Precious

 

Precious

    The Hebrew word yᵊqār יְקָר (H3366) means "honor, value, wealth, splendor, and precious (things)."

    “He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing (H3366). But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding (Job 28:10,12-13,15,20,23,28).”

    “There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious (H3366) jewel (Proverbs 20:15).”

    Let me share with you some wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that I came across this week that I feel is more precious than any gold or rubies.

    The ROOT word of yᵊqār יְקָר (H3366) is yāqar יָקַר (H3365) meaning "to be heavy, prized, costly, rare, and precious."

    “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious (H3365), and it ceaseth for ever:) That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption (Psalm 49:8-10).”

    The redemption of our souls is precious, more precious than any normal man can pay the price for.  

    “And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price (H3366) that I was prised (H3365) at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD (Zechariah 11:10-13).”

    Beauty represents GOD’s favor upon Israel being broken because they rejected and betrayed HIM (Jesus), Who was sold for a seemingly small price of thirty pieces of silver.

    But the precious blood of Jesus secured a new covenant.

    “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel (Hebrews 12:22-24).”

    Many do not understand the significance of the thirty pieces of silver.

    In Jewish law, thirty pieces of silver is the price paid to the master of a manservant or maidservant if the servant was gored or pierced by an ox.  The death of the manservant or maidservant was valued at thirty pieces of silver.

    “If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him. Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him. If the ox shall push (gore) a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned (Exodus 21:30-32).”

    Jesus, GOD’s Manservant was pierced by a crown of thorns and roman nails, and gored by a roman spear.  The precious ransom cost of His life was only valued at thirty pieces of silver, cast by Judas in his guilt, into the temple of the Master, GOD.  However, because the chief priests knew it was blood money, they could not put it in the treasury of the House of GOD.  Instead they purchased “potter’s field”, also known as the “field of blood”, to bury strangers in.

    “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy (actually Zechariah) the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me (Matthew 27:3-10).”

    Unwittingly, the Jewish religious leaders fulfilled the prophecy brought forth by Zechariah and paid the ransom price in Jewish law for Jesus, a pierced and gored Manservant, to the Master.

    But there is yet another level of interpretation about the thirty pieces of silver.

    In Jewish law, when a woman makes a vow of dedication to the LORD, there is a valuation price of thirty pieces of silver.

    “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation. And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels (Leviticus 27:2-4).”

    Since thirty pieces of silver is the price for when a woman dedicates herself to GOD, why would Jesus’s life be valued at thirty pieces of silver?

    Could it be that Jesus was actually paying the dedication price for His bride?

    How precious the valuation of Jesus’s life, blood, and those thirty pieces of silver truly were!

    During this Passover season, let us all meditate on the precious gift that Jesus gave to all of us through the pouring out of His precious blood for by His stripes, we are healed.

    The LORD bless you, and keep you:

    The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you:

    The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.  Amen.