Wednesday Word of the Week

Kaphar (kah-FAR) v. -- To cover

Noun form kopher (KOH-fer) -- Pitch, tar

Derivatives of this word also refer to a walled village and a lion's mane.

Key verse: "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

Thoughts on Kaphar/kopher:

A kopher is a protective coating. It doesn't change the nature of the object protected. In many contexts it allows the object underneath the kopher to be placed in dangerous environments without being damaged.

This is the analogy God uses to help us understand what happens to us when sin is forgiven. Bare, naked, and exposed, we come to God completely at the mercy of our environment. We have nothing to hold us together, nothing to keep us from simply soaking up the destructive forces around us until we are warped and useless.

God then takes us -- just as we are -- and covers us. His forgiveness shields us not only from his wrath, but also from the power of the world in which we live. Forgiveness by itself does not change who or what we really are; it only affects how we interact with our surroundings.

When we are covered in this way, our sinfulness is concealed not only from the eyes of men, but also from the eyes of God. To be sure, He has the power to see through the covering, but He chooses not to. The fact that we are covered is all God needs to know about us to treat us as though we had never sinned at all.

And if that weren't enough of a miracle, God takes it one step further. We get forgiveness. We get God looking at us and choosing not to see certain parts of our personality and history. Then, He binds us together with other nearly-rotten planks of wood and makes us into something that can float, carrying passengers to safety.

As long as we who are covered stick together, we can walk on water.