Introduction
It is commonly understood that the sale of both Joseph and Christ for silver
demonstrates the spiritual connection with this metal to God's plan of atonement
and redemption. The phrase "atonement money" states this as a fact, when it is
understood that the word translated 'money' is really the Hebrew 'keseph,' the
Hebrew word for 'silver.'
Gen 37:28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted
up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of
silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Mat 26:15 And [Judas] said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him
unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
Exo 30:16 And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and
shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be
a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for
your souls.
Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I
wait, till my change come.
Job 14:15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire
[Hebrew - kasaph - the root from which comes 'keseph' - 'silver'] to the
work of thine hands.
Gen 31:30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore
longedst after [Hebrew - kasaph] thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou
stolen my gods?
Psa 84:2 My soul longeth [Hebrew - kasaph], yea, even fainteth for the
courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
"Loosing the silver cord" is losing all desire.
Ecc 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil
days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no
pleasure in them;
Ecc 12:2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor
the clouds return after the rain:
Ecc 12:3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong
men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those
that look out of the windows be darkened,
Ecc 12:4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding
is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick
shall be brought low;
Ecc 12:5 Also [when] they shall be afraid of [that which is] high, and fears [shall be]
in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a
burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the
mourners go about the streets:
Ecc 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the
pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit
shall return unto God who gave it.
Silver symbolizes tying, testing, and being purified in God's fiery trials
Symbolizing strong desire, silver must also, of necessity, symbolize trying, proving,
and purifying those who God so desires.
Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of
earth, purified seven times.
Psa 66:10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is
tried.
Psa 66:11 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
Pro 17:3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD
trieth the hearts.
Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire , and will refine them as
silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and
I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
Mal 3:3 And he [Christ] shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall
purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto
the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Silver symbolizes that which is pure and clean
Since silver symbolizes being tried, tested and purified, it must of necessity
symbolize that which has been tested and purified.
Pro 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for
the finer.
Pro 10:20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little
worth.
Pro 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
Isa 48:10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in
the furnace of affliction.
When we are at one with God we are "rich... in silver and in gold"
Gen 13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
Exo 12:35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they
borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and
raiment:
Exo 12:36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so
that they lent unto them [such things as they required]. And they spoiled the
Egyptians.
Isa 60:9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring
thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of
the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
Our riches are our relationship with God. This relationship is measured by how well
we "know God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent."
Joh 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Hag 2:6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will
shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];
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.
The glory of the heavenly far exceeds the glory of the earthy:
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from
heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the
heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly.
Rev 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that
holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks;
Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not
bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and
are not, and hast found them liars:
Rev 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured,
and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy
first love.
Zec 14:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD
shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his
neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
Zec 14:14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the
heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and
apparel, in great abundance.
Zec 14:15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of
the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
2Ti 2:20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver,
but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
We are God's great house and we are his field. In us are vessels of honor and
dishonor. In us are both tares and good seed both growing together "until the
harvest," until we are judged and the tares are burned out and the vessels of
dishonor are the vessels of dishonor are "made again as seemed good to the Potter
to make them."
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the
potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make
it.
Jer 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the
LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O
house of Israel.
Conclusion
We have seen how silver's positive application symbolizes redemption and
atonement. I hope you have also seen the connection with silver, in scripture, to
God's determination to give life to all in Adam , having devised a means that even
His banished should not be expelled from Him.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which
cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he
devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
Silver symbolizes strong desire. Silver symbolizes tying, testing, and being purified
in God's fiery trials. Silver symbolizes that which is pure and clean. Silver
symbolizes Christ's works within us.
When we are at one with God we are rich in silver, our first love is likened to silver
and our deliverance is accompanied by much silver as we spoil the enemy within.
Finally, we do not share our silver with strangers from Babylon. We share it only with
those who are coming out of Babylon.