“The Lord Shut Him In”

 I was pondering yesterday about Noah and this morning I went to the account. It reads, “In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in” (Genesis 7:13-16; RE Genesis 5:15).

That last phrase really stuck out at me, “the Lord shut him in.” Noah preached, gathered, worked and prepared for the floods coming. He believed the word of the Lord and when the Lord said to come into the ark he responded in obedience. They didn’t wait. 

At some point, after the Lord shut them in, and the waters rose, many must have desired to enter the ark, but it was too late. The door was closed. The Lord had shut them in. 

In JS—Matthew we read, “But as it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also at the coming of the Son of Man;

42 For it shall be with them, as it was in the days which were before the flood; for until the day that Noah entered into the ark they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage;

43 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be” (JS—Matthew 1:41-43).

So, will the Lord shut in His people in a like manner as He did with the ark? How would that happen? What would it look like in our day? Will there be mass hysteria like Noah’s day as the waters rose? Will hyperinflation hit so hard and the markets drop so rapidly that it will be impossible to get to places of safety? Or will it happen so gradually that it will be almost imperceptible, like the frogs in the boiling water? They won’t even know to get out.

One thing we know for certain. The Lord will come. He has given His people promises. If they look to Him and receive His words, He will guide and protect them. There are a few seeing prophecy fulfilled and acting in faith as they turn to the Lord. There will be a people here who become and receive Zion. 

It appears to me, from these words of scripture, that, “as it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also at the coming of the Son of Man” (JS—Matthew 1:41), that there will be a time where it is too late to get to places of safety. The Lord will have shut His people in. There is a point where we have not listened in faith and it is too late. Our fate is sealed for better or for worse. His sheep hear His voice. I’m praying earnestly that I’m hearing Him and acting in faith to what He shares with me before it’s too late.