The Second Level of Noah’s Ark

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. (Genesis 6:16)

We have mentioned before the symbolism associated with the Ark and with the numbers having to do with the Ark. The Ark probably is the clearest type we have of the meaning of basic salvation—that of preservation during the destruction that proceeds from the wrath of God.

There is a Day coming in which God will bring to account every action, every word, and every thought of His creatures. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" in that day. No matter how the judgment strikes around us, we shall be saved. This is the covenant of the Lord Jesus. If we step into the Ark, to speak figuratively, and keep ourselves watertight by the blood of the Lamb of God, no judgment will harm us.

From the dimensions it appears that the Ark was shaped long and low, like an oil tanker. It was 300 cubits in length, the cubit being reckoned at eighteen inches. At 450 feet long, it was one and one-half times the length of a football field. There was a hold, probably for the heavier animals, and two decks over the hold.

The Ark was a stable vessel, floating low in the water with the hold under water, the middle and top decks above the water.

The earth and its inhabitants are to be subjected to three periods of destruction. The first destruction occurred during the six-hundredth year of Noah's life. The number six typifies judgment and deliverance, and also the creating of man in the image of God.

The Day of Atonement was the sixth of the Levitical feasts (Leviticus, Chapter 16), portraying God's removal of the guilt and presence of sin from His people. The trumpet of Jubilee was blown on the Day of Atonement, representing the redemption and restoration that comes to those who are willing to receive God's plan of salvation through judgment and deliverance.

The second destruction will take place at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven. Again, as in the days of Noah, there will be salvation for those who "come into the Ark of safety." Divine wrath will fall on those who are occupied with the affairs of this life and are not being obedient to God's plan of salvation.

The third destruction will occur at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. The deceived peoples of the earth will surround the saints of the Lord. Fire will come down from God out of the heaven and destroy the enemies of the saints (Revelation, Chapter 20). At that time the earth and the heaven will be removed. This marks the end of the heavens and the earth as we know them, the creation described in Genesis.

Three periods of God's dealing with man. It is our understanding that the three periods of destruction terminate three significant periods of God's workings: (1) the era preceding the flood of Noah; (2) the time of Abraham and his Seed extending to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and (3) the thousand- year Kingdom Age.

The people of the antediluvian (pre-flood) age had the testimony of Adam and of the descendants of Adam through Noah. The flood was the end of the world for this race, only eight people remaining alive. One of the actions of Christ after His death was to bring the Gospel to the people who died in the flood.

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened [made alive] by the spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (I Peter 3:18-20)

The next major period of God's workings began with Abraham and concerns the Seed of Abraham. In order to understand the meaning of the prophets we must realize that the called-out people of the Lord are one from Abraham to the new Jerusalem. The cross did not divide between Jew and Gentile. By the cross Israel was redeemed and the Gentiles were grafted on the Israel of God.

The Gospel of Christ always is to the Jew first, but in Christ the distinction between Jew and Gentile ceases and the true Israel—the Body of Christ—appears. The Gospel was preached to Abraham. The Spirit of Christ spoke through the Prophets of Israel concerning the salvation that was to come. All the promises of God are to Abraham and his Seed, and that Seed is Christ and those who belong to Christ. The Law of Moses was added until the Seed should appear to whom the promises were made.

One of the most destructive heresies of our day is the teaching that Israel and the Church are two different entities in the sight of God.

The main purpose of the working of God from Abraham until the second advent of Christ is the creation of the Church, the new Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb. Although we of the present age have more of the grace of God than was true prior to Calvary (the body and blood of Christ, the born-again experience, and the abiding of the Holy Spirit in us and upon us), yet we are one with the Israelites who came from Egypt by the hand of Moses.

Every person who is to be of the Seed of Abraham, whether a Jew or Gentile by natural birth, must come to Christ and receive the promise of the atonement and of the Holy Spirit. Every member of the Seed of Abraham must be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of God. There is one Lord, one Spirit, one faith, one baptism, one Holy Spirit, one new man in Christ, one salvation.

There is not one salvation for the Jew and another salvation for the Gentile. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Moses, Elijah, David, Samuel, Paul, Peter, John, you, and I are all the Seed of Abraham. When we receive Christ we receive the Seed of Abraham and become the Seed of Abraham.

The age of the Seed of Abraham began with the calling of Abraham from the civilized city of Ur. The age in which we are living will conclude with the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus, but the Seed of Abraham will just be approaching the fullness of its inheritance in Christ.

The appearing of Christ will be salvation for the elect but destruction for the rebellious of the earth. There is much similarity between the second advent of the Lord Jesus and the flood of Noah.

But as the days of Noe 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 Noe 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)

In those days there arose from the earth a wild shriek of desperation, rage, and despair as the people outside the Ark saw the rain begin to descend and the door of the Ark settle firmly into place by the invisible hand of God Almighty.

So it will be when the Trumpet of God blows and the saints come from their graves. The peoples of the earth will behold the dead bodies of the Christians return to life and ascend majestically into the clouds.

