hey this is john and i’m tim and we are looking at the comment section of a new video called royal priests of eden it’s in our theme series called the royal priest series and so let’s jump in mario sanchez asks first quoting us they represent creation before god what does this mean with regards to adam and eve in other words priests represent god to other people what does it mean for a priest to represent god to creation and mario your question is how do they represent creation before god it’s like this back and forth so if humans are images of god in genesis 1 that means they represent god in some way to each other into the garden the trees and the animals and so on it’s a very abstract idea remember the job description given right after they’re called the image is and let them have authority or let them rule and oversee so just as god rules the world god has chosen to rule the world through images that will rule on his behalf but mario you’re asking about the flip side of that which is how do these images of god also represent creation before god so how do you represent a deer before god or a tree before god well part of it is the in in the duel in the second narrative in the garden of eden narrative the humans are made of the dirt uh plus divine breath um and just like the creatures come out of the dirt and so the humans are they’re you know they’re dirt creatures they are created they are creation so as priests they represent creation so that god relates to creation through them at least that’s the ideal setup okay um so take what you know about priests in the rest of the bible uh the way the priests of israel represent all of the people in the same way adam and eve are to represent and relate to god on behalf of all creation i think that’s the idea all right sean asks i don’t recall the bible specifically pointing out a location that cain and abel are at the door of the gate of eden this is a detail in the bible that yeah are a detail in the video yeah yeah and we actually show a door yeah and and in the story it doesn’t say that they’re at the door of eden um uh well it says that uh they’re standing by a door um genesis 4 verse 7. god says to cain when he’s angry after god um shows favor on his brother abel um he tells cain if you do good won’t there be exaltation but if you don’t do good that is if you you know get angry and murder your brother for example uh he says sin is crouching at the door the door its desire is for you and isn’t that a new metaphorical door the door to his soul um you know actually no um you can look all through the hebrew bible at the word door and it’s never used metaphorically to talk about the human heart or mind um there’s a there’s a very obvious candidate for the door and because his parents just left out the way of the east blocked by the cherubim through the garden of eden and then um after cain murders his brother what we’re told he’s exiled uh from eden so what we know is because remember the garden is not all of eden what we’re told is that there’s eden a land called eden which means delight and then there’s a garden in eden and so after cain murders his brother he’s exiled from the garden oh first from the garden the adam and ever from the garden cane from eden so he’s there close to eating yeah at the door yeah i mean wouldn’t you want to get back in i know wouldn’t you hang out at the door oh plus why are they offering sacrifices this whole thing is set on analogy um to what later will be the design of the tabernacle in the temple and there the altar is right in front of the door in solomon’s temple the altar is right in front of the door the door of the holy pulleys uh the door that goes into the tabernacle that goes into the temple okay so um the biblical author here has painted this little scene of them offering in the outer courts oh uh yeah as if they’re in the outer courts trying to get back into the eden like really cool [Music] speaking of these sacrifices and seven one one one says they’re it’s a great name is it it’s a great name sure yeah n7111 there are many interpretations of why uh it happened i want to ask you guys what you think the reason is why did god favor abel’s offering over canes yeah that’s a great question i mean clearly if the narrator wanted to be more clear they would have uh so there must be some reason for the ambiguity there are little details though for example they both bring both brothers are bringing offerings and they’re both offerings that you would think to bring if you had read the book of leviticus they’re both legitimate offerings totally cain brings a cereal or meal offering of you know of this harvest food right wheat grains and vegetables and so on so he goes first and then we’re told but abel also brought an offering he was a shepherd and he brings from his flock and then there’s two details given from the firstborn so the most valuable and like you know the prize and uh and then of the fatty parts the fat parts the yummy parts yeah so yeah if you’re a carnivore um the fatty parts are tasty and they’re really valuable um and it was really valuable to you know people who who consume and live with animals those little details are telling us that abel put some extra thought