ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS -- JESUS EXPLAINS THE SCRIPTURES EPISODE 4 PART 1 TYPOLOGY IN THE BOOK OF EXODUS

The Exodus is an event that foreshadows and parallels the ultimate act of redemption and revelation in Jesus Christ. The apostles, the early Church fathers, and the Church have always seen these spirit-inspired signs.

These are some of the most important events in Exodus that prefigure the redemption of Jesus Christ.

• Deliverance from bondage in Egypt prefigures Christians deliverance from the slavery of sin
• Crossing the Red Sea prefigures sacramental Baptism
• Passover feast celebrates the Exodus and the passing over of the Angel of Death, protecting all first borns of the Israelites.  The Passover meal foreshadows the Sacrament of the Eucharist. During the Last Supper, at a Passover meal,  Jesus initiated the Sacrament of the Eucharist, changing ordinary bread and wine into his own body and blood. Christ, the true Passover Lamb, delivers all of us from death into life.
• Manna in the desert, water from the rock, the bronze serpent, and many other details of the Exodus story, foreshadow the full revelation story that begins with the Incarnation of Jesus and is revealed in the New Testament.
• The tabernacle, housing the Ark of the Covenant, represents the humanity of Jesus, as well as the heavenly sanctuary, the Church, and the body of Christ.  Today in every Catholic Church there is a tabernacle that holds the consecrated bread, the living body of Christ.

Exodus is probably the most important book of the Bible.  In terms of the Israelites, it is in the Exodus that they become a nation.  For all mankind, it is in the story of Exodus where God begins a long-lasting, physical and personal relationship with His Creation through Moses and where he lays out the Law in which man learns how to follow in God's way.  Exodus influences the entire Old Testament, and it is in Exodus where quite a bit of the foreshadowing of the New Testament and God's final plan of man's redemption is foretold.

Exodus is the greatest redemptive event in the Old Testament to which subsequent revelation points to again and again.  An example of this is in the phrase from Hosea 11:1

"Out of Egypt I called my son."

In Exodus 4:22, the first reference for this phrase is to Israel.  God says, "Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, 'Let my son go.'" In the New Testament, (Matthew 2:13-15) Jesus is brought to Egypt by Mary and Joseph, escaping the wrath of Herod and then, after Herod's death, they eventually return to Israel.  This event fulfills the prophecy of Hosea 11:1 This establishes the Israel Typology, whereas the ultimate Israel is Jesus himself.  

Another precursor to this story is in the Book Of Genesis. It is in the final stories of Jacob (a.k.a. Israel) and his twelve sons, the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel.  Pay special attention to the Genesis stories of Jacob's sons, how they sold Joseph into slavery where he eventually ended up in Egypt.  Joseph rises out of slavery and becomes an aide to the Pharaoh.  His position allowed him to bring his family to Egypt to help them survive the famine in the Promise Land.  And it was this event that resulted in the 400 years of the descendants of the 12 tribes to be in Egypt and enslaved at the time Moses appears on the scene. Joseph's act to save his brothers, the ancestors of Israel, foreshadows St. Joseph who brought Jesus (the ultimate Israel) to Egypt to survive the threat of Herod.  

It is clear that typology was noted very early in the history of the Church.  St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 5:7, refers to Christ as the Passover Lamb where he clearly links Jesus to the Exodus as the saving force.  Christ is also linked as the new Moses, as well as the Ultimate Israel, as He leads His People (the Church) to the new Promise Land.  

The earliest Gospel, written by Mark, also constantly refers indirectly to the Exodus of the Old Testament, by using the language of the Prophet Isaiah.  Isaiah picks up the Exodus theme again and again, sometimes referring to it in the past and sometimes using it as a way of talking about the impending Babylonian exile where the people are being cast out of the land again and will be drawn back by God.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Mark is thinking profoundly, relating the Old Testament to the New Testament and clearly seeing that Isaiah's "living" prophecy not only refers to the past, but also to the time of Jesus.  Mark's writings, which will become the New Testament, are truly the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

Mark was a disciple of Paul who frequently taught using typology.  Paul was educated by Gamaliel, a leading authority of the Sanhedrin, and as a result, St. Paul had a deep understanding of the Old Testament. Many of Paul's letters refer to the sins of the Israelites during the Exodus and used them as examples for Christ's Church, teaching the early Christians, as well as present day Christians, what we must avoid in order to reach the New Promise Land.

TYPOLOGY OF EXODUS EXPLAINED BY ST. PAUL

Typology is one method of revelation in Divine Teaching.  Through this method, God orchestrates the people, places, and events of the past to foreshadow future situations.  God gives us deep truths if we can recognize the connections.  

St. Paul’s writings also teach us through typology (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 128-129).  He highlights the Exodus from Egypt by teaching us that this foreshadowing is intended to instruct and exhort God’s people. The Church has used this method since the very beginning of its preaching.  Paul exhorts all Christians to not repeat the sins of the Israelites because, as a result of their sins, many did not inherit the Promised Land and he did not want that outcome for the early Christians.  Paul only mentions the Old Testament references in brief.  But, by introducing this typology, Paul wants us to contemplate these events even more deeply. 

