Biblical Foundations for Night and Day p4

BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS OF NIGHT & DAY WORSHIP & PRAYER SESSION 04 – HEAVEN ON EARTH & THE PRIESTHOOD OF HUMANITY – STEPHEN VENABLE

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I. THE UNITY OF CREATION

A. In the Beginning

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen 1:1

1. Already great care has been taken to establish the fundamental unity of all created reality and the present condition of the heavens and the earth as set forth in biblical cosmology. Yet we must be aware that things have not always been as they are now. We are, of course, living in an evil age in which things are profoundly skewed from God’s original design. 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father… Gal 1:4

2. Though the moral and relational implications of this are apparent to us, the Fall had profound cosmological implications as well.

3. The New Testament is very clear that through His mercy the Lord Jesus has reconciled us to God. One can only be reconciled to someone with whom they were formerly in relationship. As applied to our salvation we understand very clearly that this reconciliation can indeed occur because of the primal intimacy that man shared with God.

4. Yet it is not merely God and man that are to be reconciled. Paul is explicit that all things in heaven and earth will be gather together and reconciled. The reason for this is because there was a time, now long-forgotten by Adam’s wayward sons, when heaven and earth dwelt together in complete unity. 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. Eph 1:10 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled… Colossians 1:19-21

B. Unity

1. It must be emphasized that this was a real and actual union between heaven and earth and not just an abstract agreement of principle and purpose. The dichotomy between the two is so powerfully engrained in us that it is tremendously difficult for us to reckon seriously with this historic reality and not just give mental assent to it.

2. In God’s original design there was unhindered interchange between heaven and its inhabitants and the earth and its inhabitants. There was no separation or breach whatsoever.

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF NIGHT AND DAY PRAYER Session 04 – Heaven on Earth & the Priesthood of Humanity PAGE 2


II. EDEN AND ITS GARDEN

A. Understanding Eden

1. Introduction

a. When we apply the truth of the original unity of heaven and earth to the biblical framework of “heaven” previously established, it leads us to the breathtaking realization that in the beginning the Holy City was on the earth.

b. Heaven, the vast mountain-city of God, once sat on the pristine expanses of the earth when all was new and unspoiled at the dawn of time. Out of the native beauty of fertile plains it rose ever higher until at last it disappeared in the heights of the sky.

2. Introduction

a. While at first such a conception seems foreign to the biblical description of the creation of the earth, upon closer examination there are hints that we are in fact to view the primal world in this manner.

b. It is very important to understand that Eden is not synonymous with the garden the LORD later placed within it. The creation narrative describes it as the most prominent of a number of different geographical regions.

3. Eden: A Mountain

a. When all the evidence is taken into account, I believe Eden should be understood as the region within which the vast area of the Holy City and its precincts was situated on the primal land-mass of the earth.

b. That Eden is itself to be understood as a unique dwelling place of God (and not merely the Garden within it) is indicated by its name (which has been translated as delight or fruitful), by the way it is referred to later in the Old Testament, and by the fact that when Cain is driven from the presence of the LORD He is banished not just from the Garden but from the land of Eden in its entirety (see Genesis 4:16).

c. That we are to understand Eden as a mountain becomes quite clear in an often-overlooked passage from the prophets: 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. 14 “ You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. 16 “By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Ezekiel 28:13-16

d. This passage will be surveyed more carefully later in the session but the point at present is to see that in addition to the association with the Garden, Eden is very explicitly referred to as the Mountain of God.1

1 In the Book of Jubilees, Enoch is said to have burned incense upon the mount in Eden (4:25)



The presence of the cherubim later in the narrative (Gen 3:24), and the description of the garden as the place where the Lord God walks (Gen 3:8), all contribute to understanding it as a cosmic mountain where heaven and earth are united and from which the divine rule is exercised.2

B. The Relationship Between Eden and the Garden 8The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. Genesis 2:8-10

1. Three important facts are communicated clearly in this passage:

a. God planted the Garden within the Eastern part of Eden

b. The Tree of Life was specifically placed within the Garden

c. A river went out of Eden and flowed into the Garden

2. Once Eden is understood as referring to the area encompassed by the Holy City then it becomes clear that the Garden was actually within the great walls of the city.

3. Presumably the Garden (which itself was likely very large) was located at the Eastern extremity of the colossal area and thus the entrance that the cherubim was stationed to guard following the Fall was synonymous with one of the gates to the Holy City as described in Revelation 21:12, which also describes angels protecting the entrances. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: Revelation 21:12 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:24

4. A Vision of the Garden

All of these reflections from Genesis actually become far more explicit when we consider the vision of the Holy City recorded at the close of Revelation.

1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2

2 Stephen G. Dempster, Dominion and Dynasty: A theology of the Hebrew Bible (Downers Grove, Illinois, Inter Varsity Press: 2003), p 62. See also Beale p 53, 73.



a. Without question John is looking within the Holy City and describes a “river of water of life” flowing from the throne and behold the Tree of Life. The fact that no qualification whatsoever is offered assumes that this is one and the same with the Tree of Life described in the Garden of Eden in Genesis.

b. Though the Greek prepositions in this passage are notably difficult to translate, the picture is clear enough that we can say with certainty that John sees the Tree of Life in direct relationship with the river in some way.

c. Yet nowhere does the passage indicate that the Tree of Life is necessarily in proximity to the throne, and in fact the access that the nations have to it would seem to indicate the opposite – that its location is closer to the walls and gates of the city rather than to the exalted throne at its height.

d. Therefore we may conclude that the primal Tree of Life is both within the Eternal City and watered by the life-giving river proceeding from the throne. As we have seen, Genesis is clear that the Tree of Life is within the Garden of Eden, and thus we may conclude that the Garden itself is within the Holy City.

e. Of course no one would argue that the Tree of Life was not actually on the earth originally, and thus the Holy City must have been as well. The river of the waters of life that John described flowing forth from the throne was none other than the river which flowed out of Eden to water the Garden.

III. PARADISE

The statements from Genesis, Ezekiel, and Revelation are jarring. They hold in them a force and directness pertaining to Eden, the Garden, and the Mountain of God must prevail over our presuppositions. Yet within Scripture there is another vein of these treasures that has not been mined, and in terms of piercing clarity it may be the richest.

A. Paradise Lost

1. Long before the first edition of John Milton’s epic poem was published in 1667 have men been fascinated and wounded by the idea of paradise. In our day it is has degenerated into a term used for vacation spots that indulge the lusts of the flesh, but in centuries past it had nobler connotations more fitting of its origins.

2. For paradise is not an invention of man but the creation of the living God. It was birthed in His heart and graven upon ours. This is why men with restless hearts have ever stared off into the horizon and imagined, against all logic, that somewhere in the distance there is an untainted land of perfection, a hidden city of splendor, waiting to be discovered.

