet quality in Yeshua, the Living Word, that can make a human being a man on fire, radiating with obedience. In disobedience, one loses his "clothes," becomes naked, and then ashamed.  No glorious fire.  The Garden experience of Genesis Two explains:

Eden, or the "Lower Garden," is Paradise, the first resting place of the resurrection.

 

 

How could a river flow OUT of Eden, yet water the whole Garden?  The River flows from Upper Eden to Lower Eden, the garden that Elohim planted for man.  Visualize the rivers flowing like a menorah:

 

1.     The name of the first is Pishon; it  flows around ( savav, circles )the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The  gold of that land is good; the  bdellium and the  onyx stone are there.

2.     The name of the second river is Gihon; it  flows around ( savav, circles) the whole land of Cush.

3.     The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows ( holekh, walks) east of Assyria. 

4.     And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 

 

"Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it." Elohim did not place man in the Garden to dam up, redirect, or stop the flow of the rivers, for they flowed from a Heavenly source beneath the Throne.  Once placed upon the menorah pattern, each of these rivers represents one of the seven feasts. Keep visualizing a "full" menorah, one that continues full circle, forming whirling wheels within wheels like Ezekiel saw (Ez 10:1-2).

Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was

something resembling a throne, like  lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man .  Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like  glowing metal  that  looked like fire  all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw  something like fire ; and there was a radiance  around  Him.   As  the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the  surrounding radiance . Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.  ( Ezek  1:26-28 )

Imagine the rainbow around the throne as two menorot.  The top menorah is a rainbow from earth's perspective.  The bottom rainbow is from Heaven's perspective, a menorah.

 

The Four Rivers

From the unnamed Source river that flowed OUT of Eden, four other "heads" or rivers flow:

 

The first was  Pishon. It means "increase."  It surrounded ( savav) Havilah where good gold, bdellium, and onyx were.  The gold is not just a good-quality mineral.  According to the rabbis, "Good Gold" is a proper name, a prophecy of a people who would inhabit that Land of resurrection.  The earthly counterpart to Pishon is the Nile, for it is noted for the  pishton, or flax, that grew on its banks to make fine linen.  The outer garment of the Garden is a radiant river, like the first couple's garments of shining obedience.  This priestly garment of the faithful is important, for without it, one's shame will not permit residence in the Garden.

 

            a.  The bdellium stone was like crystal or prism, and it appeared like dew on grass, perhaps like a "crystal sea."  The manna had the appearance of bdellium, and would have appeared like a crystal sea in the desert for six days of the week.  The root of   bdolach, which is Hebrew for bdellium, is  badal, which means to separate, divide.  The priests' breeches were  bad, and they were separated unto holiness.

 

            b.  The onyx, or shoham stone, is black, but its Hebrew meaning is "to turn white."  The high priest wore two onyx stones, one on each shoulder, engraved with the names of six tribes of Israel on one shoulder, and six on the other.  

            Yeshua was more than the Rivers flowing from the Throne of the Father, he was the holy, daily bread in the Garden, and even then, the Father had engraved the tribes of Israel on Yeshua.

 

You shall take  two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, according to their birth. As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them in filigree settings of gold. (Ge 28:9-11)

 

Job 38:14 compares the clay of stamp to a man's body.  Rashi interprets "And God created man in his image" (Ge 1:27) as forming the man with a stamp from His palm:   "Behold, I have inscribed you [Jerusalem] on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me." (Is 49:16)

 

Jerusalem of Gold is the physical place that represents the Garden.  A people called Good Gold, inscribed by the pressing of YHVH's palm into seals onto the black/white stones, carried by the High Priest, are prophesied to dwell there on a "crystal sea," like the precious manna-stone bdolach.