Paul teaches the meaning behind the supernatural food and drink God gave the Israelites during their years of wandering in the desert.   Every day the Israelites woke up to find manna (which looked like a white wafer) on the ground and their water was miraculously provided from the rock that Moses struck each day.  This is the prefiguring of the Body and Blood of the Eucharist. The progression of this story starts with the first miracle Jesus performs which was to turn Water into Wine -- his last miracle, at the Last Supper, was to turn Wine into his Blood. The miracles of feeding the crowds from a few loaves of Bread progresses to the Bread at the Last Supper which is changed into his Body.  The supernatural food and drink of Exodus prefigures the supernatural food we have today in the Holy Eucharist.

Paul recalls other events of the Exodus as a foreshadowing of our Christian experience.  As the Israelites passed from slavery to freedom through the Red Sea, we pass from the slavery of sin into freedom in Christ through the waters of Baptism.  We begin our earthly pilgrimage as members of God's covenant family and the goal for us is the promise land of heaven.  Throughout this journey, Christ (the new Moses) is our guide and God is always with us. Our earthly pilgrimage will be like the Exodus of Egypt, our supernatural food is the Eucharist, which gives us the supernatural power that enables us to have faith, be obedient and to love God.  Even though our journey will be arduous, we must learn from the mistakes of the Israelites to never give up on God.  Even though we have struggles and sufferings to endure, we must place our full hope and trust in our heavenly Father.  We must learn from the sins of our ancestors to remain faithful even amid our hardships.  Our goal is heaven, but entry into this promise land is not guaranteed. As Paul writes, "Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction... therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 19: 1-12)

The Typology in the Book of Exodus

 will continue in

 Episode 4 Part 2 of Jesus Explains the Scriptures.

Is Jesus Christ Truly Present in the Eucharist at Roman Catholic Masses?

What is one of the biggest problems in the Catholic Church?  Is it not wanting to go to Confession? (Why do I have to go to a priest to confess my sins?) NO it isn't.  Maybe not being able to eat meat on Fridays during Lent?  Nope, that is not it either.  Nor is it having to go to Mass EVERY Sunday, though there are many  Chreasters out there, (a portmanteau of Christmas and Easter). The BIGGEST problem is that ~70% of Catholics do not believe that the Holy Eucharist is truly the Living Body and Blood of Jesus Christ!  I hope you find that as shocking as I did...but with that great of  a number  who do not believe one of the most important tenets of our Faith, YOU may be one of them.  

From the very beginnings of the Catholic Church, which is traced back to the Apostles of Jesus Christ, the number one and most important tenet of the Faith was just that.... Jesus is truly in the Eucharist.  The Bread and Wine is not merely a symbol of Jesus' body and blood... it is His Body and Blood.  And Jesus proclaimed that himself, many times throughout his ministry, before he would die for us on the cross. 

In the Bread of Life discourse of John's Gospel, (John 6:48-64) Jesus tells his disciples:

  "I AM  the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."  "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink."  

Many of his disciples, when they heard this, grumbled and were shocked by what he said as no Jew would ever eat meat and blood together never mind eat the body and blood of a man.  

Did Jesus stop them and say, "No I was just kidding!" or did Jesus say "I meant that as symbolic? "  No, Jesus never soften his teaching  on this.  And to further explain what he was saying when Jesus said "eat" my flesh he used the word that meant "gnaw" on it to further stress the act of eating.  The Jews at that time were very familiar with symbolic language and knew Jesus was not talking symbolically when he said this.  They understood exactly what he was saying, but could not accept it, they lacked faith in Jesus and they left him.  Jesus did not compromise,  He turned to his Apostles his closest followers and asked them if they would leave him too?

(Interesting side note to this part of John's Gospel: John 6:66 is the verse: "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."  The number 666 is symbolically the number of the devil, the antichrist, or evil in general.)  However, in the time when John wrote his gospel, he did not put in chapter numbers or verse numbers, they were only added much later.  I find this an interesting connection, possibly more than a mere coincidence. Perhaps something to take note of.)

To further show the importance of the Eucharist there are many foreshadowings of the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist throughout the Old Testament and even the New Testament. I will show you just a few. 

In Exodus, the Hebrews were protected from the final plague when they followed the instructions Moses gave them for the Passover Meal.  At the first Passover Meal, a lamb was sacrificed. Its blood was painted on the lintels of the houses so that the angel of death would pass over those houses; saving them from death.  And then the lamb was totally consumed.  It was in following these instructions that they were saved.  The Passover Meal is one of the most important traditions of the Jewish faith, practiced for thousands of years even up to this day.  It was a lamb that saved the Israelites.  Jesus often called himself the lamb of God.  He is the TRUE Lamb  and his blood was shed for the salvation of the World. It was the Passover Meal that Jesus was celebrating when He gave us the gift of the Eucharist fulfilling the Old Testament foreshadowing of the life saving meal.

