The disappearance of Eden.
The downfall of Assyria is compared to the falling of a great cedar, and the shock that this event produces among the nations is likened to the shaking of neighboring trees when the cedar is laid low. The cedar disappears, as Eden has disappeared. The poetic image suggests more than that the tree lies prone on the ground. It pictures it sinking into the earth and passing out of sight, as it supposes the trees of Eden to have done before. This striking idea of the old Paradise going down into the depths of the earth—like an enchanted garden that sinks at the magician's wand, and leaves only a desolate wilderness on its site—seems to be referred to by Ezekiel as a prevalent popular notion.
I. EDEN HIS DISAPPEARED. According to the account in Genesis, man was expelled from the garden, but the garden itself was not laid waste or removed. On the contrary, flaming swords kept man from re-entering its coveted precincts. But we see no garden of Eden. Geographers search in vain for its situation on the map. The old Eden has vanished. This is not the only charm of the world's childhood that has passed away. Primitive innocence has disappeared. The unfading flowers and unblighted fruit of the Eden of soul-purity have vanished from off the earth. The fresh strong imagination of the world's childhood has passed away. Our later age produces no 'Iliad.'
II. EDEN CANNOT BE RECOVERED. The fair garden that has descended into the earth will never rise again. Beneath the ground the miner finds vast remains of primeval forests. These Edens of the past have become coal-fields. Never again can they be green and fruitful gardens. Primitive innocence can never be restored. The child-mind, once lost, cannot be had back again. There are irreparable losses.
III. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS BETTER THAN THE GARDEN OF EDEN. The original Paradise cannot be regained. But a better Paradise is created by Christ. The earthly Paradise had its serpent lurking in the grass. The heavenly is more safe, more fruitful, more beautiful. Yet, though it is heavenly, i.e. in its origin and in its character, it is for the earth—it is planted in this world, and it is to be enjoyed in the present life. "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21).
IV. A STILL FAIRER EDEN IS RESERVED FOR THIS EARTH IN THE FUTURE. The New Testament promises a millennium. In our weary disappointments we are tempted to quench the hope of that glorious future. But if the rule and truth of Christ is to spread among all men, the blessed time must come. Then, indeed, the dead Eden itself will be forgotten and despised in the splendor of the reign of Christ.
V. THERE IS A PARADISE FOR THE BLESSED DEAD. Jesus promised it for the crucified robber. "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). Old Eden goes down. The beauty and pomp of earth descend. But the spirits of Christ's people ascend. They do not go down to the grave with their bodies, and their Paradise is not beneath, but above. Heaven is the eternal Eden of souls.
"There everlasting spring abides,
And never-withering flowers."
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON