This celebration of the birth of our Savior, and the means by which he became our savior, stems from some very exciting events which hold deep meaning. The birth of Christ was the beginning of our salvation, but this savior had been prophesied about for many years prior and I've recently found some great info about this covenant God was making with man and a few ways the Holy Spirit connects prophesy and fulfillment. In some of my past blogs, we've seen the typology between the Old and the New...this one will be no different. When we read in Luke's gospel about Gabriel's visitation to Mary and about Mary's visitation to her cousin Elizabeth, we get a good understanding of the start of our salvation and the savior to be born, but there is sooooo much more to it. Luke's gospel has a few underlying aspects that I'd never really known about...things of which a knowledgeable Jew who knew the Jewish scriptures would have understood at the time. Typology is throughout scripture and we see many great saints use it throughout the New Testament. These studies and findings don't distract from Christ, but rather give us the full pool of the Holy Spirit and God...not just the shallow end. The fulfillment of prophesy and parallels in scripture connect us with our creator even more and helps us to understand the earliest of Christians even more!
Typology: We all understand that the Old Testament is filled with history...stories of people and events. A Type is a person, a thing, or an action, having its own independent and absolute existence, but at the same time intended by God to prefigure a future person, thing, or action. You could say that God was teaching the people of the Old about ingredients and then teaching the people of the New how to make a meal using those ingredients...our meal, Jesus Christ.
The early Christians understood that the Old Testament contained types, types that were fulfilled in the New. St. Augustine said (5th century), "the Old Testament is the New concealed, but the New Testament is the Old revealed". St. Irenaeus said (2nd century) that the Old is "...a prophesy of things to come". In Romans 5:14 - "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come"
A few other examples. Look at the Israelites enslaved under the Pharaoh in Egypt. Egypt=type of the world, Pharaoh=type of the devil, and slavery =type of sin, & Moses =type of Christ, raised up from the midst of his own people to rescue them. We know that God became man, like us in all things except sin and Christ rescues us from sin and death, just as Moses brought his people out of slavery. (Deut. 18:15, 18; John 1:11, 17). We dig deeper...Look in John 3:14-15, "And Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting".
In John 3:5, Jesus tells us that we must be born again of water & Spirit (be baptized) and that if we are not we will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. In Luke 3:21 we learn that the spirit, in the form of a dove, came down upon Jesus when he was being baptized...by "water and Spirit". It's funny how the Israelites were saved from Egypt, saved from slavery, and Pharaoh then formed into a new nation...they went down into the water of the Red Sea, the Spirit hovered over their heads in the form of a cloud.
Spirit over the waters....hmm. Look in Genesis 1:1...the world was empty and void and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters...from the waters rose land, and the dust from which we were made. Through "water and Spirit" God creates anew. In 1 Peter 3:20, Peter tells us that Noah and his family were saved by water, which we know washed away the filth of the earth, but he then tells us that the water that saves us doesn't wash away filth of the body, but purges the conscience from sin. Don't forget about the dove that hovered over Noah and confirmed God's promise... Paul of course knows that Moses and the exodus from Egypt are true history and he wanted his brethren to be knowledgeable of that, but the exodus is also a type...a type of Christian baptism and salvation.
In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul tells us that the people in the desert drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, Christ. In verse 6 he starts to tell us to heed the examples of sin set before us and to stay away from these evils that were a figure to us as well. We see Peter comparing God's saving of Noah to teach about baptism, In Colossians 2:11 Paul speaks of circumcision foreshadowing baptism, and in the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5:7 we see that Christ is our Passover Lamb. There are many more examples of biblical typology throughout scripture, but that's not my intention for writing this blog, but it is important to understand typology when reading the Bible and is important when reading about the birth of Jesus Christ to a Virgin.
The Ark of the Old Covenant: As children we all learned about the Ark of the Old Covenant. It was held in the Tabernacle, in the wilderness of Sinai. God expressed that he would dwell in the midst of His people. He chose to do this in a very special way. In Exodus 25 we see God giving specific and detailed instructions as to the proper way to construct the Ark. To be placed in the Ark was a golden jar holding the manna sent from Heaven, Aaron's rod which budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant (Deut. & Hebrews). On the top of the Ark was to be the mercy seat and two golden cherubim who dwell in heaven. Moses finished making the Ark, the tabernacle, and then the glory cloud of the Lord (the Shekinah Glory) covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35; Num. 9:18, 22).
Stephen Ray gives a great explanation of this covering: "The verb "to cover" or "overshadow" and the metaphor "cloud" are used in a special way in the Bible. They represent the presence and glory of God. The spirit of God covered or "overshadowed" the Ark and the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The Greek word for "overshadow" (ἐπισκιάζω or episkiazein) in Exodus 40 is rarely used in the Greek Old Testament. The Holy Spirit chooses his words carefully. Here it is used of the presence of God overshadowing the Ark. The same Shekinah glory cloud also filled the Temple of Solomon (2 Chron 7:1-3)."
