The Red Thread: Part 1
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
A Life for a Life
A study of the concept of the Red Thread from the battle of Jericho and the story of Rahab.
If you’ve ever browsed books in a bookstore, when a title or a cover caught your eye, you might have turned the book over to see the summary or overall theme on the back of the book. God did something a little different for us in His Word; He built a summary or overall theme into the text itself. God provided His Word in such a way that Jesus Christ is the subject from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus Christ is the thread that runs throughout God’s Word. We call it “The Red Thread.” A great way to study the Old Testament is with a view to that underlying thread that runs throughout.
The testimony of God’s Word itself is what we can use as our foundation and guide as we study.
John 5:39 KJV:
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
The Scriptures themselves testified of Jesus Christ. The learned ones of the day, the scribes and Pharisees, prided themselves on their knowledge of the Scriptures. But they didn’t understand it enough to see what it was really all about. Jesus Christ had to point it out to them.
Brief quotes from E. W. Bullinger’s How to Enjoy the Bible:
The one great subject which runs through the whole Word of God is Christ: the promised seed of the woman in Gen. 3:15.
All hope of restoration for man and for creation is centred in Christ; who in due time should be born into the world, should stiffer and die; and, in resurrection, should become the Head of a new creation, and should finally crush the head of the Old Serpent, who had brought in all the ruin.
Hence, He is the key to the Divine revelation in the Word; and apart from Him it cannot be understood.
Apart from Him, the natural eye of man sees only outward historical details and circumstances; some in themselves appearing to him trifling, others offensive, and pursued at a length which seems disproportionate to the whole; while things which “angels desire to look into” are passed over in a few words, or in silence.
But once let “the spiritual mind” see Christ testified of “in Moses and all the prophets,” then all assumes a new aspect: trifles that seem hardly worth recording fill the whole vision and light up the written Word and make it to shine with the glory of the Divine presence.This is the master-key of the Scriptures of truth.
“These are they that testify of ME.” Bearing this key in our hand we can unlock the precious treasures of the Word; and understand words, and hints; apparently casual expressions, circumstances, and events, which in themselves, and apart from Him, are meaningless.
Luke 24:44– KJV:
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms [the whole Old Testament], concerning me.
Whenever you see a phrase like, “it is written,” or “the scripture says,” that’s an indication that there is something we can learn by the context of what is quoted. It’s worthwhile to go back and read the related section in the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament, God used three different ways to explain things: types, shadows, and examples or symbols.
Types and shadows are very important, but we must be careful not to take the idea to extremes and look for them everywhere.
Types, shadows, and examples are used in a way that carries the meaning forward. When God intends to change the meaning, He tells us. They help us because when we see them again later, we understand the meaning that was explained earlier.
Here are some definitions in simplified terms.
Types
Look in your Bible at the typeface or font and how the words are imprinted on the page. The imprint of each letter is a type. A type makes an imprint or gives an impression.
Here’s a helpful definition of a type. “A resemblance which God has built into the Bible and history to illustrate and to teach truth, to make an unforgettable impression.”
Romans 5:14 KJV:
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure [type] of him that was to come.
Adam was a type of Christ. The type makes an impression of some specific aspect that we learn from that person.
Another example is where Isaac is called “the seed” of Abraham. We’ll talk more about the seed in the next session.
Joseph is an example of a man who went through a lot of suffering, but ended up being elevated to the right hand of Pharaoh. Jesus Christ is now at the right hand of God. Both went from suffering to glory. Joseph is also a type of Christ.
Shadows
A shadow is different than a type because it is merely an outline or a vague image. In order to understand what the shadow is, you must understand what the reality is.
Examples of shadows in the Old Testament include the Feasts of Israel, the Tabernacle and its design and layout, and the Offerings. Those are all shadows. For instance, the people back then didn’t realize that the Tabernacle and Temple were laid out like body, soul, and spirit. We’ll see that later.
