The Purpose That Drives My Life; Part 1

Adam’s Mission

When I did Security Officer certification training, I loved to ask the class this introductory question: ‘Who was the first Security Officer?’

In return, I’d generally get blank stares, or an occasional reference to somebody named ‘Peele’ in England.

The correct answer: Adam

(Adam was also the first FTO, but that’s another story.)

‘And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.’ Genesis 2:15 (KJV)

I have the feeling most Christians today think of Adam as the first farmer… no, gardener. Yes, that’s it: The first gardener… spending his day talking to God and enjoying their relationship and putting about the garden, maybe doing a little weeding, a little trimming… once Eve came along, making some improvements, etc.

Maybe that is an accurate depiction of part of Adam’s job description, the part ‘to tend’ (though I have difficulty imagining weeds in the garden at this point).

But, what’s that other word about; ‘keep’? Today, two common usages of keep and tend are redundant and this may create some confusion. Did God place Adam in the garden to tend and tend the garden?? That makes no sense at all. It must have some other meaning.

From: http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?number=08104&version=kjv

‘keep’
to keep, guard, observe, give heed
(Qal)
to keep, have charge of
to keep, guard, keep watch and ward, protect, save life 1a
watch, watchman (participle)
to watch for, wait for
to watch, observe
to keep, retain, treasure up (in memory)
to keep (within bounds), restrain
to observe, celebrate, keep (sabbath or covenant or commands), perform (vow)
to keep, preserve, protect
to keep, reserve
(Niphal)
to be on one's guard, take heed, take care, beware
to keep oneself, refrain, abstain
to be kept, be guarded
(Piel) to keep, pay heed
(Hithpael) to keep oneself from

It should be obvious from most of the possible meanings of keep above that there may be something more important, something urgent, going on behind the command to 'keep the garden'.

Keep is the same word used in Genesis 3:24 to describe the mission of the cherubim:

‘So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.’ (KJV)

Interestingly, the NASB leaves the KJV ‘keep’ intact when describing Adam’s duty, but correctly translates it as ‘guard’ when referring to the mission of the cherubim:

‘So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.’ (NASB)

The Terrain – a (likely) history lesson

Donald Grey Barnhouse, in his wonderful book ‘The Invisible War’ does a much better job of making the argument for ‘the great interval’ than I can do here. Suffice to say, I subscribe to the belief that an unknown, but probably vast, period of time elapsed between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2. Many struggle with this, but it fits perfectly for me and explains much. Modern translations suggest the word ‘became’ as a possible substitute for ‘was’ in Gen 1:2 – ‘The earth was formless and void…’ would now read ‘And the earth became formless and void…’

Became begins to make even more sense when we consider Isaiah 45:18, which states categorically that the earth was not created a void.

‘For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else.” ‘

So, if Barnhouse is right, and Isaiah 45:18 suggests he is, God created the heavens and the earth and sometime back in pre-time, the earth ‘became’ formless and void. That would make 'the story of creation' beginning in Gen 1:2 more accurately 'how God reformed the earth'.

It does seem odd that God would create something less than perfect, doesn’t it? It just doesn’t fit with what we know of Him. Barnhouse says the earth ‘became’ a waste and void when God blasted it because of Lucifer’s rebellion. Maybe. God may have simply allowed it to deteriorate as a lesson to the universe on how little power the rebel actually possessed: ‘So, you want to take my place and run the universe? You can’t even maintain your own domain!’

Ezekiel 28:11-15 gives a clear picture of Lucifer’s exalted position before The Rebellion. It would seem he was the wisest and most beautiful, perfect, and powerful being God had ever created.

In John 12:31, Jesus describes Satan as ‘prince of this world’ and he is not being allegorical.

And [Satan] said to [Jesus], "I will give you all their [kingdoms of the world] authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. Luke 4:6 (NIV)

Here is how Barnhouse puts it:

“In this, the father of lies was not lying. God had placed him in the position of ruler and given to him the authority which he exercised and which he later wished to initiate from himself. Before his fall he may be said to have occupied the role of prime minister for God, ruling possibly over the universe but certainly over this world. The scene of Satan’s government, therefore, becomes the theater of the entire invisible war.”

Let us say Barnhouse’ interpretation is correct and that earth had (and, at the time of the first reformation described in Gen. 1:2, still) belonged to God’s enemy, Satan, then what spiritual activity does the physical Garden of Eden represent?

An invasion. God is now moving to retake that which had been given to Lucifer before he rebelled.

Adam’s mission was to tend and provide security for the beachhead.

Next: Life is War