What does all of that mean for the New Testament and what does that have to do with the birth of Christ? The same Greek word for "overshadow" is used by Gabriel when he tells Mary that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her and she will bear Christ. The result of this overshadowing is the presence of God in the womb of Mary, like the presence of God dwelling in the Ark in the tabernacle. Do you think the Holy Spirit chose to use the rarely used Greek word ἐπισκιάζω in both places without a reason?
When reading Luke's gospel, like most of the New Testament, we must think like a Jew or have an understanding of the Old Testament, its types and symbols. Luke is giving us a parallel between the Old Testament Ark, as the dwelling place of God, and Mary as the new dwelling place of God...the Word made flesh. Just as God chose a perfect dwelling for Himself in the Old, wouldn't He prepare such a place for His only Son to dwell before birth? I mean, after all, the items in the Ark were objects...very important objects, but objects just the same. This new covenant was Himself made flesh, in a human form to save the world, while fulfilling every little prophesy. Imagine how concerned God would be to prepare a perfect and flawless Ark that would carry the Word of God made flesh…the Second Person of the Trinity. Luke gives us more, yet again. Carefully woven into the story of Mary are other typologies of great importance. We'll see how awesome the Holy Spirit is and how the Holy Spirit challenges us to exercise our brains and our hearts when reading scripture.
We know that Joshua led the people into the Promised Land after Moses' death. Joshua established the Ark in Shiloh, it remained for over two hundred years. During the time of war with the Philistines, 4,000 Israelites were killed which led them to act in fear, disobeying God. They removed the Ark from the temple and carried it to the front lines of the battle. Their disobedience led to the death of 30,000 men and the Ark was taken by the Philistines. Later on in chapter 5& 6 we see problems that led the Philistines to send the Ark back to Israel.
This is where it gets really interesting...The Ark arrived into the hill country of Judea. In 2 Samuel 6, David goes to retrieve the Ark from Cariathiarium and took 30,000 men with him. In verse 5 we see all of Israel playing music of praise to God, but one man decided to touch the Ark, Oza, son of Abinadab and was struck dead. This brought forth fear in David..."And David was afraid of the Lord that day, saying: How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?" 2 Samuel 6:9 David then left the Ark in the hill country for three months. After hearing of the blessings of God, because of the ark, we see that David went to get the ark...dressed as a priest he danced, praised, & leapt before the ark and all of Israel shouted for joy! David then took the ark to Jerusalem.
Now lets jump into the New Testament, back to Luke's gospel. It's believed by many historians and theologians that Luke must have sat and talked with Mary in order for him to be able to record key parts of her story...another word from Stephen Ray, "Maybe it was even Mary that helped instruct the gentile Luke to understand the Old Testament and may have even helped him understand these types and parallels."
In Luke 1:30 we see the angel telling Mary to “Fear Not”, be cause he knew the fear that she had. Also In Luke 1:39 we see that Mary went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judea. She goes to visit Elizabeth and at the moment Mary's voice reached the ears of Elizabeth, the infant in her womb leaped for joy and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Look at what Elizabeth says after being filled with the Holy Spirit, "And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy." Luke 1:42-44
This is a great paragraph, filled with Old Testament references. Mary goes to the hill country of Judea. A bit of geographical info, Elizabeth lived in Ein Kerem and Abu Ghosh is where the Ark was carried...they are not too far away from each other. Point being is that Mary and the Ark were likely on a journey to the same hill country of Judea. Look at David's word's, "Who am I that the Ark of the Lord should come to me?" Elizabeth says almost the exact same words about Mary, "Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" Does the Holy Spirit do these things by chance or is the Holy Spirit using Luke to draw us back to the Old Testament...such as Paul & Peter showing us a parallel in the scriptures.
Look also how David approached the Ark, he shouted out and danced and leapt in front of the Ark. David was also wearing an ephod, a priest's clothing. When Mary, approaches Elizabeth John the Baptist, who was from the priestly line of Aaron, leapt. Both instances are way too similar...Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit shouted out with a loud voice asking what allowed her the honor of being visited by the mother of our Lord and savior, and the infant of a priestly blood line leapt at the sound of Her voice. David, filled with the Spirit shouted out and danced in the presence of the Ark , singing praises to God...which is exactly what Mary did after Elizabeth's words, she gave all glory to God (Luke 1:46).
