Tag: rivers of Eden

‘The Lost River of Eden’ (2015)

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Four rivers of eden hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy

I thought I’d re-run this post, because I hadn’t read it in years and when I read it just now, it fascinated me all over again.

The Lost River of Eden

The Bible preserves knowledge that would otherwise be lost. Genesis tells us of the rivers of Eden, one of which flowed into Eden after crossing most of what is now Saudi Arabia. There is very solid evidence for this–although the river dried up around 2,000 B.C. at the latest. Satellite technology opened the door of discovery.

How much else is “lost,” but actually preserved in Scripture?

Probably a great deal more than we might think.

‘The Lost River of Eden’ (2015)

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

This is one of my all-time most popular posts. It’s easy to see why.

The Lost River of Eden

Once upon a time–as recorded in the Book of Genesis, and nowhere else–a mighty river ran across Arabia to flow into the sea when it reached Kuwait. The remains of the river, buried under desert sands for at least 40 centuries (geologists’ best guess) could not be seen until photo-taking satellites came into use.

Yes, we can trust the Bible.

Unless we don’t want to trust our scientific instruments which confirm what the Bible has told us.

The Lost River of Eden

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

The Bible preserves the memory of an ancient river that flowed across Arabia many thousands of years ago.

God speaks to us in many ways.

I was raised in a close-knit Christian family, but came out of four years of college with the kind of precious know-it-all attitude for which the university is the ultimate greenhouse. And in that wilderness I wandered for 30 years or so, until the Good Shepherd brought me back.

One of His tools was an article in Biblical Archaeological Review, Vol. 22 No. 4, July/August 1996, “The River Runs Dry.” This told of the discovery, via satellite photo analysis, of a long-vanished river that ran across Arabia into Mesopotamia. (I can’t figure out how to navigate the BAR site, but this will help you, http://kata-aletheia.blogspot.com/2007/01/ancient-geography-lost-river-of-eden.html )

The Bible preserves much ancient knowledge which would otherwise be lost. In Genesis 2, the “four rivers of Eden” are described. Two we know today as the Tigris and the Euphrates, in Iraq. But in verse 11 we read, “The name of the first is Pison [or Pishon]; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold…”

“Havilah” refers to what is now the western part of Saudi Arabia. Geologists for years wondered about the presence of certain kinds of pebbles and stones in Kuwait which were not original to that country. But as satellite photos revealed the bed of a mighty river now buried under the Arabian desert, it became clear that these stones and pebbles came from far away, carried there by a river which dried up and disappeared thousands of years ago.

So there is information in that chapter of Genesis that has no business being there unless it is an accurate record of truly ancient things. Never mind the Reputable Bible Scholars Inc. who say the whole Bible is just a bunch of fables and stories invented by priests in Babylon after 500 B.C. to wile away the time spent in captivity.

Geologists estimate that the Kuwait/Pison River ceased to exist by, at the latest, 2,000 B.C. So then they talked about it for 1,500 years?

Reading about this lost river of Eden, now found again, shocked me deeply: shocked me with the revelation that Genesis is true. It got me started back on the road to the Bible. It continues to fascinate me 20 years later.

It’s God’s Word, it’s true, and we can trust it.