In this article, we will focus on discovering Jesus and His Kingdom system in the Ark of rest that Noah or ‘Rest’ built.
So, Noah put all his belief, attention and life on an Ark that God had told him to build. My friend, rest only comes by putting all your beliefs, attention and life on Christ Jesus and what He has already done and provided on the Cross. This is because it is a complete and perfect work in God’s sight – Heb. 10:14.
So during Noah’s time, God said He was going to destroy all the half-human half-angel-‘infested’-people from the earth. It was in order to save the real
human beings God had made; and out of whom the “seed of the woman” would descend to crush the head of the serpent or Satan – Gen. 3:15.
Defending His creation
God had to defend His creation from the destructive strategy of the devil. So the flood that God brought to destroy mankind was a way of defending real human beings from the fallen angels and their ‘human’ descendants . This
is what makes Noah’s flood a story of the love of God, in preserving humanity from the devil.
Now, the spirit of these fallen angels have since been bound in chain of darkness – so that they do not come on earth to repeat their diabolic strategy – 1 Pet.3:19-20,
“By whom also He (Jesus) went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water”. Praise God!
The uniqueness of Jesus’ body
So, Noah’s Ark is a type of our dearest Jesus Christ. Just as the Ark saved Noah and his family from the trending destruction and sufferings, so does our Lord Jesus want to do for us now and in the future.
This precious Ark was to be made of Gopherwood – “Make yourself an ark of Gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch” – Gen. 6:14.
Now, the story of Noah is the only place in the Bible where this type of wood is mentioned. Various people have said Gopherwood is the same as the Cedar or Cypress tree.
But, the fact remains that Gopherwood is used only once in the Bible, in making the Ark of Rest, who is Christ Jesus. This fact speaks to the uniqueness of our Lord Jesus’ Body.
You know, Jesus’ body was not the ‘normal’ one that humans have. Let me explain. Human bodies have sin in them, even from the womb. This is because sin is spiritually in mankind’s make-up or heart.
But, Jesus’ body was different because He had no sin in His make-up. Jesus’ body looked like the normal human body. But It was not, in terms of being a sinful flesh; although it looked like it – Rom. 8:3,
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh”.
Yes, Jesus’ flesh had no sin in it, although it had that likeness and was prone to sin, just like that of all humans. Beloved, the Ark was made of Gopherwood, which is unique, because it is mentioned only once in the Bible. Hallelujah!
That made Jesus’ body an uncommon one, as far as sin was concerned. Yes, it was human body alright, but had no sin in it, because His spiritual heart or being was sinless. And that impacted His body, as far as being sinful was concerned. Praise God!
Jesus our Dwelling place
And Noah was asked by God to make “rooms” in the Ark. This alludes to what Jesus inferred in the Upper-room that He was going to ‘the Cross and then to Heaven’ to prepare “a place” or mansions or room for us – Jn. 13:37-14:3.
“Peter said to Him, Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake. Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am there you may be also.”
Rooms in the Ark
Among Jesus’ Upper-room truths that He taught the eleven apostles is the fact that He is the residence of God and would be the residence of all who believe Him, even if they first deny Him; like Apostle Peter was to do by cockcrow.
So, all mankind should not be troubled, even including people like Apostle Peter. You know Apostle Peter verbally denied Jesus thrice, although he had walked closest to Him, and Jesus had even exposed to him His glory – on the Mount of transfiguration.
Thus, all mankind should now only believe that, Jesus went to the Cross (and later to Heaven) to prepare them a place in Him. This was so that He could receive them again to Himself after His resurrection. You know, Jesus Himself said we should abide or live in Him – Jn. 15:7; Col. 2:9-10.
Have your place back
Beloved, you need to under-stand that on the Cross, our dearest Jesus took away all the sins of mankind (past, present and future) on Himself. And this included Apostle Peter’s denial of Jesus thrice.
It was so that anyone who has lost his place or “room” in Him because of sin (including Apostle Peter) might get it back – Mk. 16:7. You know, all humans once lived in Jesus in the eternal past – Ps. 90:1-2; Eph. 1:4.
This gracious provision for mankind included for Apostle Peter, whose sin of verbally denying Jesus thrice, with cursing and swearing, made him lose his place – Matt. 26:74.
My friend, there is so much room in the Ark or Jesus for all, including those who deny Him like Apostle Peter did. How gracious our dearest Jesus is!
The Kingdom posture
Beloved, the Hebrew word translated “rooms” in the story of Noah is also the word for ‘nest’. In other words, the people in the Ark were to take it that they were as baby-birds in a nest.
You know, baby-birds do not work. All they do is rest in the nest, close their eyes and open their mouths wide – and mummy-bird would put food and provisions in their mouth – Ps. 81:10,
“I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it”.
You know, from Egypt God carried Israel as eaglets on eagle wings and brought them to Himself – with the intension that they would embrace His Kingdom system – See Ex. 19:4-6.
So, this is the Kingdom-posture that you have to take once you are in Christ Jesus. You ‘close your eyes’ to the trending judgments in your society and open your mouth or expectations wide enough for God to do for you what
may not be the trending-blessing around you – Phil. 4:19.
Yes, you rest in (not from) your work and God would take care of you. Yes, you have to open your mouth or expectation wide and God would fill it up even to overflow for others to benefit from your blessings.
The Kingdom-order of rest
My friend, when you are in Jesus, there is rest in work just as Noah and his family experienced in the Ark. Even all the animals entered into rest in the Ark. The Lord God let the Kingdom-order of rest settle on the animals, so that they just submitted to Noah and to one another in the Ark. Wow!
So, there was no killing of an animal by the other, which was the survival of the fittest order under which they once lived outside the Ark. But, in Jesus or the Ark of rest was total rest.
The lions never had to kill the lambs and deer. The Cobras did not have to sting any one. A Kingdom-order of rest had descended on all. That is how to live in Jesus the Ark of rest.
Rest with Jesus
Actually, the sign that you are in Christ Jesus the Ark is that you rest, for God to work. This is how the Kingdom system is. My friend, even in Heaven now, Jesus is seated at the right hand side of God, which is a position of rest. And as He is, so are we in this world now – 1 Jn. 4:17.
In other words, if Jesus is seated in Heaven now, so should we be on earth now. This rest posture does not mean that you do not work. It rather means that rely on Jesus’ finished work as you work.
This takes the work out of your work, so that work becomes rest to you, and your focus and boast is in His work or performance for you always. Hallelujah!
We will talk more about the Kingdom-posture in the next chapter.
