The Discovery of Genesis (76 page)

Epilog … Revelation

The mural mosaic at the far end of the Singapore air terminal waiting room transfixed me that Wednesday morning as I was preparing to leave the city after my most recent visit with Pastor Kang. The lighting was perfect so that the portrayed scenic view of the city of Singapore at night, reflected in the foreground harbor waters, was very real. I ascended the stairs to the mezzanine overlooking the rushing, noisy, oblivious throng below and stood there for a long moment, taking it all in — the silhouetted familiar skyline, with scattered lighted windows depicting the ceaseless activity of this Oriental metropolis; the last shades of fading day at the horizon in a cloud-tinted darkening sky; the flickering lights of harbor boats. Why had I not noticed the beauty of this mosaic artistry before on my many trips through Singapore during the more than 10 years since the erection of this new airport?

I walked around the balcony and stood before the immense mural. Now it had become a mass of tiny varicolored, one-inch tiles mortared into the wall. I gently touched the unevenly set ceramic pieces — “Rather crude!” I thought. It was more difficult at this close range to make out the various objects which composed the panorama. Certainly at this short distance it lacked beauty, the outlines were difficult to delineate, and there was no breath-taking attractiveness. Instead, one might be tempted to criticize the handiwork of the one who had set the tiles in a slightly irregular fashion. Once again I moved away to the far end of the mezzanine, and the city became alive! It was the distance and the lighting. From whence the light came, I do not remember, whether artificial or by skylight, but it was perfect. I could not help but take out my camera, hoping to record its glowing exquisiteness.

“How like this study we have just completed,” I mused. “The isolated Chinese character by itself, or perhaps a small series on one aspect of the Genesis subject is interesting, but one might question, ‘Is it possible?’ or ‘Was this really the original intention?’ One can become very ‘picky’ and critical. However, taken as a whole, with all the pieces in place, and with a retrospection of 4,500 years, the total picture becomes amazing!”

I was soon settled comfortably, smoothly airborne. The roar of the jet motors was left far behind with only the whistling wind accompaniment as a reminder of being rapidly transported. The landscape far below was one which I always loved in the Orient — neat patchwork of the rice paddies in their many shades of green, interspersed with unplanted, plowed fields. An aerial view, reflecting the light from the flooded plots, always reminded me of a mammoth stained-glass window.

Perhaps it was this scene that flashed to mind the radical
, which we had always used to represent the
Garden
of Eden. “Honestly now, doesn’t it look more like a well-irrigated and marked out farm? But it must refer to the Garden specifically,” I argued to myself, “for such characters as
devil
,
fruit
,
naked
,
happiness
, and
tempter
, using
, could have no other reference!

“But wait, wasn’t the Garden of Eden ‘watered?’” Now I remembered a river, in fact, four rivers being mentioned in the oft-read Genesis description. Why had this not seemed important before? I reached for my heavy briefcase and struggled to release it from under the seat in front. I extracted a Bible from my bulging luggage and turned to Genesis 2:9–14. Yes, the river was four-headed and appeared to originate in the center of the Garden near the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I thought again of the symbol for
garden
. “Perfect! A four-headed river originating in the center of the Garden would certainly ‘water’ it. But what would be its source?