The Color Red – Part 2

Both Adams Are Red

We have seen how the name ‘Adam’ is the same as the word ‘adam’ and that both mean earthy, of the ground and red. We have demonstrated that this word ‘adam’ whether speaking of mankind, the earth, the ground, or the color red, are all to be recognized spiritually as that part of the man of God which is rejected of God and is in rebellion to the laws of God. Above all we have seen that this is not ‘without’/outwardly and in the lives of others only, but it is first and foremost within the lives of every believer at its appointed time to dominate and later to be dominated. The negative application of the color red is that which first dominates us in the flesh. The positive application of the color red, is the domination of the flesh by the spirit. Both are typified by red.

Isa 1:18  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 like crimson, they shall be as wool.

There is also the much less discussed but equally important, positive application of the color red. It is the same root ‘adam,’ but called ‘admoniy’. This word also is used to describe both God’s rejected anointed and God’s elect anointed:

Gen 25:25  And the first came out red [admoniy – H132], all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.

1Sa 16:12  And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy [red – admoniy – H132], and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

Why are both the lost and the saved pictured as red? It is because no one is lost ultimately. It is because all men must endure that which is temporal before any will come to that which is eonian, leading to that which is immortal. Red, then is the best of the temporal man of God, that which is earthy and first and red, is also therefore necessarily connected with that which is to become immortal.

Crimson and Scarlet in Scripture

There are other words in God’s Word which have this same ‘red’ concept but are not derived from the word Adam. That is what we will cover in today’s study.

The two other words which convey the color red are crimson and scarlet.

2Ch 2:7  Send me [King Solomon] now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson [H3758: karmiyl – red], and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.

2Ch 2:14  The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson [H3758: karmiyl]; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.
2Ch 3:14  And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson [H3758: karmiyl], and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet [H8144: shaniy], they shall be as white as snow; though they be red [H119: adam] like crimson [H8438: tola ], they shall be as wool.

Here is Strong’s definition for ‘tola,’ the word translated ‘crimson’ in Isaiah 1:18.

H8438
tola  to le a h  to la ath  to la ath
to-law’, to- lay- aw’, (3, 4) to- lah’- ath

From H3216; a maggot (as voracious); specifically (often with ellipsis of H8144) the crimson grub, but used only (in this connection) of the color from it , and cloths dyed therewith: – crimson, scarlet, worm.

Look at how it is used by King David:

Psa 22:6  But I am a worm [tola, red grub], and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Here is a “man after God’s own heart”, the man who is to replace God’s rejected anointed King Saul, who recognizes that he is nothing more than a little red grub “despised of the people.”

This should remind us all of another inwardly applied scripture:

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

The color red should remind us all that we are all Adam, and all that is in Adam is in us by right of birth. It should remind us that we are all in Babylon before we “come out of her:”

Jer 4:30  And when thou [God’s rejected anointed – Babylon] art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson [H8144: shaniy – same word translated ‘scarlet’ in Isaiah 1:18], though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

Rev 17:4  And the woman [Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots] was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

It takes nothing less than the resurrection from among the dead to change this ‘red’ Adamic nature within us all. Only then can we become ‘ruddy’ as God’s new accepted kings and priests. The flesh is always before the spirit:

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Christ had to come in the flesh before He could come in us in spirit.

Gen 38:21  Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.
Gen 38:22  And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.
Gen 38:23  And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
Gen 38:24  And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
Gen 38:25  When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.
Gen 38:26  And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.
Gen 38:27  And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.
Gen 38:28  And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.
Gen 38:29  And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.
Gen 38:30  And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

Pharez, breach; “Pharez, division; rupture,” according to Hitchcock’s dictionary of names, came out first and thus became the father of Christ “according to the flesh.” Here is that part of Christ’s genealogy in Luke:

Luk 3:33  Which was [the son] of Aminadab, which was [the son] of Aram, which was [the son] of Esrom, which was [the son] of Phares, which was [the son] of Juda,

What does the scarlet thread on the hand of Zarah mean? What it means is that Zarah typifies the second Adam. It typifies Christ after the spirit:

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more [after the flesh].

That is never first which is spiritual. Pharez was first and was the physical father of Christ, but the promise of the spirit came afterward:

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Zarah was “afterward that which is spiritual.” Why did Zarah put forth his hand first? He did so to tell us that Christ was first with His Father. He did so to tell us that even though both Pharez and Zarah are born of Judah, who was born of Adam, nevertheless even the first Adam also was “of God.” It is all right here in 2Corinthians 5, only two verses after telling us that we are to “know no man [including Christ] after the flesh” we have this verse:

2Co 5:18  And all things [both Adams – Adam after the flesh and Adam after the spirit] are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.

‘Adam’ means “earthy, red.” The “last Adam” has a “scarlet thread” around his hand and stands for the beauty and health of God’s elect in Christ, who was here before the first Adam. In spite of His preeminence, He, too, was “out of the ground:”

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.

Zarah, too, was “out of the ground.” Zarah does not mean “division or rupture” as Pharez means. According to Hitchcock’s Dictionary of names, Zarah means:

“East; brightness.” And who is the brightest of them all?

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, [and] the bright and morning star.

As much as the Adversary wants us to believe otherwise, God truly brought and is bringing us our savior “of our own brothers,” out of the red earth, “out of the ground.”

Deu 18:15  The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
Deu 18:16  According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
Deu 18:17  And the LORD said unto me, They have well [spoken that] which they have spoken.
Deu 18:18  I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
Deu 18:19  And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require [it] of him.

Zarah’s “scarlet thread” foreshadows all of this. Of all of God’s creation, Christ alone was spirit first, and is truly “the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Heb 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Red Blood Both Stains and Washes White

Isa 1:18  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 like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Isa 63:1  Who [is] this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this [that is] glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
Isa 63:2  Wherefore [art thou] red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
Isa 63:3  I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people [there was] none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
Isa 63:4  For the day of vengeance [is] in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

What Makes Scarlet and Crimson Sins White?

Rev 7:13  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Christ was Mocked in a Scarlet Robe

Mat 27:28  And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

Why a scarlet robe? Because scarlet is the color of earthly royalty and rulers. Look at the colors of this ruler:

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Who is riding this “scarlet colored beast?”

Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

Jer 4:30  And [when] thou [art] spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; [thy] lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

Yet crimson is the color of the veil of the temple:

2Ch 3:14  And he made the vail [of] blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

So both the lost and the saved are pictured as red because no one is lost ultimately, and because all men must endure that which is temporal before any will come to that which is eonian, leading to that which is immortal. Red, then, is the best of the temporal man of God, that which is earthy, and first, and red is also therefore necessarily connected with that which is to become immortal.

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The color red connects the spiritual with its “of the ground” origins.

[Next study in this series is here.]