Okay... this could be monumental if true. I really need to sit down and chew on this more.... lol! wow!!! amazing potential insight! Will come back to this.
Great post! Always worth deep diving into these things. I’d be curious as to how Eden as a mountain would shift our relationship to it. Perhaps that is too individualistic a view to take - putting humans at the center. Would there be a suggestion that then throughout the Psalms and prophets that when God refers to his holy mountain, there is a sense of trying to bring his people back to Eden? I know that east and west feature as important directions - God is always trying to bring his people East, towards Eden. Just curious as to how Eden as mountain would inform the rest of our reading of scripture.
Also, it might be a stock photo but that picture looks an awful lot like the stacks in St Kilda 😎
I wonder if there is a double motion, both toward God's mountain and away? On the towards side, you have verses like Isaiah 2:2 that talk about all the nations coming to the mountain of the Lord. But the life of the mountain was always supposed to flow outward, symbolically in the image of a river. That is partly how I understand the meaning of the rivers flowing out of Eden. You also have the river flowing out of the temple in Exekiel 47 and Revelation 22. Perhaps this points toward a gather/send dynamic in which the people of God are called to draw near to him and are also sent out for the life of the world.
oOo that's a really excellent point! I don't even have anything further to add, you've articulated it perfectly. It confirms a lot of how I'm coming to understand some of the big-picture ideas in the OT and NT.
Writing all of this stuff down has made me acutely aware of just how much I have to learn. I would be happy to hear what you have to say.
I am interested if you have encountered areas of disagreement. What stood out to you as something you didn’t agree with?
Cheers, Bill.
Okay... this could be monumental if true. I really need to sit down and chew on this more.... lol! wow!!! amazing potential insight! Will come back to this.
Great post! Always worth deep diving into these things. I’d be curious as to how Eden as a mountain would shift our relationship to it. Perhaps that is too individualistic a view to take - putting humans at the center. Would there be a suggestion that then throughout the Psalms and prophets that when God refers to his holy mountain, there is a sense of trying to bring his people back to Eden? I know that east and west feature as important directions - God is always trying to bring his people East, towards Eden. Just curious as to how Eden as mountain would inform the rest of our reading of scripture.
Also, it might be a stock photo but that picture looks an awful lot like the stacks in St Kilda 😎
I wonder if there is a double motion, both toward God's mountain and away? On the towards side, you have verses like Isaiah 2:2 that talk about all the nations coming to the mountain of the Lord. But the life of the mountain was always supposed to flow outward, symbolically in the image of a river. That is partly how I understand the meaning of the rivers flowing out of Eden. You also have the river flowing out of the temple in Exekiel 47 and Revelation 22. Perhaps this points toward a gather/send dynamic in which the people of God are called to draw near to him and are also sent out for the life of the world.
oOo that's a really excellent point! I don't even have anything further to add, you've articulated it perfectly. It confirms a lot of how I'm coming to understand some of the big-picture ideas in the OT and NT.
Your post is just great. You are on to something. I am not in total agreement with you but you have given me some things to review. Thank you.