The Hidden Meaning of "Pitch" in Noah's Ark | Genesis 6 Bible Study

Welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a 30-minute walk through the Scriptures, teaching in-depth Bible truths that change people's lives. Now, here's your host, Les Feldick. Good evening. It's good to see you all back again, and let's just pick right up where we left off. The Bible says, let's buy up the time. We have to use every minute we possibly can, Genesis chapter 6. And now, let's come back, if you will, to verse 13, and just to recap a little bit. Remember, we mentioned last week that the standard of living, the technology here just before the flood was probably equal to or even surpassing where we are today. And I know this is something hard to swallow for a lot of people, but nevertheless, some of the... Well, for example, the legend of the sunken city or the sunken continent of Atlantis. I don't think that's all just fabrication. I think there was a civilization of Atlantis, and God saw fit to just totally remove it from the scene. But whatever, along with their tremendous standard of living, their technology, morally, spiritually, as the Bible said, they'd become so corrupt, they'd become so wicked, they'd become so violent. Murder was just running rampant, and God said, I'm going to have to bring it to an end. All right, and let's pick that up then in verse 13, where God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Now watch that last prepositional phrase. He's not just going to destroy man. In other words, it isn't just a matter of killing the life, but He's going to destroy the planet. The whole surface of the earth is going to be totally, I like to use the expression, turned inside out. It's going to be totally, and we'll see that in just a little bit. Now verse 14. Now the instruction then to Noah is, Make thee an ark of gopher wood, room shalt thou make in the ark, and you shall pitch it within and without with pitch. Now I never like to just hurry through these verses in the Old Testament, because as Paul says in Romans 15, all these things were written for our learning. Now I always maintain you don't get doctrine back here, but we get the learning. We get the foundation. And I like to make the analogy between Bible study, or becoming a Bible student, and our secular education. How many computer scientists would ever become a computer scientist without third and fourth grade arithmetic? It's impossible. And so no matter what professional discipline someone ends up in, he had to get his basics of education back there in grade school. And it's the same way in the Scripture. In fact, it's rather interesting. For years I had a good missionary friend, and they'd go to these tribal people, the uncivilized people, and they'd immediately approach them with the Gospel of Mark. And for a long time when he'd come home on furlough, I'd question that. I said, How can you approach these people, totally ignorant, immediately with the Gospel and have them comprehend? Well, he said, It seems to work. But it must not have, because here a few years ago, and I like to think I may have had a part in it, that mission board went to the, what they call, the chronological teaching of the Bible. In other words, they take these uncivilized people that they've brought out of the jungle, and they begin to reduce the language, the writing, and it's a long process. But they're finding that it works, and they do. They start back in Genesis, and they take these ignorant, uncivilized types, and they teach them the whole chronological unfolding of the Old Testament, bring them into new, and then they present the Gospel. And I agree with that wholeheartedly, because I've had people come into my classes who knew nothing of the Word of God. Well, the first thing I do not do is try to twist their arm to be saved, because I just don't think that this is the way to do it. There has to be a time of preparation. The Holy Spirit has to do His work. And so I don't get in a hurry. I've had some instances where people came to my class for a year, a year and a half, two years, before they actually got to the place where they were ready to make that step of faith. But whatever, Noah now is being approached with God to do something that has never been done before, and that is to make an ark or a boat that would survive a flood. Now you want to remember, it's never rained before. But what made Noah do it? Let's go back again to that book of Hebrews chapter 11, and we call it the great faith chapter. Go back to Hebrews chapter 11, and we might as well use verse 6. We allude to it quite often. Hebrews chapter 11, dropping down to verse 6, but without faith it is, what, impossible to please God. No matter how good we are, no matter how schooled we are, how everything else we may be, if there's no faith in it, God will have nothing to do with us. He demands faith. All right? So without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Now then, verse 7, we have an example. For by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, what's he talking about? He had it never rained. How can you have a flood if it's never rained? Remember that Genesis chapter 1 told us that the earth was watered from beneath, and there was no weather. It was a perfect environment, a perfect climate. It was constant from pole to pole. Remember all that? We studied it way back in chapter 1, and now all of this fits that perfectly, that how can there be a flood if it's never rained? But God said there would be. And now come back to the verse. For warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, and