I think that it is interesting to look at the typology in various Old Testament stories. Various people and things in those Old Testament stories are types of something else. They represent other things.
In one such story, the salvation of man is prefigured. This story is the story of Noah's ark. God told Noah to build an ark out of square timber.
And the Lord God said to Noe, A period of all men is come before Me; because the Earth has been filled with iniquity by them, and, behold, I destroy them and the Earth. Make therefore for thyself an ark of square timber. (Gen. 6:14,15, LXX)
The square timbers are the members of the Church.
That this ark is made of beams formed in a square, as the Church is constructed of saints prepared unto every good work: for a square stands firm on any side. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Noah was 500 years old when God told him to build the ark. (Gen. 5:32) Noah was 600 years old when the Flood came. (Gen. 7:6) He spent one hundred years building the ark.
That Noah was five hundred years old when God told him to make the ark, and six hundred when he entered the ark; which shows that the ark was made during one hundred years, which seem to correspond to the years of an age of the world. So the sixth age is occupied with the construction of the Church by the preaching of the gospel. The man who avails himself of the offer of salvation is made like a square beam, fitted for every good work, and forms part of the sacred fabric. Again, it was the second month of the six hundredth year when Noah entered the ark, and in two months there are sixty days; so that here, as in every multiple of six, we have the number denoting the sixth age. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 18, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The wood of the ark is the Cross of Christ.
Of this dove, the dove of Noe, according to some, was in part a figure. For as in his time by means of wood and of water there came salvation to themselves, and the beginning of a new generation, and the dove returned to him towards evening with an olive branch; thus, say they, the Holy Ghost also descended upon the true Noe, the Author of the second birth, who draws together into one the wills of all nations, of whom the various dispositions of the animals in the ark were a figure: — Him at whose coming the spiritual wolves feed with the lambs, in whose Church the calf, and the lion, and the ox, feed in the same pasture, as we behold to this day the rulers of the world guided and taught by Churchmen. The spiritual dove therefore, as some interpret, came down at the season of His baptism, that He might shew that it is He who by the wood of the Cross saves them who believe, He who at eventide should grant salvation through His death. (Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XVII, paragraph 10, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 318-386 A.D., vol. 7, p. 126, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Take another testimony. All flesh was corrupt by its iniquities. “My Spirit,” says God, “shall not remain among men, because they are flesh.” (Gen. 6:3) Whereby God shows that the grace of the Spirit is turned away by carnal impurity and the pollution of grave sin. Upon which, God, willing to restore what was lacking, sent the flood and bade just Noah go up into the ark. And he, after having, as the flood was passing off, sent forth first a raven which did not return, sent forth a dove which is said to have returned with an olive twig. (Gen. 7:1) You see the water, you see the wood [of the ark], you see the dove, and do you hesitate as to the mystery?
The water, then, is that in which the flesh is dipped, that all carnal sin may be washed away. All wickedness is there buried. The wood is that on which the Lord Jesus was fastened when He suffered for us. The dove is that in the form of which the Holy Spirit descended, as you have read in the New Testament (St. Matt. 3:16), Who inspires in you peace of soul and tranquillity of mind. The raven is the figure of sin, which goes forth and does not return, if, in you, too, inwardly and outwardly righteousness be preserved. (The Book Concerning the Mysteries, chapter 3, paragraphs 10 and 11, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 318, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Under the Sacramental sign of the flood, however, in which the righteous were rescued by the wood, there was also a fore-announcement of the Church which was to be, which Christ, its King and God, has raised on high; by the mystery of His Cross, in safety from the submersion of this world. (On the Catechising of the Uninstructed, chapter 19, paragraph 32, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 3, p. 303, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Once of old there occurred a flood over the whole Earth, the object of which was that sinners might be destroyed. And, nevertheless, those who escaped in the ark exhibited a Sacramental sign of the Church that was to be, which at present is floating on the waves of the world, and is delivered from submersion by the wood of the Cross of Christ. (On the Catechising of the Uninstructed, chapter 27, paragraph 53, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 3, p. 313, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
That Noah, with his family is saved by water and wood, as the family of Christ is saved by baptism, as representing the suffering of the Cross. That this ark is made of beams formed in a square, as the Church is constructed of saints prepared unto every good work: for a square stands firm on any side. That the length is six times the breadth, and ten times the height, like a human body, to show that Christ appeared in a human body. That the breadth reaches to fifty cubits; as the apostle says, “Our heart is enlarged” (II Cor. 6:11), that is, with spiritual love, of which he says again, “The love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.” (Rom. 5:5) For in the fiftieth day after His resurrection, Christ sent His Holy Spirit to enlarge the hearts of His disciples. That it is three hundred cubits long, to make up six times fifty; as there are six periods in the history of the world during which Christ has never ceased to be preached, — in five foretold by the prophets, and in the sixth proclaimed in the gospel. That it is thirty cubits high, a tenth part of the length; because Christ is our height, who in his thirtieth year gave His sanction to the doctrine of the Gospel, by declaring that He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. Now the ten commandments are to be the heart of the Law; and so the length of the ark is ten times thirty. Noah himself, too, was the tenth from Adam. That the beams of the ark are fastened within and without with pitch, to signify by compact union the forbearance of love, which keeps the brotherly connection from being impaired, and the bond of peace from being broken by the offences which try the Church either from without or from within. For pitch is a glutinous substance, of great energy and force, to represent the ardor of love which, with great power of endurance, beareth all things in the maintenance of spiritual communion. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
In the Book of Wisdom, the author of this book talks about Noah's ark. He said, "Blessed is the wood whereby righteousness cometh." (Wisd. 14:7)
Again, one preparing himself to sail, and about to pass through the raging waves, calleth upon a piece of wood more rotten than the vessel that carrieth him. For verily desire of gain devised that, and the workman built it by his skill. But thy providence, O Father, governeth it: for thou hast made a way in the sea, and a safe path in the waves; shewing that thou canst save from all danger: yea, though a man went to sea without art. Nevertheless thou wouldest not that the works of thy wisdom should be idle, and therefore do men commit their lives to a small piece of wood, and passing the rough sea in a weak vessel are saved. For in the old time also, when the proud giants perished, the hope of the world governed by thy hand escaped in a weak vessel, and left to all ages a seed of generation. For blessed is the wood whereby righteousness cometh. (Wisd. 14:1-7)
The wood in this passage is the wood of the ark, but it also refers to the Cross of Christ. Forgiveness of sins and a change of heart resulting in a righteous life come from the Cross. (Col. 2:13,14; Rom. 14:9; II Cor. 5:15; Gal. 6:14; I Pet. 2:24)
God told him to make the ark three hundred cubits (450 feet) long, 50 cubits (75 feet) wide, and thirty cubits (45 feet) high.
Thou shalt make the ark in compartments, and thou shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And thus shalt thou make the ark; three hundred cubits the length of the ark, and fifty cubits the breadth, and thirty cubits the height of it. Thou shalt narrow the ark in making it, and in a cubit above thou shalt finish it. (Gen. 6:15-17, LXX)
The numbers 300, 50, and 30 have symbolical significance. The letter that represents the number 300 in Greek is the letter, t. This letter represents the Cross of Christ. Fifty represents redemption or remission of sins. The fiftieth Psalm (Psalm 51 in the Hebrew) is a penitential Psalm asking God for mercy and forgiveness of sins. Fifty is also the number that represents the age to come. Seven time seven is forty-nine. Seven days are in a week. Seven represents completion or perfection. Seven times seven is the completion of all weeks — the fullness of time. 49 plus one equals fifty. Fifty is one more than the forty-nine. It is the number beyond the fullness of time — the age to come. Fifty also represents the coming of the Holy Spirit. There are fifty days from Pascha (Orthodox Easter) to Pentecost. Thirty is the age at which Christ began His public ministry preaching the Gospel. (St. Luke 3:23) So, this number represents the preaching of the Gospel.
