Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #21 in Genesis 38, and we will be reading Genesis 38:28-30:

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. 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. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

In our last study, we were discussing the scarlet thread, and we saw how it is a picture of the blood of Christ.  It is a “mark” upon a house, or upon an individual, and we compared it to the blood of the lamb that was applied to the door post of the house of the Israelites in Egypt, and when God saw the blood He passed over that house and did not destroy.

We also went to Joshua 2, and we will go there again.  It says in Joshua 2:18-21:

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. 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. And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

A little while later after the Israelites had gone about the city once a day, blowing the trumpet once a day for six days, and on the seventh day they went around the city seven times, blowing the trumpet, totaling 13 times.  Then the walls of Jericho fell down, and it says in Joshua 6:15-17:

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for JEHOVAH hath given you the city. And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to JEHOVAH: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

Then it says in Joshua 6:20-24:

So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of JEHOVAH.

Notice that it says they burnt the city with fire.  What did Judah declare when it was thought that Tamar was with child by harlotry?  “Let her be burnt.”  You see, it is the same spiritual picture.  In this account, it is Joshua, a type of Christ, that is destroying the city of Jericho, typifying the world.  And there is Rahab and her family in a house on the wall, the same wall that collapsed.  The walls of Jericho fell down except for this one portion of the wall where Rahab’s house was, although God does not tell us that specifically.  If Rahab’s house had collapsed, but they survived, it would not have been an indicator of protection, so we can be sure her house did not collapse and fall down, but it stood through the judgment.

Again, it was after 13 times around the city, which points to 13,000 years of earth’s history at which time God started His end time judgment program starting with the churches, and then transitioning to the world.  And here are God’s elect still on the earth, alive and remaining.  And that could be said of Rahab and her family.  They were alive and remaining.  They were the remnant.  The whole city of Jericho was being burnt.  They burnt the city with fire and all that was therein.  Again, we are reminded of that verse in Isaiah 24:6: “…therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.”  The few are the elect.  “For many are called, but few are chosen.”  And out of the many in Jericho, a few were chosen, and Rahab and her house survived and endured through the destruction.

We saw that with the flood.  God did not rapture Noah, his family and the animals on the ark out of the world, but He provided a safe haven for them in the ark, and then He brought the flood, but the ark was still upon the earth.  The ark was lifted up to float upon the waters that represented the wrath of God.  Actually, with a ship, a great portion of the ship is sunk in the water, so the ark was going through the wrath of God, as well as all those in the ark.  The flood waters took about a year to subside, and that represents a prolonged judgment.

And here, Rahab and her family went through the judgment of Jericho as the only survivors, just as God’s elect have been left on the earth, and we are being submitted to the “flames” of the spiritual fire of His wrath.  God has submitted us to the chaotic madness that is going on in the world – He has not raptured us first.  There is one event to all, to the righteous as well as the wicked.  All the elect must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and yet we will endure and abide.  We will be left standing as was Rahab.  And God tells us the reason why Rahab was left standing.  She is mentioned in the “faith chapter” in Hebrews 11:30:

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down…

Was it because the Israelites had faith?  No.  Actually, most of the Israelites were unregenerate, and they perished in the wilderness due to unbelief, so it was not their faith.  The Bible says, “All men have not faith.”  When we read Hebrews 11, the “faith chapter,” we should immediately substitute Christ for “faith.”  It was by Christ that the walls of Jericho fell down.  Again, it says in Hebrews 11:30-31:

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

You see, the spies were representatives, or messengers, of the Gospel.  They warned Rahab of the destruction of that city, and she had already heard reports.  Yet she received them with peace.  She did not resist them.  She did not dispute with them as so many people in the world do with the Word of God or with the messengers that carry the Word of God to their hearing.  She heard the message.  She understood it, and she believed it, and it was all of God that she did so because Rahab the harlot was one of God’s elect.  So it was through Christ that Rahab the harlot perished not with them that believed not. 

And the scarlet thread was a representation of that faith of the Lord Jesus Christ that He had imputed to her.  His faith was her salvation, as each one of us who are truly born again are justified by the faith of Christ, and not by our own faith.  It is through the finished work of Christ performed at the foundation of the world that paid for our sins, and remember that “faith without works is dead.”  So when Christ performed the work of being laden with the sins of His people, and by His submitting Himself as the Lamb of God, and being obedient unto the Father, even unto the death of the cross, He showed His faith through that work, and that is the faith that has justified each one of God’s elect.  And this is what the scarlet thread signified – it is the Lamb’s blood.  Christ’s blood was given in payment for the sins of each one that He died for, all those whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  And now those sins are covered.

The scarlet thread is really the same picture as the “pledge.”  Remember that we talked about the pledge that Tamar received, and that pledge protected her from being burnt.

