In the previous post, we saw how Noah built the ark and stored food for his household and the animals to prepare for the coming flood. We also saw how Lot wasn’t prepared and lost everything. In this post, we will explore what building the ark means and what is the food we are supposed to store for us to be prepared for Christ’s second coming.

Building the Ark

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark [shall be] three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it [with] lower, second, and third [decks.] And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which [is] the breath of life; everything that [is] on the earth shall die. …. Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

Gen 6:13-17, 22

God gave specific instructions to Noah for building the ark which will save from the coming destruction. God even mentioned the type of wood to take, specific dimensions and the exact plan is laid out before Noah. It is important to note that Noah had to build the ark from scratch exactly as God commanded him in perfect obedience to Him.

But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.

Luke 6:46-49

Jesus compares those who hear His sayings and does them to a man who built his house on the rock. Just as Noah’s ark was not affected by the flood, this man’s house which was has its foundation upon the rock was preserved from the destruction of the flood. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus refers to them as ‘wise’. Jesus then compares those who hear His sayings and does not do them to a man who built his house without a foundation. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus refers to them as foolish who built their house upon sand which got destroyed when the floods came.

Jesus is calling us to build our life by having our foundation on the sayings of Jesus and doing them. Our life will be preserved from the coming destruction only if we listen and obey to what Jesus taught.

Storing the food

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven–not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

John 6:53-58

The food that endures to everlasting life is the flesh of Jesus Christ which He gave us to eat. We already saw in an earlier post that the Flesh of Jesus Christ is the Word of God as the Word became Flesh. This is why, we must feed on His Word so that we can abide in Him and He in us, and we can live forever.

“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

Deut 11:18

Just as God said to Israelites to lay up His words in their heart, we are to lay the teachings of Jesus who is the Word of God in our heart.

I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.

Job 23:12

We can see the same way of representation in the book of Job when Job describes about Himself. We are to treasure the teachings of Jesus and store it in our heart.

Conclusion

Just as Noah built the ark that saved him from the flood, we too are required to build our life by having our foundation on the sayings of Jesus by doing them. Our life will be preserved from the coming destruction only if we listen and obey what Jesus taught. Just as Noah stored the food in the ark, we are to treasure the teachings of Jesus and store them in our heart.