The name of the second head is Gihon, which means turbulence of waters. Turbulence implies fullness (cf. John 4:14; 7:38). This river rushes like a mighty tide. Suppose we have a few drops of water. That amount of water cannot generate turbulence. In order to have a turbulence like Niagara Falls we need a great quantity of water. The turbulence of the river indicates its fullness.
This river flows to Cush. Cush, the ancient Hebrew name for Ethiopia, means black face, typifying the unchangeable evil nature of sinners (cf. Jer. 13:23; Rom. 7:18). I was a Cushite before I was saved: I was black, sinful, and evil. In fact, we were all Cushites; we were more than black, and our nature was evil. Humanly speaking, such a nature can never change. Praise the Lord that the turbulence of the divine waters will regenerate us and transform us into another person. The flowing of the divine river is so rich and strong that it can change our evil nature and even glorify us. Although the Cushite cannot change his skin, we have the way by which our black skin, our evil nature, can be fully transformed: it is by the rushing turbulence of the flow of the divine life.
The third head is Hiddekel (the Hebrew name of Tigris) which means rapid, implying power (cf. Phil 3:10; Eph. 1:19-20). Water that flows rapidly has power. Hiddekel flows toward Assyria, which means plain, the inhabited place. This tells us that the flow of living water reaches the place where people dwell (cf. John 10:10b; 7:37).
The fourth head is called Perath (the Hebrew name of Euphrates) which means sweet, making fertile, or fruitful (cf. 2 Cor. 2:14; 2 Pet. 1:3-8, 11; Gal. 5:22-23). Praise the Lord! The last head of the flow of living water makes us sweet, fertile, and fruitful. Recently, we have been talking about fruit bearing. How can we bear fruit? We can bear fruit only by the flow of the river of life within us. As long as the life flows within, it will make us sweet, fertile, and fruitful. This is wonderful!
If we put all four heads of the one river together, we have a full picture of the New Testament. We need the whole New Testament to define the four heads of the one river of the divine life.
Once again I say that everything found in the book of Genesis is a seed, the growth of the seed is in the New Testament, and the harvest is in the book of Revelation. The seed of the flowing river is sown in Genesis 2, the growth occurs in the following books of the Bible, and the harvest is in the book of Revelation. We need the whole Bible to give us the true meaning of the picture in Genesis 2. God in His Son Jesus Christ is life to us in the form of food. If we take Him in, we not only have satisfaction, but this life will become a watering river within us. This water will be a torrent flowing within us to regenerate us, transform us, and to make us sweet and fruitful. By this flow we will become gold, pearl, and precious stones for the building of God's habitation, the New Jerusalem. Praise the Lord! This is God's way to fulfill His eternal purpose. However, this is just the second step. We will cover the third step in the next message.