Then the wicked will realize, just as did the mobs of Noah's day, that the door of salvation has been closed to them—closed with a terrifying finality. They will be without hope and without God forever.

What an agony of spirit, soul, and body will be theirs! As the Church rises toward the Presence of God, the judgment of God will rain down torrents of destruction and death on those who have refused to believe and accept the salvation God has offered so lovingly and patiently.

The fire that will accompany the return of our Lord Jesus will purify the righteous but destroy the wicked. The waters of judgment buoyed up Noah and his family but destroyed the wicked. The fire of God today is purifying us from sin and teaching us obedience. One day that same fire will destroy the sinners from the earth.

The same fire that burned away the bonds of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego slew the powerful warriors who threw them into the furnace.

The fire of the Holy Spirit is a fire unto redemption for those who love Christ and keep His commandments. But notice the following!

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. (Malachi 4:1)

There is a fire to destruction.

Just as the top story of the Ark was farthest from the waters of judgment, and just as Abraham was far from the fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, so will it be true that the ruling saints of the thousand-year Kingdom Age will not be harmed by any fire that proceeds from God. "On such the second death hath no power [authority]" (Revelation 20:6).

The fire of God will come down from heaven and destroy the rebellious, but the righteous will continue to "shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13:43).

At the next advent of the Lord Jesus there will be a struggle as the Lord Jesus and His army invade the strongholds of Satan in the earth (Revelation 19:19). At the time of the third and final destruction there will be no need for the saints to fight. The destruction will proceed sovereignly from the terrible hand of God. The rebellious will be consumed completely.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (II Peter 3:10)

By this time (II Peter 3:10) the Church will have reached such a state of perfection that it will be ready to descend from Heaven as a "bride prepared for her husband."

The third major period of God's working has to do with the peoples on the earth during the thousand-year reign of Christ known as the Kingdom Age. There appears to be at least two purposes for the thousand-year Kingdom Age: the perfecting of the Church, the Body of Christ, the new Jerusalem; and the teaching of the laws of the Kingdom of God to the nations of saved peoples of the earth.

We can notice both of these purposes in the Book of Isaiah. As to the perfecting of the Church we have such passages as the following:

And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellers as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. (Isaiah 1:25-27)

A few verses later, we learn of the teaching of the laws of the Kingdom of God to the nations of the earth:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:2,3)

The Lord's elect must be instructed before they can instruct the nations. We see the same principle in the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah where the people of the Lord must become trees of righteousness before they can serve as priests among the nations of saved peoples of the earth.

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees [oaks] of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. (Isaiah 61:3,4)

Each of the three periods of God's working commences with the establishing of God's purposes in Christ, moves toward the maturing of righteousness and sin, and finishes with judgment (the harvest). Each time the sin is more evil and the holiness and righteousness are more pure and perfect. These are the three reapings of the earth.

The Church: the second level of the Ark. The Ark of Noah typifies the Christian salvation. The three levels of the Ark teach us that we can progress from the level of initial salvation to the level of the various ministries and services of the Church, and finally into the realm of kingship and priesthood in Christ under God.

The second story of the Ark symbolizes the level of ministries and gifts, the sharing in the body and blood of the Lord, and the other activities and blessings of the churches as we practice them today.

The Ark portrays the Kingdom of God, that is, all persons who are to be saved from the wrath of God and carried over into the new heaven and earth reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The second level of the Ark represents the development of the Church of Christ from the calling and election of the faith-filled Abraham through to the appearing of the Lord from Heaven.

Notice that all three levels of the Ark were saved from destruction, speaking of the fact that every righteous person—righteous according to Christ's decision—from Adam to the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age will be "saved," meaning that each will be brought over to the new heaven and earth reign of Christ.

The second level, the development of the Church, is very important. The Church is the pupil of God's eye, the Bride of the Lamb, the Temple of God, the new Jerusalem, the Israel of God. The Church is made up of the chosen, the elect of God. She has been called out from mankind to reveal the Glory of God and also to be a "threshing instrument"—a tool with which the Lord will judge mankind and the angels.

Christ loves the Church and has given Himself unto death so the Church may be created on His body and blood. The Church is a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people belonging peculiarly to God, a special treasure of the Lord's.

The efforts of God from the time of Abraham, who attained righteousness by faith in God's promise, to the end of the Christian Era have been for the purpose of creating a sanctuary for Himself. Let every one of us who are the born-again members of the Body of Christ be thankful to God that He has called us by His grace, opening our eyes so we may see the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

There is nothing good we have done that deserves salvation. We have been saved by grace—the gift of God to us through Christ. Let us therefore show our gratitude by living each day for the Lord Jesus, putting His will first in all matters. If we serve God faithfully in this life we will bless the heart of God, and also attain a place of service and responsibility as an ambassador of Christ throughout His realm.

There is a oneness in all Israel, a oneness accomplished by the cross of Christ. Notice, in the following passage, that we Gentiles were taken from the place where we had no provision from God, and now have been made part of Israel so that we may share in the blessings and inheritance of God's elect.

