Genesis 6:14 “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.”
I
find literary devices fascinating, where one thing represents another. A symbol is defined as something that
stands for or represents another. That is why, when I read that
it may be surprising to learn that God’s instructions to Noah concerning the
Ark’s design contain the first reference in the Bible to the great doctrine of
atonement, I immediately wanted to know more. The Hebrew word used here for
pitch (kaphar) is the same word translated “atonement” in many other places in
the Old Testament. But, what exactly is atonement?
The
1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “atonement” as: 1. Agreement;
concord; reconciliation, after enmity or controversy. 2. Expiation;
satisfaction or reparation made by giving an equivalent for an injury, or by
doing or suffering that which is received in satisfaction for an offense or
injury; with for. 3. In theology, the expiation of sin made by the obedience
and personal sufferings of Christ. Jesus paid for our sins.
I
read that while the New Testament word “atonement” implies reconciliation, the
Old Testament “atonement” was merely a covering (with many applications). As
the pitch was to make the Ark watertight, keeping the judgment waters of “the
Flood” from reaching those inside, so, on the sacrificial altar, “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for
the soul” – Leviticus 17:11,
keeping the fires of God’s wrath away from the sinner for whom the sacrifice
was substituted and slain. The pitch was a covering for the Ark, and the blood
was a covering for the soul, the first assuring physical deliverance, the
second spiritual salvation. However, not even the shed blood on the altar could
really produce salvation. It could assure it through faith in God’s promises on
the part of the sinner who offered it, but “the
blood of bulls and of goats” could never “take away sins” – Hebrews 10:4.
The
article explained that both the covering pitch and animal blood were mere symbols
of the substituting death of Jesus Christ, “whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation (an acceptable substitute and sacrifice) through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God” - Romans 3:25. Through
faith in Christ, our sins are “covered” under the blood, forgiven by God, and
replaced by His own perfect righteousness, by all of which we become finally
and fully reconciled to God. By faith, we find salvation in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone and eternal life in His resurrection. It is finished! Atonement is the gospel truth of the cross.
Romans
5:10 “For if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
Blessings
in Christ
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