by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. So now to answer my own question, what prompted Noah to build the ark? Faith in what God had said. God said, Noah, build an ark. And what'd Noah do? He built the ark. Now this is the perfect lesson then of the obedience of faith throughout all Scripture. When God told Cain and Abel to bring me a blood sacrifice, what did Abel do? He brought a blood sacrifice. Cain, disobedient, destitute of faith, said, I'll take something else. But see, all the way through Scripture we have these examples, and chapter 11 covers most of them, we have these examples of God telling someone something, and that person believes it, and God counts that believing for that man's righteousness. Now this flies in the face of a lot of people's thinking, I know it does. But this is what the book says. This same chapter 11 of Hebrews says, By faith Abraham. When he was told to leave Ur and to leave his family, what did he do? He left. And by his faith, God called him a righteous man, see. It doesn't say anything about Abraham offering sacrifices, or Abraham entering into the covenant of circumcision, and all came later. But Abraham believed what God said to him. Now we discovered that in our class in Wilburton just last night, so it's fresh on my mind. So what is the obedience of faith for us today? Now we're told, Believe that Christ died and rose from the dead, and now shalt be saved. And what are we to do? We're to believe it. And when we believe it, what does God do? He calls us righteous. Now that's the whole concept, then, of faith. All right, so verse 14 then again, if you'll come back to Genesis chapter 6, God gives him the instructions for the building of this ark, might as well call it a boat. But on the other hand, remember, it's not a boat that's going to travel someplace. It doesn't have to have the pointed bow. It doesn't have to have anything to propel it. All it's going to have to do is survive. So I like to think of the ark not as most people think of the ark, and everyone I've ever had in my classes, immediately I can tell by the smile on their face, when you mention the ark, visions come into their mind of those little pictures they saw back in Sunday school as a kindergartner, and you saw that little old round tub with a little old box-like shed in the middle, and out in the front was the giraffe with his big head sticking up. And you saw the ark. Isn't that your picture of the ark? Sure it is. Everybody has that same immediate mental picture of the ark as this little boat-like thing that had a little shed in the middle and a few animals on it. Listen, that was not the ark. The ark was a rectangular box for all practical purposes, but God was going to make sure that it would be built in such a way that it would survive the awful events of this coming flood. And I'll tell you before we get any further, the flood was not just a 40 days of rain. It was far, far more than that. So this ark is going to have to be built with real stability. It's going to have to be built to not only survive for a few days, but it's going to be in the water for almost a year. And so consequently, Noah must have been very meticulous in building this box or this ark. In fact, this just comes to my mind, the Hebrew word translated ark is also translated in several other places in Genesis, coffin. Did you know that? A coffin. Well, what's a coffin? It's a box. And you take the ark of the covenant, set back there in the tabernacle. Same word. But what was the ark of the covenant? It was a box. Wood overlaid with gold and had tremendous significance, but nevertheless, it was a box. All right, that's what Noah's ark was. It was just one huge box. All right, let's go on. He was to make it of gopher wood. Now, that was something I think akin to our cypress. It would withstand water and it would not waterlog, and it would just survive however long it would have to survive. Then he was to make rooms within it. It was to be partitioned. And then he was to pitch it. And here's another interesting analogy. The Hebrew word pitch is also the same word translated atonement, pitch and atonement. Now what was the significant part on that day of atonement? What did the priest take in behind the veil? The blood, see? The blood. Now, the pitch then of Noah's ark is a significant type or is a significant picture of the blood of Christ because pitch, of course, was tar. It was something that would seal out the water. And you've got to put this whole picture together. The waters of the flood were to be judgmental, not on the righteous family of Noah, but on the unbelieving multitudes. And so the floodwaters become waters of judgment. But for those within the ark, it was a place of safety, wasn't it? Now how safe would that ark have been for the next year had the cracks leaked? Oh, it would have sunk. But you see, with the pitch, it sealed out the waters of judgment and it kept the family within in perfect safety. Now let's bring ourselves. When we enter into salvation, we enter into God's ark of safety. And the water of judgment, the fires of judgment, will never touch the believer. Why? Because the pitch is going to keep it out. And remember, what's the pitch? The blood of Christ. Judgment will never touch the believer. Because of the blood of Christ. Let me take the time. Turn with me, if you will, to John chapter 20, and this also is fresh on my mind because it just happened to come up in our class last night. And since we're talking about the blood of Christ and its power, its power to seal out the forces of judgment, John's gospel chapter 20. And I certainly didn't plan to do this in this half hour, but