Mi-gan: OUT of the GARDEN

Out of the Garden: mi-gan, from the noun gan (garden) (Strong’s 1588).

Root: מִגַּן

Sounds like: mee-gawn

This week I had intended to write about midbar (wilderness) but the image of the wilderness is so prevalent and integral to the Biblical story that we’re going to have to break this down over two weeks. We’re going to go from “out of the garden” (this week) and “into the wilderness” (next week).

Wilderness is a very large part of the Biblical metanarrative. God created the world and in it He created a beautiful garden. God created the human outside of the garden, in the dusty wilderness, then placed him in the garden and gave him an important job to do:

Genesis 2:7, 15

Then YHWH God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person…

…Then YHWH God took the man and put him in the Garden [v-gan בְגַן] of Eden to cultivate it and tend it.

Once man was placed in the Garden of Eden, God created a female human from the side of the male human (Genesis 2:22)… and together they lived in harmony with God. 

Eve and Adam had access to the entirety of the garden, but YHWH pointed out that there was one tree that would be poisonous to them. They were not to eat from it, but they could enjoy its beauty. Driven to take more than their share, they succumbed to their desires and ate from the tree. Once they bit into the fruit that was not fit for human ingestion they could no longer stay in the garden. They had been corrupted and they lost their ability to stay. They had to leave:

Genesis 3:23

Therefore YHWH God sent him out of the Garden [mi-gan מִגַּן] of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

Humanity was made to cultivate Eden, and now they had to try to cultivate the wilderness from which they had originally come from. Outside of the Garden they would fight for survival. But YHWH never intended to abandon them in the wilderness. He would partner with them and work with them to bring them home. This is the primary meta-narrative in the Bible… humans leaving the Garden of God and God providing a way back. The Bible takes us on that journey of fulfillment.

By the way, it’s worth pointing out that Genesis 3:23 is the only place in the Bible where you will find the Hebrew word, mi-gan, meaning, “out of the garden”.

From mi-gan  to mi-d’bar 

Mi-gan means outside of the garden (out of (mi-) the garden (gan)). Midbar literally means outside of the Word (mi- out of; d’var- the Word (Strong’s 1697)) and overall it represents the concept of wilderness.

In a way, Adam and Eve were sent outside of the Word. It was God speaking words (“And God said”) that put the universe in order and now humans had to live outside of order. They had to wander in the wilderness to be able to truly experience the beauty they once had. 

But it was never God’s plan to leave them there. They would pay for their mistakes by struggling outside of the Garden, but He would fix their mistakes with His life. The God of Life and Living would take on death in order to free us from the grave-chains we fastened to ourselves. He would guide us through the wilderness and then, by way of His own sacrifice, bring us home.

In English we call the fourth book of the Bible, “Numbers”, but in Hebrew this book is called Ba-midbar or, in English, into the wilderness… (or if you want to get really philosophical “into the out-of-order place”). This was because ba-midbar can be found in the first sentence of the book and it highlighted the main premise of the text (wandering in the wilderness):

Numbers 1:1a

Now YHWH spoke to Moses in the wilderness…

Wai-dabber YHWH el Moshe b-mid’bbar.

וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר

YHWH spoke (dabber) to Moses in the out-of-order place (mid’bbar). It’s an endearing thought that YHWH loves His people so much that He  left His perfect Kingdom to interact with humans in a place of corruption… and He did it because He is compassionate, merciful and all-loving. He wants to walk alongside us in our struggles, lead us through the wilderness, and bring us home. 

Psalm 107:1-15

Give thanks to YHWH, for He is good, for His mercy is everlasting. The redeemed of YHWH shall say so, those whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

They wandered in the wilderness [va-mid’bbar בַ֭מִּדְבָּר] in a desert region; they did not find a way to an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty; their souls felt weak within them. Then they cried out to YHWH in their trouble; He saved them from their distresses.

He also had them walk on a straight way, to go to an inhabited city. They shall give thanks to YHWH for His mercy, and for His wonders to the sons of mankind!  For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and He has filled the hungry soul with what is good.

There were those who lived in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and chains, because they had rebelled against the words of God and rejected the plan of the Most High. Therefore He humbled their heart with labour; they stumbled and there was no one to help. 

Then they cried out to YHWH in their trouble; He saved them from their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart. They shall give thanks to YHWH for His mercy, and for His wonders to the sons of mankind!

This is the meta-narrative of midbar, an out-of-the-Word wilderness wandering that would eventually lead us home to the Gan (Garden). 

With this in mind, it’s not surprising that the Gospel writer, John, described Yeshua (Jesus) as The Word:

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.

Yeshua was the Light that would guide us home. It would be His sacrifice that would put things right and pay our entrance fee back into the Kingdom.

John 10:9-10

[Jesus:] I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.

All who put their trust in YHWH, and Yeshua’s sacrifice for our redemption, would find their way back to God, and be welcomed with open arms. Yeshua is the doorway back home.

But in the meantime, we live outside of the Garden as God’s image bearers. We are meant to “show the way” like John the Baptist did, who lived according to the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah 40:3

A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for YHWH in the wilderness [ba-mid’bbar בַּמִּדְבָּ֕ר] make a straight highway for our God in the desert.”

Our words (in the out-of-the-Word place) should point others to YHWH and the beautiful Garden Kingdom that awaits us.

While we live outside of the Garden, we are also meant to show glimpses of YHWH’s Kingdom to everyone around us. We can be a light in the desert for those lost in the darkness, a tall glass of water for the spiritually thirsty, an arm to lean on for those who are struggling to stand. Just because we live in the wilderness doesn’t give us the right to be inhospitable or feral, uncaring and cruel.

Next week we’ll dive into the Bible to find glimpses of how people behaved outside of the Garden. Many struggled, but many also passed the test. We’ll also look at a repetitive wilderness-wandering narrative that puts a spotlight on the grander story at large! It’s a story we are all a part of and you have an important part to play. Wherever you are on the path, remember that God wants to bring you home and He wants to help you along the way. Even though we’re outside of the Garden, we are not alone in the wilderness.

Next week: Into the Wilderness