At the Wedding Feast at Cana, Jesus performs his first miracle.  He  had the servants fill the water containers that were used to wash the feet of the guest, not the empty wine containers.  These were huge water containers, much larger than the containers that held the wine. And Jesus had the servants fill them to the brim.  After blessing the water (a sacramental act) the water turned into wine. And not ordinary wine but the best wine according to the wine steward. This first miracle foreshadows his last miracle that Jesus performs at the Passover feast with his disciples.  There he takes ordinary bread and wine and blesses it and turns it into his body and blood--eternal food and drink.

In the story where Jesus fed the vast number of people with the loaves of Bread and Fish that story is a foreshadowing of the Mass.  Jesus sits down with the crowd seated at his feet. (the posture of a teacher and his students)  That foreshadows the Liturgy of the Word  at our Mass where we hear the readings of the Old Testament and the New Testament and the significance each has in the story of our salvation. 

In this Bible story, Jesus wants to care for the crowd that followed Him  into the deserted place by feeding them. He performs a miracle of turning a few loaves of Bread and a few fish into enough food so that thousands of people may be satisfied of their hunger.  Just as in the story of Exodus, where God showered the Israelites with Manna from Heaven for them to eat.  Both of these incidents foreshadow the Breaking of the Bread at the Last Supper, where Jesus institutes the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Just before Jesus is put to death, He desires to leave his disciples an everlasting gift.  Jesus performs his final miracle.  He turns ordinary bread and wine into his Body and Blood and then commands his Apostles to "Do THIS in Memory of Me." He did not say let this be a symbol of my Body and Blood... but rather said, "This IS my body which will be given up for you. This IS my blood which will be shed for you."  Jesus did not speak of symbols but of truth.  I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Why do so many Catholics not believe this as Truth?  Is it because it still looks and tastes like bread and wine?  Is it because they don't understand? Do they lack the knowledge?  Did you know that throughout all the history of the Catholic church the Eucharist was always proclaimed as the REAL presence of Jesus Christ.?   How many of the early Christian martyrs  died for this belief?  Every one of them! That in itself is a remarkable testament of their faith.  The First century writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Justin the Martyr proclaimed it was truly the Flesh and Blood of Jesus.  Third century Origen of Alexandria so strongly believed it to be the body of Christ that he was so careful handling it that not even a crumb should be dropped to the ground.  

The most important aspect of the Eucharist and its reality is to consider who gave it to us.  Jesus is the Son of God or as John called him in his gospel: In the beginning was the Word and the Word  was with God and the Word was GOD!  Jesus, before he took on human form through his incarnation, was the Word of God.  The significance of that is God spoke the Word, Let there be light and there was light.... what God says has great significance. His Word results in change, in creation.  Jesus spoke the words: "This IS my BODY, This IS my BLOOD,"  he did not say, this is a symbol of my body and blood he says this IS.  If you believe in God and his Word made Flesh then there is no logical reason to not believe that when he said those words and also said "Do THIS in memory of ME" that he was telling the truth!

St Thomas Aquinas said this about the Eucharist: 

"Material food first changes into the one who eats it, and then, as a consequence, restores to him lost strength and increases his vitality. Spiritual food, on the other hand, changes the person who eats it into itself. Thus the effect proper to this Sacrament is the conversion of a man into Christ, so that he may no longer live, but Christ lives in him; consequently, it has the double effect of restoring the spiritual strength he had lost by his sins and defects, and of increasing the strength of his virtues.” (St. Thomas, Commentary on Book IV of the Sentences, d.12, q.2, a.11)

Another important aspect of the Eucharist and its reality is to consider when did Jesus give us this gift.  It was the last act he performed before his death.  Jesus knew he was to sacrifice his life for us and when it was to happen.  So he left us, whom he loved in this world, the most significant gift he could give all of us...  Himself, his very presence, for all time, while we, his creation, lived on this Earth.  So after the Passover meal, at the creation of His new church, He gave us his body and blood for all eternity.  He gave the Apostles, the leaders of His church, the power to change common bread and wine into his body and blood, soul and divinity, and gave them the order to DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.  Would you or could you ever deny this wondrous life-given gift which once consumed we have Jesus living within us and HE becomes the inner strength within us? Would you be one of those follower who find this too hard to believe?

And let me ask you to consider the following.  If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for you, and you believe that he rose from the dead, and you believe he ascended into heaven...why is it you can't believe that the Holy Eucharist is truly his body and blood, a final gift of food from God to strengthen you through your life's journey on earth?  If you believe in God and all that Jesus Christ taught and all he did to save you from sin, why can't you believe he can change ordinary bread and wine into his own body and blood?  Maybe because some of us lack understanding?  Maybe because some of us need to strengthen our Faith?  

Might I suggest that you read the Bible and pay special attention to the stories about food: the forbidden fruit, the manna in the desert, the significance of the "Bread of Presence"-- (Showbread in the Jewish Tabernacle which was lifted up at the Jewish festivals and proclaimed as "God's love for you!"), the Last Supper, the followers of Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and the many other stories throughout the entire Bible that deal with food and bread and wine.  They all have significance to open up your hearts to believe that Jesus is with us always, until the end of time in the Body and Blood that we receive every Sunday in the Holy Eucharist.  