And because the Cross was to express the grace [of our redemption] by the letter T, he says also, “Three Hundred.” (The Epistle of Barnabas, chapter 9, written in about 100 A.D., vol. 1, p. 143, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
For by this sign he prostrated the heaps
Of bandits; with Christ’s People ’countering them
Without much soldiery, with cavalry
Three hundred — the Greek letter Tau, in truth,
That number is — with torches armed, and horns
Of blowers with the mouth: then was the fleece,
The people of Christ’s sheep, from holy seed
Born (for the earth means nations various,
And scattered through the orb), which fleece the word
Nourishes; night death’s image; Tau the sign
Of the dear Cross; the horn the heraldings
Of life. (Five Books in Reply to Marcion, Book III, lines 113-124, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 4, p. 153, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
Holy Gideon then saw the mystery beforehand. Next he chose out three hundred for the battle, so as to show that the world should be freed from the incursion of worse enemies, not by the multitude of their number, but by the mystery of the Cross. (Three Books on the Holy Spirit, Book I, preface, paragraph 5, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 94, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Lastly, it was not without meaning that Judas Iscariot valued that ointment at three hundred pence, which seems certainly by the statement of the price itself to set forth the Lord’s Cross. (St. John 12:3-5) (Three Books on the Holy Spirit, Book III, chapter 17, paragraph 127, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 153, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Not only “of dogs” he hath said, but “of Thy dogs:” nor are their teeth praised, but their tongue is: for it was not indeed to no purpose, not without a great mystery, that Gedeon was bidden to lead those alone, who should lap the water of the river like dogs; and of such sort not more than three hundred among so great a multitude were found. In which number is the sign of the Cross because of the letter T, which in the Greek numeral characters signifieth three hundred. (Psalm LXVIII, paragraph 29, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 8, p. 295, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
For the squares of wood indicate that the square form, producing right angles, pervades all, and points out security. And the length of the structure was three hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty, and the height thirty; and above, the ark ends in a cubit, narrowing to a cubit from the broad base like a pyramid, the symbol of those who are purified and tested by fire. And this geometrical proportion has a place, for the transport of those holy abodes, whose differences are indicated by the differences of the numbers set down below.
And the numbers introduced are sixfold, as three hundred is six times fifty; and tenfold, as three hundred is ten times thirty; and containing one and two-thirds (επιδίμοιροι), for fifty is one and two-thirds of thirty.
Now there are some who say that three hundred cubits are the symbol of the Lord’s sign; and fifty, of hope and of the remission given at Pentecost; and thirty, or as in some, twelve, they say points out the preaching [of the Gospel]; because the Lord preached in His thirtieth year; and the apostles were twelve. And the structure’s terminating in a cubit is the symbol of the advancement of the righteous to oneness and to “the unity of the faith.” (The Stromata, Book VI, chapter 11, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 500, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
Let us inquire, further, why there are one hundred and fifty psalms. That the number fifty is sacred, is manifest from the days of the celebrated festival of Pentecost, which indicates release from labours, and (the possession of) joy. For which reason neither fasting nor bending the knee is decreed for those days. For this is a symbol of the great assembly that is reserved for future times. Of which times there was a shadow in the land of Israel in the year called among the Hebrews “Jobel” (Jubilee), which is the fiftieth year in number, and brings with it liberty for the slave, and release from debt, and the like. And the holy Gospel knows also the remission of the number fifty, and of that number which is cognate with it, and stands by it, viz., five hundred; for it is not without a purpose that we have given us there the remission of fifty pence and of five hundred. (St. Luke 7:41) Thus, then, it was also meet that the hymns to God on account of the destruction of enemies, and in thanksgiving for the goodness of God, should contain not simply one set of fifty, but three such, for the name of Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.
The number fifty, moreover, contains seven sevens, or a Sabbath of Sabbaths; and also over and above these full Sabbaths, a new beginning, in the eight, of a really new rest that remains above the Sabbaths. And let any one who is able, observe this (as it is carried out) in the Psalms with more, indeed, than human accuracy, so as to find out the reasons in each case, as we shall set them forth. Thus, for instance, it is not without a purpose that the eighth psalm has the inscription, “On the wine-presses,” as it comprehends the perfection of fruits in the eight; for the time for the enjoyment of the fruits of the true vine could not be before the eight. And again, the second psalm inscribed "On the wine-presses,” is the eightieth, containing another eighth number, viz., in the tenth multiple. The eighty-third, again, is made up by the union of two holy numbers, viz., the eight in the tenth multiple, and the three in the first multiple. And the fiftieth psalm is a prayer for the remission of sins, and a confession. For as, according to the Gospel, the fiftieth obtained remission, confirming thereby that understanding of the jubilee, so he who offers up such petitions in full confession hopes to gain remission in no other number than the fiftieth. And again, there are also certain others which are called “Songs of degrees,” in number fifteen, as was also the number of the steps of the Temple, and which show thereby, perhaps, that the “steps” (or “degrees”) are comprehended within the number seven and the number eight. And these songs of degrees begin after the one hundred and twentieth psalm, which is called simply “a psalm,” as the more accurate copies give it. And this is the number of the perfection of the life of man. (Gen. 6:3) And the hundredth psalm, which begins thus, “I will sing of mercy and judgment, O Lord,” embraces the life of the saint in fellowship with God. And the one hundred and fiftieth ends with these words,” Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.” (On the Psalms, paragraphs 3 & 4, by St Hippolytus of Rome, 170-236 A.D., vol. 5, p. 199, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
Thus the veneration paid to the number Seven gave rise also to the veneration of Pentecost. For seven being multiplied by seven generates fifty all but one day, which we borrow from the world to come, at once the Eighth and the first, or rather one and indestructible. For the present sabbatism of our souls can find its cessation there, that a portion may be given to seven and also to eight (so some of our predecessors have interpreted this passage of Solomon). (Eccl. 11:2) (Oration XLI, paragraph 2, by St. Gregory the Theologian, 325-391 A.D., vol. 7, p. 379, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
So also the number fifty, which is connected with the advent of the Holy Spirit, is made up of seven times seven, and one over. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
For as fifty days are reckoned from the celebration of the Passover (which was ordered by Moses to be offered by slaying the typical lamb (Ex. 12:3-14), to signify, indeed, the future death of the Lord) to the day when Moses received the Law written on the tables of stone by the finger of God, so, in like manner, from the death and resurrection of Him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7), there were fifty complete days up to the time when the finger of God — that is, the Holy Spirit — gathered together in one perfect company those who believed. (Compare St. Matt. 12:28 with St. Luke 11:20; Acts 2:1-21)) (On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter 28, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 5, p. 95, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
That it is thirty cubits high, a tenth part of the length; because Christ is our height, who in his thirtieth year gave His sanction to the doctrine of the Gospel, by declaring that He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Noah's ark is a type of the Church. Just as there was salvation from the Flood in the ark, so is there salvation in the Church. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The ark is the Church.
For just as, after the waters of the deluge, by which the old iniquity was purged — after the baptism, so to say, of the world — a dove was the herald which announced to the Earth the assuagement of celestial wrath, when she had been sent her way out of the ark, and had returned with the olive-branch, a sign which even among the nations is the fore-token of peace; so by the self-same law of heavenly effect, to earth — that is, to our flesh — as it emerges from the font, after its old sins flies the dove of the Holy Spirit, bringing us the peace of God, sent out from the heavens where is the Church, the typified ark. (On Baptism, chapter 8, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 672, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
Is not nature herself then a teacher of modesty? Following her example, the modesty of men, which I suppose is so called from the mode of knowing what is seemly, has covered and veiled what it has found hid in the frame of our body; like that door which Noah was bidden to make in the side of the ark (Gen. 6:16); wherein we find a figure of the Church, and also of the human body, for through that door the remnants of food were cast out. (Three Books on the Duties of the Clergy, Book I, chapter 18, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 14, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
This was announced beforehand, when Noah was commanded to make a door in the side of the ark (Gen. 6:16), whereby the animals might enter which were not destined to perish in the flood, and by which the Church was prefigured. (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate CXX, paragraph 2, by Blessed Augustine, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, p. 434, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
So too in the case of the ark which the apostle Peter interprets as a type of the Church (I Pet. 3:20,21), Noah brings in for his three sons one wife apiece and not two. (Gen. 7:13) (Letter CXXIII, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 234, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
God told him to put a door in the side of the ark.