3. Ancient ruins, legendary cities, remote tropical islands, mist laden mountains, and landscapes of sweeping grandeur awaken places in our souls usually dormant in slumber. Yet truly they lie within, and truly paradise beckons. It is only by turning to Scripture that we can actually understand paradise lost and how it can be regained.

B. Terminology



1. The Greek word παράδεισος (paradeisos), from which we derive the English word paradise, came from a ancient Persian term for a park or an enclosed garden. Its first adaption to Greek by Xenophon of Athens referred to the royal parks of the Persian king and nobility.3

2. When the word found its way into the Greek of Judaism (from the LXX on) it took on a very specific meaning – referring most often to Eden’s garden.4 While in the Septuagint it typically appears in the form � παράδεισος το� θεο�(the paradise of God) or something equivalent in order to distinguish it from secular use, in later Jewish writings it came to stand alone and have the technical sense of the Paradise of God in Eden.

3. That this exclusivity was retained is seen from the fact that a completely different Greek word is used in the New Testament to refer to a garden (κ�πος).

C. New Testament References to Paradise

The implications of this are simply, and joyfully, enormous. Two verses, when rightly informed by this perspective on paradise, indisputably reveal that the Holy City was indeed on the earth in the beginning.

1. Paul & Paradise

If taking A.D. 55 as a reliable date for the writing of II Corinthians, then it was about ten years after the ascension of Christ when Paul was caught up into Paradise:

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. II Corinthians 12:2-4

a. We recall that Paul here is writing to Greek speaking Christians in Corinth whose ‘scripture’ was the Septuagint. Thus, when the apostle says he was caught up into παράδεισος/the third heavens there was no question what he was talking about.5

b. Paul uses the exact word that occurs almost twenty-five times in the ‘bible’ of the Corinthians to refer to the Garden of God/Eden6, and that had since gained an even more exclusive and technical meaning when used in the Apocrypha and Psuedepigripha. A general, vague “realm” is not being spoken of here. Paul says quite clearly that he went up to the Garden of God.

2. Jesus & Paradise

a. The second passage comes from Jesus Himself, the One who made Paradise. His precious words in many ways complete the picture and vault us to further conclusions. At the close of his address to the church in Ephesus, the Lord says:

3 J. Jeremias, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. The etymology of the word underscores the points made previously in the chapter concerning how we should picture the ‘garden’ of Eden. 4 In the canonical portions of the Septuagint it is found thirty times, with all but six instances referring to the Garden of Eden. See Genesis 2:8ff, Genesis 13:10, Joel 2:3, Isaiah 51:3, Ezekiel 28:13, Ezekiel 31:8-9. 5 The suggestion that Paul is referring to two different places by saying the third heavens and paradise is not only very unnatural but also proven errant by observing the very careful linguistic structure that guides the statements (see NICNT II Corinthians). 6 By this I mean in the canonical writings of the Septuagint



“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7

b. This remarkable text transcends II Corinthians 12:2-4 in two distinct ways. First, Jesus is directly quoting the Old Testament when He says the Paradise of God (� παράδεισος το� θεο�), which is the full form of the way the Septuagint translates the explicit references to the Garden of Eden found in Genesis 13:10, Ezekiel 28:13, and Ezekiel 31:8 (see also Isaiah 51:3).

c. Jesus, therefore, is unambiguously offering a promise of a future inheritance in the Garden that was in Eden historically to those who overcome.

d. Secondly, the tree of life is mentioned. In addition to powerfully underscoring the first point through the increased specificity, this provides a crucial link to the view into the interior of the Holy City we have already discussed.

e. The reference to the tree of life in Revelation 22:2 cannot be divorced from its context earlier in the book. In Revelation 2:7 there can be no question of the continuity between Jesus’ promise and the ancient reality found in Eden.

f. Hermeneutically, we must allow this to inform Revelation 22:2.7 Therefore tree of life in the latter is also “in the midst of the Paradise of God” and synonymous with the original tree of life in Genesis, just as it is so clearly presented in Revelation 2:7.

D. Conclusions

1. What conclusions can now be drawn from the meaning of the word paradise and the brief exegesis of these two passages? In sum, the conclusion is solidified that Paradise of Eden, the Paradise Paul visited around A.D. 40, and the eschatological Paradise promised in Revelation are all the same place – and that beautiful place was, is, and always will be located within the walls of the Holy City.

2. Consider the following from Joachim Jeremias in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament:

That we do not have three distinct entities in the Paradise of the first, the last, and the intervening time, but one and the same garden of God, may be seen quite indubitably from both the terminology and the content of the relevant statements. As regards the terms, Paradise in all three ages is παράδεισος in the Gk., גן עדן in the Heb., תא דעדןגנ in Aram. As regards the content, identity is proved especially by the common mention of the tree of life in statements about the intervening and the eschatological Paradise.8

7 The point here is that you have two identical references (“the tree of life”) by the same author and within the same book. Every ‘rule’ of biblical interpretation says that you assume the phrase means the same thing. There is no basis for imposing a dichotomy between the two. 8Joachim Jeremias writing in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vols. 5-9 Edited by Gerhard Friedrich. Vol. 10 Compiled by Ronald Pitkin., ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromiley and Gerhard Friedrich, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-c1976), 5:768. So also, James Charlesworth writing in the Anchor Bible Dictionary says, “Jews did not think about diverse places, but only one and the same Paradise.”



3. This dispels any question of whether the Holy City, including the Temple that crowns its lofty heights, was in fact on the earth in the beginning. Just as much as the Tree of Life in the midst of the Paradise of God was a real place in the land called Eden, the colossal Mountain of God also adorned those verdant plains when the earth was young.

E. Ancient Truth

1. Although the testimony of Scripture is enough, it may be helpful to know that this understanding of Paradise is not at all new – it is, in fact, very old. Once again we find that we stumble when our vantage point two-thousand years later inadvertently becomes the litmus test for what is normative and what is odd related to perspectives on Scripture.

2. Jewish writings prior to the time of Christ are riddled with references to Paradise, with the majority attesting to the belief that the eschatological Paradise was synonymous with the first. One of the clearest statements of this belief comes from the Testament of Levi:9

And he [Messiah] shall open the gates of paradise, and shall remove the threatening sword against Adam. And he shall give to the saints to eat from the tree of life, and the spirit of holiness shall be on them. Testament of Levi 18:10-11

3. This belief naturally led to the question of where Paradise was in the present, intervening time before it would reappear. The speculation on this matter was varied, with some suggesting it was in some distant place in the earth and others that it was caught up into the heavens.10

4. Although inconsistent in its answers, the diversity of possible locations posed in the Second Temple period is indicative of how widespread the conviction that it still existed truly was. Closest to the biblical tradition is I Enoch 24-25, which places Paradise on a high mountain of precious stones where the throne of God is located.11

5. A parallel is also found in the Apocalypse of Moses (40:2) where Paradise is located in the third heavens.12 Second Baruch, a Jewish work dated sometime following the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, overtly links Paradise with the Heavenly Jerusalem and states that it is preserved in the heavens with God.13

IV. VIEWING THE GARDEN

A. The Garden as Sanctuary

1. The greatest indication that the Garden is to be understood primarily as the first sanctuary is seen through the way in which future sanctuaries and temples described in Scripture are clearly patterned after it.

