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7) The kingdom and paradeisos.
Logically we can connect Jesus words to the congregation at Ephesus with those to the thief. Before he can inherit eternal life he must be given of the tree of life in paradeisos. But there is more to Jesus words. Not one word is without significance and deep connection to the law and the prophets which Jesus knew so well. There is a prophecy in the law of Moses about a king who comes to an exalted kingdom and gardens which was given by Balaam, which may well have been in Jesus' mind.
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which Yahweh has planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt; he has as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that bless thee, and cursed is he that curse thee.(Numbers 24:5-9)
We can note a few things. Firstly here were the Romans who would pierce him. And here he “lays down” as a lamb, knowing he was to be the lion of Judah. Secondly Jesus could no doubt see over the valleys of Israel as the Romans had a habit of placing the offender high. Thirdly people were cursing him. Then this thief, in effect, by believing him blesses him. This prophecy is about a garden that Yahweh has planted, a garden by rivers. This is Eden. In the Septuagint version the word 'gardens' is paradeisos. This is what Jesus will inherit. Rulership over Israel as paradeisos by the river's side when he is “come in his kingdom”. And this where others can be with Jesus, and this is what is promised to the thief.
As an aside, if this hill was east of Jerusalem, then he was crucified in the place that Ezekiel prophesied that there would be a river coming from the huge temple of the future age. Jesus called himself the Son of Man and he would have known this passage,
And he (Yahweh) said unto me, Son of man, have thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country,.. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that lives, which moves, wheresoever the rivers shall come, shall live: ..for they shall be healed; ... And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:6-12)
Ezekiel's is a vision of the reality which is again referred to, in symbol, in Revelation,
He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)
Also Jesus have been thinking of the cup he had to drink (Luke 22:42, John 18:11), and the end of his ordeal.
Thus says thy Lord Yahweh.. Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling: (Isaiah 51:22)
In that same chapter in Isaiah there is a reference to the garden of Yahweh.
For Yahweh shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. (Isaiah 51:3)
The garden of Gethsemane and the garden Jesus could see were gardens of suffering and death, but Isaiah had spoken of a transformation in Zion to the garden of Yahweh and joy and gladness. As yet Zion still “as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city” (Isaiah 1:8). But the garden Jesus could visualise will be glorious,
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams. (Isaiah 33:20-21)
And this is followed by a more complete description of a paradise, though it does not call it the Garden of Yahweh
The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water:..And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness;..No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isa 35:1-10)
One thing that must be noted is that the thief did not ask for eternal life, only to be remembered. The thief was called wicked by Isaiah
for the transgression of my people was he (Messiah) stricken. And he made his grave with thewicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:8-9)
This means the thief is asking for mercy in the resurrection. He is promised he will be with Jesus in this garden of Yahweh, this paradise, but he may still be subject to the second death.
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said unto the churches; He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death. (Revelation 2:11)
Isaiah notes that people live long but still die in this wonderful paradise of the garden of Yahweh
But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that has not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. (Isaiah 65:18-21)
This is not to say the confession of faith by the thief was not a great work, but only to note that the promise of being with Jesus in paradise, the garden of Yahweh of the future, is not automatically a promise of eternal life. Those at Ephesus who overcome through tribulation are given the fruit of the tree of life, which is eternal life. By contrast the thief is merely promised to be in paradeisos, the garden of Yahweh. Adam and Eve when in the garden paradeisos though not dying, were not living forever either (Genesis 3:22).
However there would be great joy for those who survive the calamities of the last days to have a second chance, while living in a great four cornered garden, watered, with wonderful tame animals, where all are at rest in peace that fills the whole earth.
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Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)
This may be one of the most misunderstood passages of the Bible. Paul is notorious for long sentences of connected thoughts, and this is part of a complex wide ranging thought which lasts 2 chapters, and includes what seems opposite advice:
But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. (1 Cor. 5:11-13)
As I was thinking to write this article, having just read Psalm 46 as I do each year on that day, on January 25th a Bible was found untouched after a tornado hit Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
We have been given many time periods to prophetic events in the Bible. Many people think it too hard, and do not make an effort to understand them. However, if they were not to be understood, why were they given? And the Bible says the wise shall understand (Daniel 12:10).
In the light of the findings of science, how literally do we take what the scriptures say about the power of the God of the Bible, Yahweh Elohim (literally He who will become Mighty Ones)? Science at its best is a measurement of observable and repeatable phenomenon wrapped up in explanations which abound in analogy. There is no doubt in the benefit of investigating phenomena of the natural world. The surprising thing is that the more we investigate natural phenomena, the more it fits the explanations recorded over 2000 years ago.
The God of Israel is approachable and reasonable. He often speaks directly to his people. The following will seek to understand a passage where he speaks via the prophet Amos which has a few variant translations.