And the door of the ark thou shalt make on the side; with lower, second, and third stories thou shalt make it. (Gen. 6:17, LXX)
The ark is also the body of Christ. The door of the ark is the side of Christ.
That the length is six times the breadth, and ten times the height, like a human body, to show that Christ appeared in a human body. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other who was, crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs: but one of the soldiers with a spear laid open His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” A suggestive word was made use of by the evangelist, in not saying pierced, or wounded His side, or anything else, but “opened; that thereby, in a sense, the gate of life might be thrown open, from whence have flowed forth the Sacraments of the Church, without which there is no entrance to the life which is the true life. That blood was shed for the remission of sins; that water it is that makes up the health-giving cup, and supplies at once the laver of baptism and water for drinking. This was announced beforehand, when Noah was commanded to make a door in the side of the ark (Gen. 6:16), whereby the animals might enter which were not destined to perish in the Flood, and by which the Church was prefigured. Because of this, the first woman was formed from the side of the man when asleep (Gen. 2:22), and was called Life, and the mother of all living. (Gen. 3:20) Truly it pointed to a great good, prior to the great evil of the transgression (in the guise of one thus lying asleep). This second Adam bowed His head and fell asleep on the Cross, that a spouse might be formed for Him from that which flowed from the sleeper’s side. O death, whereby the dead are raised anew to life! What can be purer than such blood? What more health-giving than such a wound? (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate CXX, paragraph 2, by Blessed Augustine, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, p. 434, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
There were eight people who entered the ark. Eight is the number that represents the resurrection.
That Noah, counting his family, was the eighth; because the hope of our resurrection has appeared in Christ, who rose from the dead on the eighth day, that is, on the day after the seventh, or Sabbath day. This day was the third from His passion; but in the ordinary reckoning of days, it is both the eighth and the first. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
There were unclean and clean animals in the ark. This means that the Church is made up of people from all nations.
And of the clean cattle take in to thee sevens, male and female, and of the unclean cattle pairs male and female. And of clean flying creatures of the sky sevens, male and female, and of all unclean flying creatures pairs, male and female, to maintain seed on all the Earth. (Gen. 7:2,3, LXX)
That all kinds of animals are inclosed in the ark; as the Church contains all nations, which was also set forth in the vessel shown to Peter. (Acts 10:9-16) That clean and unclean animals are in the ark; as good and bad take part in the Sacraments of the Church. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
That the clean are in sevens, and the unclean in twos; not because the bad are fewer than the good, but because the good preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; and the Spirit is spoken of in Scripture as having a sevenfold operation, as being “the Holy Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and piety, and of the fear of God.” (Isaiah 11:2,3, LXX) (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The water of the Flood is baptism.
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (I Pet. 3:20,21)
When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah (Gen. 8:8-11) as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan (St. Matt. 3:16), and, carrying in its beak a branch betokening restoration and light, brings tidings of peace to the whole world. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
In the time of Noah God washed away the sin of the world by water. (Gen. 6:17; 7:11,12) (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 9, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, p. 78, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
It rained forty days and forty nights.
And the flood was upon the Earth forty days and forty nights, and the water abounded greatly and bore up the ark, and it was lifted on high from off the earth. (Gen. 7:17, LXX)
Forty is ten times four. Four represents the four corners of the Earth. Ten represents the Ten Commandments. The rainwater is baptism.
That it rained for forty days and forty nights; as the Sacrament of heavenly Baptism washes away all the guilt of the sins against the Ten Commandments throughout all the four quarters of the world (four times ten is forty), whether that guilt has been contracted in the day of prosperity or in the night of adversity. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 17, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The waters rose 15 cubits over the mountains. Fifteen is made up of the numbers 7 and 8. Seven represents rest. Eight represents resurrection.
Fifteen cubits upwards was the water raised, and it covered all the high mountains. (Gen. 7:20, LXX)
There is here a combination of seven and eight; for the water rose fifteen cubits above the mountains, pointing to a profound mystery in baptism, — the Sacrament of our regeneration. For the seventh day of rest is connected with the eighth of resurrection. For when the saints receive again their bodies after the rest of the intermediate state, the rest will not cease; but rather the whole man, body and soul united, renewed in the immortal health, will attain to the realization of his hope in the enjoyment of eternal life. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 19, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The water was on the Earth for 150 days. 150 is made up of the numbers 70 and 80. 70 is 7 times 10. 80 is 8 times 10.
And the water subsided, and went off the earth, and after an hundred and fifty days the water was diminished, and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. (Gen. 8:3, LXX)
Seven and eight are also combined in the number of one hundred and fifty, made up of seventy and eighty, which was the number of days during which the water prevailed, pointing out the deep import of baptism in consecrating the new man to hold the faith of rest and resurrection. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 19, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The raven and and the dove represent two different types of people: the selfish and the unselfish.
Accordingly, when such are delivered from these same afflictions, they exult with loud voices, whereby it is made manifest that they are ravens, not doves. It was with good reason that a raven was sent forth from the ark, and returned not again; a dove was sent forth, and it returned. These two birds Noah sent forth. (Gen. 8:6-9) He had there the raven, and also the dove. That ark contained both kinds; and if the ark was a figure of the Church, you see indeed that in the present Deluge of the world, the Church must of necessity contain both kinds, as well the raven as the dove. Who are the ravens? They who seek their own. Who are the doves? They who seek the things that are Christ’s. (Phil. 2:21) (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate VI, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, pp. 39-40, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The raven also represents sin.
The raven is the figure of sin, which goes forth and does not return, if, in you, too, inwardly and outwardly righteousness be preserved. (The Book Concerning the Mysteries, chapter 3, paragraphs 10 and 11, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 318, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
The dove represents also the Holy Spirit.
When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah (Gen. 8:8-11) as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan (St. Matt. 3:16), and, carrying in its beak a branch betokening restoration and light, brings tidings of peace to the whole world. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
But why by means of a dove? Many things were said, and I am not able, nor is there need that I should go over all; — principally, however, to denote peace, because also the trees which were baptized outside, because the dove found in them fruit, it brought to the ark, as you remember the dove sent out by Noah from the ark, which floated on the flood and was washed by baptism, was not submerged. When, then, it was sent forth, it brought an olive branch; but it had not leaves alone, it had also fruit. (Gen. 8:8-11) This, then, we ought to wish for our brethren who are baptized outside, that they may have fruit; the dove will not permit them to remain outside, but bring them back to the ark. For the whole of fruit is charity, without which a man is nothing, whatever else he have. (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate VII, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, p. 49, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
But why in the fashion of a dove? Gentle is that creature, and pure. Forasmuch then as the Spirit too is “a Spirit of meekness” (Gal. 6:1), He therefore appears in this sort. And besides, He is reminding us of an ancient history. For so, when once a common shipwreck had overtaken the whole world, and our race was in danger of perishing, this creature appeared, and indicated the deliverance from the tempest, and bearing an olive branch (Gen. 8:11), published the good tidings of the common calm of the whole world; all which was a type of the things to come. (Homilies on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Homily XII, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 10, p. 77, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The sinful people of the world who were destroyed during the flood represent our sins.
When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
The olive branch represents the oil of catechumens and perpetual peace.