And now we see that the child called Zarah put forth his hand first, and the midwife bound the scarlet thread upon his hand, and she said, “This came out first.”  It is a picture of salvation, which we would think would indicate that Zarah is a picture of someone who is saved. 

The word “scarlet” is also found in Proverbs 31.  It says in Proverbs 31:10:

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

The “virtuous woman” would be the bride of Christ, consisting of every truly saved individual.  We are all part of that spiritual bride.  Then it says in Proverbs 31:11:

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

Who is the husband of the virtuous woman?  The Lord Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom.   So with the virtuous woman, we understand the elect are in view, and then we read in Proverbs 31:20:

She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

The virtuous woman has a concern for the poor and the needy, just as the elect people of God had a concern for the poor and needy of the world as we brought the Gospel to them, and they also represent God’s elect.

Then it says in Proverbs 31:21:

She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

All her household are clothed in scarlet.  Again, the virtuous woman are God’s elect, and each one of us are clothed with “scarlet.”  We have the covering of the blood of Christ.  Rahab’s house was marked, or bound, with the scarlet thread.  And Tamar’s son Zarah had his hand marked with a scarlet thread.  And the Israelites in Egypt had the blood upon the door post, and that was their “covering.” 

It is like the mercy seat was the cover of the ark, and then once a year the high priest would enter in on the Day of Atonement, and he would sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial animal upon the mercy seat.  This is referred to in the New Testament in 1John 2:1-2:

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Of course the reference to “world” would have to be understood as “the nations of them which are saved,” or the world of God’s elect.  The Lord Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins.  This word “propitiation” is a word that comes from a word that is translated as “make reconciliation” in Hebrews 2.  The word “propitiation” in 1John is Strong’s #2434 in the concordance.  It says in Hebrews 2:17-18:

Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

We know that Christ came into the world to save His people from their sins.  Remember, it says that in Matthew 1:21:

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

It is a very specific group, the elect, and these are the ones for whom He made reconciliation.  These are His people.  Again, it is Strong’s #2434.  By the way, this is the same word we read in Luke 18 in a parable Christ spoke concerning two men and the different ways they approached God.  One was a Pharisee, and the other was a publican, and we read in Luke 18:11-14:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The word “merciful” is the same word as “reconciliation,” so we can clearly see what the publican is saying: “O, God, make reconciliation toward me, a sinner, through the Messiah and the shed blood of the Lamb of God.  May Christ have made reconciliation for me.” 

There is another related Greek word, Strong’s #2435, and it is also translated as “propitiation” in Romans 3:23-27:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 

So what is the law of faith?  It is that no man is justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Christ.  That excludes boasting on the part of men.  This is written in the Bible, so it is a Law that man is justified by Christ’s faith, and not by man’s own faith.

By the way, here in Romans 3:25, the word translated as “propitiation” is a closely related word to what we read in 1John 2.  It is Strong’s #2435, and it is only found two times in the New Testament, once here in Romans 3:25, and the other place is in Hebrews 9:3-5:

And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

The word “mercyseat” is that same word that was translated as “propitiation,” so we can see how closely God links the propitiation of the Lord Jesus Christ with the figure of the mercyseat that was inside of Holy of holies where the high priest would enter in and sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial animal, which pointed to the Lord Jesus.  He would sprinkle the blood over the mercyseat which would be the “covering” or “propitiation” given to the Law.  The Law demanded blood, or the death of the sinners: “For the wages of sin is death.”  So God provided His own blood.  It says in Psalm 51:17: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart…”  That is, it is His sacrifice of that broken and contrite heart, and of Christ being struck down by the power of an angry God for our sins.  And all that is in view with the “scarlet thread” that was bound upon Zarah’s hand.

Let us look at one more reference to “scarlet” in Song of Solomon 4:1-3:

Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.

Verse 3 says that the Beloved’s lips are “like a thread of scarlet,” because it points to the Word of God, as speech comes forth from the lips, and as the Word of God comes from the mouth of God.  It is by the declaration of the Word of God that faith comes: “For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Rahab the harlot was a woman of faith.  By faith she did the things she did in receiving the spies with peace, and that indicates her salvation.  She was covered by the blood of Christ, as the “scarlet thread” typifies.  And we would have to say, based on how the “scarlet thread” is used, that it is an indication that the child Zarah was saved.  Now that does not necessarily mean that Zarah was saved, historically.  We do not know that, but as far as the spiritual picture, it is identifying with salvation that his “hand” came out, which identifies with the will, and the “scarlet thread” was bound on his hand, so that does appear to point to salvation.

Lord willing, when we get together in our next study we will talk about Pharez and why God gave him such an interesting name.