The ultimate means by which we understand Jesus Christ is not the Scriptures, but the Eucharist, for the Eucharist is Christ himself, personally and actively present.  The embodiment of the Paschal Mystery, the Eucharist, is Jesus' love for the world unto death, his journey into god forsakenness in order to save the most desperate of sinners, his heart broken open in compassion.
--Bishop Robert Barron

Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life,
 which the Son of Man will give you.
John 6:27

"and do not be unbelieving, but believing."

John 20:27

ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS --JESUS EXPLAINS THE SCRIPTURES -- EPISODE 3 - Part 2 --TYPOLOGY IN THE BIBLE

Typology in the Bible 

The story of Abraham’s faith in Part 1, is a perfect example of typology in the Bible.  Typology is the study of persons, places, events and institutions in the Bible that foreshadow later and greater realities made known by God in history.  The basis of such study is the belief that God, who providentially shape and determines the course of human events, infuses those events with a prophetic and theological significance.  Typology thus reveals the unity of salvation history as a carefully orchestrated plan that God unfolds in stages of ever-increasing fulfillment.   The movement from “types” to the realities they signify, called “antitypes,” is always a movement from the lesser to the greater.   (Adam is a “type” of Jesus; Jesus is the “antitype” of Adam.) 

Typology can be understood in prophetic (promise/fulfillment), Metaphysical (matter/spirit), eschatological (time/eternity), or anagogical terms (earth/heaven).  Typology is not simply applied to the Bible; it is something applied within the Bible.  Typology was used by the authors of the Bible.  Studying the Bible in terms of typology is a valid approach to understanding salvation history.   Typology is first and foremost grounded in the Semitic world of Scripture, because the biblical authors themselves made extensive use of typology in explaining the actions of God in history (CCC 128-30) For example, the story of Joshua is deliberately worded to evoke memories of the story of Moses and to suggest that Joshua himself was a new Moses who acquired for his people what his forbearer could not, possession of the Promise Land. For example, Joshua parted the waters of the Jordan so that Israel could cross over on dry ground (Jos 3:14-17; 4:23) just as Moses had done at the Red Sea (Ex 14:16).

Typology comes into its fullness in the New Testament in the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles.  It is more pervasive in the NT than in the OT and reaches a crescendo of fulfillment as typological themes of the Hebrew Scriptures give way to the definitive antitypes that God had intended to prefigure from the beginning in the person and work of Jesus Christ.   This can be seen in Matthew 12 where Jesus claims “something greater than the temple is here” (Mt 12:6), and something greater than Jonah is here” (Mt 12:41) and “something greater than Solomon is here” (Mt 12:42) His words state what is true for all typology, that is, antitypes resemble the types that foreshadow them, yet they also surpass them because they are something greater than the original.  Christ is a new and living temple, for in him dwells the divine presence more intensely than in the sanctuary.  He is a new Jonah (who was in the belly of the whale for 3 days), for his Resurrection after three days in the grave would be the one miracle that outshines all others, and, as the New Solomon, he is a king of the royal line of David and a man of legendary wisdom who will draw the world closer to His Father.

All Scripture speaks of Christ and the Church and is found hidden in the text and foreshadowing of what is fully revealed in the New Testament.  The Church has illuminated the unity of scripture through typology which reveals God’s work in the Old Testament and prefigures his accomplishments in the fullness of time in the person of Jesus Christ.  Some “types” of Christ in the Old Testament are Adam in his original and intended holiness; the high Priest Melchizedek; Joseph, the son of Jacob; Moses, as well as the prophecies of the suffering servant proclaimed by Isaiah. 

Adam a Type of Christ

ADAM AND CHRIST ARE ALIKE	ADAM AND CHRIST ARE UNALIKE
Both had an effect upon the whole human race	Sin and death came from Adam while righteousness and life came from Christ
Both endured the temptation of Satan	Adam failed and Christ was victorious
Through both humanity receives an inheritance	Through Adam’s failure humanity inherits death and original sin. Personal sin becomes a plague on mankind.  Through Christ’s victory humanity inherits adoption into God’s family and the promise of eternal life.
Both were human men	Christ was both human and divine
Both the acts of Adam and Christ invoke a divine verdict	Satan stood behind the act of Adam while the grace of God stood behind Christ; the verdict behind Adam’s act is judgement while the verdict behind Christ’s is acquittal
Both Adam and Christ  exercised their free will	Adam willingly fell from grace; Christ willingly laid down his life in sacrifice for all mankind
Both were born into the world as sinless and immortal beings	Adam lost his immortality when he fell from grace while Christ remained pure and sinless and through his sacrifice and resurrection has made God’s gift of immortality once again available to man.

The Trinity in Genesis

The reference of “three” has its own interesting study with regards to Typology.  Whenever the number three appears it usually signifies something of great importance.  For example, in the Bible, the phrase “on the third day” is used many times and it signifies something important is about to happen; the first two days don’t tell the whole story—the third day is the conclusion.

