0778. 760. “Shut In”

760. “Shut In”

1. Searching. Six times we have the phrase, “shut him up” or “shut him in” (Lev_13:4-5, Lev_13:21, Lev_13:26, Lev_13:31, Lev_13:33). If there was no doubt about a person having leprosy he was not shut up—Lev_13:11, but was shut out of the camp—Lev_13:46. Is there not a needs be to be shut in with the Lord our Priest, that He may search us that He may discover to us any leprosy of sin?

2. Salvation. “The Lord shut him in” (Gen_7:16). The Lord had first beckoned Noah to “come thou and all thy house into the ark,” and when he had obeyed God’s “come in,” then he knew he was shut in with the Lord, and was as safe and as secure as the Lord Himself. We who are found in Christ are safer than Noah, for we are not in a ship with the Lord, but we are one with the Lord as the member of the body is one with the head.

3. Supplication. “He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord” (2Ki_4:33). The “therefore” tells us why Elisha shut himself in the room, it was because the son of the Shunammite was dead. “He prayed!” How simple and yet expressive are the words. The only way to quicken dead sinners is to get into touch with them, as Elisha did when he stretched himself seven times on the dead body of the lad; and also to get into touch with the Living God by prayer.

4. Supply. “Thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons” (2Ki_4:4-5). Being shut in proclaimed two things, she shut out the world and its help, and she was shut up to God to be supplied. No need is truly met, no progress is ever made, no debt of obligation to the Lord is ever paid, only as we get the oil of the Spirit’s unction by waiting in soul faith on God.

5. Safety. “Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast” (Isa_26:20).

In these words the Lord enjoins His people to protect themselves from danger and judgment. Here is a threefold command: “enter,” “shut,” and “hide.” “Enter” means to enter and abide, and speaks of a deliberate act. “Shut” means to be shut up in the entered place, and embodies the thought of giving one self over, hence a deliberate attitude is suggested; and “hide” comes from a word which means to be dark, hence, to hide is not to be seen. It is in “the chambers” we are to be hid; that is, the enclosure or apartment of the Lord’s presence. Jehovah is our Dwelling Place, and hidden in Him no enemy can find us nor ill assail us.

6. Separation. “Go shut thyself within thy house” (Eze_3:24). Sometimes the Lord puts an embargo upon the lips of His servants, and leaves sinners to their death and doom. He always expects us to be separated from the world of evil, the ways of sin, and the waywardness of the flesh.

7. Secrecy. “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father in secret” (Mat_6:6). The secret life of prayer is the secret of the life of faith, the labour of love, the reality of hope, the soul of communion, the bond of union, the thrill of joy, the calm of peace, and the assurance of victory. The tap-root of prayer finds its feeder in the river bed of God’s being.

8. Service. “When the doors were shut… came Jesus” (Joh_20:19-23). The commissioner in service is Christ. A vision of the Crucified One is essential to service; peace and joy are the outcome of fellowship with Christ in service; and the breath of the Spirit is the power of service.

By: DR. F. E. MARSH