For just as, after the waters of the deluge, by which the old iniquity was purged — after the baptism, so to say, of the world — a dove was the herald which announced to the Earth the assuagement of celestial wrath, when she had been sent her way out of the ark, and had returned with the olive-branch, a sign which even among the nations is the fore-token of peace; so by the self-same law of heavenly effect, to earth — that is, to our flesh — as it emerges from the font, after its old sins flies the dove of the Holy Spirit, bringing us the peace of God, sent out from the heavens where is the Church, the typified ark. (On Baptism, chapter 8, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 672, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
And the only reason why we find it easy to understand that perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch which the dove brought with it when it returned to the ark (Gen. 8:11), is that we know both that the smooth touch of olive oil is not easily spoiled by a fluid of another kind, and that the tree itself is an evergreen. (On Christian Doctrine, Book II, chapter 16, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 2, p. 543, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Olive oil is employed in baptism as a significant of our anointing, and as making us anointed, and as announcing to us through the Holy Spirit God’s pity: for it was the fruit of the olive that the dove brought to those who were saved from the flood. (Gen. 8:11) (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 9, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, p. 79, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
The ark rested in the mountains of Ararat on the 27th day of the seventh month.
And the water subsided, and went off the earth, and after an hundred and fifty days the water was diminished, and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. (Gen. 8:3, LXX)
Twenty-seven is three cubed. Three is the number of the Trinity.
That mention is made of the twenty seventh day of the month; as we have already seen the significance of the square in the beams. Here especially it is significant; for as twenty-seven is the cube of three, there is a trinity in the means by which we are, as it were, squared, or fitted for every good work. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 19, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The Flood also prefigures the end of the age when Christ comes to judge the world. In Noah's day, the world was destroyed by water. When Christ returns, the world will be destroyed by fire. (Actually, it will not be literally destroyed. It will be cleansed by fire. "The Earth abideth forever. " — Eccl. 1:4)
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the Earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (II Pet. 3:6,7)
Just as Noah and his family repopulated the Earth after the Flood, so, in my opinion, the resurrected righteous will populate the Earth and indeed the entire universe.
Noah when he was commanded to enter the ark and was entrusted with the preservation of the seed of the world received this command, "Go in," saith the Lord, "thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives." (Gen. 6:18) He separated them from their wives in order that with purity they might escape the flood and that shipwreck of the whole world. After the cessation of the flood, however, He said, "Go forth of the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives." (Gen. 8:16) Lo, again, marriage is granted for the sake of the multiplication of the race. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 24, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
If, however, any shall endeavour to allegorize [prophecies] of this kind, they shall not be found consistent with themselves in all points, and shall be confuted by the teaching of the very expressions [in question]. For example: “When the cities” of the Gentiles “shall be desolate, so that they be not inhabited, and the houses so that there shall be no men in them and the land shall be left desolate.” (Isaiah 6:11, LXX) “For, behold,” says Isaiah, “the day of the Lord cometh past remedy, full of fury and wrath, to lay waste the city of the Earth, and to root sinners out of it.” (Isaiah 13:9, LXX) And again he says, “Let him be taken away, that he behold not the glory of God.” (Isaiah 26:10, LXX) And when these things are done, he says, “God will remove men far away, and those that are left shall multiply in the Earth.” (Isaiah 6:12, LXX) “And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them themselves: and plant vineyards, and eat of them themselves.” (Isaiah 65:21, LXX) For all these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist, and the destruction of all nations under his rule; in [the times of] which [resurrection] the righteous shall reign in the Earth, waxing stronger by the sight of the Lord: and through Him they shall become accustomed to partake in the glory of God the Father, and shall enjoy in the kingdom intercourse and communion with the holy angels, and union with spiritual beings; and [with respect to] those whom the Lord shall find in the flesh, awaiting Him from Heaven, and who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands of the Wicked One. For it is in reference to them that the prophet says: “And those that are left shall multiply upon the Earth.” (Isaiah 6:12, LXX) And Jeremiah the prophet has pointed out, that as many believers as God has prepared for this purpose, to multiply those left upon Earth, should both be under the rule of the saints to minister to this Jerusalem, and that [His] kingdom shall be in it, saying, “Look around Jerusalem towards the East, and behold the joy which comes to thee from God Himself. Behold, thy sons shall come whom thou hast sent forth: they shall come in a band from the East even unto the West, by the Word of that Holy One, rejoicing in that splendour which is from thy God. O Jerusalem, put off thy robe of mourning and of affliction, and put on that beauty of eternal splendour from thy God. Gird thyself with the double garment of that righteousness proceeding from thy God; place the mitre of eternal glory upon thine head. For God will show thy glory to the whole Earth under Heaven. For thy name shall for ever be called by God Himself, the peace of righteousness and glory to him that worships God. Arise, Jerusalem, stand on high, and look towards the East, and behold thy sons from the rising of the sun, even to the West, by the Word of that Holy One, rejoicing in the very remembrance of God. For the footmen have gone forth from thee, while they were drawn away by the enemy. God shall bring them in to thee, being borne with glory as the throne of a kingdom. For God has decreed that every high mountain shall be brought low, and the eternal hills, and that the valleys be filled, so that the surface of the Earth be rendered smooth, that Israel, the glory of God, may walk in safety. The woods, too, shall make shady places, and every sweet-smelling tree shall be for Israel itself by the command of God. For God shall go before with joy in the light of His splendour, with the pity and righteousness which proceeds from Him.” (Baruch 4:36-5:9) (Against Heresies, Book V, chapter 35, paragraph 1, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 565, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
It is not an official doctrine of the Orthodox Church that the resurrected righteous will procreate in the resurrection. It is a theological opinion that we are allowed to have or not have. Based on many different things I have looked at in the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Church Fathers and based on our modern knowledge of human physiology, I would have to say that procreation in the afterlife would be possible and even permissible. The Church Fathers taught that the bodies of the righteous will be resurrected whole and entire and all of their bodily parts will be fully functional. A man's body continues to produce sperm and fluids for his sex glands. A woman's body has ovaries with eggs in them. In my own personal opinion, I think that an immortal woman's ovaries will never run out of eggs. The process of oogenesis that goes on while a baby girl is in the womb of her mother and terminates before she is born will in an immortal woman's body continue on throughout all eternity whenever her eggs become depleted as result of menstruation or procreation. That is my own personal opinion. Why, then, would a man be resurrected with a body that continues to produce sperm and a woman be resurrected with a body that has ovaries filled with eggs? For procreation. That I think is the common sense answer.
Anyway, the truth about procreation in the afterlife lies somewhere between two heresies: the heresy of the Encratites and that of Cerinthus. The Encratites taught that sex and procreation are evil. The Church says that sex and procreation are good and to say that they are evil is to say that God created evil when He created man with the capacity to have sex and procreate. Cerinthus taught that in the resurrection there would be sexual orgies and sumptuous banquets. This is also a heresy. God does not save us from excessively loving pleasure so that we can go back to overindulging in it. St. Paul called the unrighteous "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." (II Tim. 3:4) However, he did also say that God "gives us richly all things to enjoy." (I Tim. 6:17) He also said that "the bed is undefiled." (Heb. 13:4) He means the bed of legitimate sex is undefiled, that is, for the married in this age. Somewhere between these two heresies lies the truth regarding procreation in the afterlife.
Contrary to the teaching of Cerinthus, the Church condemns his heresy which says that there will be sex orgies and sumptuous banquets in the Kingdom of God after the general resurrection of the dead. God does not save us from being addicted to carnal pleasure so that we can be enslaved to it again. However, sex may still be practiced by men and women with their legitimate procreative partners in the afterlife. The Church has no official dogma on the subject of procreation in the afterlife. Much about the afterlife is still a mystery.
In future blogs, I will talk more about the typology in some Old Testament passages of Scripture and about baptism and chrismation. I will continue on looking at the life of Christ as it is related in the Gospels and at His teachings. The Gospel is, after all, the life and teachings of Christ.
Steve
Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
In one such story, the salvation of man is prefigured. This story is the story of Noah's ark. God told Noah to build an ark out of square timber.
And the Lord God said to Noe, A period of all men is come before Me; because the Earth has been filled with iniquity by them, and, behold, I destroy them and the Earth. Make therefore for thyself an ark of square timber. (Gen. 6:14,15, LXX)
The square timbers are the members of the Church.
