Will Heaven Be Similar To The Garden of Eden?

Are there similarities to the Garden of Eden and Heaven? If so, what are they? You will be amazed at just how similar they are.

The Tree of Life, Rivers, Other Precious Things

Genesis 2:9 “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Revelation 22:2 “through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

Look at the striking similarities to the Tree of Life in the Garden and the Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem which is the Kingdom of Heaven that comes out of heaven. They both have the same name and they both appear to have the same purpose. Before mankind’s sin and their fall in the Garden, nothing was yet cursed (Rev 22:3) and both symbolized life.

Genesis 2:10 “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.”

Revelation 22:1 “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

There are rivers that flow out the Garden of Eden and out of the New Jerusalem (heaven). One is “the water of life” which is amazingly close to what Jesus spoke of when He said “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). The river in the Garden gave life to man, beast, birds, and insects but the river in heaven is “the water of life” and it flows from “the throne of the God and the Lamb.” The Lamb of course is Jesus and Jesus said that “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

Genesis 2: 12 “And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.”

Revelation 21:21 “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”

And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.

Gold is associated with God in the sense that it is a precious metal and cannot be burned up with fire. There is gold in both the Garden and in Heaven. Our faith is said to be more precious than gold and Peter wrote that our faith will be tested for the “genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 1:7). If you know anything about the temple the closer you got to the Holy of Holies the more precious became the jewels and the more gold there was. And the temple’s Holy of Holies is a cube shape, the exact same shape of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:10-18).

Genesis 2:12 “And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there,”

Revelation 21:19-20 “every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.”

Again, I am not reminded only of the Garden and the New Jerusalem but the temple and once more the closer you got to the Holy of Holies, the more precious the jewels you would find indicating just how valuable, precious, and eternal is our God. God exceeds the gold and jewels of course but the gold and fine jewels last longer than anything that man can create. Both the Garden and heaven are filled with precious stones and “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5).

The Curse on Mankind in the Garden of Eden

God had warned Adam and Eve to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and if they did, they would seal their own death sentence (Gen 2:16-17) but they did it anyway (Gen 3:6-7). This is why it was written that “cursed is every man that hangs on a tree” (Deut 21:23). Why else would someone be cursed for just hanging on a tree if this tree was not tied to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and later to the cross? This statement by God makes no sense if it is not connected to the tree in the Garden and to the cross for this tree brought a curse not only on Adam and Eve but on all mankind. That is exactly the reason why Paul wrote that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Gal 3:13). That tree of course is the cross where “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet 2:24).

Christ Reversed the Curse of the Garden of Eden

Christ had to become cursed for our sake so that the curse would be reversed since “all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Conclusion

Yes, the Garden of Eden will be very much like heaven but heaven will be so much better as to not even compare with it. The best part is that God will dwell with His people. The New Jerusalem and the Garden of Eden also had one more thing in common — God was in their presence. God was pleased to dwell with Adam and Eve as long as they didn’t disobey but when they sinned against God, they were separated from His being able to dwell with them because God cannot dwell where sin resides. This is why we lose fellowship with God when we refuse to repent and confess our sins. If a person is saved they won’t lose their relationship; He is still their Father but they can lose fellowship with Him. God desires to dwell once again with mankind but this cannot happen unless a person repents, confesses their sins, and puts their trust in the Lamb from which flow the “rivers of living water” (John 6:38) and “the water of life, bright as crystal from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev 22:1).

At that time “No longer will there be anything accursed” (Rev 22:3a) and “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Rev 22:3b-4). As God dwelt with Adam and Eve before the fall by Christ’s becoming a curse for us and lift our curse, and Christ came to dwell [or tabernacle or pitched His tent] with us (John 1:14) God says that a day is coming when “My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Ezek 37:27).

More reading about the garden: What Was Life Like in the Garden of Eden before sin?

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: Christian Answers, Garden of Eden, Heaven