The shadow is not the most important part. The reality that the shadow hinted at, is what is important.
You can refer to the teaching on Jesus Christ Our Passover Lamb, which is a shadow. The Passover Lamb was such a detailed shadow that during the time leading up to and including Jesus’s crucifixion, He fulfilled one detail after another with great precision.
When the light shines behind the shadow, the shadow becomes clearer.
Colossians 2:16–17 KJV:
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
The whole subject of the Word of God in the Old Testament, is the coming Christ. In the New Testament, the subject is Christ, who has already come and will return.
The term “red thread” or “scarlet thread” comes from the story of Rahab.
When Israel crossed the Jordan to come into and claim the promised land, they encountered a well-fortified city with huge walls—Jericho.
Joshua 2:1 KJV:
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
In that culture, it was very unusual for a woman to have her own home. It was also not respectable for a woman to have her own business. Rahab was not someone you would consider a pillar of her community.
Joshua 2:2–5 KJV:
2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. 3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. 4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: [she said she didn’t know where they came from] 5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot [know] not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
She sent them on a wild goose chase because she had something else going on.
Joshua 2:6– KJV:
But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
By the way, the dye for the color scarlet was made from a dried worm. Perhaps she used the dye to color the flax.
She went up to the roof to speak to the men she was hiding.
Joshua 2:9 KJV:
And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint [or melt] because of you.
The people of Jerich, this well-fortified city, were terrified of the Israelite’s approach.
Joshua 2:10–11 KJV:
10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
Rahab, a Gentile, realized who the true God was.
Joshua 2:12–13 KJV:
12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: 13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
She knew that everyone was going to die. So, she was requesting to be delivered from death.
Joshua 2:14–15 KJV:
14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
The wall was double thickness. Her house was between the inner and outer walls.
Joshua 2:16–17 KJV:
16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
If she reneged on her part of the bargain, they would be blameless.
Joshua 2:18–19 KJV:
18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
What does this remind you of? Remember the Passover in Egypt? If they stayed in the house with the blood on the lintel or doorpost, then the angel of death would pass over that house.
There’s something significant about the color scarlet.
Isaiah 1:18 KJV:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red [the Hebrew word we get “Adam” from] like crimson [a less strong dye, can also be translated “the worm”], they shall be as wool.
Scarlet stands for blood and for sins. The scarlet dye was nearly impossible to remove when something was stained with it. Here, it says that although their sins were as scarlet (a stain impossible to remove), God could make them white as snow.
The stain is such that we cannot remove it ourselves, but God can.
When Rahab hid the Israelite men, she was giving life to them. When she put out the scarlet thread, they would be giving life to her. A life for a life.
Jesus Christ is the one who fulfilled this whole idea of atonement with the payment of blood.
Genesis 3:7 KJV:
And the eyes of them both [Adam and Eve] were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
This is man’s idea of how to cover sins (that are like scarlet).
Genesis 3:8– KJV:
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity [continual war] between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
We’ll talk about the seed next time.
Genesis 3:21 KJV:
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Adam and Eve had tried to cover up with fig leaves, but God covered them with skins. Within this is the shadow of the idea that with the shedding of blood, there can be a life for a life. How do we know that?
Hebrews 9:22 KJV:
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Without shedding of blood, there is no remission. But with the shedding of blood, there can be remission.
There was no blood in the story of Rahab, but the scarlet cord represented the idea of blood. Placing the scarlet cord outside her window gave the hope of deliverance from death. This is similar to what God showed with Adam and Eve.
This theme that there can be a substitution is found throughout the Word.
Romans 5:17–19 KJV:
17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Because of one man, one sacrifice, one complete offering, that was once and for all and done.
Romans 5:20–21 KJV:
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
The whole Word of God is about the coming one, Jesus Christ, who would do all this for us. Jesus Christ is like our scarlet cord that delivered us from death.
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