9 The date of the authorship of the Testament of Levi is uncertain but it is considered pre-Christian apocalyptic literature and is included in all modern collections of Old Testament psuedepigraphical writings. Even if one were to assert that its composition was in the first-century, which is plausible, it is not considered a Christian work and therefore supports the claim that it is reflective of the Jewish view of Paradise. See also 2 Esdras 8:45 for the reopening of Paradise 10 The question of what happened to the Holy City and the Paradise within will be addressed later in the chapter. II Enoch 8 and also places the Paradise in the third heavens, but this is in a schema of seven. [List out references for both earth and heaven here…] 11 I Enoch is a compilation of various Jewish traditions and also contains references to other locations of Paradise. It is difficult to determine whether the mountains described are to be understood as sitting on earth or in heaven. 12 II Enoch 8 and also places the Paradise in the third heavens, but this is in a schema of seven. 13 See Second Baruch 4:2-6



2. For now, however, there are two very clear indications from the biblical descriptions of the Garden (aside from the later references back to it) that lead us to view it as a sanctuary.

The garden of Eden is not viewed by the author of Genesis simply as a piece of Mesopotamian farmland, but as an archetypical sanctuary, that is a place where God dwells and where man should worship him. Many of the features of the garden may also be found in later sanctuaries, particularly the tabernacle or Jerusalem temple. These parallels suggest that the garden itself is understood as a sort of sanctuary.14

3. God’s Presence

a. In Genesis 3:8, the verbs used to describe God walking through the Garden are used later in the Old Testament to describe God’s presence with Israel in His tabernacle and Temple.15

12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. Leviticus 26:12 14 For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you. Deuteronomy 23:15 6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’ II Samuel 7:6-7

b. This corresponds to the statements later in Scripture that refer to it as the Garden of God. It was His Garden – His place to dwell and commune with man. 10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Genesis 13:10 3 For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Isaiah 51:3

c. Of course the primary feature of the tabernacle and temple was the fact that it was God’s dwelling place.

4. Sanctuary

a. The second major reason is found in that the lamentation of Ezekiel 28 the subject of the oracle (to be addressed later) is said specifically to have defiled the sanctuaries.

b. This plural way of referring to the dwelling place of God was adopted in biblical and historical tradition to speak of the temple (see Leviticus 21:23, Jeremiah 51:51) but regardless of whether a single place or multiple sanctuaries are in view it is clear in context that the Garden must be included as the referent.

14 G.J. Wenham, ‘Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story’, Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies 9 (1986), p 19. 15 See Ross, Hope of Glory, p 90 and T. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2008), p 23



Ezekiel 28:18 is probably, therefore, the most explicit place anywhere in canonical literature where the Garden of Eden is called a temple…We are not left, however, with a collection of similarities that show now comparable Eden is to a temple. Indeed, Ezekiel 28 explicitly calls Eden the first sanctuary, which substantiates that Eden is described as a temple because it is the first temple, albeit a ‘garden-temple’.16

5. This perspective on the Garden makes far more sense conceptually when we realize that gardens in Ancient Near Eastern culture were very different than we understand them. They were walled and enclosed, very special places associated with royalty and divinity.

“Next we need to understand the designation “garden.” The word generally refers to a parklike setting featuring trees and what we could call landscaping. This is in contrast to the American usage of garden, which, more often than not, refers to a small rectangular plot of ground with rows of vegetables or flowers…In the same way that a garden of the palace would be adjoining the palace, Eden would then be the source of the waters and the residence of God, and the garden would adjoin God’s residence. Gardens of this variety were a common feature in palace complexes in the ancient world…They were planted with fruit trees and shade trees and generally contained watercourses, pools and paths…Temple complexes also sometimes featured gardens that symbolized the fertility provided for by the deity.”17

6. Thus while it is very appropriate to imagine the Garden as a place of remarkable fruitfulness and beauty we should also picture it as including structural features such as walls and streets and gates and chambers, etc.

B. A Tale of Two Sanctuaries

1. With this perspective we can now more fully sketch the original picture of God’s design. At the uppermost heights of the Holy City (which sat within Eden) as it is sat on the earth there was the Heavenly Sanctuary – God’s ultimate dwelling and the place of worship.

2. At the base of the mountain-city, however, God formed another sanctuary specifically suited for communion with man – the pinnacle of His creative work and the steward of the newly formed earth. These served two different purposes but were in complete, unbroken unity.

3. The first was specifically God’s dwelling place in Heaven (the City) where man would ascend to worship and commune with Him. The second was man’s dwelling place on the earth (within the larger precincts of the city-complex) where God would descend and commune with man.

V. SIGNIFICANCE

A. A Vision of Eschatology

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. Acts 3:21

Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matthew 19:28

16 G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, (Downer’s Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2004), p 75-6, 80. 17 IVP Dictionary on the Pentateuch under the entry on Eden, p 203.



1. Understanding Restoration

a. Both of these words, translated restoration of all things and regeneration respectively, are very pregnant terms meaning restitution, renovation, and recreation.

b. Much of the reason we struggle to take these passages seriously and find ourselves strangely immune to their gravity is because of the lens through which we see the first two chapters of Genesis.

c. We tend to read those chapters with an air of fatalism, as though it was all just a big set up for failure that God didn’t really care about because He knew what was about to happen.

d. The LORD certainly did know what would eventually transpire with the sin of Adam and all of its terrible ramifications for humanity and the earth. Yet God’s foreknowledge of what was to come did not cause Him to hold back in Genesis 1-2 and only make a demo version of the heavens and the earth because it was just going to get tarnished anyway. This is not biblical.

2. The Perfection of Creation

a. When the LORD created everything He called it good. The dream of His heart that led to the universe coming forth out of nothing actually found expression in Genesis 1-2. It was the way that He wanted it. It was perfect.

b. And God’s plan of salvation is to restore everything and make it as it once was. He is going to fix all things so that the heavens, the earth, and all that is them are conformed to the way He desired it to be in the beginning.

c. This is not to say that God’s original creation is the ceiling for what He will do in the future, or that there will not be things that are more glorious than they were at the outset. Clearly there is ample room biblically for God’s surpassing grace, but this does not undermine the point at hand. Genesis 1-2 may not be the boundary line for salvation, but it is the blueprint.

3. The Beginning and the End

a. Consequently, we simply cannot understand the destination without knowing the point of origin. The restoration of all things is meaningless to our hearts, our lives, and our theology apart from apprehending the way all things were in the beginning.

b. Apathy related to glorious hope of the future that is held out over and over again in the New Testament is symptomatic of the fogginess that surrounds our perspective on the past.

c. The Tabernacle of God with men is not some novel eschatological innovation but rather the restoration of the way things once were. In this light, one of the most compelling reasons for believing that the Holy City was on the earth at the beginning of the story is simply that we see it descend to the earth in the end.

