The Ark and the Cross
Posted By Joe on March 10, 2010
God has been revealing so many awesome things to me from His Word in the past few weeks!
Just like "Of Cords and Ropes," the story of Rahab and the spies, "What's in a Name?" the study of the genealogy of Noah, and the most recent gem "The Mourning of an Only Son," I want to share with you another wonderful passage out of Genesis that ties God's plan of redemption together.
The Construction of the Ark
God commands Noah:
"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.
The King James Version states this passage:
"Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." --Genesis 6:14 (KJV).
This translation works a little better to get at the original Hebrew.
The phrase "and shalt pitch" is the Hebrew word "kaphar." The phrase "with pitch" which is at the end of the passage is the Hebrew word "kopher."
- "Kaphar" means: "to cover, purge, make atonement, make reconciliation" or "to make atonement for."
- "Kopher" means: "price of a life, ransom."
In other words, the Holy Spirit is making a huge pun with this passage. The eight people in the ark are protected from God's judgement by atonement! How is the Christian protected from God's judgment? By the atonement of Christ on the cross!
Dates and Calendars
Later in Genesis, we read of how the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. --Genesis 8:4.
Straightforward enough, right? Although we may not really get what the date is compared to our modern calendar. But that's okay. For our purposes, the calendar in use by the Jewish people was their civil calendar. This would all change in Egypt.
Let's fast-forward to the book of Exodus. God has already sent nine plagues upon Pharaoh and the Egyptian people. The tenth and final plague--the death of the first-born--has just been announced by God. Then God speaks to Moses and Aaron and makes a huge change:
Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you." --Exodus 12:1-2.
This month is called Nisan. Nisan occurs during our modern-day calendar months of March and April. It's the first month of the Jewish new year according to the new sacred calendar, but the seventh month on the civil calendar.
A few verses later, God institutes the Passover. He explains that the people are to take an unblemished lamb for a sacrifice.
"'You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.'" --Exodus 12:6.
Do you see anything remarkable yet?
Jesus was crucified on Passover, the 14th of Nisan. What happened three days later? He rose from the dead on the 17th of Nisan.
What also happened on the seventeenth of this particular month? The ark came to rest on Ararat.
There is no way you can convince me that this was all accidental. There is no way you will ever convince me that men wrote the Bible and put all this together. Impossible! This is nothing but concrete evidence of the supernatural origin of the Bible!
It's my hope that these awe-inspiring gems draw you deeper into God's Word which lead into a greater understanding of God's plan for your life and those around you!
May He Increase!
About the author
Comments
Leave a Reply