The Lord shut him in (Genesis 7:16)

The background of this verse is detailed in Genesis 6 & 7. Accordingly, we get to know that Noah was shut in the ark ahead of the great flood.

As people began to multiply on the face of earth (Genesis 6:1) sin took a parallel course. As a result of the multiplication of sin, the contemporary generation of Noah deteriorated to such a wicked state that the place became a cradle and repository of sin and embodiment of a soul destructive life style. Though, this section of the Bible does not list the type of sins the gravest of them all, sexual perversion is identified. As we know, perversion is the corruption and distorting of something resulting in deviation from the fundamental goal. It could be inferred that the divine gift of procreation bestowed on human beings was demonised to such an extent that people were brazenly in pursuit of (sexual) perversions. Homosexuality, sexual abuses, sex with animals, combining alcohol and drugs with sex etc., are only a few examples of such perversions. Noah’s contemporary generation was depressingly  one step ahead from even the current generation as we are still exploring alien life but during his time the relationship was well established (see Genesis 6:2).

Perversion is adultery at its core and is something intolerable to God – no matter whether it is our personal or spiritual life (though these cannot be separated). For instance, when the sons of Aaron the high priest, Nadab and Abihu, corrupted the ingredients to create unholy fire, they committed spiritual adultery and consequently were consumed by fire from the presence of the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2).

In a situation where corruption, perversion and adultery are a way and part of life, the righteous are decimated. Noah was in such a situation but he swam against the worldly flow by remaining loyal to God (Genesis 6:9). It might not have been easy for Noah to survive in such a hostile world where perverted pleasures were a way and part of life. He might have undergone name-calling, bullying and other forms of abuses. However, one should be assured that Lord cannot tolerate the sufferings of his children as we read in Exodus 3:7: I have observed the misery of my people. Noah never was bowed down or run over by any of these adversities. Instead his ears were trained only to hear the Lord, and his walks as always directed by the Lord (see Psalms 119:105).

There are two times a righteous person is shut in by Lord, during the earthly life and life after death. When Lord shuts us in we are not simply locked from outside but fully covered by Him. In fact, Lord’s covering is for the entire creation, especially the human beings. But, it is for us human beings to decide whether we want to remain shut-in the divine covering or sneak out of it. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden were covered by Lord. But when they walked out of that covering they were exposed (to evil). Psalms 91:4 says that God will cover us under his pinions and secure under His wings. God’s children are covered with the shadow of His hand (Isaiah 51:16).

There are two types of covering in our earthly life, visible and invisible:

Visible covering is for the spiritually weak and evolving persons. For instance, the people of God led by Moses from Egypt were not spiritually strong as we see that their faith was weak. Therefore, as a sign of His assurance, and to build confidence, God provided a visible covering, with pillars of cloud and fire throughout the days and nights of their journey through the wilderness. As the people were spiritually immature, it is said that Lord physically guided them by being in both the pillars (Exodus 13:21).

 Jesus’s physical presence on earth and His physical leading of disciples could be understood as a visible covering. Jesus said, the wedding guests cannot fast when the bridegroom is present (Matthew 9:15; Luke 5:34; Mark 2:19). The physical presence of Jesus Christ warranted full protection to His disciples and ardent followers. In John 11:21 we read Martha grieving to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But Jesus explains to her the importance of having faith instead of merely seeking His physical presence (John 11:23-27). This statement points to the physical presence as a temporary guiding phenomenon and a helping hand so that one may be strong enough to walk in faith rather than being parasitic on physical presence (of God). In light of this, we may want to rethink on our over reliance on (often) stage managed miracles which has become ubiquitous (sorry no offence please).

Invisible covering is meant for those who do not need visible signs and miracles to believe, but lives by faith. Jesus said, a wicked and adulterous generation seeks for a sign (Matthew 12:39). Those who are spiritually- strong, mature, and entrenched in faith do not need physical signs as they experience the spiritual covering more than seeing with their naked eyes. For instance, when Elisha the prophet and his servant were surrounded by the army of King Aram at Dothan, he was unmoved (unlike his servant) as the prophet saw with his spiritual eyes the Lord’s covering which was invisible to the aid (2 Kings 6: 15-17). Whilst, the righteous (Elisha) saw the invisible covering, the less spiritually mature (attendant) could only see the covering (of horses and chariots of fire) after his eyes was opened following Elisha’s prayer. When Saint Thomas insisted that he will only believe after seeing Jesus physically, Lord appeared and encouraged the saint to practice faith without always depending on physical eyes (John 20:29).

