Ark of Refuge

Why its has taken this long for this excitement light bulb to go off, but now that it shines, it is one of those things you can't help but speak of...but if you had a clear understanding of what the ARK looks like for the end of time, a safety that would save you from destruction of this world by fire - wouldn't you want to invite people to get on? Most everyone reading this likely knows or at least has heard about the biblical account of the flood that came and washed away the antedulvian world. Noah was divinely warned of the destruction that was coming upon the earth, and by faith he moved with Godly fear and built an ark (a vessel for protection) for the saving of all that would go in. Okay. So why is this story so significant to us?

"But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:37-39

It is so significant because there is a parallel between the message of Noah and the message of Revelation. It is so significant because according to Revelation we are living at a time in earths history when we are divinely warned of another destruction coming upon the earth, only this time by fire. It is so significant because only 8 people believed and got on the Ark, while the tens of thousands of people stood outside, mocking and deriding the faithful few within. It is so significant because we have here a prophecy from the mouth of Jesus himself, that tells of a uncanny similarity of the state of the world before the flood, and the state of the world before Jesus returns.

It is so significant to us because we see the same reasoning of philosophy in our day that banishes the fear of another coming destruction. Have mercy!! So what is the Ark of Refuge or Safety for us now? Surely it's not another boat, or a fire wall around our home? And if we were warned as were those in the days of Noah, would we be brave enough to get on, while the mass majority stood mocking, scoffing and hurling insults?

Stay with me...an ark simply means a place of protection or security; a refuge. In Noahs day that looked like a big boat strong enough to ride out the tossing sea of water. But the bible speaks of another place of refuge, and it will be the only safety for those living at the end of time, during the most deceptive and godless time in earth's history, yikes! The short answer is that its found in the Most Holy place of the Sanctuary, more specifically, the ARK OF THE COVENANT. Sanctuary also means a place of refuge or holy place. The sanctuary in the old testament was a physical representation of God's plan to bring men and women back into a face to face relationship with God. The plan of redemption of how God is taking care of the sin problem. Why is this significant now? Wasn't the sacrifical system done away with when type met antitype at the Cross...Christ became the lamb that was slain to take away our sins! Yes - indeed it was done away with...but the significance of the sancutary didn't end when the lamb was slain. In the sacrifical system of old, after the lamb was slain, the high priest took the blood into the holy place where every article of furniture pointed to the future ministry of Jesus on our behalf...the table of shew bread ("I am the bread of Life"), the altar of incense representing the prayers ("no one comes to the Father except through me"), and the candlesticks ("I am the light of the world")...then one day a year called the day of atonement, the High Priest went into the Most Holy Place to cleanse the sanctuary of all the blood that accumulated throughout the year...inside the most holy place you find the ARK OF THE COVENANT... inside the ark lay the tablets of stone with the moral law written by the finger of God, which is a perfect represenatation of God's character of love...the first 4 commandments showing how we love God, and the last 6 commandments how we love others. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. “This is the first and great commandment. “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37–39).

Okay - i hope I haven't lost you yet - why is this significant? After a terrifying warning of destruction by fire in Revelation 14:10,11 - John writes of the class of folks who "get on the ark" persay...the Noahs at the end of time who stand through the most brutal persecution of all time...and who are they??

Revelation 12:17 "And the dragon (Satan) was wroth with the woman (God's people), and went to make war with the remnant of her seed (the Noahs of our day), which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."  Satan hates these people. Hates them.

Revelation 14:12: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus” .

The Noah's are the group of people who keep the moral law of God and have the same testimony as JESUS while living on this earth!! What is the testimony of Jesus? A faith that overcomes sin. I want that testimony. Am I actually saying that we messed up human beings can overcome sin and perfectly keep the moral law? Yup. Wait, doesn't that sound legalistic, arrogant and blasphemous? Not if you rightly understand what I am saying. NO ONE can overcome sin, nor keep the law perfectly without Jesus' atoning sacrfice...of course! However, there is one commandment that was instituted at creation for all mankind, and it is the command that God established to be the sign that we put our trust in HIM to wash us from our sins, to save us from the penalty of sin and the destruction by fire, its the one commandment that we were told not to forget, the one that was given as a perpetual sign between the created and the Creator that HE saves us, we place our trust in God to save us NOT our ability to save ourselves through works - and we show this by turning off the world one day a week. What peace we often forfeit by neglect of this precious command!!

So the way we read it, Revelation 14:6-12 is none other than the recipe for safety in the end of time...its a clarion call to worship God our Creator, to bring glory to him not because there is anything good in us, but because of what HE is doing in us and we do this by the weekly memorial in resting from all our works! Hello!?! The Sabbath is our safety. We honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy because God said, "Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them." Ezekial 20:12 Its never been about trying to save ourselves by keeping Sabbath holy, its always been about entering into His weekly rest as a sign of our trust in Him to redeem us from sin and destruction by fire!!

There is a counterfeit ark, a counterfeit sabbath...one that will use force, coercion, deception and fear to get everyone on board. The bible calls this the Mark of the Beast. Nope it isn't a microchip in the forehead or hand...its the belief (forehead, or frontal lobe) or the act to go along to get along (in the hand) when the false sabbath is forced upon all nations. Keeping the Sabbath holy is not a matter of life or death now, but if how we read revelation is true, then in the not so distant future, it will become the test of true faith in Jesus Christ. A law is being agitated right now to enforce a Sunday rest day...sounds good right...but oh please don't be deceived, there is no safety in the law of man...no morality, no blessings of obedience. As in the days of Noah, may we be the Noahs of our day, the brave ones who get on the ARK of mercy in honoring the covenant of grace symbolized in the weekly Sabbath rest.

 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Exodus 20:8-11

When was the last time you asked yourself why most Christians keep the first day of the week holy (or maybe they don't keep it holy, but they go to church on Sunday?) and not the seventh like His law asks?