The Creator made our world and placed a garden in the center of it, calling the garden Eden. It was “paradise”—a Persian word for garden.
The garden was sacred.
Most eastern temples had gardens, and the priests considered these gardens to be the place where the gods rested.
Why do gods need rest? According to legend, they’ve spent most of their existence beating each other into submission. That’s why so many Creation myths involve one god dominating another. In Egypt, the priests told the people that Amun forced all other gods to submit to him; in Babylon, it was Marduk who conquered Tiamat.
But God—our God, the True God of gods and Lord of All—made the world with a Word. God sang Creation into existence, a melody of blessing amid the harmony of living things, born upon the rhythm of the stars.
The Creator created Eden as a garden of divine rest. Not because God needed rest, but to set an example for humanity. Rest is holy. Rest is godly. Our lives are tiresome, and if we become rest-less we also become anxious, agitated, and afraid. Eden was a place of rest where God’s people could rejoice forever.