The righteous does not need a visible sign but is covered invisibly by own faith. In fact the righteous live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4). The Psalter says, those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved (Psalms 125:1), for Lord covers them with favour (Psalms 5:12), and will never allow his faithful to see decay (Psalms 16:10).

Having said, the life of a righteous, as mentioned above, is not at all a cake walk on this earth (Psalms 34:19). In fact, Bible witnesses the lives of people who lived for God as miserable, especially in the New Testament. Jesus Himself was nailed within 3 years of His public ministry. The disciples had to endure sword, poverty, hunger, thirst, harassment, stoning and several other hostile situations culminating in brutal death (see 2 Corinthians 4:8-10). One might wonder where the cover was during these horrendous sufferings. In fact, it was the cover that enabled them to boldly undergo those sufferings. And, the cover worked as a protective shell of God’s grace, power and support within which the saints are shut so that they could develop and grow themselves fully, and ready for an eternal life with Lord in heaven. Saint Paul foresaw this with his spiritual eyes and prophesied For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Corinthians 5:1).

In the course of our preparation for a heavenly life being shut-in helps us to endure and persevere without fail and fall.  Apparently, this contradicts the message of infamous prosperity gospel which demonises suffering and divinises material well being and worldly glory. True followers of Christ have a different message, of that of willingness and ever ready to sufferings, as they are shut in the love of Christ. Hence the bold statement, for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

To be shut in may be felt as inconvenient and suffocating, especially for those who are framed in their worldly comfort zone. It is essential to realise the worth of being shut in as a process of disciplining ourselves in preparation for an eternal life. Hebrew 12:11 states No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Successful completion of the discipline process qualifies one to be received in the kingdom of God. Saint Paul said, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Timothy 4: 7-8). Jesus asked Saint John to write to the church in Sardis, if you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life (Revelations 3:5).

The second shutting in occurs in our life after death. At the outset, souls of the faithful departed are sent to rest for a while. As evident in Bible, they are shut in again by Lord, now within the holy of holies, under the altar (Revelations 6:9): I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given. This implies that our departed souls have yet another stage of transition before the revelation of final glory, directly being with God. In response to the query of these souls, God ask them to wait for some more time until the numbers would be complete, and this period is termed as resting in white robes (Revelations 6:10). This shutting in could be discerned perhaps as yet another disciplinary process, this time the final preparation to be with Lord and worshiping Him day and night, non-stop (Revelations 4:8).

Yet another example could be found in the parable of rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Here we see that Lazarus is placed by the side of Abraham whereas the rich man is outside and far away from the divine cover. The words of Lazarus are particularly interesting to this topic …between us and you a great chasm has been set in place…. (Luke 19:26), denoting that Lazarus is shut in and not allowed to go out of the covering, even if he wanted to help the rich man.

Being shut in and covered by Lord is in fact not arresting one’s freedom but a better way of being guided to live a spiritually systematic life. As mentioned above, when Adam and Eve walked out of God’s covering, they felt naked and exposed (Genesis 3:7) and had to seek for cover behind the trees. Divine covering is a covenant that we become a private property of God (Ezekiel 16:8). When Noah was shut in divine protection, though there was flood around and little contact with the outside world, still he and his family were safe. However, the moment he walked out of divine protection, was immediately came under demonic attack; and we see Noah exposed and lying naked in bed (Genesis 9:21). On the eve of the grand exodus, the Israelites were shut in their homes and sealed with the blood of lamb in order to be protected from the final plague (Genesis 12:7&13).

Reflecting upon, at the end of year 2016, God’s children may want to assess how much comfort and discomfort they have felt whilst being shut in divine grace. Depending on individual situations we may have been shut in various different ways, by means of being stopped from doing what we wanted to do; were restricted from achieving our worldly aims and objectives; sometimes or often not getting an answer to our prayers or wishes granted; and so on. From a worldly point of view, we may have undergone a lot of frustrations and disappointments. But, looking at the broader picture and the macro environment, we may want to thank God for protecting us from calamities, accidents, diseases and death, losses and debacles. This does not imply that we are better human beings but it is only the grace of God; and of course for a purpose. For all those who are disappointed and frustrated, including myself, let us remember the words of Saint Paul, For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17).

I have used two concepts in this blog, shut-in and covering. This is not to confuse the readers but to convey the message that being shut-in by God is not leaving us in darkness to starve and die. But, whilst we are shut-in, we are powerfully covered by God’s grace, the grace that saw Noah and his family float on the same water which created havoc and destroyed the entire creation. To conclude, being shut-in simultaneously places us under full cover of God.

Let praise be to the Holy Trinity. Jesus is coming soon.