There seems to be confusion with at least one subscriber about the definition of PARADISE . According to WEBSTERS it is HEAVEN or EDEN . So if one says Earth will be paradise he would be saying it would be HEAVEN More precisely: 1 a : EDEN 2 b : an intermediate place or state where the righteous departed await resurrection and judgment c : HEAVEN 2 : a place or state of bliss, felicity, or delight - par·a·dis·ial / par-&-'di-sE-&l, -zE-/ also par·a·dis·i·cal /-si-k&l, -zi-/ adjective However, Webster (as well as other dictionairies) gives definitions _base_d on common traditional usage, which may not and often do not correspond with Biblical usage. The following instances are where the word paradise appear in the Duoay-Rheims translation of the Bible: Ge 2:8 And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed. Ge 2:9 And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Ge 2:10 And a river went out the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads. Ge 2:15 And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise for pleasure, to dress it, and keep it. Ge 2:16 And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat: Ge 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise? Ge 3:2 And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat: Ge 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die. Ge 3:8 And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise. Ge 3:10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. Ge 3:23 And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken. Ge 3:24 And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Ge 13:10 And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor. So 1:13 Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard. Eze 28:13 Thou wast in the pleasures of the paradise of God: every precious stone teas thy covering: the sardius, the topaz, and the jasper, the chrysolite, and the onyx, and the beryl, the sapphire, and the carbuncle, and the emerald: gold the work of thy beauty: and thy pipes were prepared in the day that thou wast created. Eze 31:8 The cedars in the paradise of God wars not higher than he, the fir trees did not equal his top, neither were the plane trees to be compared with him for branches: no tree in the paradise of God was like him in his beauty. Eze 31:9 For I made him beautiful and thick set with many branches: and all the trees of pleasure, that were in the paradise of God, envied him. Lu 23:43 And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. 2Co 12:4 That he was caught up into paradise, and heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter. Re 2:7 He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: To him, that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God. The Hebrew word Gan (Strong's #1588) translated paradise and garden appears in all 37 times in the OT. The online Lexicom defines this as: garden, enclosure enclosed garden (fig. of a bride) garden (of plants) n pr loc Garden of Eden
http://www.biblestudytools.net/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?search=01588&v... kjv&type=str&submit=Find In not one instance is this word used of heaven (or a compartment of sheol) in all of the OT; it is always referring to a garden on the earth. It is this word that is used in Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 28:13, 31:8,9; 36:35. The Septuagint uses the Greek paradeisos [paravdeiso ] for the paradise of Eden in Genesis (called the paradise of God in Isa 51:3; and Ezek 28:13). In Nehemiah 2:8; Eccessiastes 2:5; Song of Solomon 4:13 another word is used: Pardec (Strong's 6508), which is thought to be a Persian word brought into the Hebrew. It has the same basic meaning as Gan. The online lexicon gives it this meaning: park, preserve, enclosed garden, forest . After the hellenization of the Jewish leadership, the Jews viewed paradise as a compartment or section in hades, _base_d on Greek philosophy, not because of any divine revelation from Yahweh to do so. However, as pointed out, all the way through the Hebrew _script_ures (OT), not once is either word used in such a way as to give one the impression that paradise is a part of sheol (Hebrew word for hades). So after Jesus came, did he adopt the apostate philosophy of the Jews? There is nothing in the New Testament that would lead us to think so, not unless one *already* has in his mind the Greek philosophies of immortal soul and of several compartments in hades as adopted by the apostate Jews. The Greek word used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word *Gan*, as already mentioned is Paradeisos (Strong's #3857). This word appears only three times in the NT: Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7. The online Lexicon gives the following as defintions for Paradeisos: 1. among the Persians a grand enclosure or preserve, hunting ground, park, shady and well watered, in which wild animals, were kept for the hunt; it was enclosed by walls and furnished with towers for the hunters 2. a garden, pleasure ground 3. grove, park 4. the part of Hades which was thought by the later Jews to be the abode of the souls of pious until the resurrection: but some understand this to be a heavenly paradise 5. the upper regions of the heavens. According to the early church Fathers, the paradise in which our first parents dwelt before the fall still exists, neither on the earth or in the heavens, but above and beyond the world 6. heaven ============= The last three definitions are definitions of tradition, not necessarily because the Bible actually shows that *Paradeisos* is used in as a synonym for heaven or as a part of sheol. Without adopting the later tradition of the Jews, that paradise was part of hades, would we find such a meaning in the three usuages of the word in the NT? Should we expect that Jesus and disciples would join with the apostate Jewish leadership in adopting such a philosophy? I don't think so. Revelation 2:7 is certainly an allusion to the phrase used in Ezekiel: paradise of God , which, in turn, refers back to the Garden of Eden of Genesis; on earth, not in heaven. Re 2:7 He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: To him, that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God. Of course, this is symbolic, as is almost all of Revelation; it has no reference to heaven but rather to a condition attained by the overcomers, who are said to symbolically eat of the symbolic tree of life. Luke 23:43 is discussed at some length in the publications: The Thief in Paradise and paragraphs 31 & 32 of Hope of Life After Death 2 Corinthians 12:4 is discussed in the publication Third Heaven and Paradise and also in paragraph 148 of Hope of Life After Death All of these can be found online at:
http://reslight.addr.com/ Thus from the Bible standpoint, saying paradise will be restored on the earth has nothing at all do with saying heaven will be on earth. It is only by the extra-Biblical definition that tradition has given to the word paradise that one would even think such a thing. And even allowing for such a usage as given in meanings 1b and 1c of the Webster defintions, it is not with these meanings in mind that Bible Students speak of paradise being restored on earth, but rather of Edenic paradise (meaning 1a), thus it still would have nothing to do with saying heaven will be on earth. Let Yahweh be glorified through his Son!
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