The Bible makes great use of the number three.  On the third day, Abraham reaches Mount Moriah (the future Temple mount of Jerusalem) where he is to sacrifice his son Isaac.  (Gn 22: 4-5) On the third day, Pharaoh releases the chief cupbearer from death row (Gn 40:20-21) as Joseph correctly interpreted his dream which would eventually lead to Pharaoh learning that Joseph can interpret dreams.   On the third day, Joseph releases his brothers from prison in Egypt (Gn 42:17-18) On the third day, God descends to Mount Sinai and reveals the 10 Commandments.  After three days, Jonah is expelled from the belly of the whale. (Jonah 2:11).   On the third day, Jesus performs his first miracle at the Wedding feast in Cana. On the third day, Jesus rises from the dead. The number three is significant as it plays out in important events as well.  In the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham brings Isaac and two servants.  At Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus is crucified with two other men.  Noah has 3 sons to repopulate the world.

From the very beginning of the Bible we can see the significance of the Holy Trinity.  In the first chapter of Genesis there are hints of the Trinity:  In Gen 1: 1-3, we read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth -- And the earth was without form, or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters…  (Wind is symbolic of the Spirit of God = Holy Spirit)   Then God spoke… (God spoke words, the Word of God = Jesus)

From the very beginning of God’s revelation we can see the suggestion of the three Persons of God.  Often when God speaks or does something the singular and plural is interchangeable.  Plural indicates the three persons; the singular indicates the one God.

Genesis 1:26 - Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness.

Genesis 3:22 - When expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, God also speaks in the plural: "Then the LORD God said, 'See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil...' "

Genesis 11:7 - Seeing the Tower of Babel, God again speaks in the plural: "Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech."

In Genesis 18:1-3 - The Lord appeared to Abraham near the oak of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent. … Looking up, he saw three men standing near him.  Abraham addresses them as The Lord.

...Coming soon

 ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS --JESUS EXPLAINS THE SCRIPTURES 

   EPISODE 3 - PART 3

ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS --JESUS EXPLAINS THE SCRIPTURES -- EPISODE 3 - part 1

 Genesis

 the Book of Creation, Covenants,

 and the  Promise of the Messiah 

[As I was planning my next Bible Study Class that I have been running for the past 16 years, (has it really been THAT long ago!)  I decided to start over from the beginning with the Book of Genesis. I have had many new members join since I did Genesis the last time, so many of my members were excited to do that study, as were the members who have been with me for years.  (The more you study the Bible the more there is to discover in it!)  
Because of my  new fascination with finding how the New Testament is hidden in the Old, (which is called Typology) I spent extra time looking for the clues to the New Testament that Jesus spoke about to his disciples on the Road to Emmaus.  I have posted a few blogs on this very topic before, but now I wanted to go into greater detail, and find even more hidden signs of God's plan of salvation.  I would like to share what I have discovered with the followers of my blog. Due to the length of my findings, I plan to post  in shorter episodes so as to not bog down my followers. I will start with a summary of Genesis and some of the typology that can be found in it.]

The Book of Genesis

The name for the first book of the Bible, Genesis, has a dual meaning.  In Hebrew, the opening word is “Bereshit” which means “In the beginning” and from the Greek, Genesis means a book of generations of the heavens and the earth.

The creation story in Genesis is written with figurative or metaphorical elements.  This does not mean it is fictional, nor does it mean that it is a book of scientific facts.  But it is written in a way to cause man to ponder the meaning of creation and human life and to develop a deep faith in the Creator and to show man how to live in this creation.

The Creation of Man

How God created the world is of little importance in the grand scheme of the Bible.  The purpose of its writing is to understand what God created and why.  When God created man, he breathed into him (Holy Spirit) and with that man was created in God’s likeness.  The presence of the Holy Spirit made him eternal.  But man lost that eternal life with the first sin, as he would now experience death.  Only after Jesus breathes on the Apostles and gives them the Holy Spirit is there the re-gifting of eternal life.

God’s Covenants with his Creation

Covenant is the Golden Thread that holds the entire Bible together.  Covenant means Testament, which is why the Bible is divided between the covenants of the Old and the Covenant of the New.  Covenant is a swearing of and oath between God and man.  Covenant is binding and solemn and God remains ever faithful even when his people are not.  God never broke covenant, only man has, but God in His infinite mercy has made a new covenant with man when man has found his way back to Him. Covenants are formed by the swearing of an oath and, interesting enough, the Latin word for OATH is SACRAMENT.

One enters into a covenant with a promise, invoking God’s holy name, an oath.  It is not an exchange of goods, but of people, a kinship bond, where the two parties are now family.  One cannot get out of a covenant, even if broken.  The result of breaking a covenant is to be cursed.  Throughout the Old Testament is a vicious cycle of breaking covenant with God.  When God’s people kept their covenant they received blessings, when they broke covenant they were cursed.

Through covenants God binds himself to his people in a relationship of fidelity and care.  As a husband to his wife, God binds himself to his people Israel of the Old Testament and to the Jews and Gentiles of the New Israel of the New Testament.