That this ark is made of beams formed in a square, as the Church is constructed of saints prepared unto every good work: for a square stands firm on any side. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Noah was 500 years old when God told him to build the ark. (Gen. 5:32) Noah was 600 years old when the Flood came. (Gen. 7:6) He spent one hundred years building the ark.
That Noah was five hundred years old when God told him to make the ark, and six hundred when he entered the ark; which shows that the ark was made during one hundred years, which seem to correspond to the years of an age of the world. So the sixth age is occupied with the construction of the Church by the preaching of the gospel. The man who avails himself of the offer of salvation is made like a square beam, fitted for every good work, and forms part of the sacred fabric. Again, it was the second month of the six hundredth year when Noah entered the ark, and in two months there are sixty days; so that here, as in every multiple of six, we have the number denoting the sixth age. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 18, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The wood of the ark is the Cross of Christ.
Of this dove, the dove of Noe, according to some, was in part a figure. For as in his time by means of wood and of water there came salvation to themselves, and the beginning of a new generation, and the dove returned to him towards evening with an olive branch; thus, say they, the Holy Ghost also descended upon the true Noe, the Author of the second birth, who draws together into one the wills of all nations, of whom the various dispositions of the animals in the ark were a figure: — Him at whose coming the spiritual wolves feed with the lambs, in whose Church the calf, and the lion, and the ox, feed in the same pasture, as we behold to this day the rulers of the world guided and taught by Churchmen. The spiritual dove therefore, as some interpret, came down at the season of His baptism, that He might shew that it is He who by the wood of the Cross saves them who believe, He who at eventide should grant salvation through His death. (Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XVII, paragraph 10, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 318-386 A.D., vol. 7, p. 126, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Take another testimony. All flesh was corrupt by its iniquities. “My Spirit,” says God, “shall not remain among men, because they are flesh.” (Gen. 6:3) Whereby God shows that the grace of the Spirit is turned away by carnal impurity and the pollution of grave sin. Upon which, God, willing to restore what was lacking, sent the flood and bade just Noah go up into the ark. And he, after having, as the flood was passing off, sent forth first a raven which did not return, sent forth a dove which is said to have returned with an olive twig. (Gen. 7:1) You see the water, you see the wood [of the ark], you see the dove, and do you hesitate as to the mystery?
The water, then, is that in which the flesh is dipped, that all carnal sin may be washed away. All wickedness is there buried. The wood is that on which the Lord Jesus was fastened when He suffered for us. The dove is that in the form of which the Holy Spirit descended, as you have read in the New Testament (St. Matt. 3:16), Who inspires in you peace of soul and tranquillity of mind. The raven is the figure of sin, which goes forth and does not return, if, in you, too, inwardly and outwardly righteousness be preserved. (The Book Concerning the Mysteries, chapter 3, paragraphs 10 and 11, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 318, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Under the Sacramental sign of the flood, however, in which the righteous were rescued by the wood, there was also a fore-announcement of the Church which was to be, which Christ, its King and God, has raised on high; by the mystery of His Cross, in safety from the submersion of this world. (On the Catechising of the Uninstructed, chapter 19, paragraph 32, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 3, p. 303, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Once of old there occurred a flood over the whole Earth, the object of which was that sinners might be destroyed. And, nevertheless, those who escaped in the ark exhibited a Sacramental sign of the Church that was to be, which at present is floating on the waves of the world, and is delivered from submersion by the wood of the Cross of Christ. (On the Catechising of the Uninstructed, chapter 27, paragraph 53, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 3, p. 313, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
That Noah, with his family is saved by water and wood, as the family of Christ is saved by baptism, as representing the suffering of the Cross. That this ark is made of beams formed in a square, as the Church is constructed of saints prepared unto every good work: for a square stands firm on any side. That the length is six times the breadth, and ten times the height, like a human body, to show that Christ appeared in a human body. That the breadth reaches to fifty cubits; as the apostle says, “Our heart is enlarged” (II Cor. 6:11), that is, with spiritual love, of which he says again, “The love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.” (Rom. 5:5) For in the fiftieth day after His resurrection, Christ sent His Holy Spirit to enlarge the hearts of His disciples. That it is three hundred cubits long, to make up six times fifty; as there are six periods in the history of the world during which Christ has never ceased to be preached, — in five foretold by the prophets, and in the sixth proclaimed in the gospel. That it is thirty cubits high, a tenth part of the length; because Christ is our height, who in his thirtieth year gave His sanction to the doctrine of the Gospel, by declaring that He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. Now the ten commandments are to be the heart of the Law; and so the length of the ark is ten times thirty. Noah himself, too, was the tenth from Adam. That the beams of the ark are fastened within and without with pitch, to signify by compact union the forbearance of love, which keeps the brotherly connection from being impaired, and the bond of peace from being broken by the offences which try the Church either from without or from within. For pitch is a glutinous substance, of great energy and force, to represent the ardor of love which, with great power of endurance, beareth all things in the maintenance of spiritual communion. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
In the Book of Wisdom, the author of this book talks about Noah's ark. He said, "Blessed is the wood whereby righteousness cometh." (Wisd. 14:7)
Again, one preparing himself to sail, and about to pass through the raging waves, calleth upon a piece of wood more rotten than the vessel that carrieth him. For verily desire of gain devised that, and the workman built it by his skill. But thy providence, O Father, governeth it: for thou hast made a way in the sea, and a safe path in the waves; shewing that thou canst save from all danger: yea, though a man went to sea without art. Nevertheless thou wouldest not that the works of thy wisdom should be idle, and therefore do men commit their lives to a small piece of wood, and passing the rough sea in a weak vessel are saved. For in the old time also, when the proud giants perished, the hope of the world governed by thy hand escaped in a weak vessel, and left to all ages a seed of generation. For blessed is the wood whereby righteousness cometh. (Wisd. 14:1-7)
The wood in this passage is the wood of the ark, but it also refers to the Cross of Christ. Forgiveness of sins and a change of heart resulting in a righteous life come from the Cross. (Col. 2:13,14; Rom. 14:9; II Cor. 5:15; Gal. 6:14; I Pet. 2:24)
God told him to make the ark three hundred cubits (450 feet) long, 50 cubits (75 feet) wide, and thirty cubits (45 feet) high.
Thou shalt make the ark in compartments, and thou shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And thus shalt thou make the ark; three hundred cubits the length of the ark, and fifty cubits the breadth, and thirty cubits the height of it. Thou shalt narrow the ark in making it, and in a cubit above thou shalt finish it. (Gen. 6:15-17, LXX)
The numbers 300, 50, and 30 have symbolical significance. The letter that represents the number 300 in Greek is the letter, t. This letter represents the Cross of Christ. Fifty represents redemption or remission of sins. The fiftieth Psalm (Psalm 51 in the Hebrew) is a penitential Psalm asking God for mercy and forgiveness of sins. Fifty is also the number that represents the age to come. Seven time seven is forty-nine. Seven days are in a week. Seven represents completion or perfection. Seven times seven is the completion of all weeks — the fullness of time. 49 plus one equals fifty. Fifty is one more than the forty-nine. It is the number beyond the fullness of time — the age to come. Fifty also represents the coming of the Holy Spirit. There are fifty days from Pascha (Orthodox Easter) to Pentecost. Thirty is the age at which Christ began His public ministry preaching the Gospel. (St. Luke 3:23) So, this number represents the preaching of the Gospel.
