“Precious Metals In Scripture – Gold (Positive Application)” – Part 2

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Last week we found that there are seven different words which are translated as gold. The word ‘zahab’ is the word we first discussed. It is the most common of the seven words translated gold. The word we covered last week was not a word translated as gold, but it is a word that describes the color of  gold. As contradictory as it seems, we found that the Hebrew word which describes the dying process is also used to describe  the incorruptible, untarnished color of gold.  That word is the Hebrew word ‘yeraqraq.’ It appears only three times in all of scripture, and its one positive application is here in Psalms:

Psa 68:13  Though ye have lien among the pots, [yet shall ye be as] the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.

We have also seen that just like silver, gold’s negative application is its perversion into deceptive uses from which it must be redeemed. Three times in scripture the phrase “my gold” appears. In all three cases, God’s gold has been devalued and misused. The first is King Ahab giving God’s gold to the king of Syria. The last two are God condemning the use of His gold to cover idols.

1Ki 20:1  And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and [there were] thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.
1Ki 20:2  And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,
1Ki 20:3  Thy silver and thy gold [is] mine; thy wives also and thy children, [even] the goodliest, [are] mine.
1Ki 20:4  And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I [am] thine, and all that I have.
1Ki 20:5  And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
1Ki 20:6  Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, [that] whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put [it] in their hand, and take [it] away.
1Ki 20:7  Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.

Ahab had married the daughter of a Philistine King. He had forgotten the source of  his gold. Here are the other two entries for the phrase “my gold.”

Eze 16:17  Thou [Israel, Ahab, each of us] hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

Joe 3:4  Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
Joe 3:5  Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

All the gold is God’s gold, and all pride and all selfrighteousness is appropriating God’s gold to ourselves.

Hag 2:8  The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.

Now notice the verese on either side of this verse:

Hag 2:7  And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
Hag 2:8  The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
Hag 2:9  The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

When we acknowledge that the silver and the gold are all  God’s, when we humble ourselves and acknowledge God as sovereign in all things, only then are we given God’s invaluable peace. The seven words which are translated as gold are:

The first and most prevalent: zahab – the one for gold we have already discussed:

Gen 2:11  The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold;
Gen 2:12  And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is] bdellium and the onyx stone.

‘Zahab’ is how we first come to see God’s gold. It has all the qualities of gold which we have discussed. There is so much more to learn about how the mind of God sees His gold.

Second: dehab– found in Ezra and Daniel only.

Dan 3:1  Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height [was] threescore cubits, [and] the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Ezr 7:12  Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect [peace], and at such a time.
Ezr 7:13  I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.
Ezr 7:14  Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;
Ezr 7:15  And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,

‘Dehab’ is actually Aramaic and apparently the same as the Hebrew word ‘zahab.’ Both Ezra and Daniel were captives in Babylon and both books were written in Aramaic. How we see gold while we are in Babylon is just slightly more mature than how we see gold before we are carried away as captives into Babylon. It is in Babylon that we look back and see all the giants we overcame in the land. It is in Babylon that we realize that we are still slaves, even after we have come out of Egypt, been baptized in the Red Sea, journeyed in the wilderness and fought the giants in the land. It is in Babylon that we finally come to see that the land of promise was never intended to be the land of possession, but merely the downpayment  given until the time of possession:

Eph 1:13  In whom [Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [ down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

‘Dehab’ gold in Babylon is merely the promise of  our inheritance. It is a deeper understanding than zahab, but there is so much more we are yet to learn about God’s “purchased possession.”

Charuts, gold seen as incisive and diligent

The third word is charuts, pronounced khaw- roots’, and assigned the number H2742.

Passive participle of H2782; properly incised or (active) incisive; hence (as noun masculine or feminine) a trench (as dug), gold (as mined), a threshing sledge (having sharp teeth); (figuratively) determination; also eager: – decision, diligent, (fine) gold, pointed things, sharp, threshing instrument, wall.

This word is found mostly in Proverbs and is another and deeper understanding of God’s mind concerning His gold.

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Pro 3:8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Pro 3:9  Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
Pro 3:10  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [ in whom] he delighteth.
Pro 3:13  Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Pro 3:14  For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
Pro 3:15  She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Pro 3:16  Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
Pro 3:17  Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Pro 3:18  She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
Pro 3:19  The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
Pro 3:20  By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.
Pro 3:21  My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

When God wants to show just how valuable wisdom and understanding are, He tells us “the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.” Three more times in the book of  Proverbs, this word ‘charuts’ is translated as ‘gold’ or ‘choice gold.’

Pro 8:10  Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
Pro 8:18  Riches and honour are with me [wisdom]; yea, durable riches and righteousness.
Pro 8:19  My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold [Hebrew: paz – a word we will cover later]; and my revenue than choice silver.
Pro 8:20  I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:

Pro 16:16  How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

Conclusion

We have seen in this study how words which are translated ‘gold’ in scripture are also translated as ‘yellow’, a word which is generally associated with the incurable disease of leprosy.

We have also seen how gold’s negative application in scripture, just as silver’s  negative application, is bound up in man’s misappropriation of God’s Word, which is His “fitly spoken word… as apples of gold.”

Pro 25:11  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold [Hebrew: zahab] in pictures of silver.

We have seen how false prophets take God’s word and use it to cover the idols of men’s hearts with the malleable, ductile, golden words of God.

We have also seen how the English word ‘gold’, the most precious of the metals of scripture, is translated from seven different Hebrew words, which are also translated into many other English words. The Hebrew word ‘charuts’ is translated both as ‘gold’ and as ‘incisive’ and as ‘diligent.’ As we continue this study we will see that there is always a connection between the spiritual meaning of the gold and the other words which are also translated from the same words translated as ‘gold.’
When we are finished with this study, I hope you will have a better understanding of this verse of scripture:

Gen 2:9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Christ is “the tree of life” and, like the most precious of the metals of scripture, He, too, had to be made “out of the ground.” We will continue this study of the seven words translated as gold next week.

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