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:11,12)

Before we accepted Christ we were not permitted to be citizens of Israel, we were strangers from the covenants of promise, possessing no hope because we were without God in the world.

By accepting Christ we became citizens of spiritual Israel, heirs of the covenants of promise, possessing eternally both the hope and the God of Israel.

But now in Christ ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)

It is the blood of Christ that makes us part of the Israel of God.

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken the middle wall of partition between us; (Ephesians 2:14)

Formerly there was a Divinely-ordained separation between the race of Israel and the other races of the earth. Now God has revealed that Christ is the one true Seed of Abraham and that every person, whether he or she is a Jew or a Gentile, must be made part of Christ in order to be of the Seed of Abraham. All of God's elect are reconciled to God in one Body—the Body of Christ.

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (Ephesians 2:15)

ONE NEW MAN!

There is one new man. There is not a Jewish church and a Gentile church. There are not Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. There is only the one new man!

Previously the Law of Moses prevented Gentiles from becoming one with the Israelites in the family of God. Paul instructs us that the Law "was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made" (Galatians 3:19).

Now that the Seed has come, the Law of Moses no longer is the covenant between human beings and the Lord.

Through the offering of Christ every person can be accepted under the new covenant. Whether Jewish or Gentile, all must be born again in Christ in order to enter the Kingdom of God. In Christ all are made one and there is reconciliation to the Father. Whether we are Jewish or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor, free men or slaves, we eat the one body and drink the one blood.

In Christ, Moses passes away and our wild Gentile background passes away. We all become one new man. All the Apostles were Jews and the Gospel always is to the Jew first. Yet we Gentiles have been brought into the new covenant by the blood of the Lord Jesus—Himself born of a Jewish mother and nurtured in a Jewish household.

Truly, Jesus is the hope of Israel. When we eat His flesh and drink His blood, whether we are Jewish or Gentile by birth, we become the true and eternal Israel of God.

And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: (Ephesians 2:16)

It is the cross that links all Israel. Those who are Jews by race are bound to one arm of the cross, and those who are Gentiles by race are bound to the other arm of the cross. The cross links together all Israel. There is no more hostility between Jew and Gentile because we have been made one Church by the cross of Christ (Ezekiel 37:17).

And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. (Ephesians 2:17)

We Gentiles were "afar off" from the family of God. The Jews were near. Christ has reconciled us both to Himself by the blood of His cross.

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:18)

It is the Holy Spirit who is the one Spirit of the Church. It is the flesh, or Satan, or both that attempts to divide the Church of Christ—the seamless robe—into Jew, Gentile, Baptist, Episcopalian, Pentecostal, and so forth. In God there is no such division.

If a person possesses the Spirit of God he is of the Body of Christ. His doctrine may be incorrect from our viewpoint or from the Scripture. But if he has the Spirit of God he is part of the Body of the Anointed One, the holy priesthood of God.

We do not add members to the Body of Christ. It is the Lord Jesus who adds members to His Body. When we refuse to accept a Christian because he or she does not conform to our way we are sawing in half what Christ has joined together. Let us cease the wretched practice of dividing the Body of Christ.

Let us accept willingly every man, woman, boy, and girl in whom we recognize the Spirit of God. If we are not sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit that we can discern Him in another person, the fault lies in us. In this case we certainly are not qualified to reject someone because of his or her doctrine. Who knows?—perhaps it is our doctrine that is incorrect!.

We need to grow up in the Lord and begin to bring together the Body of the Lord. The purpose of the gifts and ministries of the Spirit is to bring the Body of Christ to unity and maturity. The Church is the work of the Holy Spirit of God, not our work. Our place is to be obedient. Let us without delay give back to the Holy Spirit His rightful place in the Church of Christ.

Anyone who is not of Israel is a stranger and foreigner. The saints are those of Israel. Israel is the one household of God. When we were unsaved, without Christ, we were not of Israel. Now we have received Christ and are of Israel, of the saints, of the household of God.

Now we are partakers of the blessed hope. Now our destiny is written in Isaiah, Micah, Zechariah, Malachi. Now we have joined the ranks of the heroes of faith, those rugged men and women of God who have marched down through the centuries declaring themselves to be strangers and pilgrims in the earth, looking for the city whose foundation is Christ. Now we are one with Elijah, Moses, David, Daniel, Joshua, Caleb, Paul, Peter, John, and a cloud of lesser-known witnesses who have served the Lord well in their own generation.

Now we are building the highway of holiness in ourselves and through ourselves so that generations coming after us can walk on it without stumbling, making their way up to God. It is a holy way in which we are walking, a path laid out by the bloody steps of the righteous.

Let us also set our face as a flint, despising the shame, enduring the cross, and fight our way up the rocky slopes of Mount Zion. There is a priceless prize to be won. The prize is to hear Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

To hear those words from Him one day will make every pain, every disappointment, every dismay fade away from our consciousness. To see the face of Christ and to meet His approval is all that we ask—all we shall ever need.

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