The First Covenant between God and Adam

 One of the most important things to come out of the creation story is the importance of the Sabbath.  As in creation where each day that God creates the various parts of the cosmos, the day begins with the evening and ends when the day turns into the next evening—so does the Sabbath. This is how the Hebrews counted their days.  And, as God rested on the 7^th day, so should man.  The Sabbath is the sign of the first Covenant God made with man.   God put man in charge of His creation.  This is why man was tasked with naming each element of God’s creation.  Giving a thing its name meant you were responsible for it and must take care of it.  Man,   Adam, had dominion (ruler) of the world.

Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden.  The World was God’s temple, but the Garden was his Holy of Holies.  Adam was the first priest, whose job was to guard the sanctuary. Just as the Ark of the Covenant was guarded by the carved Cherubim, so was the  eastern gate of the Garden near the Tree of Life guarded by two Cherubim.(Gen3:24).  Adam failed in his priestly duties by allowing the serpent   to tempt the woman and him.  God told Adam before he created the woman, not to eat from the Tree of knowledge of good and evil.  If he did eat from it he shall die.  The Serpent tempted Eve first , but Adam was standing right next to her  and did not stop her from eating it, and he went further by eating the fruit himself.  With this breaking of God’s first covenant with man, Adam was cursed.  To be cursed meant to be excluded or alienated from the blessings of communion with God.  Eve would experience pain in child bearing, and her relationship with her husband was affected as she became dependent on him and he would rule over her.  Adam would toil in order to eat all the days of his life. And worst of all he lost his likeness of God as he lost the Holy Spirit and would now experience death.

After man’s fall, the book of Genesis sets out the Lord’s blueprint for the reconciliation and salvation of fallen humanity. God, under his plan, would gradually reveal himself through a chosen people; preparing mankind for the Messiah and His Church.

The consequence of sin, (turning away from the source of life—God) is death.  Sin filled the Earth and death came to all men.  Jealousy raged and resulted in the murder of a brother.  Sin continued to spread rampant so that “every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil, the Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved.” (Gen 6:5-6) “But Noah found favor with the Lord. (Gen 6:8)

The Second Covenant between God and Noah

God spoke to Noah and told him about the evil He had seen in man and told him he was to build an Ark to save his family from the total annihilation he was planning for the rest of mankind.  Noah did everything God commanded him.  As in creation and the later building of the Temple and the Ark of the Covenant, the building of the ark was carried out just as God commanded.   Noah was to become the new Adam and the Flood brings about the New Creation.  The Ark symbolizes God’s Church to come which is the bringer of salvation through her sacraments.   Just as later in Exodus, all first born were exterminated except for those protected by the Paschal lamb, so here all sinful humanity is drowned, except those protected by the wood of the ark.  The waters of the Flood themselves represent the Last Judgement, in which the good are saved and the wicked damned, and the flood water prefigures Baptism, by which we are saved from condemnation  as first spoken of in the First Letter of St. Peter, 3:20-21.  There are other typological elements as well.  The dove sent out by Noah, which returns with an olive branch, represents the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  God spoke seven times to Noah.  (The number seven means Spiritual Perfection)   In the first creation story God separates the land from the water as a wind (symbolic of the Holy Spirit) that swept over the water.  In Noah’s story after the flood, God made a wind sweep (the Holy Spirit) over the Earth and the waters began to subside.  In the first creation story on the seventh day God rested—in Noah’s story the name Noah means “rest”.  The sign of the second covenant is the rainbow as God promises to never destroy man again and the obligation of the covenant is to respect life.

 The Tower of Babel

The building of the Tower of Babel represents the attempt of man to make a name for himself on earth, to create a technological civilization that rivals God and that reaches up to heaven.  Such a society has no use for God or heaven. St. Augustine sees it as a perfect symbol of the earthly city: a civilization opposed to the City of God (kingdom of God), focused on the love of self to the point of contempt for God.  On the contrary the City of God is a civilization built on the love of God, building a pathway to heaven, not through pride in man’s works, but through the divine condescension of the Incarnation and Passion of Christ.

It was fitting that the punishment for Babel and its cult of pride was the proliferation of tongues and the dispersal of peoples.  By its nature, the sin of pride divides individuals and societies from one another.  Thus, Babel is the opposite of the Church which beginning with Pentecost, seeks to unite all men into one Body through the bond of charity and which unites all tongues in praising God.  When Peter spoke and all Jews from many different countries could understand him in their own tongue, this was the sign that God was beginning to undo the scattering of the Tower of Babel.  He was fulfilling the promise of the outpouring of the spirit by keeping his covenant with Abraham that he would bless the whole world.  The Church seeks to reestablish in the unity of faith, hope and charity, all mankind as it becomes the Light to the Nations.

The Third Covenant between God and Abraham

The call of Abram came immediately after the Destruction of the Tower of Babel and the scattering of its builders.  One purpose of this bond was to reconcile the peoples of the Earth and reuniting them into one family.  The Old Testament hints at how the reconciliation will come about, but it is only in the coming of Jesus Christ where we clearly see God’s plan.  The New Covenant would be ratified by Jesus Christ in his blood and the promise of the Spirit would be fulfilled at Pentecost when Peter spoke and all in Jerusalem from many different countries could understand him in their own tongue.  This was the sign that God was beginning to undo the scattering of the Tower of Babel, he was fulfilling the promise of the outpouring of the spirit—and keeping the covenant with Abraham that he would bless the whole world.