Also look at the time frame that the Ark of the Old Covenant remained in the house of Obed-edom...three months. In the New Testament we see that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Is this by chance? I would have to agree with the many saints and theologians, over the past 2,000 years, that have said there are too many parallels to credit chance. Look at the fact that the place that housed the Ark for three months was blessed and we see in Luke that Elizabeth uses the word "blessed" three times and one would believe that their home was certainly blessed by the presence of Mary and the Lord within her womb. The greetings are paralleled as well...when the Ark was returned back to Israel, they greeted her with shouts of joy and when Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke of and honored Mary, and she did so by crying out in a loud voice. Another interesting fact is that the word for the cry of Elizabeth's greeting is another rare Greek word. Old Testament liturgical ceremonies that were focused on the ark used the same word. In the Old, this ark was a great thing given by God and treated as such. Anyway, Luke again uses an uncommon word borrowed from the Old Testament...a word any practicing Jew would understand. Was the Holy Spirit using Luke to grab the attention of jewish listeners? I believe so...
So, the Ark has made it back to its home and is taken to Jerusalem where God's presence and glory is revealed in the temple (2 Sam 6:12; 1 Ki 8:9-11). We see in Luke 1:56 Mary returns home and eventually ends up in Jerusalem where she presents Jesus to God in the Temple in Luke 2:22, then she and Joseph receive a revelation or prophesy from Simeon of Christ's greatness and those that He would lift up in Israel....Luke 2:29.
Another interesting side note we can find is that the "Magnificat", or Mary's prayer in Luke 1:46-55, is based upon the prayer of Hannah found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Obviously Mary was knowledgeable of Jewish Scripture. To see the things that the saints and many biblical scholars have found over the past 2,000 years, they had to acknowledge the depth of Scripture, the Jewish nature of the Bible, and the use of biblical typology. This example set before me has opened my eyes and lifted confusion about many events and scriptures.
Sorry, I drift...so, we know that God instructed His people of Israel to listen to Him and to follow Him. We know how important of a role this ark of the Covenant played in the relationship between God and His people. God's spiritual presence was in and around the ark. This ark wasn't to be taken lightly. Using typology and seeing how the writers of scripture used it and how the early Church also understood it, we find out that there is so much that God gives to us. These things give us a better understanding of God and His Son to increase a better relationship with Him. We were created for three things and three things alone; to Love Him, To serve Him, and to know Him. Mary, acting as the Ark of the New Covenant, allows God's perfect will to be on earth as it was in heaven, and gives us God's presense not only spiritually, but physically as well.
Look at the items placed into the ark:
In Deuteronomy 10:3-5 we see God telling Moses to place the tablets of the Ten Commandments, given directly to Moses from the Hand of God, inside. Theses commandments should always be at the heart of their worship. In Hebrews 9:4 we see that two more things were a part of the contents of the Ark...a golden jar holding the manna from heaven and Aaron's rod which budded. I think we can again, all agree that each of these things had a great significance and should remain with the people of Israel and in the presence of God which was in the ark. So, in the ark we have the law written in stone - in Mary's womb we have the word made flesh, given to her directly from God by the power of the Holy Spirit; also in the ark, the urn of manna come down from heaven, while eating it still only gave temporary life - in Mary's womb is the Bread of Life come down from heaven, while eating it gives us everlasting life; last, there is the rod of Aaron, proof of the true priesthood - Mary's womb, the true high priest.
Jesus, the High Priest, is our brother and He gave His mother to John while on the cross and gave John to His mother (John 19:26-27). If you study Hebrew kingship, look how important a king’s mother is and her role concerning the kingdom. She always has a throne at the king’s right side (1 Kings 2:19-20), she was there to support the king and the king's mother had his ear. She is called Gebirah or Queen Mother...you can read about their roles in the books of Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, & 2 Chronicles. Combine the system of historical Hebrew kingships with the kingship of Christ (which was in succession in the house of David) and the New Testament Scriptures concerning Mary. How important would Jesus, the king of kings who sits on the throne of David forever, view His mother? How should His followers view her? Her crowning by God gives her a royal seat and her bearing our savior in her womb, being named “O’ favored one” or “Full of Grace” (Luke 1:28) shows the grace of God being poured into every aspect of her life. She is blessed and every nation shall call her that henceforth (Luke 1:48).
The early Church:
Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296 – 373) was the main defender of the deity of Christ against the 2nd century heretics. He wrote: "… To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O (Ark of the) Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides." Homily of the Papyrus of Turin.
St. Gregory the Wonderworker (c. 213 – c. 270) an early Christian teacher wrote: "Let us chant the melody which has been taught us by the inspired harp of David, and say, "Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest; Thou, and the Ark of Thy sanctuary." For the holy Virgin is in truth an Ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasury of the sanctuary.