And because the Cross was to express the grace [of our redemption] by the letter T, he says also, “Three Hundred.” (The Epistle of Barnabas, chapter 9, written in about 100 A.D., vol. 1, p. 143, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
For by this sign he prostrated the heaps
Of bandits; with Christ’s People ’countering them
Without much soldiery, with cavalry
Three hundred — the Greek letter Tau, in truth,
That number is — with torches armed, and horns
Of blowers with the mouth: then was the fleece,
The people of Christ’s sheep, from holy seed
Born (for the earth means nations various,
And scattered through the orb), which fleece the word
Nourishes; night death’s image; Tau the sign
Of the dear Cross; the horn the heraldings
Of life. (Five Books in Reply to Marcion, Book III, lines 113-124, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 4, p. 153, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
Holy Gideon then saw the mystery beforehand. Next he chose out three hundred for the battle, so as to show that the world should be freed from the incursion of worse enemies, not by the multitude of their number, but by the mystery of the Cross. (Three Books on the Holy Spirit, Book I, preface, paragraph 5, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 94, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Lastly, it was not without meaning that Judas Iscariot valued that ointment at three hundred pence, which seems certainly by the statement of the price itself to set forth the Lord’s Cross. (St. John 12:3-5) (Three Books on the Holy Spirit, Book III, chapter 17, paragraph 127, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 153, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Not only “of dogs” he hath said, but “of Thy dogs:” nor are their teeth praised, but their tongue is: for it was not indeed to no purpose, not without a great mystery, that Gedeon was bidden to lead those alone, who should lap the water of the river like dogs; and of such sort not more than three hundred among so great a multitude were found. In which number is the sign of the Cross because of the letter T, which in the Greek numeral characters signifieth three hundred. (Psalm LXVIII, paragraph 29, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 8, p. 295, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
For the squares of wood indicate that the square form, producing right angles, pervades all, and points out security. And the length of the structure was three hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty, and the height thirty; and above, the ark ends in a cubit, narrowing to a cubit from the broad base like a pyramid, the symbol of those who are purified and tested by fire. And this geometrical proportion has a place, for the transport of those holy abodes, whose differences are indicated by the differences of the numbers set down below.
And the numbers introduced are sixfold, as three hundred is six times fifty; and tenfold, as three hundred is ten times thirty; and containing one and two-thirds (επιδίμοιροι), for fifty is one and two-thirds of thirty.
Now there are some who say that three hundred cubits are the symbol of the Lord’s sign; and fifty, of hope and of the remission given at Pentecost; and thirty, or as in some, twelve, they say points out the preaching [of the Gospel]; because the Lord preached in His thirtieth year; and the apostles were twelve. And the structure’s terminating in a cubit is the symbol of the advancement of the righteous to oneness and to “the unity of the faith.” (The Stromata, Book VI, chapter 11, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 500, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
Let us inquire, further, why there are one hundred and fifty psalms. That the number fifty is sacred, is manifest from the days of the celebrated festival of Pentecost, which indicates release from labours, and (the possession of) joy. For which reason neither fasting nor bending the knee is decreed for those days. For this is a symbol of the great assembly that is reserved for future times. Of which times there was a shadow in the land of Israel in the year called among the Hebrews “Jobel” (Jubilee), which is the fiftieth year in number, and brings with it liberty for the slave, and release from debt, and the like. And the holy Gospel knows also the remission of the number fifty, and of that number which is cognate with it, and stands by it, viz., five hundred; for it is not without a purpose that we have given us there the remission of fifty pence and of five hundred. (St. Luke 7:41) Thus, then, it was also meet that the hymns to God on account of the destruction of enemies, and in thanksgiving for the goodness of God, should contain not simply one set of fifty, but three such, for the name of Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.
The number fifty, moreover, contains seven sevens, or a Sabbath of Sabbaths; and also over and above these full Sabbaths, a new beginning, in the eight, of a really new rest that remains above the Sabbaths. And let any one who is able, observe this (as it is carried out) in the Psalms with more, indeed, than human accuracy, so as to find out the reasons in each case, as we shall set them forth. Thus, for instance, it is not without a purpose that the eighth psalm has the inscription, “On the wine-presses,” as it comprehends the perfection of fruits in the eight; for the time for the enjoyment of the fruits of the true vine could not be before the eight. And again, the second psalm inscribed "On the wine-presses,” is the eightieth, containing another eighth number, viz., in the tenth multiple. The eighty-third, again, is made up by the union of two holy numbers, viz., the eight in the tenth multiple, and the three in the first multiple. And the fiftieth psalm is a prayer for the remission of sins, and a confession. For as, according to the Gospel, the fiftieth obtained remission, confirming thereby that understanding of the jubilee, so he who offers up such petitions in full confession hopes to gain remission in no other number than the fiftieth. And again, there are also certain others which are called “Songs of degrees,” in number fifteen, as was also the number of the steps of the Temple, and which show thereby, perhaps, that the “steps” (or “degrees”) are comprehended within the number seven and the number eight. And these songs of degrees begin after the one hundred and twentieth psalm, which is called simply “a psalm,” as the more accurate copies give it. And this is the number of the perfection of the life of man. (Gen. 6:3) And the hundredth psalm, which begins thus, “I will sing of mercy and judgment, O Lord,” embraces the life of the saint in fellowship with God. And the one hundred and fiftieth ends with these words,” Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.” (On the Psalms, paragraphs 3 & 4, by St Hippolytus of Rome, 170-236 A.D., vol. 5, p. 199, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
Thus the veneration paid to the number Seven gave rise also to the veneration of Pentecost. For seven being multiplied by seven generates fifty all but one day, which we borrow from the world to come, at once the Eighth and the first, or rather one and indestructible. For the present sabbatism of our souls can find its cessation there, that a portion may be given to seven and also to eight (so some of our predecessors have interpreted this passage of Solomon). (Eccl. 11:2) (Oration XLI, paragraph 2, by St. Gregory the Theologian, 325-391 A.D., vol. 7, p. 379, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
So also the number fifty, which is connected with the advent of the Holy Spirit, is made up of seven times seven, and one over. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
For as fifty days are reckoned from the celebration of the Passover (which was ordered by Moses to be offered by slaying the typical lamb (Ex. 12:3-14), to signify, indeed, the future death of the Lord) to the day when Moses received the Law written on the tables of stone by the finger of God, so, in like manner, from the death and resurrection of Him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7), there were fifty complete days up to the time when the finger of God — that is, the Holy Spirit — gathered together in one perfect company those who believed. (Compare St. Matt. 12:28 with St. Luke 11:20; Acts 2:1-21)) (On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter 28, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 5, p. 95, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
That it is thirty cubits high, a tenth part of the length; because Christ is our height, who in his thirtieth year gave His sanction to the doctrine of the Gospel, by declaring that He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Noah's ark is a type of the Church. Just as there was salvation from the Flood in the ark, so is there salvation in the Church. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The ark is the Church.
For just as, after the waters of the deluge, by which the old iniquity was purged — after the baptism, so to say, of the world — a dove was the herald which announced to the Earth the assuagement of celestial wrath, when she had been sent her way out of the ark, and had returned with the olive-branch, a sign which even among the nations is the fore-token of peace; so by the self-same law of heavenly effect, to earth — that is, to our flesh — as it emerges from the font, after its old sins flies the dove of the Holy Spirit, bringing us the peace of God, sent out from the heavens where is the Church, the typified ark. (On Baptism, chapter 8, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 672, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
Is not nature herself then a teacher of modesty? Following her example, the modesty of men, which I suppose is so called from the mode of knowing what is seemly, has covered and veiled what it has found hid in the frame of our body; like that door which Noah was bidden to make in the side of the ark (Gen. 6:16); wherein we find a figure of the Church, and also of the human body, for through that door the remnants of food were cast out. (Three Books on the Duties of the Clergy, Book I, chapter 18, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 14, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
This was announced beforehand, when Noah was commanded to make a door in the side of the ark (Gen. 6:16), whereby the animals might enter which were not destined to perish in the flood, and by which the Church was prefigured. (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate CXX, paragraph 2, by Blessed Augustine, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, p. 434, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
So too in the case of the ark which the apostle Peter interprets as a type of the Church (I Pet. 3:20,21), Noah brings in for his three sons one wife apiece and not two. (Gen. 7:13) (Letter CXXIII, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 234, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
God told him to put a door in the side of the ark.
And the door of the ark thou shalt make on the side; with lower, second, and third stories thou shalt make it. (Gen. 6:17, LXX)
The ark is also the body of Christ. The door of the ark is the side of Christ.
