Cees Noordzij — Anthropology
b2 — The Ark of Noah
Trichotomy: Spirit, Soul and Body
In contrast to b1 (dichotomy of soul/spirit), Noordzij here explicitly formulates a trichotomy:
“The number 300 speaks of complete redemption, 3 of the whole man, spirit, soul and body.”
Source reference: Noordzij, The Ark of Noah, section “THE NUMBER THREE HUNDRED”.
And in the tabernacle symbolism:
“again three, the number of the total. Past, present and future… Man is spirit, soul and body.”
Source reference: Noordzij, The Ark of Noah, section “THE THREE CURTAINS”.
[TENSION with b1]: In b1 (Moses and the Way to Sonship) Noordzij explicitly employ a dichotomy (soul vs. spirit, coded as feminine/masculine). In b2 they explicitly speak of a trichotomy (spirit, soul and body). The two sources employ a different systematic for the human constitution, without this tension being accounted for in the text.
Number 300: The Complete Human Being
“The number 300 speaks of complete redemption, 3 of the whole man, spirit, soul and body.”
As biblical example: Enoch as type of bodily redemption without death:
“‘Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and he was not, for God took him’” (Gen.5:22,24).
Source reference: Noordzij, The Ark of Noah, section “THE NUMBER THREE HUNDRED”, at Gen.5:22,24.
Analytical note: The trichotomy functions as the basis for complete redemption: only when spirit, soul and body are all involved is redemption ‘complete’.
Number 30: Spiritual Maturity
“The number thirty indicates (spiritual) maturity. Joseph was thirty years old when he became viceroy… and Jesus was thirty years old when He began His ministry” (Luke 3:23).
“God showed that He also works with ‘the Body of Christ’ toward male maturity, toward spiritual maturity” (Eph.4:13).
Source reference: Noordzij, The Ark of Noah, section “THE NUMBER THIRTY”, at Luke 3:23 and Eph.4:13.
Tabernacle Symbolism: Three Curtains as Anthropological Schema
“Three doors” to pass through toward “perfect rest” via three curtains toward the innermost sanctuary. “Jesus entered as the first” as forerunner for believers.
Source reference: Noordzij, The Ark of Noah, section “THE THREE CURTAINS”.
Building the Body: Pneumatology and Restoration of Man
“The building of the ‘Body of Christ’ can only be the work of the Holy Spirit… Without that we will never become one ‘ark’.”
Source reference: Noordzij, The Ark of Noah, section “THE NUMBER FIFTY”.