Cees en Anneke Noordzij — Ecclesiology
b5 — Putting Your Hand to the Plow
Spiritual Temple (Not Literal/Natural)
“When the Lord said: ‘Tear down this temple and in three days I will raise it up’, he was not thinking of a natural temple (as the scribes did). He was thinking of a spiritual temple of God. He was thinking of himself (John 2:19-21, cf. Col. 2:9).”
“Thus we become a living sacrifice, a true priest, a spiritual temple and much more (1Cor. 3:16, Rom. 12:1).”
Noordzij, ‘Putting Your Hand to the Plow’, section ‘Cutting Straight’.
Interpretation: The authors consistently apply a spiritual-typological hermeneutic: the visible temple is a shadow of the spiritual temple (Christ and his body). The concept of ‘cutting straight’ (orthotomeo) is the key: consistently distinguishing between the earthly shadow and the spiritual reality.
Royal Priesthood as the Calling of Believers
“Therefore everyone who knows themselves called to royal priesthood must put their hand to the plow and ask the Father to consecrate, sanctify, and anoint them with his Spirit. Then, clothed in ‘linen’ (=rest), they may stand before him to serve him (Deut. 10:8).”
Noordzij, ‘Putting Your Hand to the Plow’, section ‘The Calling of Elisha’.
Interpretation: Royal priesthood is not institutional-official but spiritual-personal: it requires sanctification, anointing, and rest as preconditions for service to the Lord.
Priority of Serving the Lord over Serving the Congregation
“This is what the teachers and prophets in Acts 13:2 did. In the first instance they did not serve the congregation, the poor, or their fellow countrymen. They were there, fasting and praying, serving the Lord. Like Marys they sat at his feet. It was because of this that people in Antioch were set apart for the work of the Lord.”
Noordzij, ‘Putting Your Hand to the Plow’, section ‘Plowing and Resting’.
Being Set Apart for the Work of the Lord through Worship
“Every worker in God’s field should first come to him and first desire to serve ‘before the Lord’ in order from there to ‘bless in his name’ (Deut. 10:8). Coming to rest is in fact a precondition for being an effective blessing to others. That is why God seeks ‘true worshippers who worship him in spirit and in truth’ (John 4:23).”
Noordzij, ‘Putting Your Hand to the Plow’, section ‘Plowing and Resting’.
[TENSION with earlier source] The sequence observed in b4 (congregational service → service of the Lord) is here reversed: worship of the Lord is a precondition, not a result, of effective service.
One Flock and One Shepherd
“That is where it becomes one flock and one shepherd — sheep who know the voice of the Good Shepherd (John 10:16). This is not something for later. Whoever follows him experiences it here and now.”
Noordzij, ‘Putting Your Hand to the Plow’, section ‘Cutting Straight’.
Interpretation: Ecclesiastical unity is not institutional-organizational but pneumatological: it is the present experience of those who obey the voice of the Good Shepherd, not a future eschatological ideal.