B. The Pattern of Replication in the Biblical Narrative

1. Progressive Unfolding

a. Thankfully the LORD does not wait until the end to restore everything all at once. Throughout His sovereign leadership of redemptive history, God has offered glimpses of the reality of Heaven on the earth in order to remind humanity of what things used to be like and the way they will be again.



b. This consistent pattern of replication is not a neat addendum to the story of Scripture, it is the story of Scripture.18 Getting even a dim glimpse of Eden and its Garden is like finding the top of the box to a puzzle – we can at last see how all the pieces fit together, whereas before all we could see was fragments of biblical and historical truths that appeared to have no larger context to unite them.

c. In this way, recovering the vision of Heaven on earth allows us to recover the biblical narrative. In other words, seeing the beginning is not just indispensable to seeing the destination, but also all the stops along the journey that get us there.

2. The Story of Worship

a. Applied to the subject of this course, we can see that a biblical theology of worship and prayer is impossible apart from a blazing vision of how it all began.

b. The festal gathering of innumerable angels enthralled in perpetual adoration at the summit of the Mountain of God in Eden and the sanctuary called Paradise far below together serve as the pattern for ministry to the LORD.

c. Ignorance of this design means that we can read the Bible and still miss the point of what God is ultimately trying to produce through His commands related to devotion. The care being taken to restore the biblical vision of the Holy City and Paradise is aimed at remedying this ignorance in the hope that an indelible conviction would be forged concerning God’s zeal to be worshipped on earth as He is in Heaven.

C. The Cosmic Mountain

1. General Definition

a. Without going into too much detail, this term can be said to entail a pervasive belief among Ancient Near Eastern religions (though varying between them) related to the beginning of the earth and affecting their contemporary practice as a result.

b. Cosmic does not indicate that somehow it was related to space or the cosmos but simply that it related to the relationship of heaven and earth, the activity of deities, and to the order and stability of creation.

2. Description

While some variance exists between regions and cultures the following characteristics are typically associated with the tradition of the cosmic mountain in Ancient Near Eastern religion:

a. A primordial mountain or hillock located at the center of the earth that reached to the heavens.

b. The belief that this mountain served as the home for a deity or deities where counsel was held in order to issue decrees.

c. An archetypical tree of great size that contained within it the life-giving principle of all things.

18 No exaggeration is intended here. As we will see later in the session, the center of this all is God’s glorification and creation fully given to the worship of His majesty. So in no way is anything less than God Himself being presented as the crux of the biblical narrative. Yet His self-glorification and the commensurate response of humanity does not happen in a vacuum- it occurs through the restoration of all things.



d. Primal or subterranean waters that were the source of fertility in the earth and associated with the abode of gods.

3. Importance

a. The similarities with Eden and the Garden as sketched above scarcely need to be pointed out. Yet it is also important to note that there are significant departures from these traditions contained within the inspired text.

b. These elements of overlap strengthen confidence in the accuracy of the conception of Eden set forth previously and the original unity of the Mountain-City of God and the Earth.

c. Yet more generally, the prevalence of the tradition of the cosmic mountain and all that is associated with it should also bolster our assurance of the truthfulness of Scripture and cause its revelation to be more real to us.

d. When considering the fact that almost all ancient cultures have a flood narrative, the only reasonable conclusion is that there really was a global flood. Similarly, the universal presence of the cosmic mountain in the religion and myth of Ancient Near Eastern culture should be a compelling witness to us that there really was a vast mountain on the earth in the beginning it was graven upon the memories of those who saw it and heard of it through their testimony.

4. Jewish Tradition

Within the writings of Second Temple Judaism there is also a tradition attesting to Eden & the Garden being a mountain or associated with a mountain.

a. The Book of Jubilees – In chapter 4:23-26 Enoch is described as being translated into the Garden of Eden and then offering incense before the Lord ‘on the Mount’.

b. In I Enoch, chapter 18 and 25 taken collectively testify to seven distinct mountains being associated with the region of Eden. The central and chief one is described as being made of alabaster, reaching to the heavens, being the throne of God, and being made of sapphire at the summit. The Lord will be sitting upon this throne at the summit of the mountain when He descends to visit the earth with goodness.

D. Reaching to the Heavens

1. Postdiluvian World

a. With this general context both theologically and historically we are better prepared to appreciate the significance of events and trends that occurred following the Flood.

b. Quite possibly the Holy City had been on the earth until the time of the Flood. After being in the ark for nearly a year total, Noah emerged and realized that Heaven had departed and no longer would God dwell upon the earth.19

19 In a fascinating excerpt a church father named Hippolytus (lived approximately160/170 – 236) and reported to be a disciple of Irenaeus, who was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John) describes how prior to the Flood, Noah and his sons are summoned by God and warned of the Flood. They are then ordered to descend from ‘the holy mount’ and build the ark to prepare. When the time came for the destruction they wept for the loss of Paradise, embracing the stones and trees of ‘the holy mount’ before entering the ship.



c. As children were born and humanity began to multiply once more, Noah and his sons told of the former days when the great mountain-city sat at the center of the earth and reached into the very heavens.

d. Following the Flood the strength of humanity began to decline rapidly. This was due to several factors but the diminutive trend physically (people were getting smaller in stature) coupled with the dramatically shorter life-span must have been agonizing for the postdiluvian world.

e. Furthermore, there was no longer the landmark at the center of the earth to serve as the reference point for all of its peoples. Large bodies of water now covered the surface of the world and many mountains rose up from its planes. Waters continued to rise and slowly separate geographical areas from one another.

f. Thus man’s strength was fading and humanity’s geo-centric unity was threatened by the dramatic changes that had come about.

2. Babel

1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:1-4

a. It is very importance to notice that what we refer to as the Tower of Babel was actually an attempt to build a city with a tower whose top is in the heavens. The word translated tower almost certainly refers to a temple-tower.20

b. Babel was an attempt to forge a connection between heaven and earth in their own strength in order to recreate the conditions prior to the Flood. In other words, Babel was a counterfeit Holy City motivated out of a desire for the former greatness of humanity rather than a sincere yearning for the true and living God to dwell among them again.

c. It is absolutely astonishing that concurrent with this uprising the LORD appears to Abram and in essence offers humanity the assurance that He was going to restore the unity of Heaven and Earth.

3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3

3. Temple-Towers

a. In addition to the tradition of the cosmic mountain, and very much related to it, was the nearly ubiquitous presence in Ancient Near Eastern religions of temple-towers, or ziggurats.

