LET us have a little talk to-day, dear children, about the garden of Eden, and what happened there.
When God had finished the works of creation, He planted a garden in Eden, and in this garden He made many trees to grow—trees that were beautiful to the sight, and trees that were good for food, having luscious fruit upon them. But there were two very special trees in the midst of the garden; one of these was “The tree of life,” and the other was “The tree of knowledge of good and evil.” There was a river in the garden which watered it; and the land near by had fine gold in it, and stones of great beauty and value.
How different the world then was, from the time when waters covered the earth and darkness brooded over all. We can think of the glad sunshine, of singing birds and murmuring brooks, of beautiful shade trees and of luscious fruit, of precious stones and of finest gold, for such were some of the things which God had prepared for man.
In this fair and wonderful garden, God placed Adam, the man He had made. But God never made man to be idle, so He gave to Adam a charge; and that charge was to dress and keep the garden. It was, I doubt not, a very pleasant task, for before sin came into the world, there was not the toil and weariness and suffering that now are known.
After God had put Adam in the garden, He brought all the animals to him, and the birds. that fly in the air, to see what lie would call them. What an honor this was to put upon Adam! Can you imagine him surrounded with all kinds of creatures, big and little—creeping, walking, jumping, flying creatures—all coming to him? And whatever he called each creature, that was its name. When you read about or see, the elephant, the lion, the giraffe, the ostrich or the eagle, the horse, the cow or the sheep, or any other creature, you will, perhaps, remember, that it was Adam, the first man God made, who gave them their names.
But with all these creatures about him Adam was alone. He might give to the dog a name, but the dog could not talk to him; he might ride on the horse, but the horse could not counsel with him; he might eat the pleasant fruit, and look at the sweet flowers, and sit down in the cool, refreshing shade, but he had no one to share these pleasures with him. God knew all this and He gave to Adam one who could be a companion, and a suitable help for him.
ML 09/24/1899