The Bible's ideal location for human existence is a garden, not a city (i.e., the Garden of Eden).
The city is introduced as a consequence of human exile from Eden and their violent nature, necessitating walls for protection.
The Bible ends with the concept of a new garden city, with walls that are now transformed and symbolic, not for protection.
The walls are akin to the scars or nail holes in Jesus' hands, signifying past wrongs but now transformed in the resurrected world.
Humans build cities to protect themselves, diverging from God's initial protection.
Exploration of the First Form of Protection: The Woman as an Ezer
God builds the first protection for Adam by splitting him to create an ezer (helper/ally in Hebrew), a woman.
This act is a meditation on Cain's building of the city as his form of deliverance.
Ezer implies a delivering ally, a role God often takes in delivering Israel.
Humans perceive the city as a secure place.
Cities and Their Negative Aspects
Cities incubate violence and amplify human arrogance, contrasting the peaceful garden ideal.
The Bible presents cities as fortified, walled enclosures for security.
Psalm 46 and prophetic visions show a future city of God, characterized by peace and God’s presence.
Eden and the Garden Imagery
The Garden of Eden serves as the archetype of ideal human existence, shared by various ancient Near Eastern cultures.
Elevated gardens with rivers symbolize divine blessing and fertility.
In ancient cultures, imperial kings adorned their cities with garden-like iconography to signify divine presence and approval.
The biblical Garden of Eden depicts God planting a flourishing garden in a desolate wilderness.
The ideal environment in Eden: a human (Adam) placed in the garden, provided with an ezer (the woman).
Cain, The First Builder of a City
Cain's narrative mirrors the parental narrative of sin and exile but introduces the concept of city-building for protection.
After murdering Abel, Cain is afraid others will kill him and builds a city as his form of self-preservation despite God's offered protection (a sign).
The act of city-building by Cain is him taking on a god-like role, providing his own security instead of relying on God's provision.
The city motif in the Bible introduces cities as symbols of human attempts to self-preserve and control, leading away from divine reliance.
Parallels and Symbolism in City Imagery
Cities in the Bible often represented as women, indicating they are meant as forms of protection and nurturing (e.g., Lady Jerusalem, Daughter Zion).
In Revelation, the new city, the New Jerusalem, is depicted as a bride, symbolizing the return to an ideal form of divine-human cohabitation.
This imagery ties back to the Garden of Eden, where the woman's creation was meant to complete Adam and achieve God's purpose together.
Conclusion
The narrative of cities in the Bible reflects a journey from divine provision and peaceful existence (garden) to human-built protective structures (cities) that ultimately miss divine intentions and generate more violence.
Revelation's imagery of a new garden city represents God's ultimate plan to merge past human errors into a transformative future.
Contemporary relevance: Reflect on human nature's tendency to build personal fortresses while overlooking divine protection and provision.
Upcoming Discussions
Future episode to discuss the descendants of Cain and the continuous theme of violence and human self-preservation leading to divine interventions like the Flood and the scattering at Babel.