20 The word migdāloccurred in many biblical place names that may refer to fortresses, fortified towns, or towns dominated by a towered temple (e.g., Migdol, Ezek 29:10; 30:6; Migdal-Shechem, Judg 9:46–49; Migdal-Eder, Gen 35:21; Migdal-el, Josh 19:38; Migdal-gad, Josh 15:37). Among the former we should probably include one or more fortresses along the border of Egypt and many fortified Asiatic settlements that appear in art of the Egyptian New Kingdom. A number of towns with names incorporating the word migdālmay owe their names to temples that were their principal landmarks during the MB and LB ages. Prominent temples with thick walls and a pair of towers flanking the doorway have appeared in excavations at Shechem and several other sites in Palestine. While modern archaeologists often label some of these buildings “migdal temples,” they are not necessarily the ones that ancient Hebrews meant by migdāl.Only the Migdal-Shechem has good support from both biblical and archaeological evidence (Wright 1965: 123–28). The “tower of Babel” (Gen 11:4–5) probably represents another case where migdālrefers to a temple. There is little doubt that the account recalls the ziggurat temples of Babylonia. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1996, c1992), 6:623



b. These staples of the Ancient Near Eastern religious cultures were associated with many different gods and have been found in the ruins of a host of prominent cities of that era.

c. Though varying somewhat in size and design, essentially they were large structures shaped generally like a pyramid with a ‘low’ temple adjoining or near the bottom and a ‘high’ temple at the pinnacle.21

d. They were also often characterized by “a walled precinct enclosing a large, open space, with a monumental structure set in the middle and with one or more planned courtyards within the precinct.”22

e. We must remain cognizant of the reality of both the Heavenly Temple atop the Holy City and the way in which the Garden was truly a sanctuary within its great walls. Although it is striking, it should not be surprising to find the religious cultures of the Ancient Near East trying to emulate this by building very large, tiered structures within a walled precinct that had both a temple at the top and the bottom.

f. In this light it would seem that the attempt at Babel to build an entire city was replaced over time by the ziggurat. This temple-complex served as a miniature representation of the mountain-city.

g. Although as time passed the design became more obscure it is simply remarkable to observe the presence of this type of structure in Egyptian culture and even in the temple complexes of Mayan and Incan civilizations.

h. The fact that this general architectural design transcends the gods being worshipped and a particular geographic area is best (and arguably only) explained by a concrete historical reality, the importance of which was so deeply engrained in ancient peoples that it went with them wherever they settled.23

i. While the object of their worship and homage was false and empty, the manner in which they sought to express devotion to deities and garner their favor by forging a connection between heaven and earth bears the imprint of the original truth of Eden.

j. Men of old yearned for heaven (as the dwelling of deities) and earth to come together – this was in many senses the foundation of religious belief and practice. This seems odd to us only because we possess a worldview that has made heaven either irrelevant or nonexistent altogether.

E. The Early Story of Humanity

The final piece of evidence explained by the original unity of Heaven and Earth is the way the Bible describes the early history of humanity after their expulsion from the Garden.

Genesis 4:3-22

1. Proximity

a. The first characteristic that should be striking is the dynamic proximity to the LORD the first families of the earth were privy to.

21 The Sanctuary and the Atonement, Wallenkampf & Lesher, Editors, (Washington, D.C., The Review and Herald Publishing Association: 1981), p 68. 22 David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1996, c1992), 6:375. 23 It is noteworthy that Far Eastern religious sites also bear a similar design and that temples are often built upon the tops of mountains.



b. From the impression of the text it would seem that Cain and Abel both presented offerings directly to the LORD. Though not explicit, it certainly seems as though He was in a specific place and they knew where to find Him.

c. This makes far more sense through the realization that Heaven was still on the earth at the time of their offerings.

d. As mentioned above, Cain’s grief was over the fact that he was forced to depart from the region of Eden and move to the East (to the land of Nod). The banishment from the direct access to the LORD due to his sin was what was so devastating about his punishment.

2. Knowledge

a. If Eden and the Garden of the LORD were merely fertile areas with an abundance of growth the notice that Cain immediately built a city upon leaving Eden is almost incomprehensible.

b. Yet once we understand that he was accustomed to the glorious presence of the ultimate city then his act becomes quite natural.

c. In a similar vein, Jubal is described as being the father of those who played the harp and the flute. Adam had seen (and in all probability played) the instruments of the Heavenly Sanctuary and thus imparted this knowledge to his descendants.

d. The image of primitive men roaming through pastures and fruit trees offers no explanation for this remarkable understanding and skill musically, nor the craftsmanship in bronze and iron noted in v 22.

VI. THE PRIESTHOOD OF ADAM

A. Introduction

1. Having established that the Garden of Eden was a sanctuary, we now turn to consider the corresponding reality that Adam was to be understood as the first priest.24

2. Aside from the logical correlation that can be made through Adam’s residence within the sanctuary, there are many stirring and surprising lines of evidence both biblically and historically that substantiate this idea.

3. It would be difficult to exaggerate the significance of this understanding as it relates to understanding the purpose of humanity. The original and archetypical man was fashioned first and foremost to minister to the LORD.

B. The Garden of Eden & Adam’s Charge 15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Genesis 2:15

1. Introduction

a. As a result of the typical view of the Garden of Eden as little more than a lush, verdant grove of fruit trees, this verse is most often understood as a command for Adam to be the first farmer.

24 For general affirmations of the idea of Adam’s priestly identity and status in addition to specific footnotes cited, see T.D. Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem, p 25,



b. While this understanding is questionable purely on the grounds of the perfection of the place and the notice that their punishment after their sin was precisely that they had to work the ground, a closer look at this passage reveals that much more is intended.

2. Placed in the Garden

a. Verse 15 reiterates the placement of the man within the Garden of Eden. Yet conjoined as it is with the purpose of his presence there, a different Hebrew word for “put” is used.

b. The choice of language in verse 15 literally means that Adam was ‘set to rest’ in the Garden. This word is later used in the Old Testament to describe God’s Sabbath rest and His desire for a resting place.25

c. Thus this specific word conjures those images and corresponds to the understanding of the Garden as a sanctuary.

3. Priestly Purpose

a. It is true that the word often translated ‘cultivate’ in Genesis 2:15 can have an agricultural meaning when standing alone.

b. Yet whenever these two words are paired together throughout the rest of the Old Testament within a fifteen word range, they always refer to either to the Israelites serving God and keeping His commandments or to priests who serve the Lord and guard His sanctuary.26

Numbers 3:7-8

Numbers 8:25-26

Numbers 18:5-6

I Chronicles 23:32

Ezekiel 44:14

c. Thus the best rendering for this passage is likely that Adam was set to rest within the Garden in order to serve and guard [i.e. the sanctuary]. This does not necessarily preclude the idea of Adam actually stewarding the physical features of the Garden but clarifies that this was an overtly priestly service (just as priests and Levites were later to care for the tabernacle/temple).

