Christian Pure

Dreaming About Rivers: Scripture Begins with Four and Ends with One

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Scripture begins with four rivers and ends with one. Two of Eden’s four have never been identified; two are rivers anyone could point to.
  • The Jordan is narrow and unimpressive and is the most consequential water in the Old Testament, because everything important happens on the far side.
  • Psalm 46:4 describes a river Jerusalem does not have — the point is that it is not there yet.
  • Ezekiel 47 measures the temple river at ankle, knee and waist before it becomes uncrossable, and it is aimed at the Dead Sea, which becomes fresh.
  • Revelation 22:1-2 ends with one river and the tree of life standing unguarded on both banks, in the middle of a street.

Scripture begins with four rivers and ends with one. Almost everything in between happens somewhere along a bank. The rivers of Eden A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. (Genesis 2:10) The passage then names them — the Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris and the Euphrates — and adds a digression about where the gold is good and where the onyx can be found, which is an oddly specific thing for…

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Bibliography (Click to show)

Sources: Scripture quotations from the NIV via BibleGateway (Genesis 2:10-14; 3:24; Joshua 3:17; 2 Kings 5:12-14; Psalm 46:2-4; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Amos 5:24; Revelation 22:1-2; Genesis 40:8; Daniel 2:27-28). The identification of the Pishon and Gihon remains unresolved; Jerusalem’s lack of a river and its dependence on the Gihon spring are matters of geography.

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