The Ark of Testimony

       By ignoring the “one thing” Peter told us to remember concerning the end-times—how God counts prophetic time in terms of His 1,000-year great Days rather than our earthly 24-hour days—we have lost a vital source of encouragement from God’s Word. Hebrews 10:25 says we can see the Day of our Lord’s coming. I might add, we must see it. Why? Because it gives us a sense of urgency in sharing our faith with others.
          When Jesus introduced the rapture and the end of the Days atop Mt. Olivet overlooking the temple, He compared our time with that of Noah’s. “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Mt. 24:37-39).  
       Incidentally, the preceding verse (v. 36) is referring to the unknown day and hour when heaven and earth pass away at the end of the last Day, not the timing of Jesus’ coming. Otherwise, why bother to tell us the signs of His return and warn us to learn the parable of the fig tree to know what time and season we are in?
           Just as Israel missed the signs of Jesus’ first coming, despite the signs being prophesied in God’s Word over and over, many in our generation may likewise miss His second coming because they are too busy living according to the “woke” ways of this world, just like the masses in Noah’s time. Yet we know that God’s Word shall come to pass, whether or not they believe it.
         The final book in our Bible, reveals what shall happen when the snare of that Day comes and they are unprepared. It tells us what shall happen at the last Day of God’s prophetic week, particularly the first 31/2 years of the final thousand-year Day, which is the wrath of that Day.
         The End-Time Lesson: While Revelation is the timely “what” of the age to come very shortly, the book of Hebrews is the timely “how” of this present age. For it contains a timely, urgent message of living in the reality of who we are in Christ. It opens with a reminder of our inheritance in Christ, for we are joint-heirs with Him as His Body, His Church, His Bride.  
         The rapture isn’t about us escaping because the Church cannot deal with the unfolding events of God’s wrath against evil and the Antichrist. We certainly escape the wrath of that Day as promised because we are in Christ. But the primary reason we are taken to Heaven is to be with Christ in Father’s House and before His throne so we can execute that vengeance against evil. We are seated as the heavenly court and the declaration of our inheritance is declared, for all the heirs are present.
       Hebrews 1 quotes Psalm 2, which tells us the essence of our inheritance. “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Ps, 2:8-9). Like Jesus the Head of the Church, we are “begotten” that Day by virtue of the rapture, having overcome death through resurrection. Part of being in Christ, then, means we rule and reign with Him from Heaven. “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
         Which brings us back to the Ark of Testimony. Like our Lord, our lives are to reflect God’s love and ways to those around us. Our timely assignment now is to bring as many lost souls as possible into the Ark that is salvation in Jesus Christ. God’s Word tells us we are living in perilous times. Lawlessness abounds. But in the face of such turmoil, God’s Word also tells us that we can abide in Him, the rock of our salvation. He is our refuge and fortress no matter what comes our way (Ps. 91).
         When we walk in the comfort, hope, joy, and victory that is ours in Christ, we can draw people to the goodness of God. In effect, our time now is training for reigning with Christ from Heaven’s throne and seat of all authority. To do so, however, we need to recognize God’s preappointed times and the seasons, and be watchful as we see the Day approaching, calling as many as we can into the Ark.