That the length is six times the breadth, and ten times the height, like a human body, to show that Christ appeared in a human body. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other who was, crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs: but one of the soldiers with a spear laid open His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” A suggestive word was made use of by the evangelist, in not saying pierced, or wounded His side, or anything else, but “opened; that thereby, in a sense, the gate of life might be thrown open, from whence have flowed forth the Sacraments of the Church, without which there is no entrance to the life which is the true life. That blood was shed for the remission of sins; that water it is that makes up the health-giving cup, and supplies at once the laver of baptism and water for drinking. This was announced beforehand, when Noah was commanded to make a door in the side of the ark (Gen. 6:16), whereby the animals might enter which were not destined to perish in the Flood, and by which the Church was prefigured. Because of this, the first woman was formed from the side of the man when asleep (Gen. 2:22), and was called Life, and the mother of all living. (Gen. 3:20) Truly it pointed to a great good, prior to the great evil of the transgression (in the guise of one thus lying asleep). This second Adam bowed His head and fell asleep on the Cross, that a spouse might be formed for Him from that which flowed from the sleeper’s side. O death, whereby the dead are raised anew to life! What can be purer than such blood? What more health-giving than such a wound? (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate CXX, paragraph 2, by Blessed Augustine, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, p. 434, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
There were eight people who entered the ark. Eight is the number that represents the resurrection.
That Noah, counting his family, was the eighth; because the hope of our resurrection has appeared in Christ, who rose from the dead on the eighth day, that is, on the day after the seventh, or Sabbath day. This day was the third from His passion; but in the ordinary reckoning of days, it is both the eighth and the first. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
There were unclean and clean animals in the ark. This means that the Church is made up of people from all nations.
And of the clean cattle take in to thee sevens, male and female, and of the unclean cattle pairs male and female. And of clean flying creatures of the sky sevens, male and female, and of all unclean flying creatures pairs, male and female, to maintain seed on all the Earth. (Gen. 7:2,3, LXX)
That all kinds of animals are inclosed in the ark; as the Church contains all nations, which was also set forth in the vessel shown to Peter. (Acts 10:9-16) That clean and unclean animals are in the ark; as good and bad take part in the Sacraments of the Church. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
That the clean are in sevens, and the unclean in twos; not because the bad are fewer than the good, but because the good preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; and the Spirit is spoken of in Scripture as having a sevenfold operation, as being “the Holy Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and piety, and of the fear of God.” (Isaiah 11:2,3, LXX) (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The water of the Flood is baptism.
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (I Pet. 3:20,21)
When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah (Gen. 8:8-11) as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan (St. Matt. 3:16), and, carrying in its beak a branch betokening restoration and light, brings tidings of peace to the whole world. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
In the time of Noah God washed away the sin of the world by water. (Gen. 6:17; 7:11,12) (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 9, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, p. 78, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
It rained forty days and forty nights.
And the flood was upon the Earth forty days and forty nights, and the water abounded greatly and bore up the ark, and it was lifted on high from off the earth. (Gen. 7:17, LXX)
Forty is ten times four. Four represents the four corners of the Earth. Ten represents the Ten Commandments. The rainwater is baptism.
That it rained for forty days and forty nights; as the Sacrament of heavenly Baptism washes away all the guilt of the sins against the Ten Commandments throughout all the four quarters of the world (four times ten is forty), whether that guilt has been contracted in the day of prosperity or in the night of adversity. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 17, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The waters rose 15 cubits over the mountains. Fifteen is made up of the numbers 7 and 8. Seven represents rest. Eight represents resurrection.
Fifteen cubits upwards was the water raised, and it covered all the high mountains. (Gen. 7:20, LXX)
There is here a combination of seven and eight; for the water rose fifteen cubits above the mountains, pointing to a profound mystery in baptism, — the Sacrament of our regeneration. For the seventh day of rest is connected with the eighth of resurrection. For when the saints receive again their bodies after the rest of the intermediate state, the rest will not cease; but rather the whole man, body and soul united, renewed in the immortal health, will attain to the realization of his hope in the enjoyment of eternal life. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 19, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The water was on the Earth for 150 days. 150 is made up of the numbers 70 and 80. 70 is 7 times 10. 80 is 8 times 10.
And the water subsided, and went off the earth, and after an hundred and fifty days the water was diminished, and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. (Gen. 8:3, LXX)
Seven and eight are also combined in the number of one hundred and fifty, made up of seventy and eighty, which was the number of days during which the water prevailed, pointing out the deep import of baptism in consecrating the new man to hold the faith of rest and resurrection. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 19, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The raven and and the dove represent two different types of people: the selfish and the unselfish.
Accordingly, when such are delivered from these same afflictions, they exult with loud voices, whereby it is made manifest that they are ravens, not doves. It was with good reason that a raven was sent forth from the ark, and returned not again; a dove was sent forth, and it returned. These two birds Noah sent forth. (Gen. 8:6-9) He had there the raven, and also the dove. That ark contained both kinds; and if the ark was a figure of the Church, you see indeed that in the present Deluge of the world, the Church must of necessity contain both kinds, as well the raven as the dove. Who are the ravens? They who seek their own. Who are the doves? They who seek the things that are Christ’s. (Phil. 2:21) (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate VI, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, pp. 39-40, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The raven also represents sin.
The raven is the figure of sin, which goes forth and does not return, if, in you, too, inwardly and outwardly righteousness be preserved. (The Book Concerning the Mysteries, chapter 3, paragraphs 10 and 11, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 318, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
The dove represents also the Holy Spirit.
When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah (Gen. 8:8-11) as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan (St. Matt. 3:16), and, carrying in its beak a branch betokening restoration and light, brings tidings of peace to the whole world. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
But why by means of a dove? Many things were said, and I am not able, nor is there need that I should go over all; — principally, however, to denote peace, because also the trees which were baptized outside, because the dove found in them fruit, it brought to the ark, as you remember the dove sent out by Noah from the ark, which floated on the flood and was washed by baptism, was not submerged. When, then, it was sent forth, it brought an olive branch; but it had not leaves alone, it had also fruit. (Gen. 8:8-11) This, then, we ought to wish for our brethren who are baptized outside, that they may have fruit; the dove will not permit them to remain outside, but bring them back to the ark. For the whole of fruit is charity, without which a man is nothing, whatever else he have. (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate VII, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, p. 49, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
But why in the fashion of a dove? Gentle is that creature, and pure. Forasmuch then as the Spirit too is “a Spirit of meekness” (Gal. 6:1), He therefore appears in this sort. And besides, He is reminding us of an ancient history. For so, when once a common shipwreck had overtaken the whole world, and our race was in danger of perishing, this creature appeared, and indicated the deliverance from the tempest, and bearing an olive branch (Gen. 8:11), published the good tidings of the common calm of the whole world; all which was a type of the things to come. (Homilies on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Homily XII, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 10, p. 77, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The sinful people of the world who were destroyed during the flood represent our sins.
When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
The olive branch represents the oil of catechumens and perpetual peace.
For just as, after the waters of the deluge, by which the old iniquity was purged — after the baptism, so to say, of the world — a dove was the herald which announced to the Earth the assuagement of celestial wrath, when she had been sent her way out of the ark, and had returned with the olive-branch, a sign which even among the nations is the fore-token of peace; so by the self-same law of heavenly effect, to earth — that is, to our flesh — as it emerges from the font, after its old sins flies the dove of the Holy Spirit, bringing us the peace of God, sent out from the heavens where is the Church, the typified ark. (On Baptism, chapter 8, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 672, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
And the only reason why we find it easy to understand that perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch which the dove brought with it when it returned to the ark (Gen. 8:11), is that we know both that the smooth touch of olive oil is not easily spoiled by a fluid of another kind, and that the tree itself is an evergreen. (On Christian Doctrine, Book II, chapter 16, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 2, p. 543, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
Olive oil is employed in baptism as a significant of our anointing, and as making us anointed, and as announcing to us through the Holy Spirit God’s pity: for it was the fruit of the olive that the dove brought to those who were saved from the flood. (Gen. 8:11) (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 9, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, p. 79, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
The ark rested in the mountains of Ararat on the 27th day of the seventh month.