God chooses Abram because through him the one true God would be made known to the world.  (This anticipates the coming of the Church of Christ)  This great covenant with the Patriarch Abraham and his decedents binds God to his people in a relationship of fidelity and care as a husband pledges to his wife.  God promises to make of Abraham a great nation in a land of plenty. This foreshadows the heavenly kingdom of God.  The sign of the covenant was marked in the circumcision of Abraham and all his male descendants, just as the sign of the New Covenant in the Holy Spirit is marked on our hearts.

This covenant was renewed with Isaac, who was born to the elderly Abraham and Sarah, after the birth was foretold by the Three Visitors at Mamre whom Abraham addressed as one. (The Holy Trinity)   God continued this covenant with Isaac’s son Jacob and his 12 sons (prefiguring the 12 Apostles.)  At first, Jacob was depicted negatively, stealing his older twin brother’s birthright, etc. but later in Genesis Jacob wrestles with a mysterious stranger (later to be revealed as the Lord) who gave him the name Israel.  Pope Benedict XVI interpreted this incident as a “long night of seeking God, the struggle to learn his name and see his face.” 

The remainder of Salvation history is foretold in the 3 parts of the Covenant that God successfully formed with Abram in Genesis 15, 17 and with Abraham’s seed in Genesis 22.

In Genesis 15, in the first part of the covenant, God promises Abram that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars. This covenant is fulfilled in the Mosaic Covenant when God forms Israel into a nation at the foot of Mt. Sinai in the Arabian Desert.   In the second part of the covenant, in Chapter 17, God promises that he will make Abraham the father of a multitude of nations and that kings will stem from him and he will be given the land of Canaan as a permanent possession.  This covenant is fulfilled in the Davidic covenant when God takes the nation  of Israel and transforms it into a kingdom under David, his heir Solomon, and each subsequent Davidic king—the last being Jesus Christ.  In Genesis 22 the third part of the covenant would be that in Abraham’s descendants, all the nations of the earth will find blessing because Abraham obeyed God’s command.  This is fulfilled when Jesus Christ at his Ascension proclaims to the apostles “go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.”  (Mt 28:19, 20)   The covenant God made with the Patriarchs and the divine plan of forming one people is fulfilled in Christ as the Light of the World is preached to all nations and all are baptized in Christ and become heirs to the promise.

The Faith of Abraham

In Genesis 22, Abraham is tested. Finally he has the son he was promised, even after failing to fulfill the promise himself with his wife’s handmaiden, Hagar.   In God’s time the promise is fulfilled.   Abraham has a son named Isaac.  After years of living with the joy of his life, God comes to Abraham and asks him to offer Isaac up as a burnt offering.  Abraham is heartbroken yet he complies.  “On the third day,” Abraham and Isaac reach Mount Moriah (Centuries later this place will be the location of the city of Jerusalem, where Solomon builds the Temple.)  Abraham is thus the first person to worship God on that site.  Isaac carries the wood for the sacrifice on his back as he climbs up the mountain. (Foreshadowing Christ carrying his cross up Golgotha)  He asks his father where the sheep for the sacrifice is.  And Abraham replies that God will provide the sheep.   (In God’s time He would provide his own son, the Lamb of God as the sacrifice on Calvary.) With a heavy heart Abraham prepares the altar and arranges the wood on it.   Isaac allows Abraham to bind him and he climbs on top of the wood.  (This prefigures God’s Beloved Son who is also bound and climbs onto his cross allowing his sacrifice.)  Ready to sacrifice his son, Abraham somehow believes that his son is to be the source of his future generations.  He now has the faith he lacked earlier when Isaac was first promised to him.  He knows that God will fulfill his promise…that his sacrifice will somehow result in Isaac being raised from the dead, (Hebrews 11:19) fulfilling God’s promise (foreshadowing Christ’s resurrection).  He didn’t know exactly how, but he trusted God to fulfill the promise he made to him.  Just as Abraham is about to kill his son, an angel stops him.  His faith has saved his son.  Just as Jesus is resurrected “on the third day” so too is Isaac given back to his father when God provided another sacrifice (the ram).  Abraham’s faith and trust in God proves to all generations that trust in God will be rewarded.

ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS -- Jesus explains the Scriptures Episode 2

The Promise to Abraham

In the last episode of “On the Road to Emmaus”, we saw how God’s creation turned against him.  How Adam and Eve was tempted by Satan to eat from the Tree of Knowledge.  Satan was the fallen angel Lucifer (meaning “Light-bearer”) who was one of the Seraphim, the highest choir of angels, who see and adore God directly.   But in spite of truly knowing who God was, because of the free will God gave to all of his creation, Lucifer chose pride over obedience to God as he chose to become God’s equal and would no longer serve Him.  The choice of one angel to sin against God was the beginning of the existence of evil.  Satan used his sin of pride as the temptation he presented to Adam and Eve.  He tempted them that if they would just eat from the forbidden tree they would become like gods themselves, promising them that “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.” (Gen 3: 4, 5). 

