The First Temple (Eden) Made by God
God created the heavens and earth. When He finished on the sixth day, “He saw every- thing He had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31)
God created man making him a living creature and placed man on the earth He had created. But not just anywhere on the earth. No, God made a special place for man, a garden in Eden. Why a special place? What was unique about Eden? First, the garden had two special trees; trees that could not be found anywhere else in the created universe. Secondly, God frequented the garden in order to commune with man.
Let’s look at the two special trees. Both of these trees had to do with life. The first tree, the tree of life, existed so that Adam and Eve could live in the garden forever. As long as they had access to this tree they would never die. The second tree, the knowledge tree, held the right to have access to the first tree. As long as Adam and Eve did not partake of the knowledge tree they could eat of the tree of life. Partaking of the knowledge tree offered them special God knowledge but they could not have both.
These two trees symbolized the presence of God as they provided access to life and knowledge. Eating of one tree furnished life eternal and eating of the other took that life away. It soon became evident that man could not handle knowing good and evil on an eternal basis and thus God put him out of the garden temple. This would be the state of man until God would welcome him back to the tree of life.
God was in the garden. He was physically in the garden, and His very movement made sound. Why was He in the garden of Eden but not the rest of the created world? This is the beginning of a pattern we will follow to the book of Revelation. God’s desire was to have man in His presence. Even though man was physical and God was spirit, God created a special place in the physical world where He could be with man. This is the basis for the concept of the temple, the Holy Place of God.
When we look at Eden, the tabernacle, Solomon’s temple, and the coming of Jesus Christ, we see this concept unfold. God wants to be with His creation, so He arranged a sanctuary for that to happen. At the end of time, God will provide the final sanctuary, His Holy Temple where He will dwell eternally with man.
Philip Dampier's Blog 