 

If one hears the Song of Moses, the Torah, then she understands that the Temple stood from the Creation, and Yeshua's mission is to restore all the Father's "hearing" people to the Garden at the resurrection:

 

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.' (Re 2:17)

 

The manna was hidden away in the Ark of the Testimony with the Commandments of God, the Tree of Life. Moses prepared Israel for the resurrection by teaching them the Word; Yeshua will bear them on his shoulders and in his hands when they cross over to dwell, for they were engraved there from the beginning!  The manna will once again be like a sea of glass and dew on thirsty grass to Good Gold refined by fire, and able to cross the wheels of the burning rivers without harm.

 

The second river was the  Gichon, which means "bursting forth;" it is similar to the Pishon in that it flowed around ( savav) the land of Cush.  The Gichon is a spring in Jerusalem known for the coronation of King Solomon.  While his brother planned to usurp David's throne and partied with traitors, the rightful king was crowned to succeed his father David.  Israel is prohibited from eating creatures that move " al gachon," or "on the belly" like the usurper serpent.  The earthly Gichon represents the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Yom Kippur, both characterized by a form of fasting that disciplines the belly. This is necessary because Cush is the heat of the soul.  Cush means "black," and black is the color of healthy hair without a sign of leprosy.  

 

The third river was the  Chidekkel (Tigris), meaning "rapid, noisy," which  halakh "walked."   It would have walked around the Tree of Life.  The Chidekkel River represents both Firstfruits of the Barley and the Feast of Trumpets, the third and fifth feasts.  The barley is the fastest first fruit in Israel, the first of the season. The Feast of Trumpets is both "rapid" and "noisy," for the resurrection at Trumpets will be in the blink of an eye and it will be to the sound of shouts and a shofar.

 

The fourth river was  Perat (Euphrates), meaning "fruitfulness or bursting forth." Perat is from  pri, or fruit. There is no description of its movement.  The number 4 in Scripture represents leadership and spiritual authority, so it is placed as the axis of the menorah.  The fourth feast is Shavuot, which is the giving of the Torah.  This connects with the center of the Garden, around which the Chidekkel "walked."  Walking in the Word was the center of the Garden's intent from before it was planted. As the central river, the Perat is the axis of the other festivals, standing between two other first fruits festivals.  The Perat is a river of Shavuot, the First Fruits of the Wheat.  The Perat and the Torah is the axis that connects two other First Fruits rivers and feasts, First Fruits of the Barley during Passover and First Fruits of Ingathering during Sukkot.

And he shewed me a pure river of  water  of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the  throne  of God and of the Lamb. (Re 22:1)

 

These rivers were living water that supplied Adam and Eve with radiant garments, precious stones, health, produce to eat, and instructions for living.  The "walking" River, however, detected their deviation from the Word:

 

They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  

 

He said, " I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." (Ge 3:8,10)

 

Elohim made a sound walking...what did Adam and Eve normally hear in the sound of the walking Chidekkel River when they wore their radiant garments of Pishon with the disciplined obedience of the Gichon?  Yeshua comes with healing in his wings, and because of his righteousness, Israel is beginning to see the Garden more clearly:

 

And he looked up and said, "I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around." Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. (Mk 8:24-15)

 

Righteousness is being restored, and Moses is preparing Israel for Yeshua's return so that they may make spiritual warfare and cross over to the Garden to enjoy the gigantic grapes and fruits within it. Like the blind man, however, we must look intently at the Word before we will see everything clearly.  This is the perfect time to tune our ears to LISTEN to the sound of Elohim walking in the Garden around and around in the cycles of our feasts.  Shma. Ha'azinu.  

 

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,

He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Planted in the house of the Lord,

They will flourish in the courts of our God.

They will still yield fruit in old age;

They shall be full of sap and very green. (Ps 92:12-14)

 

We won't SEE the Torah until we HEAR it walking in Messiah's righteous, radiant garments. We won't put on those radiant garments without faith in the one who gave us drink from the Beginning, pouring out water from the Throne on Good Gold in their glorious linen:

Not so mysterious, is it?

 

For a more thorough study on the Rivers of Eden, see Creation Gospel Workbook Five Volume 1: Bereishit available at www.amazon.com.