The Price of a Life

Each year, as we approach this season, we are reminded of Noah and his family and the account of the great upheaval . . . the judgment and deliverance that were dispensed by Father God’s ‘two-edged sword’ . . . and the bringing together of the ‘beginning and the end’ of the Gospel picture within the pattern of the Feasts of the LORD.

In the account of the great flood we can see, most clearly in the Hebrew, the inseparable partnership of Passover and Yom Kippur . . . the reconciliation and the covering, the beginning and the end, the ‘First and the Last’.

We know it is old news for some, but this always intrigues us when we think on this passage – Genesis 6:14 “ . . . Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”

In the english it reads “ pitch it within and without with pitch” . . . The first use of the word ‘pitch’ is the hebrew word ‘kaphar’ ( kippur ) which means to cover or atone . . . the second time the word ‘pitch’ is used in the verse is the word ‘kopher’ which means ‘ransom’ or ‘the price of a life’ . . . the word translated ‘within’ is actually the word ‘bayt’ – ‘house’ .

So this passage can literally be translated –
‘ cover the house, and outside – the price of a life . . . ‘
( Exodus 12 speaks to us of the ‘covering of the house with the Blood of the Lamb, the door being shut, those inside are safe, but outside – the price of a life’ . . . )

The word for ‘rooms’ in Gen. 16:14 is the Hebrew word for ‘nests’ . . . sounds a little more personal and intimate than just ‘rooms’ , doesn’t it . . . but it is more than that. Birds have nests, don’t they ?

Hosea 11:10 “ They will walk after the LORD, He will roar like a lion; Indeed He will roar, And HIS children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes,” declares the LORD.
Psalm 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, ( fowler – the one who hunts the birds ) . . .

And what is ‘gopher wood’ ? . . . don’t know . . . but we do find this interesting . . . the word for ‘wood’ ( etz ) is the also the hebrew word for tree or stake . . .
the word ‘gopher’ is spelled gimel peh resh ( or GPR ) . . .
the word ‘ kaphar’ or ‘kippur’ is kaf peh resh ( or KPR ) . . .

See any similarities in the words ? Hummm . . .

(In the hebrew, the gimel and the kaf are very, very similar.
the computer is not cooperating else we would show the Hebrew letters themselves)

Is it ‘gopher wood’ or is it a picture of the ‘wood that is involved in the covering’ because of what ultimately takes place on that tree ?

Galatians 3:13 “ Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: . . .” ( Deut 21:23 )

We find it interesting that since a ‘tree’ was involved in the original problem, it follows suit that a ‘tree’ would be involved in the ‘cure’ . . .

Genesis 3:17 Then to Adam GOD said, “Because . . . you have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground . . . “

2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

In the Gospels, John the Immerser declares – “ behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” ( john 1:29 ) . . . we believe that to be a ‘two-part’ statement.

Where does it say that a lamb takes away sin? The goat was used for Yom Kippur, not a lamb. The ‘lamb’ is the ‘shelem’ – the peace offering – that which reconciles two that are separated or at odds with one another. The two goats were the offerings for the Day of Atonement and the lamb is the reconciliation. Yeshua is both the two goats and the lamb . . .

And although Father YHVH ‘would that none would perish but that all would come to repentance,’ He only covers ( kippur ) those that are His . . . and we become HIS by being reconciled back to Him by and through the blood of His Son, according to the Bible. Only when we accept His Reconciliation ( Yeshua, Our Peace) can we be covered.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by is life.

Revelation 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Is there anything in our lives that has separated us or ‘put us at odds’ with our Heavenly Father or one another ? If ‘no’, you are a rare individual in a rare position. Most of us would have to answer ‘yes’ to that question. Now would be a really good time to clear things up.

Do you want more of the Father and His Holy Spirit in your life and the life of your family ? Ask HIM what needs to change so there is more room for Him . . .

Sukkot ( Feast of Tabernacles ) and the ‘Eighth Assembly’ are the culmination of God’s holidays/holy days. Sukkot is the ‘family reunion of all times’ and the 8th Assembly is the first day in the New Kingdom. How do we get to be part of HIs Kingdom and His family ? We come in at Passover. We come in through the Door, Yeshua/Jesus. The day you accepted Yeshua/Jesus as your personal master and saviour, the day you repented and ‘believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth that YHVH raised Him from the dead, that day was your Passover. And once we’re in, the ‘sin’ has to go. We can’t come into the presence of YHVH God our Father at The Homecoming with sin. He cannot abide sin, and sinful flesh cannot stand in His presence. So we accept His Kippur – His covering – the blood and body of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus the Christ.

Now we can enter His presence unashamed and unafraid . . . for He sees us through the Blood of His Son, The Lamb of God, the One that takes away the sin of the world . . . the Reconciliation and The Atonement, the Shelem and the Kippur . . . the One Who was born to die and live again . . .
for me and for you.
So, as we ‘afflict our souls’ on this day, may we remember His affliction, His suffering and shame taken on Himself for me and for you.

“I have been crucified with Messiah; and it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. (Gal 2:20)

His Shalom to you and yours on this most holy day.

B’Shem Yeshua – In Jesus’ Name – Amen