What does the Flood have to teach us about Jesus? Part #1

Jesus is everywhere in the Bible. It is little wonder though. Doesn't it make sense that the word of God be about the One Who is described as the Word of God.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:1-3, and 14 So, to say that the account of the flood and its details speak of Christ isn't at all that difficult to affirm and prove. "And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him. And He said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto Him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And He said unto them, What things? And they said unto Him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him. But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre, and found not His body, they came saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that He was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but Him they saw not. Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself" Luke 24:13-27 The reason that we can't see Christ in the account of the Flood is that we are just like these disciples. Our eyes are holden (restrained) from seeing Him because we take Him for only a "prophet might in deed and word," and One who has been betrayed and murdered, but not as the risen Lord Who keeps His Word. I say we, not you. The reason that I say that is because I know how easy it is to be just like these disciples. I know how easy it is to let situation cloud my view of Him and thus blind me to what He is doing and what He is like. So, Jesus was patient with these disciples and He will be patient with us as well. He takes them through the Old Testament and expounds to them all the things about Himself. When the passage says "beginning at Moses," it doesn't necessarily mean at the man Moses. It means at the books Moses wrote. Moses was inspired of God to write Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This fact is attested to by both Jewish and Christian scholars for hundreds of years. Additionally, the scripture itself affirms the inspired writer to be Moses. "This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us." Acts 7:37-38 The book of Genesis contains the account of the Flood, so the account of the Flood must also teach us about Christ in some way. Notice how the rest of the story plays out for the disciples on the Emmaus road. "And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and He made as though He would have gone further. But they constrained Him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And He went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how He was known of them in breaking of bread." Luke 24:28-35 How interesting this is. Jesus doesn't force Himself upon His disciples, but allows for them to seek His fellowship. With this, they are desiring a deeper intimacy. This leads to them knowing Him. How? I believe this happened in two ways. 1.) He gives them an object lesson with the bread being blessed, broken, and then given to them. He, as the bread of life, was blessed of His Father, broken by His Father on the cross, and then the life-giving substance of that blessed and broken bread is freely given to all who will accept it. This is more than just for spirit salvation. It is also quality of life in the Kingdom that is being offered to us. Acceptance of this truth opens our eyes so that we can truly know Who He is. 2.) When He handed the aforementioned blessed and broken bread to His disciples, what did He use? I know that it seems to be a dumb question, but if you think about it, you will see the importance of it. He used His hands. With what had He performed all those mighty deeds? With what had He loved the people? What had the nail scars in them? His hands. They got an object lesson with the bread, and then an encounter with the real Person when He handed them the bread with the very hands that had just been crucified and then raised. It was as if Jesus were making this too easy for them. They no longer called Him "prophet,' now they called Him "Lord." He will make it that obvious to us too, if we will let Him. He will make His character and work known to us in the account of the Flood, if we will let Him. In the Flood account, I can see at least two types of the Lord Jesus: 1.) Noah is a type of the Lord Jesus, and 2.) the Ark is a type of the Lord Jesus. Consider the following: Noah as a type of Christ Type: Noah's name means "rest." His father said that he would comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground the Lord had cursed. (Genesis 5:29) Anti-type: Christ gives to His followers rest both now and in His Kingdom (Matthew 11:28, Hebrews 4:9-16) Type: Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8) Anti-type: Christ was favored of His Father. (Matthew 3:17, 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35, 2Peter1:17) Type: Noah was a just (righteous) man and perfect (upright) in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9) Anti-type: Jesus was THE JUST (Righteous) Man and was THE PERFECT (upright) Man. There is no doubt the Jesus walked with God continually. (Luke 23:47, 1John2:1, 1John1:3, John 17:11) Type: Noah was given a work to perform by God that would result in the saving of the lives of his family through the judgment of God, and Noah completed the work. (Genesis 6:14-16, 22) Anti-type: Jesus was given a work to perform by God that resulted in the saving of the lives of all those who would believe on Him and become a part of His family. This work saves them from the judgment of God (hell, or even loss of reward), and Jesus completed His work. (John 17:1-4, 19:30) Type: Noah alone was involved in the work. No other person was mentioned as building the Ark. Anti-type: Jesus is the only One Who was able to do the work He performed on our behalf. (1Peter 2:24) Type: Noah's work involved building an ark of gopher wood, that had rooms, and pitched with pitch. (Genesis 6:14) It is unknown what type of wood is gopher wood. The word for pitch here is Kopher (H3734). One of its meanings is price of a life, ransom. How interesting that the ark was sealed in with the price of redemption. Anti-type: Jesus' work involved a cross of wood, that has room for all who will embrace it, and He paid the price of redemption on it. It is unknown what kind of wood was used for the cross. This work on the cross is more than just to save us from the judgment of hell, it is also to continually cleanse the believer to keep them in good standing with the Father so that a reward can be delivered to them at the Judgment Seat of Christ. It, in essence, saves all believers from hell, and saves all believers who continue to embrace it from the negative judgment of the Bema seat of Christ. Type: Noah's work was a work of faith. In his work he saved his whole household and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Genesis 7:5, Hebrews 11:7) Anti-type: Christ's work on the cross was also a work of faith. Through His work, He became the heir of righteousness. We also are able to be saved as a part of His household if we continue with Him till the end. Remember, this isn't speaking of saving from hell, but of saving to rule. The saving of our lives (souls) through service here. (John 15:10, 18:9, Philippians 2:8, Hebrews 3:1-6 [really the whole chapter along with the next], 1:1-14, Matthew 16:24-27) Type: Noah offered a burnt offering to the Lord after the judgment of the Flood. This offering was of clean animals and was accepted by God a sweet smelling savor. (Genesis 8:20-21). Anti-type: Jesus having suffered the judgment for our sins offered unto the Lord His Own Self which was a sweet smelling savor to His Father . (John 20:17, Ephesians 5:2, Hebrews 9:6-28) Type: God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and his seed. (Genesis 9:8-9) Anti-type: God also made an everlasting covenant with Christ. (Hebrews 13:20)

