‹‹  WEEK 12 — DAY 1  ›› 

Morning Nourishment

Gen. 8:4 "And the ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the
month, upon the mountains of Ararat."

1 Pet. 3:20-21 "...The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark
was being prepared; entering into which, a few, that is, eight souls, were brought
safely through by water. Which water, as the antitype, also now saves you, that is,
baptism..."

     After the flood, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4). That also was a sign, a type, a shadow of the resurrection of Christ. According to the Bible, the ark was a type of Christ. The ark passing through water signifies Christ passing through the death waters under God's judgment. When the ark rested upon the mountains, it signified that Christ was resurrected out of the death waters. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 423)

Today's Reading

     The very fact that the ark passed through the water and came out of the water signifies Christ in resurrection, since the ark itself is a type of Christ....Christ could come forth out of death in resurrection because He is resurrection and is of resurrection. Because Christ is the unique One of resurrection, He had the strength to pass through death. According to Acts 2:24, death could not hold Him. But when any other person enters into the realm of death, he is held there....Christ not only entered into death and passed through it, but He even deliberately stayed in the realm of death for three days. When those three days were over, He walked out of death. Because Christ is resurrection, He could simply walk out of death. This is signified by the ark of Noah, which entered into the death waters, stayed in the death
waters, passed through the death waters, and came out of the death waters. This is a type of the Christ in resurrection.

     In His resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) to come into us (John 20:22) and to impart His resurrection life to us. Now this resurrection life with the life-giving Spirit makes every aspect of Christ's death real and effective to us in our experience. (Life-study of 1 Peter, p. 227)

     First Peter 1:3 says that we have been regenerated through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This indicates we have been identified with Christ, just as the eight persons in Noah's family were identified with the ark. Because they were in the ark, they were one with the ark. Wherever the ark was, they were, and whatever the ark experienced, they experienced. The ark's history was their biography; the ark's life was their life. For us to be regenerated through the resurrection of Christ means that we are identified with Christ—we were put into Christ and are one with Christ. (The Building of the Church, p. 41)

     What do we find after the resurrection? We see a new living. Noah and the seven other people had a new living. I would also like to call your attention to the fact that the number of people in the ark was eight. The number eight means resurrection. A week has seven days, and the beginning of a new week is the eighth day. Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week, that is, on the eighth day (John 20:1)....In this new living, the people were in resurrection. Whatever they did was in resurrection.

     Not many Christians realize the true significance of the type in this portion of the Word....All Christians agree that the ark was a type of Christ, and 1 Peter 3:20-21 tells us clearly that the passing through the flood was a prefigure of baptism. Based upon these two facts, we must realize that everything related to Noah and to the seven people that were with him after the flood must also be a part of the complete type, forming a full picture of the type....What does the living of those eight people after the flood signify? It signifies the church life. The living of the resurrected people after the resurrection was the church life. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 424-425)

Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 31; Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 25