Therefore…if the garden was an archetype or pattern of the sanctuary, then humans were there archetypical Levites. Accordingly, Adam and Eve were created to serve the LORD, not the ground-they were like the priests who had the responsibility for the care of all the divine institutions in the sanctuary…All the details of the text then indicate that God created human begins to serve him in a spiritual capacity. 27

d. That this was indeed the case is further clarified by the consequences following Adam’s sin. Beale summarizes:

25 Ross, Hope of Glory, p 105 26 Beale, TACM, p 67; Also Ross, Hope of Glory, p 105-106 27 Ross, referencing the work of Cassuto, has here argued that the linguistic features of the Hebrew in the passage should be understood as reflecting that the ‘serving’ and ‘keeping’ were overtly spiritual acts before the Lord and do not need to be referencing the Garden itself in the agrarian sense. Hope of Glory, p 106.



When Adam failed to guard the temple by sinning and letting in a foul serpent to defile the sanctuary, he lost his priestly role, and the cherubim took over the responsibility of ‘guarding’ the Garden temple…The guarding function of the cherubim probably did not involve gardening but keeping out the sinful and unclean, which suggests that Adam’s original role stated in Genesis 2:15 likely entailed much more than cultivating the soil, but also ‘guarding’ the sacred space.28

C. The Mountain of God & the First Man

We return now to Ezekiel 28 to consider its relevance to the identity and purpose of Adam. Norman Habel, in a detailed article specifically on the six verses of particular relevance to this context offers the following translation of the text:

Then the word of Yahweh came to me: “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus say the Lord, Yahweh: You were a perfect signet, filled with wisdom and flawless in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; all the precious stones adorned you (carnelian, topaz, jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx; sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald); your ornaments were wrought in gold, and your own engravings. On the day you were created they were made. With an anointed guardian cherub I appointed you. You were in the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your way from the day you were created until a sin was found in you. Through the abundance of your wealth you became filled with violence and you sinned. So I rejected you from the mountain of God as a profane thing, and guardian cherub banished you from among the stones of fire… Ezekiel 28:11-16 29

1. Exegesis

a. The purpose of bringing attention to this passage in the context of this course is simply to underscore the priestly identity of Adam, not to give a thorough exegesis of the passage.

b. However, it may be briefly pointed out that the meaning of the text hinges on which manuscript is given preference. The choice comes down to whether the subject in view in this lamentation against the king of Tyre was the Cherub or was with the cherub. The former implies an angelic rebellion of some kind (typically viewed as the fall of Lucifer), the latter the fall of Adam. In this context we will accept the authority of the second rendering and understand that Adam is the individual described in this passage.

c. Finally, it is important to note that the passage is a prophetic oracle that oscillates between the king of Tyre and Adam. At times it is very clear when the subject changes but at other times it is not explicit and doesn’t necessarily need to be in order to get the basic meaning of the text.

2. The First High-Priest

a. When understood as a glimpse into the earliest days of the human history when Adam walked in the Garden on the Mountain of the LORD, the implications of the passage are simply stunning.

28 Beale, TACM, p 70 29Norman Habel, Ezekiel 28 and the Fall of the First Man, Concordia Theological Monthly, Volume XXXVIII, September 1967, Number 8, p 516-28



b. Adam is described as being adorned by various precious stones. The names found in Ezekiel correspond to nine of the twelve stones on the breastplate of the high-priest as described in Exodus 28:17-20 and 39:10-13. In the Septuagint, Ezekiel 28:13 has all twelve of the stones and they correspond in order to the lists in Exodus.

c. Thus we are to understand Adam as being depicted as the first high priest. The translation of 13b-c in the New King James Version adds to this striking picture of ministry to the LORD by adding a musical dimension to Adam’s responsibilities. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. Ezekiel 28:13

d. Not only is Adam described in this fashion as he walked in the Garden but also on the mountain of God (i.e. in the Holy City itself and not merely within its outer walls). As we have already seen, we should recognize that the Heavenly Temple and the Garden represented two distinct sanctuaries joined in total harmony.

e. Therefore it is at least implied that Adam was both a priest in the Garden-sanctuary but also in the Heavenly Temple itself. Though clearly an inference that is not described, we may joyfully imagine Adam standing on the sapphire expanse and joining in the worship (perhaps even with his own instruments, c.f. Ezekiel 28:13 in NKJV) of the seraphim and the angels in the infancy of their ceaseless adoration of Yahweh.

f. This perspective better explains why the plural, sanctuaries, is used to describe Adam’s transgression (Ezekiel 28:18) as Ezekiel applies it to the king of Tyre in a specific sense.

D. Jewish Tradition

Outside of the biblical testimony itself, it is helpful to consider the way the Jewish writings in the Second Temple period understood Adam as a priest:

1. Targums

a. The Aramaic translation of Genesis 2:15 states that Adam was placed in the Garden ‘to toil in the Law and observe its commandments’.

b. The point here isn’t that the verse should be translated in this way but simply that the ancient Jewish understanding of the passage placed it squarely within a priestly context.30

2. Holy of Holies

Jewish tradition held that the Garden of Eden was the original Holy of Holies:

This indicates that a sanctuary was an integral part of creation itself from the outset: indeed, the Garden of Eden was specially created on the third day (2:7). More specifically, Jubilees states that Eden is holier than the rest of the earth (3:12). According to 8:19, Noah ‘knew that the Garden of Eden is the holy of holies, and the dwelling of the Lord…’ It would appear, then, that Adam and Eve were brought into the Holy of Holies prior to their disobedience: their expulsion from Eden thus signifies their removal from the place where God’s Presence on the earth is most immediate for Israel.31

30 Beale, TACM, p 67. 31 C.T.R. Hayward, The Jewish Temple: A Non-Biblical Sourcebook, (London: Routledge, 1996), p 89



3. The First High-Priest

Corresponding to this is the now familiar idea that Adam was the original high-priest and first in the line of priestly succession:

Both ben Sira and Jubilees, in their different ways, bring Adam into direct association with the Temple understood as Eden. According to Jubilees, the first ritual act of worship was offered by Adam immediately after his expulsion from the garden…Adam is thereby constituted the first priest in a succession which will lead to Levi, and then to Aaron and his sons.32

The tradition that Adam’s garments were the high priestly robes, handed down through successive generations until they reached Aaron, is well known from Rabinnic writings…It also occurs in Syriac sources, a fact which very likely indicates its antiquity…Given that Jubilees elsewhere delights in showing how the patriarchs followed the prescriptions of the Law before it was given at Sinai, the implication may be that Adam wore priestly garb to burn the incense. In this regard it may be significant when Jacob appoints Levi as priest, Jubilees merely notes that he put the garments of the priesthood on him (32:3). We are not told the source of these garments: they appear ready to hand, thereby Jubilees encourages speculation on their origins.33

4. Later Ministry to the LORD in the Garden

In the fourth chapter of the book of Jubilees (v 23-25) Enoch is said to have been taken into the Garden of Eden where he then writes down the condemnation of the world and burns incense of sweet spices before the Lord on ‘the Mount’. Thus we have here in the tradition three significant points attested to:

a. The Garden of Eden remained on the earth at least through the days of Enoch

b. It is to be understood as a mountain or adjoining a mountain

c. It was a place of priestly service that was performed by Enoch, just as Adam had originally

VII. APPLICATION

A. The Significance Related to Ministry to the LORD in General

1. Starting Point

a. Often discussion on the subject of worship or prayer has as its staring point all the inane things that humanity (and even believing humanity) occupies themselves with and then seeks to argue why we should cease from these things for a little while in order to engage in these ‘priestly’ activities. After all, it is argued, they may seem very foreign to our lives of productivity and efficiency but the Bible says they are important and so we need to try to carve out some space for them.

b. With the context of Eden as a sanctuary and Adam as its priest before us we are now prepared to come to the crucial realization that Scripture moves in the exact opposite direction related to these subjects. In the most primal, fundamental sense humanity was created to be occupied as priests and from that very overt purpose, identity, and action then move outward.

