Cees Noordzij — Christology
b3 — Noah’s Ark
1. The Ark as Type of Christ / Christ as Refuge
“For just as in the days of Noah (=rest) God is now building an ‘ark’ as a ‘shelter’ for what will happen when a ‘new earth’ comes, a ‘new order’. The ‘ark’ now is ‘the Christ’, with Jesus as our ‘Noah’. He says: ‘Come to Me, I will give you rest’.” — §Introduction
“Whoever knows the spiritual truths of the numbers 300, 50 and 30 in their own life is, with Noah, ‘in the ark’, ‘in Christ’. ‘Whoever overcomes (=300) shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son (=30)’ (Rev.21:7).” — §Finally
Analytical note: The ark of Noah is explicitly identified with “the Christ”. Jesus takes the role of Noah: the ark is now His person, and “being in Christ” is equivalent to “being in the ark”. This is a consistent typological identification in which the OT type fully resolves into the NT reality of Christ.
2. Noah as Type of Jesus
“God wants an ‘ark’ to be built now too for the ‘eight’, as a shelter for the ‘hour of trial’ that will cover the whole ‘earth’. […] For just as in the days of Noah (=rest) God is building an ‘ark’ as a ‘shelter’.” — §As in the Days of Noah
“Yes, the glory of the ‘eight ark-dwellers’, of those who are ‘in Christ’, will be for the salvation of an entirely ‘new’ creation (Rom.8:19-21).” — §Introduction
Analytical note: Noah (=rest) is a type of Jesus as bringer of rest and redemption. The eight ark-dwellers typify those who are “in Christ”. The parallel is developed consistently: the flood represents purification in the end times, the ark represents protection in Christ.
3. Redemption in Christ — typological foundation
“Solomon had three hundred small shields of beaten gold. […] In Christ there is more! In Him is the reality, the truth of all shadow-images (John 1:17). For those who are in Christ: ‘He has become for us wisdom from God (=gold)—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption’ (1Cor.1:30), a safe shield, divine protection for our whole being: three hundred shields of three minas of gold!” — §Solomon’s Treasury
“The whole creation is waiting for such ‘men’ to be freed (Rom.8:19). And it will be freed! Through ‘2x8x3x300’ sons of God, through the ‘fullness of Christ’ (Eph.4:13, Obad.21).” — §Gideon’s Band
Analytical note: Solomon’s shields are a shadow-image (John 1:17); in Christ the complete reality of redemption is present (1Cor.1:30). The number 300 symbolizes complete redemption — spirit, soul, and body — which is fully realized only in Christ.
4. Gideon as Type of Christ / Redemptive Work
“The Lord said to him: Through three hundred men I will deliver My people and give Midian into your hand. […] What a deliverance! A deliverance that came not by might or by force, but by the Spirit of the Most High.” — §Gideon’s Band
“Gideon at the time tried to keep ‘grain’ safe from the enemy […]. But 300 remained. The same happened to the Lord Jesus: many of His disciples no longer walked with Him (John 6:66). And even now there are only a few who keep following the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev.14:4).” — §Gideon’s Band
Analytical note: The three-step parallel is striking: Gideon’s 300 → following the Lamb (Rev.14:4) → sons of God who liberate creation (Rom.8:19). Gideon is a type of Christ as redeemer; the redemption comes not by human strength but by God’s Spirit.
5. Enoch as Type of Resurrection / Glorification
“Enoch (=initiated) knew complete redemption, even from ‘this body of death’ (Rom.7:24). His whole being obeyed the Spirit. He did not die, but the Lord took him up, as a sign for those who will fully know Jesus as ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ (John 11:25).” — §Enoch
“Mary anointed the Christ shortly before His death with myrrh, not only the head, but also the feet (Mark 14:3, John 12:3). The value of that myrrh was three hundred shekels (John 12:5). Not only the ‘Head’, but also the ‘feet’ would suffer and be fully redeemed!” — §Enoch
Analytical note: Christ’s own resurrection life (John 11:25) is prefigured through Enoch’s translation. The anointing with myrrh (300 shekels) is applied to both Christ and the entire Body of Christ — Head and feet — as partakers in His suffering and glorification (Rom.8:17).
6. Jesus as Forerunner — Priestly Office
“Jesus entered first (Heb.4 and 6:20). He is our forerunner! And as we learn to walk that way, our ‘veil’ to the sanctuary will also be torn, our ‘flesh’ also anointed with ‘myrrh’, our ‘pitcher’ also broken.” — §The Three Curtains
“Christ in us is the hope of glory, a hope that reaches within the veil (Col.1:27, Heb.6:19).” — §The Three Curtains
Analytical note: Jesus’ priestly office is framed as forerunner through the three curtains of the tabernacle. Heb.6:20 (“forerunner”) is the key concept. The priesthood extends in the authors’ typological reading to “the Body of Christ”: those who follow Him go with Him through the veil into the holy of holies.
7. Jubilee Year as Consummation of Redemption in Christ
“The Jubilee year testifies to the restoration (=the restitution) of all things (Acts 3:21). Everything that rightfully belonged to someone came back into their possession. Freedom was proclaimed throughout the land for all inhabitants. Impoverished families received all their former possessions back. Every prison door was opened, all chains broken, slaves set free.” — §The Jubilee Year
“After forty-nine years you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. Then everyone shall return to their possessions and to their family. That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you (Lev.25:8-11).” — §The Jubilee Year
“Paul calls the baptism with the Holy Spirit the pledge of the inheritance. […] That revelation is near! First in His own (Gal.1:16, Col.2:27). Then to the whole creation (Rom.8:19).” — §Finally
Analytical note: The Jubilee year is given ecclesiological and eschatological weight: the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2) is the beginning of the Jubilee year, the consummation is the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). [TENSION with b1]: In b1, Luke 4:18-19 is central as the inauguration of the Jubilee by Jesus’ own announcement; in b3, the Jubilee is primarily framed pneumatologically-eschatologically (outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost → completion in the sons of God).
8. Christ as the Lamb
“And even now there are only a few who keep following the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev.14:4).” — §Gideon’s Band
“Jesus has ‘300’ brothers of gold (=sons of God) in His ‘house’ on ‘Zion’ (Rev.14:1-5). Those redeemed are not only saved, but also completely ransomed from the ‘earth’, purchased from among mankind, complete overcomers.” — §Solomon’s Treasury
Analytical note: “The Lamb” (Rev.14:4) refers to Jesus as both sacrifice and leader-to-be-followed. Rev.14:1-5 (the Lamb on Mount Zion) functions as the orientation point of the redemptive eschatology: the redeemed are with the Lamb, ransomed and fully victorious.
Missing in this source
- Hypostatic union / two-natures doctrine (not addressed)
- Kenosis (not explicit)
- Virgin birth (not addressed)
- Satisfaction theory / substitutionary atonement as dogmatic category (not explicit)
- Ascension as an independent theme (not addressed)