Desperado
And out of the ground YHWH made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. Genesis 2:9
Pleasant – When I visited the Prado in Madrid, I saw Titian’s painting of Adam and Eve in the Garden. You can see it here. You’ll notice that Titian does not represent the tempter as a serpent. Perhaps he was a bit more careful about the text than we tend to be. This “serpent” is a lot more like something human than something reptilian, just as the text suggests. Our mythology about the Genesis account needs some serious correction. That correction must include a reconsideration of trees.
When you think about the garden in ‘eden (the place of pleasure), do you think about a pristine topography replete with vegetation, flowers, gentle animals and fruit trees? That seems to be the imagery of most pictorial representations of this story. But consider the original audience and geographical context of this account. Would the children of Israel, recently removed from Egypt, think of the garden as grassy knolls, verdant forests, bubbling brooks and lush flowered canopies filled with brightly-colored parrots? How could they have imagined any of this? They lived in a semi-arid, open expanse. They knew nothing of parrots, orchids, apples and bananas. Their mental picture of the garden had to be based on their experience, not on the imagery of 16th century European artists. So, where did the idea of a garden come from? And what would they have imagined would be in it?
Most scholars tell us that the idea of paradise comes from Babylonian royal preserves. Kings collected animals and plants which were kept in walled preserves, the ancient versions of a combination zoo and botanical garden. Solomon mentions this in Ecclesiastes. But God’s version isn’t just a collection. God’s version adds something else. God adds a door.
The Hebrew word translated “pleasant” is nechmad. This is the root chamad plus the prefix consonant Nun. The structure is N-CH-M-D. The root covers a wide range of acts of desire. It can mean to lust after, to covet, to take pleasure in or to delight in. Obviously, both good and evil desires are covered by the same verbal root. That’s why the word is used here and in the tenth commandment (“You shall not covet – chamad).Look at the consonant structure.What does the pictograph show us?Nun is life.Chet is a fence (what separates).Mem is chaos.Daleth is door or path.So, what is pleasant?It is the door in the fence that separates chaos from life.
“Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? Come down from your fences, open the gate.” What God has provided inside His walled preserve is all the doors that separate chaos from life. He has invited us to consume; to use the strength to control what is allowed under His seal and sign. What is pleasant from a biblical perspective? It is opening the doors that lead to life. It is to be in the Father’s will. It is to know His blessing and His goodness. It is to live in His preserve with Him.
“But his delight is in the Torah of YHWH, and in His Torah he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2
“I delight to do Your will, O my God; yes, Your Torah is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8
Topical Index: pleasant, delight, chamad, garden, Genesis 2:9
Yeah. He does what he says too.
In Jeremiah trees are people. Perhaps it is the same image.
There is a very ancient covenant that deserves study. It is the threshold covenant. “Back in the day” preceding Abraham, the entrance to the dwelling place of man was guarded or protected by “a god”. This entry way or threshold of the cave or tent was considered to be “sacred.” The “doorway” is mentioned in several places in the scripture. Yeshua mentions in John chapter ten, something about being the “sheepgate” or “door”. As the parable is developed, He further states “no man comes unto the Father except through me”. Also,a rather narrow and rather focused statement: “Straight is the gate and narrow is the way”. He even adds.. “I AM the Way” to His discourse and then even further still, a mysterious statement concerning “laying down His life” (pouring out His blood?) for the sheep. I’m still trying to piece it together. A man who is sinful (all have sinned), a G-d who’s very name is Holy, and ONE who claims to be the Way to the Father. And somewhere in the mix there is a cross and an empty tomb. I have an inward strong desire to confess something or actually Someone. He is the Christ.. the Son of the living G-d. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. -Where does my help come from? My eyes see and remember a single hill. I also remember two thieves on either side of the Door to Life. One thief found life that day.
N-CH-M-D
N – Nun is life.
CH Chet is a fence (what separates).
M – Mem is chaos
D – Daleth is door or path
“Pleasant is the door in the fence that separates chaos from life.”
“Delight is in the Torah of YHWH, and in His Torah he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2”
Maybe it is just the ex Catholic in me, but this seems like the life of a Nun to me.
You must be British! What great dead-pan. I love it.
Hi Skip,
That’s a funny response and makes me laugh 🙂
On the one hand, I read it over many times, because it was very difficult for me to understand for some reason.
But on the other hand, I was dead serious; because that was all I could see 🙂
The typical picture of a nun is one whose life is very restricted and rule-bound. Maybe if we saw that the vow of devotion is closer to the idea of delighting inside a fence constructed by the Lord we would have a different view of the life of a nun.
Hi Skip,
I agree. Actually, I was having a difficult time “picturing” the gate, because I was in “binary mode.”
I was thinking of two boxes; either being in a state of “chaos” or “out of life.”
But now I’m remebering what Hester Prynne taught me long ago in The Scarlet Letter.
You can’t get out of the wilderness, by running away, it’s infinite.
If you want to restore the Eden that was Adam’s original home, you’ve got to turn inward and move toward the “center.”
In the middle of the Heart, you will find the gate, which will lead you to the home of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.
Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. Wherever they go, they will find green pastures. John 10:9
Beautiful!!!!!!
Shalom.
Regarding Gan Eden…The numerical value of E-l olam is 177, equal to Gan Eden, “the Garden of Eden.” The consciousness of run and return is the consciousness of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve lost this consciousness when they were expelled from the garden.
When the word preceding E-l olam, Havayah (26), is added to 177, we receive 203. 203 is the value of the first verb and the first three letters of the Torah — bara — which means “to create.” The consciousness that God is all and all is God is the full secret of creation.
How much further would we like to delve into this? WHO was the flaming sword protecting the path to the Tree Of Life in the gan? WHO is the gate by which we pass to be reconciled? WHO is the seed that will inhabit the gates of the enemy? WHO is the key of David? WHO has paid for our redemption and holds the key of life and death?
Ahhh … the Derech (path) … the Gate (sha’ar) … the Door (Dalet) … The Light (Ohr) … The Living Waters (Mayim Chayyim) …. The Jubilee (Yovel) and on and on … … our YESHUA … our EVERYTHING!
When “The Word” is viewed in the proper persepctive, a YESHUA perspective, the truth is revealed! For “The Word” is ELOHIM’s revelation of YESHUA’s glory!
We don’t have to connect the dots to get to Yeshua do we … HE can be found in all of the dots … HE is not only the sum but all of the parts thereof … to HIM be the glory forever! 🙂
We might want to check Revelations once again however and see the issues surrounding who is allowed within the she’arim (gates of new Jerusalem) … hmmmm …