By Leon Bent –
“Bestir thyself, Lord…and awake; do not banish us from thy presence forever…prostrate, we cannot lift ourselves from the ground. Arise, Lord, help and deliver us.” With these words we begin our study of what God has done to help and deliver us.
Several generations after Adam and Eve’s time, mankind as a whole, had become very wicked. All humankind was to be banished for ever from God’s presence. But no! A second Adam was promised, and God began to prepare mankind for His coming. For this the world needed to be cleansed from sin, so God decided to wash it by sending a great Flood.
It rained and rained for forty days, while Noah, his family and a pair of every living bird and animal were secure in the Ark. The waters prevailed for a hundred and fifty days. Immediately afterwards, Noah built an altar and offered a sacrifice in thanksgiving for the safety of living creatures that were with him. And, God made a “covenant” with Noah and promised him that He would never again destroy life on earth.
The flood water is a type of the water of Baptism, a prophetic symbol. The ark is a type of the Church. The ark contained those who had been given the opportunity of a new life by the flood waters. On the other hand, the Church contains those who have been the opportunity of eternal life, by the baptismal waters.
After Noah was free from damnation God made a covenant with him, as a sign of his fidelity and friendship, in response to Noah’s offering a sacrifice in thanksgiving. We also offer a sacrifice in and through the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass. During the Consecration at Mass, we listen to the words: “a new and eternal covenant” – a perpetual assurance of God’s faithfulness and love. On Holy Saturday night, during the Easter Vigil, we should remember the words of water and sacrifice.
The next stage of preparation for the coming of Christ, the Messiah, God chose His ancestor in the person of Abraham: “Go forth out of your country and from your kindred and come into the land which I will show you.” So, Abraham was separated from the rest of humanity; he became a chosen person. And, God promised that his descendants would be a chosen people.
Now, for many years Abraham had all sorts of travels and adventures, and not a few battles. One such case was the rescue of Lot in Damascus when he freed his nephew from the clutches of fierce neighbouring tribes. When the chosen one was returning to his hometown, the king of Jerusalem, called Melchisedech, came to meet him, and quite remarkably, he was a priest. He offered a thanksgiving sacrifice of ‘bread and wine.’ This is the only instance in the Old Testament when such a sacrifice was offered, by a person who was both, king and priest. Clearly, Melchisedech was a type of Jesus, the true Kind and true Priest, who offered a genuine Sacrifice of Bread and Wine, which we commemorate in the Eucharist, to the present day.
When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, even though he did not have a son, God made another promise to him: “I will make a covenant with you. I will give you posterity like the stars in the sky.” Then God instituted a sigh of this covenant – circumcision. The covenant was sealed in blood. Abraham and all his people were circumcised. By this covenant cut in blood, they were brought into a special relationship with God. It is absolutely vital for us to know that we, too, have been set apart for God, through the new and eternal covenant, sealed in blood – the Blood of Christ shed on the Cross. “This is My Blood of the New and Eternal Covenant,” Jesus asserted at the Last Supper, referring to the Blood he would shed the following day, on the Cross on Mount Calvary.
We now turn to Abraham. A year after God made a covenant with him Isaac was born the circumcised on the eight day. From this boy a great nation would be formed, the ‘Chosen People’ according to God’s promise. However, quite incredibly, God ordered Abraham to offer Isaac, his only son, on whom all the promises rested, in sacrifice on Mount Moriah. But, God providentially offered Abraham a ram instead. Is not Isaac a perfect type of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who carried a Cross of wood uphill, on which he was to be sacrificed?
Nevertheless, Abraham’s fierce faith in God must also be brought to mind when we celebrate the Paschal Vigil. For, our faith too, is the foundation of everything God has done for us. It is indisputably, the first ingredient needed for Baptism, a sacrament which is part of the Easter Vigil Service.
When Abraham died, God renewed the promise to Jacob that his descendants would be the “Chosen People;” and God changed his name to Israel. This is why the Jews were called “The Children of Israel.” One of Jacob’s twelve sons, Joseph, a high ranking in Pharaoh’s Court, was called in the Egyptian tongue: “The Saviour of the World!”
We see a remarkable likeness to Jesus, our Lord. Joseph, in fact, is one of the clearest types of Christ to be found in the entire Bible. There are several striking resemblances between Joseph and Jesus. The most important is that Joseph used his power as the overseer of putting Pharaoh’s famous dream into concrete action: the seven years of plenty, which were to be followed by seven years of famine. Jesus used his authority to offer bread to thousands and thousands of starving people. Jesus fed five thousand men, not including women and children when he realized they were hungry after listening to his preaching for hours on end. Jesus offers us Bread even today, but, unlike Joseph’s bread, this is spiritual food for the soul. For, Jesus is the “Bread of Life.” At every Eucharist, the Priest-Celebrant offers Bread from heaven, as the “real” Body and Blood of Jesus. We shall receive this transubstantiated Bread and Wine as the Body and Blood of Jesus, at the Triduum of Feasts on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, (at the Easter Vigil) and on Easter Sunday.
You and I are benefitting from the “Promises” made to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, down the ages! Jesus replaced the Patriarchs of old, with His own Son, the Redeemer, who made a covenant with us, sealed in blood and ratified in sacrifice!
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.