into bringing the best but those are the only clues in the narrative that would tell you other than that it’s an intentional ambiguity in the story [Music] jessie lazzo eden is the reality that later tabernacles symbolize and point back to you just talked about that oh and he’s quoting us yes doesn’t moses make the tabernacle according to the heavenly one god showed him in exodus 25 and hebrews 8 references this i can’t think of any verse that connects the garden and the tabernacle explicitly yeah where’s your where’s your where’s your proof text yeah yeah um yeah instead of thinking it in terms of what’s the one sentence in the bible that says it you need to think of how biblical authors work in terms of patterns and repeated language so when you leave eden when when adam and eve leave eden and go out into the realm of death they lose this chance to be in proximity to god and uh have have eternal life and so as you go throughout the biblical narrative what you’ll notice is that biblical characters keep coming back to these places and moments where they meet god in person like for example this happens in the abraham story a lot and lo and behold it’s always on a hill with a tree for example so this is a narrative patterning to talk about how abraham is meeting god on these eden-like places when moses goes up onto mount sinai and he sees through into the heavenly realm that’s what he’s referencing here and that’s what he’s referencing here what he sees and so jesse this is a good good exercise read through the tabernacle blueprint instructions they’re thrilling great bedtime reading and what will you notice you’ll notice that the entry doors are all covered with images of cherubim just like what were stationed at the garden of eden what you’ll notice is that as you go through the doors and curtains you see palm trees woven in everywhere just like all the trees in the garden of eden and so on so it’s through symbolism and through narrative patterning that um the authors it’s the same with solomon’s temple the same with the temple of ezekiel’s vision in the book of ezekiel all these places use the same language and imagery as that of eden you also have the fact that when jesus um is talking to the other guy crucified right next to him the criminal yeah and he says uh you know remember me when you come in your kingdom and jesus be with me in in paradise in paradise which is paradise uh which is a greek word paradisos is the greek word but it’s the word used that jew jews used in greek to refer to um the garden of eden um so the garden of eden is um heaven yeah it’s the place where god yeah and humans yeah are one yeah but it’s also earth because it’s the whole point is that it’s heaven on earth and reading the bible through these design patterns is about this conviction that the bible isn’t a theological dictionary where you can kind of just go and find the right verses say the right things actually jewish meditation literature that’s right that’s designed to show you yeah through these symbols and patterns yeah earlier stories are designed um with little like little hidden easter eggs so to speak and language and imagery that comes to have great significance once you’ve already read through the whole bible and you come back and you’re like oh eden is the real thing and all these other little tabernacles and temples were just made to look like the place where heaven and earth are one watch our video on jewish meditation [Music] literature alien z perhaps adam and eve weren’t the only humans in the garden of eden judging from this video and from genesis it seems adam and eve were metaphors for the first human kings in an earthly paradise well that’s controversial alien z um yeah you know i mean the narrative does seem to indicate that adam and eve are the only characters present um well maybe what you’re pointing out alien z i’m not sure is is that once adam and eve leave the garden and then once cain is exiled from eden he builds a city he goes out into what appears in the narrative to be a populated world um he tells god that he’s afraid that somebody might find him and kill him because he killed his brother he just assumes that there’s people around that are gonna threaten his life and then he goes and um he builds a city and starts a family and you’re like okay so where the wife where did the wife come from and who lives in his city well you just uh opened up uh i can’t aware can work but actually we talk about this on our podcast with uh dr joshua swamidas we’ll link to the podcast episode below you can dive in deeper that’s right but to your other point aliens knee uh adam and eve as metaphors people debate um the nature of adam and eve as characters whether you think they’re real historical people or more symbols they are definitely archetypes in the sense of their representative characters adam means human and eve means life and they represent uh humanity as royal priests before god so so whether or not you think there are other people around or not they are definitely symbolic representative characters before god [Music] okay that’s it for comments on the first episode in our series the royal priest thanks for interacting with this video and hope you enjoyed it