And the water subsided, and went off the earth, and after an hundred and fifty days the water was diminished, and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. (Gen. 8:3, LXX)
Twenty-seven is three cubed. Three is the number of the Trinity.
That mention is made of the twenty seventh day of the month; as we have already seen the significance of the square in the beams. Here especially it is significant; for as twenty-seven is the cube of three, there is a trinity in the means by which we are, as it were, squared, or fitted for every good work. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 19, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
The Flood also prefigures the end of the age when Christ comes to judge the world. In Noah's day, the world was destroyed by water. When Christ returns, the world will be destroyed by fire. (Actually, it will not be literally destroyed. It will be cleansed by fire. "The Earth abideth forever. " — Eccl. 1:4)
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the Earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (II Pet. 3:6,7)
Just as Noah and his family repopulated the Earth after the Flood, so, in my opinion, the resurrected righteous will populate the Earth and indeed the entire universe.
Noah when he was commanded to enter the ark and was entrusted with the preservation of the seed of the world received this command, "Go in," saith the Lord, "thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives." (Gen. 6:18) He separated them from their wives in order that with purity they might escape the flood and that shipwreck of the whole world. After the cessation of the flood, however, He said, "Go forth of the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives." (Gen. 8:16) Lo, again, marriage is granted for the sake of the multiplication of the race. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 24, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
If, however, any shall endeavour to allegorize [prophecies] of this kind, they shall not be found consistent with themselves in all points, and shall be confuted by the teaching of the very expressions [in question]. For example: “When the cities” of the Gentiles “shall be desolate, so that they be not inhabited, and the houses so that there shall be no men in them and the land shall be left desolate.” (Isaiah 6:11, LXX) “For, behold,” says Isaiah, “the day of the Lord cometh past remedy, full of fury and wrath, to lay waste the city of the Earth, and to root sinners out of it.” (Isaiah 13:9, LXX) And again he says, “Let him be taken away, that he behold not the glory of God.” (Isaiah 26:10, LXX) And when these things are done, he says, “God will remove men far away, and those that are left shall multiply in the Earth.” (Isaiah 6:12, LXX) “And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them themselves: and plant vineyards, and eat of them themselves.” (Isaiah 65:21, LXX) For all these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist, and the destruction of all nations under his rule; in [the times of] which [resurrection] the righteous shall reign in the Earth, waxing stronger by the sight of the Lord: and through Him they shall become accustomed to partake in the glory of God the Father, and shall enjoy in the kingdom intercourse and communion with the holy angels, and union with spiritual beings; and [with respect to] those whom the Lord shall find in the flesh, awaiting Him from Heaven, and who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands of the Wicked One. For it is in reference to them that the prophet says: “And those that are left shall multiply upon the Earth.” (Isaiah 6:12, LXX) And Jeremiah the prophet has pointed out, that as many believers as God has prepared for this purpose, to multiply those left upon Earth, should both be under the rule of the saints to minister to this Jerusalem, and that [His] kingdom shall be in it, saying, “Look around Jerusalem towards the East, and behold the joy which comes to thee from God Himself. Behold, thy sons shall come whom thou hast sent forth: they shall come in a band from the East even unto the West, by the Word of that Holy One, rejoicing in that splendour which is from thy God. O Jerusalem, put off thy robe of mourning and of affliction, and put on that beauty of eternal splendour from thy God. Gird thyself with the double garment of that righteousness proceeding from thy God; place the mitre of eternal glory upon thine head. For God will show thy glory to the whole Earth under Heaven. For thy name shall for ever be called by God Himself, the peace of righteousness and glory to him that worships God. Arise, Jerusalem, stand on high, and look towards the East, and behold thy sons from the rising of the sun, even to the West, by the Word of that Holy One, rejoicing in the very remembrance of God. For the footmen have gone forth from thee, while they were drawn away by the enemy. God shall bring them in to thee, being borne with glory as the throne of a kingdom. For God has decreed that every high mountain shall be brought low, and the eternal hills, and that the valleys be filled, so that the surface of the Earth be rendered smooth, that Israel, the glory of God, may walk in safety. The woods, too, shall make shady places, and every sweet-smelling tree shall be for Israel itself by the command of God. For God shall go before with joy in the light of His splendour, with the pity and righteousness which proceeds from Him.” (Baruch 4:36-5:9) (Against Heresies, Book V, chapter 35, paragraph 1, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 565, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
It is not an official doctrine of the Orthodox Church that the resurrected righteous will procreate in the resurrection. It is a theological opinion that we are allowed to have or not have. Based on many different things I have looked at in the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Church Fathers and based on our modern knowledge of human physiology, I would have to say that procreation in the afterlife would be possible and even permissible. The Church Fathers taught that the bodies of the righteous will be resurrected whole and entire and all of their bodily parts will be fully functional. A man's body continues to produce sperm and fluids for his sex glands. A woman's body has ovaries with eggs in them. In my own personal opinion, I think that an immortal woman's ovaries will never run out of eggs. The process of oogenesis that goes on while a baby girl is in the womb of her mother and terminates before she is born will in an immortal woman's body continue on throughout all eternity whenever her eggs become depleted as result of menstruation or procreation. That is my own personal opinion. Why, then, would a man be resurrected with a body that continues to produce sperm and a woman be resurrected with a body that has ovaries filled with eggs? For procreation. That I think is the common sense answer.
Contrary to the teaching of the Encratites who taught that sex and procreation are evil, the Church says that sex and procreation are good. It is the abuse and misuse of sex that are evil, but not the sex act itself when it is legitimately done with one's spouse.
Anyway, the truth about procreation in the afterlife lies somewhere between two heresies: the heresy of the Encratites and that of Cerinthus. The Encratites taught that sex and procreation are evil. The Church says that sex and procreation are good and to say that they are evil is to say that God created evil when He created man with the capacity to have sex and procreate. Cerinthus taught that in the resurrection there would be sexual orgies and sumptuous banquets. This is also a heresy. God does not save us from excessively loving pleasure so that we can go back to overindulging in it. St. Paul called the unrighteous "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." (II Tim. 3:4) However, he did also say that God "gives us richly all things to enjoy." (I Tim. 6:17) He also said that "the bed is undefiled." (Heb. 13:4) He means the bed of legitimate sex is undefiled, that is, for the married in this age. Somewhere between these two heresies lies the truth regarding procreation in the afterlife.
Contrary to the teaching of Cerinthus, the Church condemns his heresy which says that there will be sex orgies and sumptuous banquets in the Kingdom of God after the general resurrection of the dead. God does not save us from being addicted to carnal pleasure so that we can be enslaved to it again. However, sex may still be practiced by men and women with their legitimate procreative partners in the afterlife. The Church has no official dogma on the subject of procreation in the afterlife. Much about the afterlife is still a mystery.
In future blogs, I will talk more about the typology in some Old Testament passages of Scripture and about baptism and chrismation. I will continue on looking at the life of Christ as it is related in the Gospels and at His teachings. The Gospel is, after all, the life and teachings of Christ.
Steve
Bibliography
Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
The raven is a symbol of of the law of sin and death which is sent out and and goes forth throughout the earth unless the waters of God's wrath are dried up and abated. The dove is a symbol of the Spirit of life. It is sent out and returns to Noah first, then is sent out to all the earth after the the wrath of God is finished. Like Gideon's fleece, the lambskin is drenched with the dew of resurrection life first (the dove returns to Noah with an olive branch, olive oil being a symbol of the Spirit, and the branch itself of peace with God) while the ground (Adamah, or Adam) is void of life, and afterwards the ground is drenched while the lamb is dry(the Spirit has been poured out on all flesh). The sending of the doves pictures Pentecost. First the Law is sent out which brings death, then the Spirit. This happens after the Ark "rests" of Ararat on Firstfruits.
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