As part of the course materials here on my discipleship training program at YWAM Lausanne, we are reading the book 'Futureville' by Skye Jethani. His premise is that God created humanity in order to represent Himself on this created world, and we still preserve that impulse to establish order, create beauty and live in abundance, even in our fallen state. I've found his argument quite compelling so far, partly because it resonates with the ideas which I have had for Eldwan's primeval garden. Furthering this was the point which Ms. Maureen Menard made about how we as human beings are to learn more about God as we mature, and as we do so, bear out His image, and that this process is able to happen without the interference of sin, if we are obedient.
Analysing the Genesis account gives us greater clarity on this pre-peccata state. The whole world is not in a blissful state of Eden, only the garden is. If Genesis 2: 4-24 is interpreted as a detailed account of day 6 of creation, we see that on that day, the Lord Himself plants a garden in the east, setting up a precedent for what the rest of the earth is to look like, a template for man's creative work. In our world, we have little evidence that this process went too far before it was derailed.
In Eldwan though, by whatever virtue that differentiates humans in my universe from ours, or that has arisen from deviations of Eleyon's character from YHWH's, they do not make that fateful decision to rebel quite as quickly. So humanity establishes several cities in the garden, their population grows, and things appear to be going well. When the rebellion does split the population, Eleyon decides that He will isolate the problem and thus creates the cradle, raising the mountain range perimeter and removing the garden to the recently isolated 'New World' of sorts, where they can continue their original purpose, relatively unaffected by the sinful nature of their fallen kin.
In Eldwan though, by whatever virtue that differentiates humans in my universe from ours, or that has arisen from deviations of Eleyon's character from YHWH's, they do not make that fateful decision to rebel quite as quickly. So humanity establishes several cities in the garden, their population grows, and things appear to be going well. When the rebellion does split the population, Eleyon decides that He will isolate the problem and thus creates the cradle, raising the mountain range perimeter and removing the garden to the recently isolated 'New World' of sorts, where they can continue their original purpose, relatively unaffected by the sinful nature of their fallen kin.
