East and West (Part II)

Out of the four cardinal directions these two in particular have a prevalent place in the scriptures. 'East' is first introduced in describing the location of Eden (Gen. 2:8). A little later in we find it in Genesis 3:24 right after the Fall.

"After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."

Next, we see 'East' again in relation to sin and judgment with Adam's son, Cain:

"So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden." (Gen. 4:16)

(Note: I don't think we can flee the Lord's presence anymore than Jonah could, but it's more a spiritual picture)


As people multiplied on the earth they continued eastward, away from God.  


"As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there." (Gen. 11:2) 

The plain of Shinar is the location of the tower of Babel. People are moving further from God. And it continues all throughout Scripture. I counted well over 150 other passages that deal with this and to go over each would be more fitting for a dissertation than a blog. So with that said, let this be enough to show you that east seems to represent sin, judgment, distance from God, etc...

Redemption:

"Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory." (Ezk. 43:1-2, Emphasis mine)

Jesus stepped down from eternal communion with the Father and Spirit, gave up the glory he had and became incarnate in flesh and blood, suffering everything this life had to through at a person, just so he could sympathize with all of our weakness (Heb.4:15), and took all of our sin upon himself, become a curse for us, and was forsaken by his Father. He went farther east than anyone has ever gone so that we could come back west, back to the Garden, back to God. 

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:11-12)

As the Son rose in the east, the light of his glory traced its way through the heavens, back to the temple and filled it.


"The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple." (Ezk. 43:4-5)


"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Rev. 21:3)

God has come to dwell with us and has made us his hands and feet, kings and priests. We are now the hands of Jesus that reach out to those in the east while joined hand in hand to the body of Christ firmly planted in the west. It was the job of the priests to be mediators between God and people. Jesus is the only mediator between men and God, but he lives in us and he uses broken people to carry out his purposes on the earth. Thus we, as priests and kings, we are called to be mediators between the broken places in the world and the house of God. God called Abraham to pitched his tent in between Ai (Hebrew: העי‎; "heap of ruins") in the east and Bethel (Hebrew: בֵּית אֵל‎; "house of God") in the west (Gen 12:8). We too are called to pitch our tent in between the east and west. In between Heaven and earth. (Ps. 103:11-12)