Cees en Anneke Noordzij — Ecclesiology
b6 — From Passover to Tabernacles
Church as two loaves — Head and Body (Lev. 23:17)
“During this feast not one sheaf was waved, but two barley loaves as firstfruits for the Lord (Lev. 23:17). This has a deep meaning. ‘Two’ always points to the fullness of Christ, to the Son and the sons, to the Head and the Body.”
Noordzij, ‘From Passover to Tabernacles’, section ‘The Feast of Pentecost’.
Interpretation: The two leavened loaves of Pentecost typologically represent the church: Christ as Head and believers as His body (the sons). Noordzij supports this with a series of ‘two’-symbols in Scripture: two stone tablets (Ex. 31:18), two rows of showbread (Lev. 24:6), two cherubim on the mercy seat (Ex. 25:18-19), two olive trees (Zech. 4:3), two witnesses (Rev. 11:3).
Church as ekklesia — carrier of the Kingdom leaven (Matt. 13:33)
“The Kingdom of God is like leaven that a woman (=the ekklesia) took and hid in three measures of flour (=in spirit, soul and body), until it was all leavened (Matt. 13:33, Luke 13:20-21). Thus the entire Church will one day be thoroughly permeated by the ‘new’ of God’s Kingdom and ‘lifted up’!”
Noordzij, ‘From Passover to Tabernacles’, section ‘The Feast of Pentecost’.
Interpretation: The woman in the parable is identified with the ekklesia. Her task is to work the Kingdom leaven through the whole of humanity (spirit, soul and body) until the church is entirely permeated by the new of God’s Kingdom. The goal is elevation toward the heavenly places, not return to the beginning.
Unity in the Spirit (Acts 4:32)
“The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. Not one said that anything belonging to him was his own property: they held everything in common (Acts 4:32). Just as really as Jesus ‘took his place at God’s right hand’ (Eph. 1:20), so really were these believers ‘raised up together and seated together in the heavenly places’ (Eph. 2:6). The result was unity in the Spirit, selflessness, perseverance and faithfulness.”
Noordzij, ‘From Passover to Tabernacles’, section ‘The Feast of Pentecost’.
Interpretation: Pentecost unity is not organizational but pneumatological: the outpouring of the Spirit resulted in communal sharing and unity of heart. Noordzij emphasizes that this unity extended to Samaritans (Acts 9:31) and Gentiles (Acts 10:45) — the Pentecost church crosses ethnic boundaries.
Believer as member of a “holy nation” (2Pet. 2:9)
“Now in an identical way every believer stands at a new beginning when he lets himself be led out of ‘Egypt’. He is then freed from the slavery of the flesh and a ‘new’ life begins for him, as a member of a ‘holy nation’ (Eph. 2:5, 2Pet. 2:9).”
Noordzij, ‘From Passover to Tabernacles’, section ‘The Passover’.
Interpretation: The Passover type is applied ecclesiologically: the church consists of those who have been delivered from the ‘Egypt’ of the flesh. The concept ‘holy nation’ (2Pet. 2:9) defines the church’s identity as a set-apart people of God — not primarily institutional but defined by liberation.
Lord’s Supper — spiritual vs. ceremonial (1Cor. 11:20)
“Paul had to say to the Corinthians: ‘When you come together, that is not eating the Lord’s Supper’ (1Cor. 11:20). They were still doing it ‘old’, as a rite, outward, soulish-fleshly, as immature in Christ (1Cor. 3:1). That brought no genuine life with the Lord and with one another (1Cor. 10:14-22). So correction was necessary (1Cor. 11:29).”
“The ‘old’ signs are valid temporarily, until the ‘new’ comes (cf. Heb. 8:7, 13). ‘For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes’ (1Cor. 11:26). Until He comes into us!”
Noordzij, ‘From Passover to Tabernacles’, section ‘The Passover’.
Interpretation: Noordzij positions the ceremonial Lord’s Supper as a temporary ‘old’ sign against the spiritual reality of inwardly eating and drinking Christ (John 6:54). The external rite points toward its own transcendence: “until He comes into us” (cf. Rev. 3:20). This is consistent with the spiritual-typological hermeneutic applied throughout their writings (cf. b5).
Priestly nation and ministry of reconciliation (2Cor. 5:18-19)
“Those sons form a priestly nation and will ‘bear away the guilt of wrongdoing against the sanctuary’ (Num. 18:1). They ‘suffer for the people and fill up in their flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church’ (Col. 1:24). For the church, God gives them ‘the ministry of reconciliation’ and entrusts to them ‘the message of reconciliation’ (2Cor. 5:18-19).”
Noordzij, ‘From Passover to Tabernacles’, section ‘The Great Day of Atonement’.
Interpretation: The priestly sons (as the typological ‘second goat’ of the Day of Atonement) are bearers of the ministry of reconciliation. Their task involves not only proclamation but also participatory suffering (Col. 1:24). [TENSION with institutional church models that assign reconciliation exclusively to ordained office]
Growth toward the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:15)
“In other words: the true Body of Christ will go through a process of ‘growth’ and ‘ripening’, of ‘threshing, winnowing and grinding’ experiences, of kneading into ‘one dough’, of ‘leavening’, ‘baking’ and ‘being lifted up’ toward ‘the heavenly places’.”
“Until, holding to the truth in love, we have grown in every way into him who is the Head (Eph. 4:15).”
Noordzij, ‘From Passover to Tabernacles’, section ‘The Feast of Pentecost’.
Interpretation: The church is not static but undergoes a transformation process. The goal is the ‘fullness of Christ’ (Eph. 4:13), not the restoration of the first church. [TENSION with restoration theology that takes Acts 2 as the final model — cf. b5, section ‘One flock and one shepherd’]