Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #19 of Genesis, chapter 6 and we are continuing to look at 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.

As we saw previously, the ark was to be made of “gopher” wood and the word “gopher” identifies with the word “brimstone.” We saw that this related to the ark being a vessel that would deliver God’s chosen people. The “brimstone” identifies with the wrath of God that was poured out upon the Lord Jesus Christ at the point of the world’s foundation. That was the point at which Christ delivered His people.

We also saw that Noah was to make “nests” within the ark and this has to do with that which is “high above” and identifies with the kingdom of heaven.

Noah was to “pitch it within and without” and we saw that the first word translated as “pitch” is Strong’s #3722 and it is the word for “atonement.” He shalt make atonement within.

We also saw in our last study that the word “within” is Strong’s #1004 and it is translated hundreds of times as “house.” It is the same word that is found in Leviticus 16:6:

And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.

He was to make an atonement for his “house” or “within,” and it is a word that has to do with the house of God. The house of God is a spiritual house comprised of everyone He has saved. Concerning the house that the Lord commissioned Solomon to build, it says in 1Kings 6:1:

And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of JEHOVAH.

We are told in Psalms 127:1:

Except JEHOVAH build the house, they labour in vain that build it…

The Lord’s house is built by wisdom and it says in Proverbs 9:1:

Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

And we know that “wisdom” is the Lord Jesus Christ, as it tells us in 1Corinthians 1:30:

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom…

“Wisdom” built her house and Christ built his house, as it tells us in Hebrews 3:4-6:

For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Christ build His house and “wisdom” built her house, whose house are we. So as God is giving Noah commandment regarding the building of the ark, it is spiritually related to the building of the house of God. It is that which makes the ark unsinkable. If water got into the ark it would sink and the people and animals on board would drown and come under the wrath of God, but it is the “atonement” that is “within” or the atonement for the “house” that protects the ship and keeps it waterproof and not a drop of the waters of God’s wrath can enter in; the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the work that would secure and deliver the people of God in order that they would not have to make payment for their own sins. Christ had already died for their sins.

So the word “pitch” is the atonement for that which is “within” the house of God, the body of true believers.

Then our verse said that Noah was also to pitch it “without” with pitch. The Hebrew word translated as “without” is Strong’s #2351 and it is found many times in the Book of Leviticus and I will read some of them. It says in Leviticus 4:12:

Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.

It says in Leviticus 4:20-21:

And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.

The word “without” in both of these verses is our same word translated as “without” in our verse.

It also says in Leviticus 6:11:

And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.

Then it says in Leviticus 8:17:

But the bullock, and his hide, his flesh, and his dung, he burnt with fire without the camp; as JEHOVAH commanded Moses.

And it also says in Leviticus 24:14:

Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

It says in Leviticus 24:23:

And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as JEHOVAH commanded Moses.

It says in Numbers 15:35-36:

And JEHOVAH said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as JEHOVAH commanded Moses.

This passage refers to the man that picked up a few sticks in the wilderness.

So, again, and again, we see a good number of verses that show that to go “without” (like the sacrificial bullock’s remains) meant that it was outside the camp. That is where stoning took place. And where did Jesus Christ die? He died outside the walls of Jerusalem, as it says in Hebrews 13:11-13:

For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Since this speaks of the bodies of those beasts, like the bullock, that were taken without the camp, we know that this Greek word translated as “without” is equivalent to our Hebrew word “without,” where God speaks of pitching the ark within and “without.”

This Greek word is also used in Matthew 13:47-48:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

The word “away” is this word translated as “without,” where it said that Christ suffered “without” the gate. Here, they are to cast the bad “without.”

It is the same word found in John 15:6:

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

They are cast “without.”

One more place it is found is in Revelation 22:15:

For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

These represent all the unsaved people and they are “without” the kingdom of heaven.

We can see through all the verses I just read that “without” is the place of the wrath of God. The sacrificial animals were burned “without” the camp and that was a picture of experiencing the wrath of God. The man that picked up a few sticks was stoned “without” the camp. To be stoned also points to experiencing the wrath of God. Casting the bad “without” or casting the branch “without” is indicative of being under the wrath of God. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered “without” the gate. When Christ went to the cross He was suffering under the wrath of God. God was pouring out His wrath upon Him, but Christ was not making payment for sin, but demonstrating what He had already done from the foundation of the world.