With this sin, God’s plan for us was rerouted and the beginning of our salvation through his son Jesus was begun.  Throughout the Old Testament, God works through man to bring about this salvation and finally, with the sacrifice of his only Son, we would be brought back to God. 

The beginning of the salvation story starts with a single man of faith, Abraham, along with his wife Sarah.  Abraham proved his faith and obedience to God by leaving his home and heading to a land that God would give him as a new homeland where he would become the patriarch of a great nation.  Through Abraham, God would establish a holy land and a holy people who could stand before God without shame—as God intended when he created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Paradise. The land would be holy because God would once again dwell in that land and walk amongst his people. 

God begins the process of salvation by making a covenant with Abraham in which his descendants will become a great nation that will bring about the “Light to the World”, the salvation that will bring humankind back to God. It is only in Jesus that the kingdom of God is fully proclaimed and initially realized and its final realization awaits the second coming of Christ.

The foreshadowing of this redemption can be found in the Old Testament story about the testing of Abraham.  (Gen 22: 1-18)  After the birth of his long-awaited son Isaac, Abraham was put to the test to prove the firmness of his faith and trust in God’s promise that through Isaac all the nations of the earth would find blessing.  God told Abraham to take his beloved Isaac to Mount Moriah where he would sacrifice him to God.  Abraham was devastated with the thought of giving up his son, yet somehow he still believed in God's promise to him, that through Isaac, his descendants would be as plentiful as the stars in the sky.  Somehow he had that faith and trust, though he couldn’t understand how, that God would fulfill that promise, just as he had fulfilled the impossible gift of his son in his old age.

“On the third day,”** Abraham reached Mount Moriah (later to be known as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem).  Isaac, the faithful son, carries the wood for the sacrifice on his back up the mountain (the foreshadowing of Jesus carrying his cross up Mount Calvary to his sacrifice).  As he climbs he asks his father “where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”   And Abraham answers that “God himself will provide the lamb.” (Gen 22: 7.8)   After building the altar and placing the wood on it, Abraham tied up his son and placed him on the altar.  As he is about to slaughter his only son with the knife, the Lord’s messenger stops him relating God’s message that “I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”   (Gen 22:12)  Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket and offered it instead of his son.  Abraham named the place “YHWH jjreh”–“The Lord will provide”  (the latter half of the word is the Hebrew root word jeru for what will later be called Jerusalem).   God then pronounced a universal blessing upon Abraham, “in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessings themselves—all this because you obeyed my command.”  (Gen 22: 18)

Abraham’s descendants continued to wait for the time when God would himself provide the lamb for sacrifice.  The first time this seemed to be fulfilled was right before the Exodus from Egypt.  The final act that allows the Israelites to leave Egypt occurs when the families celebrate the first Passover meal and sacrifice the Passover lamb.  The blood of the lamb is spread on the doorposts to protect them as the angel of death slays the first born of Egypt.  Israel is saved and in remembrance of this salvation, they have celebrated the Passover annually from that time on. Israel was saved through the blood of a lamb, however they provided the lamb, not God. 

In 2 Chronicles, Solomon built the Temple as a dwelling place for the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, and there were many sacrifices on the spot where Abraham had said that God would provide the lamb for the sacrifice.  Yet these lambs, over the years of faithful covenant to God, were not provided by God either.  And for years Israel continued to wait for the Lamb of God.

Isaiah’s prophecy of the lamb being led to slaughter in the Suffering Servant prophecies (Is 52—53) gave further hope for the long-awaited lamb that would save Israel.

Finally, in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist looked up and “saw Jesus coming toward him and said. ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”’  (Jn 1:29)  On the next day, John was baptizing again with two of his disciples, “and as he watched Jesus walk by, he proclaimed again ‘Behold the Lamb of God.’  The two disciples of John the Baptist (Andrew and John, son of Zebedee) heard what he said and (from that moment on) followed Jesus.” (Jn 1: 35-37) 

Abraham's statement that God would provide the lamb was finally realized. Jesus, the only son of God, entered the world as the "Lamb  of God" who would be sacrificed for our sins and finally bring universal blessings upon all nations just as God had promised Abraham.

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things came to be through him,

and without him nothing came to be.

What came to be through him was life,

and this life was the light of the human race;

the light shines in the darkness

and the darkness has not overcome it.

And the Word became flesh

and made his dwelling among us,

and we saw his glory,

the glory as of the Father’s only Son,

full of grace and truth.

Behold, the Lamb of God!

John 1:1-5, 14, 29

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**“On the third day” Whenever you see this phrase on the “third day” in the Bible, take careful notice. It is an indication of something important that is about to happen in the the Bible story.  For example: On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana…” (Jn 2: 1)  See the previous blog posting: "A MEDITATION ON THE WEDDING FEAST AT CANA"