Building Materials for Noah's Ark 2/14/14

Good Morning.
 I see Saturday over the top of my glasses. This morning I will be drinking a big cup of Door County Cherry Crème Coffee. And I am going to enjoy it slowly.

This is the last day of a short series on Noah's Ark. I want to focus on one of the building materials listed in Scripture.  PITCH   

One of the best known Bible stories is that of Noah’s ark (Genesis 6:1-8:19). After informing Noah of the coming apocalypse (Genesis 6:13), God provided him with specific instructions regarding how to construct the ark (Genesis 6:14-16). God actually told Noah about the ark before revealing details that seem more pertinent - that a flood was coming (Genesis 6:17) and that he and his family would be spared, the remnant responsible for repopulating the earth (Genesis 6:18). (No pressure in that assignment...). One of the first instructions Noah received was to coat the massive box he was to build with pitch, inside and out (Genesis 6:14).

“Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.” (Genesis 6:14 NASB)

 Most modern translations render the Hebrew word kaphar as “pitch.   Pitch is a black glutinous substance that belongs to the same family as asphalt and bitumen.
Many have seen the pitch used in the ark as symbolic of a greater protection. Genesis 6:14 marks the first time the word kaphar is used in Scripture. Its simplest meaning is “to cover”. It is used 102 times in the Old Testament yet this passage represents the only time the King James Version (KJV) translates it “pitch”. In 73 of its 102 uses, the KJV renders the word “atonement”.

John MacArthur (b. 1939) expounds:

“That word (kapher) in Hebrew is exactly the same word translated ‘atonement.’ It can be either...In the ark of safety, the pitch kept the waters of judgment out. And the pitch in the life of believers is the blood of Christ, which secures us from any judgment. The pitch in the ark was what kept the water out, and the blood of Christ seals the believer from the flood of God’s judgment.” (MacArthur, The Keys to Spiritual Growth: Unlocking the Riches of God, 58)

Our eternal atonement was provided by the blood of Jesus which provided a covering for sin. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (I Peter 4:8 NASB).

The Great Flood Genesis 7

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.

 

Notice the statement. "Come into the ark". It wasn't "Go into the ark". This shows God's love by inviting us to be safe in the atonement of sin through Jesus. He desires to keep the destruction of sin from us. Noah did not have to go into the ark. He chose to go.

 

And you thought that this was just a story about a floating zoo.

 

God bless,

Marty