God tells us in 1Corinthians 5:12-13:

For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

In this chapter the Lord had been speaking about brethren that had been committing sin “within” the corporate body, the church, so the Lord is saying that you leave this person’s sin to God and He will also judge those that are “without,” so we can see that being “without” identifies with the unsaved people of the world. Because of their sin they are under His wrath and it is a place where God will pour out His wrath to judge and punish the wicked of the world. It is interesting in Hebrews, chapter 13 that the Lord said to His people, in Hebrews 4:13-14:

Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

The continuing city we seek is “Jerusalem above,” the heavenly Jerusalem of which we are citizens. We will experience that continuing citizenship and we can never leave that city. But, here, there is an earthly city of Jerusalem and God’s people were a part of it and, yet, there came the time when God ended His relationship with the corporate body and He ended the church age; He commanded His people to go out and leave the “camp,” to go outside the churches and congregations of the world. In doing so, we are positioned by God Himself in a similar way to how the Lord Jesus Christ was positioned as He went “without” the gate to suffer. The entire company of the elect that God saved during the Great Tribulation were saved outside of the churches. The true believers were commanded to come out of the corporate churches and they remained outside while the Gospel was going forth through the Latter Rain period as God was saving the great multitude. In doing this, the Lord was accomplishing a couple of things. He was judging those “within,” as judgment began at the house of God. He was also arranging things for judgment “without.” The people of God were no longer within the corporate body because they were called to come out. Then on May 21, 2011 at the end of the 23-year Great Tribulation period, God expanded His judgment to include all the world and all its unsaved inhabitants. God began to pour out His wrath on that which was “without,” upon all the people that were outside of the spiritual kingdom of heaven.

At the same time the true believers were “without.” They were “without” the gate or “without” the camp and, therefore, we were in the location where God was pouring down spiritual fire and brimstone and where the heavy hand of God’s anger was raining down upon the wicked. It is as if we were also experiencing the judgment, following the pattern that God established with the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was judged “without” and in this present Day of Judgment all the elect are “without” the corporate church. Jesus was judged without bearing any sin and God’s elect are being judged without bearing any sin; we have no sins upon us because all our sins were atoned for by the work of Christ at the world’s foundation. So we are appearing before the judgment seat of Christ and God is judging us, but He finds no sin. There is no cause for punishment and that will be made known at the conclusion of the judgment period when the judgment is finally given with the “announcement” from God concerning His elect that are still alive and living on the earth. God will, as it were, say, “I find no fault in them.” We will not be destroyed. We will not be annihilated, but we will be “lifted up” and enter into the joy of the Lord. Just as Jesus’ judgment was a tableau or manifestation, so, too, the judgment of the elect is a manifestation, as it says in 2Corinthians 5:10:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…

That word “appear” is, amazingly, the same word as “manifest.” This word “manifest” was used of Jesus at the time of His entry into the world and His life on this earth, especially His ministry. He was making “manifest” the things He had done.

I think this is helpful to us because we can see that God’s command to His people to depart out of the churches and to go “without” ties in with the next step in His judgment program. He has positioned us to complete the last aspect of what He would have us to do, which is to suffer as Christ suffered as we go “without” the gate and as He bore the reproach of them that reproach God. We are now bearing reproach for His sake and suffering for His sake, as He suffered for us.

It is amazing how God has worked all these things out. It says in Ecclesiastes 3:16-17:

And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

God will judge the wicked and the righteous. When we look at this, we see that the judgment is taking place at the same time. It is not just a judgment of the righteous, because the wicked are there. It is not just a judgment of the wicked, because the righteous are there. God is judging the righteous and the wicked together and this is exactly what has unfolded. It is what we are saw taking place as we went through the Great Tribulation period and we have now entered into the Day of Judgment and we are living on the earth in that Day of Judgment, “in those days after that tribulation.”