The Genesis Rivers
Much scholarly research has been done in an attempt to explain the passage in Genesis about the original rivers:
“Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.”
Genesis 2:10-14
A reasonable explanation for their location will probably never be found, because the topography of the earth after the Flood had no resemblance to what it had been before.
A disaster of such greatness as the Flood which can cause the mountains to rise creating mountain ranges and to form the vast areas of ocean could scarcely have left such lesser surface features as rivers unchanged. For these reasons, Bible scholars cannot identify antediluvian geographical terms (including rivers) with present-day surface features of the earth.
The Revelation River
The river that is mentioned in Revelation will be found in the New Jerusalem – the city that God has prepared for the redeemed (John 14:1-3). In Revelation, we read:
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:1,2
There are good answers to all the questions, which will be revealed to God’s children in the life to come for “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). All such knowledge is far beyond anything that people may know apart from the gospel of Jesus.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
