Morning Light: Genesis 2 – The Streams of God on the Inside of You

Today: Genesis 2 – The Streams of God on the Inside of You. In Genesis two, we see God placing man in the garden and supplying him from a mighty river out of which came four tributaries. Jesus in John 7:38 makes reference to this river that has significant meaning for us and great potential to affect our lives for our good and our blessing once we understand what they are telling us about who God is in us through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
[Gen 2:1-14 KJV] 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 4 These [are] the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold; 12 And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is] bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river [is] Gihon: the same [is] it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river [is] Hiddekel: that [is] it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river [is] Euphrates. 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 18 And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Over and over in scripture, the Spirit of God and the things of the Spirit are referred to and described in relation to rivers and waters. The Psalmist David declared:
[Psa 46:4-5 KJV] 4 [There is] a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy [place] of the tabernacles of the most High. 5 God [is] in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, [and that] right early.
I want you to notice that while four rivers are named in Genesis, there is one river – the main river (referenced in Gen. 2:10) is not named. This is the river (singular) that David refers to in the first part of Psalm 46:4.
The question for us to ask is what or who is this river? Geographically the garden of Eden is suggested to have been located in central Iraq and is lost to history. That is not all there is to the story, however. In 1 Cor. 1:10, the apostle Paul declared that everything recorded in the Old Testament exists as a metaphor, type, and symbol for the New Testament believer:
[1Co 10:11 KJV] 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
What then (or who is) the singular river out of which the four rivers come referred to in Gen. 2:10? In Rev. 22:1, John saw this same river, and he saw from whence it originated:
[Rev 22:1 KJV] 1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Whatever this river is it originates directly from the throne of God and according to Jesus in John 7:38-39, it then comes up like a hidden spring out of us and out into our life.
[Jhn 7:38-39 KJV] 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet [given]; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
We must let scripture interpret scripture. The fact that this river is associated with the throne or the authority of God implies that its character imparts to us something of the nature of God that gives us the grace to do what God commanded Adam to do in Genesis 1:28 “to subdue and have dominion over all the earth,” and (Gen. 2:15) to tend (dress) and to keep it. It is interesting that this reference to authority comes immediately after the mention of the rivers coming forth (Gen. 2:10-14) that Rev. 1:22 tells us that what these rivers represent originates in the throne of God which is the seat of His authority extended to Adam, restored in Christ and flowing out of us according to John 7:38 by the infilling and outflowing of the Holy Ghost.
Now I want you to notice the specific language of Psalm 46:4 regarding the river (singular) and the streams (plural):
[Psa 46:4-5 KJV] 4 [There is] a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God…
The Holy Spirit is the river (singular) come forth from God, and He brings the streams to us as one (the indwelling of the Holy Ghost and out us as streams (plural) to influence and dominate our lives and the environment we live our lives out in. What are the streams? They are the rivers spoken of in Gen. 2: 10-14.
Pison
Gihon
Hiddekel
Euphrates
Each river is said to “Encompass” it’s territory which means to (whirl). What is the significance of this? We need to look at two things regarding each river to know what they represent in us and the effect they are intended to have on us and our personal environment when they are allowed to flow:

1. Pison (increase): Pison speaks of the increase of God flowing in us. Increase is not something outward or something God sends down in packets of occasional blessing. Increase is a river flowing in you that originates in the throne of God. It is up to you to allow and cultivate that river to be free-flowing according to:

[Jde 1:20 KJV] 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
How do rivers build? I’ve lived most of my life in the Mississippi River valley, and that river totally sculpts and dominates the landscape regardless of the billions of dollars the US government spends to control it. The rivers of God coming out of you will encompass every aspect of your life irrespective of all the enemy does to hold you back or restrain you. Havilah is a land where there is gold, and the river (Pison) of God’s increase will come out of you and bring the silver of God and the gold of God to you – to your bank account. In Hag. 2:8 God said:
[Hag 2:8 KJV] 8 The silver [is] mine, and the gold [is] mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
Wealth belongs to God and He is disposed and pleased to give it to us by His anointed process of the river of God’s increase flowing from the throne and out through you to lay hold on your inheritance of bringing the environment around you spiritual into subjection to the word of God and then blessing (in this case financial blessing) is the result.

1. Gihon (bursting forth): The Gihon river encompasses (or takes authority over) the land of Ethiopia. The word Ethiopia there means “black” or, “darkness.” It is not an ethnic reference; it is a reference found in Col. 1:13 that declares:

[Col 1:13 KJV] 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:
How does God in this verse deliver us from the domain of darkness? By putting a river on the inside of you of which the Gihon is a type or symbol. Again it means bursting forth or breakthrough. Something bursts forth when it has greater power or pressure in itself, pushing against what is holding it back. This is one of the streams of God in you that will make you glad by bringing you to breakthrough. Say this with me:
“Greater is the pressure of the rivers of God on the inside of me flowing out that the pressures of darkness around me pushing back!”

1. Hiddekel (Rapid): The Hiddekel river encompasses (or takes authority over Assyria). Assyria throughout scripture is a symbol and type of the Anti-Christ. Remember that the Anti-Christ is a created being. This river on the inside of you will cause you to be “rapid”, and that means you will begin to move at the pace of an uncreated being (by virtue of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost) and the enemy will not be able to anticipate or keep up with what you are doing.

2. Euphrates: (Breaking Forth). The Euphrates comprised the northern boundary of king David’s empire at the height of his reign. This stream or river speaks of fully inheriting our inheritance and fully walking in our privileges in Christ on this side of the grave – not by outward instrumentality but by the inward power of the indwelling Holy Spirit moving in us and flowing through us.

These are the dimensions of all that God gave man naturally and spiritually before the fall. They represent what Adam scorned when he chose to transgress, which we will cover in the next lesson.