2. Implications

32 Ibid. p 90 33 Ibid. p 45, 46



a. Thus from the biblical standpoint, the priestly activities are the assumed starting point and the other tasks and commissions the secondary elements – the very antithesis of how the subject is talked about and thought about in modern Christianity.

b. A very large and important theme outside of the scope of this class is the way in which Adam was to serve as a vice-regent over God’s handiwork and have authority over the earth. Yet this reality, which could be called the ‘dominion-mandate’, was always intended to proceed forth from Adam’s identity as a priest and his fellowship with Yahweh.34

c. Numerous scholars have argued extensively that his commission to subdue the earth was simply the charge to make sure that as the population of humanity increased the atmosphere of the Garden was proliferated globally until the entire earth was a place focused on and hospitable to fellowship and communion with God. Of course this is precisely what the Second Man, the Lord from Heaven, will do as He subdues all things to Himself by His sovereign power.

d. Therefore to seek to defend the validity or legitimacy of a priestly-life is an idea foreign to Scripture because from the Divine perspective to be human is to be called to be a priest. Though the consumerism machine of Western Christianity has reduced it to a trite saying, we were truly created to worship.

B. Worship Defined

1. Introduction

a. While this affirmation is important, distortions in our perspective render it incomplete. We must clarify what worship actually means in God’s design. This vision of Adam as a priest before the LORD serves to excise from the concept of worship all of the layers of man’s ideas that have been laid upon it in the modern era.

b. As we behold Adam with arms outstretched in adoration of Yahweh his Creator we are able to quickly penetrate to the essence of what worship actually means.

2. Worship at the Dawn of Creation

a. Originally Adam had no sin to be forgiven, he had no circumstantial needs, he had no physical needs. There was nothing that Adam lacked and he had no history of God answering his petitions.

b. Consequently it was impossible for the basis of Adam’s worship to be his life, his circumstances, or even his gratitude for the gift of salvation.

c. On the most practical level the application is that 95% of our “worship songs” would not have worked in the either of the sanctuaries Adam served within. If this is so, how could Adam have been preoccupied with worship and the archetypical priest?

VIII. GIVING GLORY TO GOD

A. A Faulty Foundation 34 As the first man, Adam is the prototypical priest-king. While it certainly does have significance in relation to Israel’s story, the real heart of Jesus’ identity as a priest-king goes back to the beginning and the way in which Jesus is starting a new humanity altogether. He is the Second Man, the father of a new race of men like Adam was. As the perfect recreation of humanity Jesus is therefore the new and ultimate priest-king. The life of David as a priestly king both harkened back to the Adamic design and prefigured its consummation and rebirth in Christ.



1. Modern Redefinition of Worship

a. The answer is that ‘worship’ in the modern Church has in many cases degenerated into an activity that has man’s transient well-being as both its impetus and its goal.

b. People ‘worship’ because they are grateful that God has given them all the stuff they want and forgiven the bad things they have done and because the music and the singing stir their emotions and makes them feel good.

c. The same basic motivation of utilitarianism (worshipping because of its function) can be expressed just as potently in approaching worship as an activity which “softens our hearts” or provides fuel for the mission and ministry of the Church.

2. The Motivation for Worship

a. In either case, regardless of the form, the real value of worship in modernity is often seen primarily through its relationship to man and his need.

b. Often we aren’t worshipping simply because He is God – we’re worshipping because of what He does for us or what the experience of ‘worship’ does for us.

c. How can this be? How have we drifted so far from what we have at least glimpsed in the worship of Adam?

B. Our Design

1. For Him 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:16-18

a. Earlier in the course we considered how God is the ultimate center and reference point for all reality. One of the chief ways this is expressed biblically (and in ancient Jewish tradition) is through this ‘formula’.

b. Another way of stating and applying the final clause is that we exist to bring Him glory. He does not need anything from us, as though He was wanting, and therefore the way in which we are “for Him” is by using the strength He has given us to make much of Him. It is in doing this that we actually bless Him or bring Him pleasure.

2. Glorification 31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I Corinthians 10:31

Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him. Isaiah 43:7 19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I



shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:19-21

a. The Westminster Confession expresses these truths by saying that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

b. Both the Old and New Testament explicitly direct our attention to our purpose of magnifying the Lord in all things that we do.

c. We exist for Him, and our enjoyment of both His person and His gifts is intended to reflect back upon His worth and majesty before the eyes of men.

3. Worship

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

a. Although our purpose of glorifying God in all things is broader than our worship, it is the only context in which true worship can flourish. Worship is simply the action that naturally flows out of a life set upon bringing Him glory.

b. As we have now seen, the foundational impetus and the ultimate goal of worship is the glorious identity of God. We are compelled to worship in response to who He is and the goal of worship is that who He is would be celebrated and magnified by our praise.

c. The only basis for Adam’s worship was the beauty and majesty of the One before Him and the goal of his priestly service was simply to esteem and laud His great worth.

C. The Worship of Heaven & the Worship of Adam

This dynamically corresponds to the quality and motivation of the worship of heaven.

1. The Importance of Heaven

a. Heaven is so glorious because it is the place where He dwells and where He is perfectly honored. It is not a place of arbitrary happiness detached from His identity. An unregenerate man would be utterly miserable in Heaven.

b. Its gravity derives from the fact that it is where the beauty of Christ is beheld without hindrance and adored without rival. In other words, Heaven is so important and pleasing because the Godhead is supremely glorified there – all of its inhabitants are absorbed entirely with His greatness. Above all else this is why God desires the earth to be like Heaven.

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3

c. There are not competing objects of attention, affection, or allegiance in Heaven – there is only one, all-consuming , absorbing focus of adoration. The LORD alone is exalted in the Heavenly Sanctuary. No angel, living creature, or elder is subtly elevated so as to detract from the glory of the only One who is worthy.