Guys, that is enough to chew on for a few days. I'll continue with the study later. Just a thought. Why don't you guys try finding out how the Ark is a type of Christ? :)

What are the particulars of the Flood?

Hey guys. I wanted to try something a little different for this blog. When I was at Auburn (War Eagle!) going through my preparations to be a teacher, they taught us that teaching through inquiry was the best way of instruction. Before I offend anyone, they also reiterated this idea when I attended classes at the Alabama extension in Gadsden for my Masters degree. I tend to agree. When I read accounts of Jesus' teaching it seems that he used inquiry methodology as well. More often than not, He would begin lessons with a question or illustration that made those that heard Him to question their prior knowledge.

So, here we go. Instead of telling you what I have found during my studies I'm going to ask you a few questions and see what you come up with. So play nice now and let's have some audience participation.

How long was Noah in the ark?

How many people were on the ark?

How long did it rain?

What were the three sources of water for the Flood?

How many animals were on the ark? You don't have to give me an exact total number. I want to know how many of each kind. Be careful on this one, your Sunday school teacher may have told you wrong.

How long did the waters drain from the earth?

Where do you think the waters went?

Who shut the door to the ark?

Who designed the ark?

How many windows were in it?

How many levels were in the ark?

How many chapters of Genesis are devoted to Noah and the Flood? Compare that to Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. What would that tell you about the importance of this account to God?

Did the Ark rest on the mountain of Ararat when the flood waters receded?

What did Noah do immediately after exiting the ark? What did God do at that time?

Those are "few" good starter questions. Feel free to float some of your own. Sorry, no joke meant. :( I got the idea to do this from a book that I have been recently reading called The Law of the Offerings by Andrew Jukes. In it he essentially says that we don't know the deeper truths of God because we don't take the time to find them out for ourselves. This takes hard work and a lot of time. The answers to the questions that I have posed to you are by no means the deeper truths that are here in Genesis. But, we can't go on to those truths until we lay a solid foundation with the facts of the account. Andrew Jukes wrote his book somewhere around the turn of the 19th century, where biblical knowledge was placed as a higher priority than I fear it is today. If he was saying to them that they were babes and slow of hearing, then what might we be? This is quite an indictment for me and makes me realize how little I truly know.

Japan

To all our brothers, sisters, and friends in Japan,

All of us in America are deeply moved over the devastation that you have experienced. We are fully behind you and will help you recover. You are continually in our thoughts and prayers. May the Lord comfort your hearts and bring you through this stronger and more assured of the strong bond that you share with us.

In Christ,

Steve Owens
Citizen of The United States of America