The Importance of Pitch/Bitumen

The Importance of Pitch/Bitumen

The story of the flood in the days of Noah and of the ark is one of the passages well known to many people. On the other hand, it seems that the "pitch" that was applied inside and outside Noah's ark is not as well known to us, considering its importance. Therefore, in this chapter, we will consider the "pitch" that was applied inside and outside Noah's ark.

The dictionary meaning of "pitch" is said to be "a combustible liquid hydrocarbon obtained from wood resin or natural asphalt." In ancient times, pitch was also used to seal ships and baskets. Through the record of the Bible, we also see in Genesis 11:3 that when people at that time tried to build a city and a tower whose top would reach unto heaven, they used "slime had they for morter" instead of mortar. And in Exodus 2:3, it is recorded that when baby Moses was placed in an ark of bulrushes, it was daubed with slime and with pitch. From these passages, we can see that pitch, as a waterproofing material, played a very important role in preventing the waters of the flood from entering into the ark.

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 passage above, the words "Make thee" teach Noah the purpose for building the ark and the reason he had to apply pitch to it. Just as it is written, "For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?" (Luke 9:25), God was teaching him to build the ark and to apply pitch within and without, not for someone else, but for his own life.

For a ship to float upon the water, waterproofing is essential. No matter how well the ark had been built, if pitch had not been applied within and without, the ark would quickly have sunk into the waters during the rain that continued for 150 days (Genesis 7:24). In this sense, applying the pitch was just as important as building the ark itself.

We today also need that pitch.

Jesus said that in the last days it would again be as it was in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot (Luke 17:26-30). By this, He teaches us that this world will be filled with sin to that extent. In such a time, all of us must enter into Jesus, who is the ark, that is, the Word, and we must make the name of Jesus our pitch within and without. This is the way for us to live, just as it was in the days of Noah.

Satan is always trying to sink us into the waters of this world.

Revelation 12:15 "And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood."

In the passage above, the woman does not refer to a woman according to gender, but to all of us who are to become the bride of Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:2). The serpent is that old serpent who deceived Adam and Eve away from the word of God in the beginning, and he is called the devil, Satan, who deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9). In other words, the passage above teaches us figuratively that Satan, who deceives the whole world, is trying to deceive us away from the Word, that is, the truth, and to plunge us into the midst of this world.

The reason we must not fall into this world is clear. Through the Bible, it is written that this world is polluted (2 Peter 2:20), that the whole world lieth in wickedness (1 John 5:19), and that all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father. Therefore, we are also told not to love the world, nor the things that are in the world (1 John 2:15-17).

1 John 2:15-17 "15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."

Since this present world, as written in the passage above, consists of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and since all these things are not of the Father, we must not become people who are submerged in this world and live fallen into this world. It is written that whoever is a friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4), and that this world will be judged at God’s appointed time, not by water now, but by fire (2 Peter 3:5-7). Therefore, so that we will not perish together when this world perishes, we must no longer be joined to the world. Rather, within the ark, that is, in Jesus, we must apply pitch, that is, live in the name of Jesus, so that we will not sink into the waters of the world.

As mentioned above, Satan is trying to deceive us away from the Word and make us fall into the world. From the beginning, the old serpent not only deceived Eve and caused her to depart from the word of God, but even afterward he has continued until today to work to entice the people of God away from the word of God. In order not to become like "Demas" (2 Timothy 4:10), who returned again to the world, we must all the more keep ourselves in the words of Jesus and in the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus can subdue all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:17-19), can cleanse us from this polluted world (1 John 2:12, Acts 10:43-44, Luke 24:47), and through the baptism of Christ, which we receive daily in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38, Galatians 2:20, 1 Peter 3:20-21), He enables us to crucify the affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24) [see Concerning Baptism]. Therefore, through the pitch that God commanded to be applied inside and outside Noah’s ark, He is teaching us to make the name of Jesus our pitch and to apply it inside and outside ourselves.

When He teaches us to apply the name of Jesus "inside and outside" ourselves like pitch, this means the following:

Romans 10:10, 13 "10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

As the passage above says, this means that we must "believe with the heart and confess with the mouth." Just as Noah’s ark could float upon the waters because pitch was applied within and without, whoever believes with the heart and calls upon the name of Jesus with the mouth will be saved from the world (Acts 4:12). If our inside and outside do not agree like this, then the same thing that happened in the past to those who did not believe with the heart but merely used the name of Jesus with their mouths and were instead put to shame by demons (Acts 19:13-16) can happen to us today as well. In other words, instead of casting out demons, we would be defeated by them. Therefore, to "believe with the heart and confess with the mouth" the name of Jesus is a very important matter for us.

If we believe with the heart and confess with the mouth the authority of the name of Jesus (John 1:12), that name of Jesus will keep us from falling into this world (Acts 3:16) and will preserve our spirit, soul, and body blameless until Jesus comes again (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Just as a ship must always have pitch applied to it in order to remain safely afloat upon the water, when we do all things, whether in word or deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17), that name of Jesus will always keep us!

John 17:6, 11-12 "6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me..." (the Father’s name = the name of Jesus [see John 5:43 and The Name of God, "Jesus"])