2. The Burning Ones



8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:8 (see parallel in Isaiah 6:1-6)

a. The Seraphim and the larger angelic host who are enraptured with ministry to Him have never had a single sin forgiven, never an ailment healed, and never a financial need met and yet their testimony is that His unending glory warrants their unending praise.

b. As they take in the glory of God with all of their eyes, it is so overwhelming and so severe in its magnitude that it necessitates their unbroken adoration. In other words, their ceaseless worship is based solely upon the glory of who He is.35 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 “ You are worthy, O Lord,To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” Revelation 4:9-11

c. Furthermore, the only purpose of their worship is to magnify, extol, and proclaim His surpassing glory. They are not ‘changing the atmosphere’ in the Heavenly Temple or doing it so that revival will break out in the Holy City, nor will they have any change in vocation or personal advancement because of their activity.36

d. In summary, both the motivation (the sustaining force) and the aim (the purpose for which it is done) of the incessant worship of the Heavenly Temple is His glory.

D. The Crisis of the Modern Church

With this perspective we can now return and more accurately diagnose the challenge in our day related to worship and how it is viewed.

1. The Assimilation of God into our Worldview

a. Tragically and disastrously this bedrock of reality and the God-centered vision of all things is often glaringly absent from our life as the people of Christ because of the naturalistic orientation of our culture (which is potently narcissistic).

b. Instead of meeting Christ and having everything turned upside down through a radical reorientation of our entire existence, the Gospel is presented in a way such a way that God is merely assimilated into our preexisting view of the world.

c. As a result of this anthropocentric view of reality, existence (including God’s existence) is evaluated with ourselves as the reference point. Therefore we see God in terms of His relation to man rather than man’s relationship to God. In our hearts we believe that God exists for us rather than us existing for Him.

d. Whereas the gifts of God, which are too bountiful to number, exist to lead us into the exaltation of the Giver, we have instead come to believe that the Giver exists to bestow the gifts.

35 Fourteen times in the Book of Revelation the glory of God is specifically focused upon (Revelation 1:6, 4:9, 4:11, 5:13, 7:12, 11:13, 14:7, 15:4, 15:8, 16:9, 19:1, 19:7, 21:11, 21:23) 36 This is not necessarily to say that their worship does not have indirect consequences due to the unity of the throne and temple, but it is very difficult to make the case exegetically that this has any direct causation for their incessant preoccupation. Furthermore, if their worship is independently effectual for the governance of God being established on the earth it is difficult to understand the stress on the replication of the heavenly order on the earth in order for convergence to occur.



e. The cumulative effect of this distortion is that through salvation our personal fulfillment remains the final goal rather than the glory of God, and Christ simply becomes the means to achieve that goal.

f. The two greatest ways (not the only ways) that the human experience in this age can be transformed into a vehicle for God’s glory are when we offer Him joyful praise in the midst of suffering (either voluntary or involuntary), and when in the midst of circumstantial ease we shed tears of yearning for Him.

g. In both of these acts Christ is revealed to be of greater worth than all the things that men give their affections to. Yet it is precisely both of these things that are undermined when we use Jesus as the means to gain circumstantial ease and eliminate the call to suffer from the normal Christian life.

2. Specific Application to Worship

The two greatest enemies of true worship are idolatry (we worship something else) and offense (the response of worship is quenched within us). We will now see how the misperceptions of both God and humanity serve as hospitable ground for these two enemies and make it nearly impossible for true worship to flourish.

a. True worship is the overflow of a life that has been freed from its self-compulsion and is now radically set upon giving God glory in all things. This freedom and the commensurate capacity to savor the beauty of Christ is the primary fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.

b. Yet lacking the broader perspective on who God is (i.e. much of the Church is theologically superficial and hollow) and on what we were made for (i.e. to make much of His surpassing worth) worship instead becomes an overflow of our real object of devotion (idol) – our personal fulfillment.

c. Therefore for many in the modern Church, worship is simply not relevant to this goal and thus they do not desire to do it very often (much less incessantly). Yet it may be tolerated for thirty to forty minutes once a week as long as all of the conditions are ideal and God is fulfilling His obligation to provide for our wants.

d. In other words we are content to worship Christ because He is seen (and almost exclusively preached) as the means to obtaining the real object of our allegiance.

e. Thus, when His sovereign hand disrupts our circumstances, shakes our health, afflicts our comfort, or subverts our aspirations we are so filled with offense that it is nearly impossible to muster selfless adoration for Him.

E. Application to Night & Day Worship and Prayer

1. The Potency of Night and Day Devotion

a. The outcomes of 24/7 worship and prayer are powerful, dynamically important, and must be understood clearly. Among the many glorious consequences stand the following: the fruition of God’s purposes for Israel, corporate revival and effective witness, cultural impact, personal vibrancy in Christ, unity and community in the body of Christ, eschatological revelation, and apostolic sending.



b. As necessary as these are, we must distinguish between that which is central and supreme and that which is very important but secondary. Although unceasing worship and prayer does have dramatic results, it is first and foremost an end in itself. This can be established in two primary ways.

2. Worship is an End because God’s Glory is His End

One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD…. Psalm 27:4

a. Incessant worship and prayer does not exist primarily because there is so much need that we must petition Him unceasingly, but rather because the glory of God and the worth of Christ demand perpetual adoration.

b. A house of prayer has its inception when someone beholds the majesty of Jesus and in wisdom concludes that the only reasonable response is for men to laud Him ceaselessly. This is the testimony of the heavenly assembly and it must be ours too.

c. The desire that His indescribable glory would be seen and His matchless worth treasured above all else must be the cornerstone upon which night and day prayer must be founded and the chief reason it continues each passing moment.

d. In the age to come, when the long-awaited reign of righteousness has finally dawned upon the earth and all injustice has been eradicated, He will still be worthy of unrelenting worship.

e. Our worship must be mingled with fervent intercession for the Church and the lost, but at the center of night and day devotion stands a breathtaking Beauty that knows no rivals, and His splendor alone is more than sufficient to warrant 24/7 devotion in Heaven and on earth.

3. The Effects are Unto the Ultimate End of God’s Glory in Worship

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man…Worship is therefore the fuel and goal of missions.37

a. Scripture is clear that any result we might imagine coming from our adoration and intercession is for the express purpose of His glory. We must allow the weight of this theme to bear down upon us and shape us. You could not assemble a list like the one below with any other idea or theme in the Bible:

b. Revival of the Church – Eph 3:21; Power & Healing – Matt 15:31, Mk 2:12, Luke 5:26, 7:16, John 11:4, 40; Salvation of Souls – I Peter 2:9, Eph 1:6, 12, 14; Righteousness & Sanctification – Matt 5:10, I Peter 2:12, Phil 1:11, I Cor 6:20; The Salvation of Israel – Isaiah 43:7, Jer 13:11, Ez 36:22-23; Apostolic Ministry – John 15:8, II Cor 4:15, 8:19; Phil 1:18, 20, 2:21; Answers to Prayer–John 14:13; Calling of the Elect – II Peter 1:13; Unity –Rom 15:5-738

37 John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad, (Grand Rapids, Baker Books:1993), p 11. 38 This is just a sampling of the theme and is drawn in part from a list found on p 17-21 of Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper

Biblical Foundations for Night and Day p4

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