St. Proclus (died 446 or 447)
“Let the woman haste hither, for the woman shows not the tree of death, but brings forth the tree of life: the virgins...the mothers also, for the Virgin Mother has amended the tree of disobedience by the tree of life. The female sex is no longer in execration, for it has obtained whereby it shall surpass even the angels in glory. Eve has been healed...and Mary is venerated (adored), because she has become mother and handmaid, cloud and chamber, and ark of the Lord....For this cause let us say to her: Blessed art thou amongst women, who alone hast healed the grief of Eve; who alone hast borne the world’s price” (Orat.iv.and v. In Natal. Dom. P.G. Tom. 65, p.710) (Blessed Virgin, p. 58).
St. Ephrem (c. 306-373)
“With the rib that was drawn out of Adam, the wicked one drew out the heart of Adam. There arose from the rib [i.e., Mary], a hidden power which cut off Satan as Dagon. For in that ark, a book was hidden that cried and proclaimed the Conqueror. There was then a mystery revealed, in that Dagon was brought low in his own place of refuge. The accomplishment came after the type, in that the wicked one was brought low wherein he trusted....Fulfilled was the mystery. Blessed is He who by the true Lamb redeemed us, and destroyed our destroyer as He did Dagon” (S. Ephrem, Rhythm iii, On the Nativity, Morris, p.20) (Blessed Virgin, p. 66).
St. Hippolytus (c. 170-c. 236)
“At that time, the Savior coming from the Virgin, the Ark, brought forth His own Body into the world from that Ark, which was gilded with pure gold within by the Word, and without by the Holy Ghost; so that the truth was shown forth, and the Ark was manifested....And the Savior came into the world bearing the incorruptible Ark, that is to say His own body” (S. Hippolytus, In Dan.vi., Patr. Gr., Tom. 10, p. 648) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).
St. Ambrose (c. 339-397)
“The prophet David danced before the Ark. Now what else should we say the Ark was but holy Mary? The Ark bore within it the tables of the Testament, but Mary bore the Heir of the same Testament itself. The former contained in it the Law, the latter the Gospel. The one had the voice of God, the other His Word. The Ark, indeed, was radiant within and without with the glitter of gold, but holy Mary shone within and without with the splendor of virginity. The one was adorned with earthly gold, the other with heavenly” (Serm. xlii. 6, Int. Opp., S. Ambrosii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).
St. Cyril (315-387?)
“The Ark would be the type and image of Christ : for if we look back to the way of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten, we shall see that it is in the temple of the Virgin, as in an ark that the Word of God took up His abode. For in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, as the Scripture saith. But the testimonies in the ark were the word of God, and the wood of it was imperishable, and with pure and choicest gold was it beautified within and without” (St. Cyril, De ador. In Spir. Et Verit, p. 293, St. Maximus of Turin and other Fathers apply the Ark of the Covenant to the Blessed Virgin Mary) (Blessed Virgin, p. 76).
St. Athanasius (c. 296-373)
“Be mindful of us, most holy virgin, who after childbirth didst remain virgin; and grant to us for these small words great gifts from the riches of they graces, O thou full of grace. Accept them as though they were true and adequate praises in they honor; and if there is in them any virtue and any praise, we offer them as a hymn from ourselves and from all creatures to thee, full of grace, Lady, Queen, Mistress, Mother of God, and Ark of sanctification” (Orat. In Deip. Annuntiat, nn. 13, 14. Int. Opp. S. Athanasii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 80).
St Dionysius (died 264)
“Not in a servant did He dwell, but in His holy tabernacle not made with hands, which is Mary the Mother of God” (Ib. ad Quoest. vii.) In calling Mary σκηνλχειροποιη ο, Saint Dionysius implies that she was of an election and origin altogether singular and exceptional. The word occurs three times in the New Testament (Mark xiv. 58, 2 Cor. v. 1, Col. Ii. 11), and in each case denotes what is of singular and divine origin. See also Heb. ix. 11, 24) (Blessed Virgin, p. 81).
Stephen Ray really sparked this study and I used a lot of his writings, you can get his books on Barnes & Noble’s website. He is a fascinating author and really knows how to word the teachings that have been handed down for 2,000 years! What he writes about has been taught and understood as the Church began and then flourished.
Note:
If you wonder why words are expressed with their greek root or translation, all the while seeing the importance of reading the scriptures like a jew; it’s important to know that 250 BC the Jews translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. It was called the Septuagint and it was the primary Bible used by the Apostles and the early Church.
Thanks for reading and I hope you got as much from this as I did…We celebrate Christ our savior and His birth at this time of year and I just wanted to write what a great role Mary was/is in being Christ's (and our) Queen Mother, who prays for us to our God and was filled with God's grace and accepted Christ before anyone else on Earth...without ever seeing His face.
I pray that all who read this will have a great Christmas and that we may always stay mindful of why we celebrate this season. In the name of the Father, Jesus His Son, & the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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