I like to feel that sometimes the Holy Spirit prompts me to do things that I really hadn't planned on doing. But in John's gospel chapter 20, here we are on that resurrection Sunday morning. Drop down to verse 11. For those of you who may be watching on television, I hope you can do the same thing. Take your Bible and look at these verses now closely. And we have the account I'm sure you're all familiar with where Mary has come to the sepulcher on that early Sunday morning to anoint the body of Christ as was the custom. And so at verse 11, she stands outside the sepulcher weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher. Now, all these people are very human, aren't they? And no doubt as Mary left home in the darkness of that early morning, pre-dawn, she must have wondered, well, I wonder who I can get to roll that stone away so I can anoint the body because, you know, this was customary. But here she gets to the tomb and it's already open, but filled with grief, and I think she's probably weeping. And through her tear-filled eyes, she realizes that she won't have to find somebody to roll the stone away. It's already open. But as she makes her approach to the body and was going to anoint the ointments and so forth, it wasn't there. The tomb was empty. Then verse 12, and as she looked about, she saw two angels. Now, I don't know whether she comprehended who they were, but the Scripture says she saw two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body had lain, but it was gone. Then verse 13, they said unto her, the angels did, Woman, why weepest thou? And she said, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have lain him. Now, I always like to ask my students, or if I may call you that, did these people, Mary and the twelve or the eleven, Judas is gone, of course, all these followers of Jesus, did they know that come Sunday morning He was going to rise from the dead? No. And here again, most of Christendom just doesn't seem to realize that, that these people, the last they saw of Him as He hung there on the cross, they said, It's all over. He's dead. And they had no idea that come Sunday morning He'd be risen from the dead. Now, they should have, but they didn't. All right? And so here she comes now, and she says, What have you done with Him? Verse 14, And when she had said thus, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Now that may seem common to him, because after all, it's only been a couple of days. But, what was her last mental impression of Jesus, hanging on that cross? And you want to remember, the book of Isaiah tells us, and I think it's in chapter 52, that He was so disfigured, that by the time He gave up the ghost, He wasn't even recognizable as a human being. So awful had been His physical mutilation by the Romans, but also, I think, the effects of that burden of sin that had been placed on Him. So Isaiah can say He was marred, so that His visage was not even as a human being. And I have to think that this is what Mary had remembered. She saw Him just totally, almost inhuman. And here she sees this perfectly normal human being stand there, and she can't put two and two together that this is Jesus. And so she supposed that it's the what? The gardener. Now read on. And so, Jesus, even as she walked past Him, He said, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? And you know, if you'll go back through Christ's earthly ministry, have you ever realized how many times He will ask questions? Even though He knew the answer, but He gave the people the opportunity to speak without being confused. They could answer a question. And so here again, He says, Woman, who are you looking for? And all she'd have to say, Well, Jesus. Whom seekest thou? Jesus. And then, reading on in verse 15, Mary, she, supposing Him to be the gardener, said unto Him, Sir, if thou hast borne Him, hence tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away. And now Jesus, in verse 16, says, Mary. Now you want to remember, Mary was one of His closest friends of the flesh here in His earthly ministry. I think He spent a lot of time in their home. What did she recognize? Oh, the voice. That voice of endearment, Mary. But now here's what I want you to see. She turned herself and said unto Him, Rabboni, that is to say, Master. And what do you suppose was her natural inclination? Oh, she was going to embrace Him. Isn't that what we'd all do? To think that this one that we thought was dead is alive, and so she went to embrace Him. But Jesus stopped her. And what does He say? Touch me not. Now that's rather unusual, because you see, as you go on through this chapter, you come to the end of it, and by this time, He's come to the 11, and poor old Thomas, who couldn't believe, what does He tell him to do? He said, come, put your hand in my, your finger in my hand. Put your hand in my side. That wasn't anything but saying, touch me not. But to Mary, He says, touch me not. Now read on. Verse 17, For I am not yet ascended to my Father. Now where is the Father? He's in heaven. Christ is here on earth, but He's telling Mary, now Mary, don't touch me, because I have to go first to the Father. Now we have to go back into the Old Testament. On the Day of Atonement, and that's what made me think of all this, you know, on the Day of Atonement, before the priest could even put on his clothes, which had been washed and washed and washed, until they were impeccably clean, what did he have to do with himself? Same thing, wash and wash. There had to be an impeccable cleanliness to approach the Holy of Holies by the high priest. And so this is what's implied, that Jesus