With all the prophecies, we can really get carried away with what the future holds. Most of the prophecies have or soon will be fulfilled. One only need open his eyes to realize it is true.
However, recently something occurred to me. Hardly anyone considers the past. To be sure, some have considered what Salomon’s home looked like, let alone the Temple. But my imagination has longings to go back farther than that; before the original sin.
By inspiration, Moses gives us a short glimpse of just what it might have been. Maybe I’m wrong. God did speak to Moses. Maybe God told him what it was like. Perhaps he even provided a quick vision of it.
Yet, we are told only that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden and approximately where it was. Beyond that, we know very little of it.
I have seen places and I have seen photos of places that are grand and beautiful. I have seen photos of the a waterfall near the Grand Canyon that seemed to be as nice and as beautiful as the garden must have been. However, by logic we know it was nowhere near the equivalent.
God turned over the garden to Adam and Eve, not to just sit and admire it, but to work it. Yes, even back then man had to work. I would guess, however, it was Adam’s a work love. Oddly, some men today like to work on gardens so it’s not that much of a stretch to believe. However, when he worked the garden, there were no weeds. The weeds and thistles we are told did not occur until after the fall.
My best guess is that everywhere Adam looked there was food. We are also told that water came up from the ground to water the garden. It would appear that Eve did not have to carry a sprinkling bucket to water the flowers.
I would expect the world was a whole lot different back then. Even so, I would expect that it underwent the greatest change during and after the flood. I am not being all that speculative when I say that it may not have rained before the flood. First there others that have suggested it might be. After all, the rainbow apparently did not occur until after the flood.
At this, my imagination goes wild. I will not know how accurate these speculations are in this lifetime. In a way, I am looking forward to finding out if I am right.
My vision of the earth before the flood is one where most of the water was underground. There were far less extremes of mountains and valleys. Likely, there was no ocean. I am not saying that was the way it was. It just is that, in my mind it fits. There would be far more land and I also suspect the atmosphere was thicker, perhaps twice as thick.
Scientist tell us that a meteor hit the planet somewhere in Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps. God just might have sent it. Nonetheless, a major change occurred. The water came up out of the earth. The valleys depend and the mountains rose, perhaps the result of the meteor shattering the crust of the earth.
Thinning of the atmosphere might have occurred at this time. After all, we have found evidence of huge dragon flies. That would only be possible with an atmosphere that is rich in oxygen. Insects breath through their skin, not lungs as reptiles and mammals.
Now there I go, speculating and I’m not supposed to do that. Nonetheless, we know three things. Before man’s fall, man lived in a paradise. Because of man’s fall, we live in a world where evil is attempting to overthrow God’s creation. One day, God will set it straight again. I suspect it will be better than before.
We, God’s most prized creation, are given a choice. Do we spend our eternity with him or do we spend eternity in pain and suffering. This is not speculation. If you chose Christ as your savior, you will spend eternity in a place better than The Garden of Eden. If you don’t, your punishment awaits you.
The men in Noah’s time did not believe him that a flood would come. They were given years to repent, all the time that Noah spent working on the ark. When God closed and sealed the door on the ark, perhaps millions of men died. They were given their chance and they mocked Noah, and in effect God too. Today, they are still suffering for their decision. The suffering did not stop with their death. The real suffering only stated.
God is patient. He loves us very much. But when He decides close the door of salvation a person, He will punish those who have chosen to turn from Him.