Is Ezekiel’s Eden the Same as Genesis’ Eden?
The pride and eventual fall of the king of Tyre prophesied by Ezekiel in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 28 opened an opportunity for God to speak to the fall of Satan who first exhibited pride.
The Garden of Eden in Ezekiel 28:13 where Lucifer used to dwell, was also referred to as, the ‘mount of God’ in verse 14. Here is verse 13, “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.”
And here is verse 14, which is describing this same Eden as the ‘mount of God.’ “You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.”
Verses 16 and 17 state, “Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So, I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So, I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.”
From the above verses, it seems obvious to me that God expelled Satan who was among the “fiery stones.” It can be deduced easily that the fiery stones refer to angels. And where do angels dwell? In heaven, that is, the invisible heaven.
Heaven has a government, a kingdom with various roles and positions, which various angels occupy. Psalm 89:5–7 even talks about the council in heaven and how the Lord is greatly feared in the council. “The heavens praise your wonders, Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.”
According to Ezekiel 28, Satan’s pride became a fire that consumed him, relegated, and humiliated him. He lost his august position on the ‘mount of God’, as God cast him to earth; a visible world unlike the invisible world he once dwelled. “By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.” Ezekiel 28:18.
Revelation 12:12 states clearly that Satan was cast down to earth and humanity at that time was warned; Adam and Eve specifically, which tells me that Satan was cast out of heaven when the earth had already been created. He could have been one of the angels who sang joyfully when God was creating it (Job 38:4–6), “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” The heavens rejoice because Satan had been denied access forever and lost his place there. However, those on earth would be in trouble because with great wrath, he would do as much damage as possible before his final judgment. Certainly, what damage could Satan do to a chaotic deep of waters over the surface of the earth! It is obvious from the context of Revelation that Satan’s wrath was levelled against humanity who dwell on earth.
So, the Eden of God used in Ezekiel was a metaphor for heaven because heaven is also Paradise.
The earth and universe or the multiverse God made was something new. I know some use 2 Peter 3:5–10 to buttress their point of an already existing earth that was destroyed when Satan was cast out onto it, which they believe was what caused the tohu bohu, chaotic and formless waters that covered the deep of the earth. However, Revelation 12:12 clearly dismantles this viewpoint referred to us the Gap theory that posits some time lapsed between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. In 2 Peter 3:5–10, Peter was warning the mockers who derided the notion of the return of Christ physically to take a clue from the flood in Noah’s time, that God does intervene in the physical world. Afterall, he created the physical world, which he formed out of water and through water by his word. And he used the same to destroy nearly all the life He had created on the earth. And once again He would intervene on the Day of Judgment to destroy the present physical earth and heavens by fire and create enduring ones in their place.
Were there witnesses when the earth and heavens (galaxies) were created? Yes. The angels were the witnesses — “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone — while the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4–7). Here is what one angel from heaven declares about God, “And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay”(Revelation 10:5 & 6). Here is what other angels (seraphim) proclaimed in Isaiah 6: 2 & 3, “Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The seraphim confirmed that the whole earth belongs to God because it reflects God as its owner and creator.
It is possible that God spoke into being the chaotic waters of tohu bohu and the earth over which they covered that first day of creation. The chaotic deep of waters and the earth beneath it would serve as the raw materials God would use to create the galaxies, and making earth a habitable place for vegetation, animals and people. It is also possible that the chaotic deep and the earth had been spoken into place some time earlier, but God started giving it form and order over the six days in Genesis 1.
Yes, geologists and space scientists might disagree with the age of the earth and the universe because they do not consider its supernatural ingredient and source, who is the WORD, Jesus our Lord! From naturalistic science both creation and resurrection are impossible. But as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 13:9, “we know only in part.” Life is more than the material world and its laws! The material or natural world is governed by the supernatural world whose laws supersede it, define it, conform it, and predict its future. The Source and Owner of both natural and supernatural laws is Christ Jesus.
Hosanna to Christ, the Power and Wisdom of God: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:18–2:16).
So we will keep singing and shouting out our Hosannas because Jesus came and saved us from sin, the world system and the Devil. Hosanna in the highest!