couldn't be touched with this defiled earth person. And after all, that's what we all are. Because where is He about to go? Into the very Holy of Holies, not in the temple there in Jerusalem, but the one in heaven. And I'll show you that in just a moment, if we have time. And so He says, I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, that is to the eleven especially, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, your Father, to my God and to your God. And so Mary immediately then goes and tells the eleven, and then as I said later in the chapter, Jesus appears to them, and He tells them to touch Him, to handle Him, make sure. Alright, so what did He do? Again, we have to go to the book of Hebrews. You should be able to find that one easily now. Now you go to Hebrews chapter 9, and here's the clue of to the events there on that early Sunday morning. And the reason that Jesus had to tell Mary not to touch Him, that first He had to ascend into the very throne room of heaven, and then He would be back and appear to the eleven. Now we're tied up in space age lingo, and we know how many hours it took just to go to the moon. But always be aware of this, that when we come into the things of the Spirit, the things of God, I think we can attach it to the speed of light, 186 ,000 miles per second. So however far out the very throne room of heaven may be, it was a matter of seconds for the Lord to transport from earth to heaven and back again, the speed of light. Now look at Hebrews chapter 9. This is why I know that He made that journey in those moments or hours before He came back to make Himself available to the eleven. But in Hebrews chapter 9, Paul is rehearsing in the first ten verses the day of atonement and how the high priest would go in, that is in verse 7, but into the second, that is the second little room behind the veil. The high priest would go in just once a year, and never without blood. He wouldn't dare go behind that veil without the blood of that sacrificial animal to sprinkle on the mercy seat, all right? So it's a whole allusion to the day of atonement by the high priest. But now come down to verse 11, "...but Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come..." Now, He's a priest, remember, after the order of Melchizedek, and Melchizedek was not a priest of Israel. He was a high priest of all. And so Christ is not a high priest after the order of Aaron in the Old Testament Jewish economy, but Christ is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek who appeared long before Israel even became a nation. And so now as our high priest, He's not just the high priest of Israel out of the tribe of Levi and in the line of Aaron, but He's the high priest of every human being. All right, verse 11, "...so Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle..." In other words, more perfect than what? Than the one that Moses had, or more perfect than the temple that finally Solomon built, but on the same pattern, of course. But He says, "...a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands..." In other words, not constructed by men, "...and not of this building..." Or a better word, if you've got a marginal Bible, is creation. In other words, this tabernacle with evidently the holy place and the holy of holies, the very Prince of God, wasn't on this earth, so where would it have to be? In heaven. And so, "...into this tabernacle in heaven, into the very throne room of God Himself, of God the Father..." Verse 12, "...neither by the blood of goats and calves, as the high priest of Israel did, but not by the blood of goats and calves, but..." How? "...by His own blood, He entered in once." Now, the reason it says once is He didn't have to do it every year, but it was once for all, as the hymn writer has put it. Once for all, He entered into that holy place in heaven. And remember, if you want to, we haven't got the time, but we could, I'd take you back to Exodus, where God is giving Moses the instructions for building that little tent in the wilderness, and again God says it's going to be patterned after the one in heaven. And so we know from all Scriptural account that there is something like the tabernacle architecture, or the floor plan is the word I want, in heaven. And into that holy place the Lord Jesus, it says, "...entered in once with His own blood, having obtained..." What's the word? "...eternal redemption for us." Now, as I mentioned to my class last night, you know, Jesus said one time in His earthly ministry when He said that it was harder for a rich man to enter into heaven than it was for a camel to go through the needle's eye, and that has caused so much problem. But if people would just read the next verse, that puts the answer on it, and what does the next verse say? "...with God nothing is impossible." All right, I know that the blood of Christ flowed down that old wooden cross and onto the soil and the ground of Golgotha. But do you think it was any problem for an eternal God to put that blood in a container? I don't see any problem. And I think that the blood that flowed there on that cross, somehow or other the Lord Jesus was able to take it right into the throne room of heaven, and I think it's there tonight. I think that blood is going to be there for all eternity, and every time we're going to be aware of it, we're going to know that that's why we are there ourselves, is because the blood of Christ was shed for our eternal redemption, and the Lord Jesus presented it Himself as our High Priest. Now that's comfort, to know that it is eternal. In the heavens, never to be rescinded, never having to be done over again.