As we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'll be conducting a sunrise service for our church. At that service I plan to deliver a short message I'm entitling "Three Early Sunday Mornings". One may wonder about the title? As you will see in this post, the three Sunday mornings I refer to occurred on each of their respective first days of the week or "Sunday". What I find remarkable is when we align the timing of the landing of Noah's Ark, the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, they all fall on the same day, and what would be the same month! This is intentional on God's part in the revealing of His Scriptures, telegraphing to us important theological truths that point to the meaning of Christ's physical resurrection. Let's look briefly at these three early Sunday mornings.
1. The morning of a new life.
1. The morning of a new life.
Genesis 8:1-4
We begin with Genesis 8:1-4,
We begin with Genesis 8:1-4,
"But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. 2 Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; 3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. 4 In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat."
The seventeenth day of the tenth month was per the common civil calendar used by Israel and its neighbors all over the Ancient Near East. That date would correspond to the religious calendar of Israel, revealed by God to her in Exodus 12, when the tenth month (called later "Nisan" by the Jews in the Babylonian Exile a millennium after the Exodus) became the first month for the observances of the festivals God revealed to Israel following her Exodus from Egypt. God revealed to His people that even how they reckoned time was going to be different. The Jews would still use the civil calendar (which is the calendar Moses used in explaining the landing of the Ark, with the tenth month corresponding to what would be the first month for the Israelites in their religious calendar.
When Noah and his family in the Ark landed on top of Mount Ararat, the world as they knew it was no more. All flesh was destroyed. The physical features of earth were permanently altered. God had in effect begun a new creation. When Noah and his family stepped out of the ark, they were literally beginning a new life, in a new world, so-to-speak. F.B. Meyer notes in his commentary on this passage:
"Through God’s grace Noah stepped out into the new world-the world of resurrection. His first act was the burned-offering of consecration, which was followed immediately by promise."
When Jesus raised from the dead, He was indicating a new era of human history had broken into this current age. Although the new era is not a full one yet, it indicates that Christ’s return could be at anytime, with His resurrection heralding the forthcoming new creation. Anyone born again in saving faith is spiritually part of the new creation, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
2. The morning of a new redemption. Exodus 14:24-31; 15:1-21
Our next early Sunday morning features the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. We pick up the text in Exodus 14:24-27,
2. The morning of a new redemption. Exodus 14:24-31; 15:1-21
Our next early Sunday morning features the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. We pick up the text in Exodus 14:24-27,
"At the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”
"Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea."
You may recall the short discussion earlier about the civil and religious calendars of the Jewish people. In that conversation, we saw how the dates on each shed light on understanding what was going on in the timing of the landing of the Ark and what would be later the religious calendar month of Nisan or March/April. We now see the relevance of that discussion unfold here.
The Passover Eve was the Jewish month of Nisan 14 (our March/April). The Jews left Egypt on the 15th crossed the Red Sea on the 16th and saw Pharaoh and their armies around on the morning of the 17th (See Exodus 12, giving us the specific time frame). Moses expounds on this particular order of days in Leviticus. 23:4-6
“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. 6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.”
We have Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The day after the Sabbath, the 17th, would be the Feast of First Fruits, as Moses wrote again in Leviticus 23:9-11,
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
The whole point of the Exodus and Passover was to convey God's redemptive act. No doubt the Israelites saved out of Egypt were beginning a new life and new era in their history. We see what theologians call a "typological connection", whereby an event, people group, person, or institution in the Old Testament pictures or foreshadows something about Jesus and salvation in the New Testament. Noah and the Ark do this "typological" messaging (compare 1 Peter 3:18-21). The Exodus from Egypt does the same, pointing ahead to Christ's redemptive work on Calvary, as well as His resurrection.
We see the Old Testament festivals like First-fruits and Passover used of Jesus in the New Testament. For example, redemption once and for all accomplished is done so by Christ our Passover, as relayed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:7, as well as His resurrection from the dead as detailed in the image of Jesus as our first fruit (1 Cor 15:20-23).
3. The morning of a victorious
3. The morning of a victorious
announcement. Matthew 28:1-7
We've seen our first two Sunday mornings, with the landing of the Ark of Noah on the 17th day of the tenth month, corresponding to the Jewish religious calendar month of Nisan (our March/April) and hence the whole Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread/Feast of First Fruits festivals. The landing of the Ark conveyed the beginning of new life. Then, with the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread/Feast of First Fruits festivals begun in Exodus and Leviticus, we see those festivals, along with the earlier revelation about the Ark telegraphing not only the theme of "new life", but also "redemption". After all, the Exodus is the standout example of a typological or foreshadowing connection to Jesus death and resurrection. We now come to our final early Sunday morning, the main fulfillment of those two earlier ones.
We've seen our first two Sunday mornings, with the landing of the Ark of Noah on the 17th day of the tenth month, corresponding to the Jewish religious calendar month of Nisan (our March/April) and hence the whole Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread/Feast of First Fruits festivals. The landing of the Ark conveyed the beginning of new life. Then, with the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread/Feast of First Fruits festivals begun in Exodus and Leviticus, we see those festivals, along with the earlier revelation about the Ark telegraphing not only the theme of "new life", but also "redemption". After all, the Exodus is the standout example of a typological or foreshadowing connection to Jesus death and resurrection. We now come to our final early Sunday morning, the main fulfillment of those two earlier ones.
I call that first Easter morning "the morning of victorious announcement" because of what we read in Matthew 28:1-7,
“Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
Notice how the text begins "early on the first day of the week". It is after the Sabbath, which would have been a Saturday of course. Passover began on Thursday evening and carried into Friday according to the Jewish custom of the first century. Jesus was crucified on Friday or at Passover time, fulfilling the typology of the Passover Lamb of the Exodus. He then on Saturday did quite a bit in proclaiming victory and salvation to the fallen angels in Hades (who had by the way been part of rebellion preceding the flood! See 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6; 1 Peter 3:18-20).
It was then on Sunday, the 17th of Nisan (again our "March/April" time frame) our Lord arose. This 17th day of the month is the same date as the landing of Noah's ark and that of the Israelites setting foot on the other side of the Red Sea. In other words, this final Sunday morning fulfilled the typology or foreshadowing symbolism of the landing of Noah's Ark and the Exodus. New life. Redemption. The two themes are brought together at the empty tomb! Christ physically raised from the dead. All who by grace through faith trust in Him begin anew and are redeemed. May that be said of you dear reader. Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."
