ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Sapate Sanuali 22, 2023

The Major and Minor Arks

Ko e ‘A’ake Lahi mo e ‘A’aki Si’i

GENESIS 6:14

"MAKE YOURSELF AN ARK OF GOPHER WOOD. MAKE ROOMS IN THE ARK, AND COVER IT INSIDE AND OUT WITH PITCH."

SENESI 6:14

Ke ke fa‘u mo‘ou ha ‘a‘ake ‘aki ‘a e ‘akau ko e kofa; te ke ngaohi ‘a e ‘a‘ake ke ‘ana‘ia, pea te ke vali ‘aki ha pulu mei loto mo tu‘a.

An ark is a tevah - a chest-shaped or box-shaped boat. (The "ark" in "ark of the covenant" is a different Hebrew word.)

There are only two arks in the Bible: one big enough to hold a tiny world; the other just big enough to hold a tiny baby. Noah built his tevah and the mother of Moses built one for him (Exod. 2:3). Both were waterproofed with pitch. The mini-tevah for Moses is usually translated as "basket," though the King James Version (KJV) chose "ark"-and wisely so, because we were meant to hitch these two boats together in our minds.

Noah and Moses floated above waters in which many others drowned. Both were kept safe. Both brought forth a new people for God after a massive destruction. And both are connected with baptism: Noah saved his family, typifying baptism (1 Pet. 3:20-21), and Israel was "baptized into Moses" at the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:2). From ancient times, the church too has been pictured, architecturally, as a boat or ark. "Pulpit," for instance, also means "front of a ship." Baptized into the body of Christ, we are saved, protected, and become part of God's people in the ark of the church.

Heavenly Father, keep us high and dry in the holy ark of your church, safe from the floods that rage around us.