Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #29 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.
We have come to the end of this chapter. We spent some time looking at what the name Pharez means, which is “breach,” or “broken forth.” Now we are going to look at the name “Zarah,” which is Strong’s #2226.
But before we do, I want to remind you that Zarah was the boy who put forth his hand from the womb, and the midwife put a scarlet thread upon it. When we looked up the word “scarlet,” we went to Joshua 2 where we read of Rahab the harlot. 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.
Rahab did according to their agreement and according to their word, which would identify with the Word of God, the Bible, and she bound the scarlet line in the window that marked her house for deliverance. It was very similar to what the Jews did in Egypt when God sent the last plague, the death of the firstborn. He commanded them to take the blood of the Passover lamb and apply it to their doorposts with hyssop. Then when the Destroyer (God) entered into Egypt, He would pass over the house that had this blood.
Likewise, God was going to destroy Jericho after the Israelites had gone 13 times around the city. We cannot forget that because the number “13” signaled the time of the end of the world, the end stage of earth’s history which began in 1988, which was the 13,000th year since creation. So after 13 times around, the walls of Jericho fell down, and Joshua and the Israelites (representing Christ and His people) entered into Jericho and killed every man, woman, and child, except for Rahab the harlot and all that were with her in her house that was protected by the scarlet thread.
That is important because we have already seen in our account in Genesis 38 that Tamar was first accused of being a harlot, which would point to an individual who had committed spiritual adultery against God, and Judah, a type of Christ, pronounced the judgment upon her: “Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.” We also went into detail and established how in this context it indicates it is Judgment Day. Then when they went to get Tamar to carry out the judgment to burn her, she was able to produce the pledge that Judah had left with her, just as the Lord Jesus Christ left each and every one of His elect people with the pledge of the Holy Spirit.
If you recall, in the New Testament God speaks of the “earnest of the Spirit,” and the word “earnest” is taken from the Hebrew word translated as “pledge” that Judah gave to Tamar. It is also significant that Tamar was thought to be a harlot because Judah had gone into her when she was in the way beside the road. And Rahab was, in fact, a harlot. It just indicates the sinfulness of those that God has had mercy upon, the elect. None of us were righteous. None of us were good. We were as guilty and as spiritually filthy as anyone else. Remember those verses in 1Corinthains 6:9-10:
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
That basically covers all of us, and none of us would inherit the kingdom of God were it not for His election program, as it goes on to say in 1Corinthians 6:11:
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
We are the harlots. We are the adulterers, just as the woman caught in adultery in John 8. The accusers asked Jesus, “What are we to do? Moses and the Law say she should be stoned. What say you?” Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground. Whatever He wrote was the Law of God because He wrote with His finger, which ties in with the Ten Commandments. (And of course, Jesus is God). Then one by one the accusers turned away, being convicted by their consciences, until they were all gone away. Then Jesus said, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?” The woman said, “No man, Lord.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” The Bible says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” Jesus told her to go and sin no more. That is, she was washed. She was sanctified. She was justified. She had her sins forgiven, and the blood of Christ had been shed for her.
It is just like when the high priest went into the Holy of holies and sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat which was atop the Ark of the Covenant, and within that ark were the Ten Commandments, representing the complete Law of God that was condemning mankind who were made under the Law. So we were “beneath the ark,” so to speak, and the Law was pressing down upon us as represented by the cherubims above the mercy seat. God as the Judge was going to destroy us with the flaming sword of His wrath, but we were protected by the blood that was sprinkled upon the mercy seat. And that satisfied the Law’s demand that there must be death, and that a life must be taken, and it was the life of the Lord Jesus.
So this boy Zarah had the mark of the scarlet thread. He was representing God’s elect. Notice the situation. It was after Tamar had been condemned to die. That is, she had experienced the judgment, and yet she was delivered from the judgment, and she was not burnt. In other words, it was as if it were May 21, 2011 and Judgment Day had begun on the inhabitants of the earth, and yet among the population of the world was the great multitude that had been saved out of the Great Tribulation. They were scattered throughout the earth as the flame of God’s wrath went forth. You know, it is not an exaggeration to use that kind of language, if we look at 1 Thessalonians 1:7-9:
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
God in flaming fire is taking vengeance, and that is exactly what God has been doing for a few years now, and He will continue to do so until the last day. That flaming fire is spiritual at this time, but do not think that because it is spiritual that it is not real. It is a very real fire in the spiritual realm, and in that flaming fire God has burned the inhabitants of the earth, and few men left. You can read that statement Isaiah 24:6. It because many are called, but few are chosen. The chosen are the elect, and the fire is not burning us because, like Tamar, we have the pledge. We have the “earnest of the Spirit,” so God is not destroying us in His wrath. We have, as it were, the ”scarlet thread” upon us. We have the Passover Lamb, the Lord Jesus, who is marking our individual house, as far as our person is concerned.
But all around us the wicked are perishing. They are being burned. They are being destroyed. And we are enduring. We are abiding the flames and going through them on a daily basis, and we will come to that final day unless the Lord takes us by natural causes.
So here, Zarah has the “scarlet thread.” What does the name “Zarah” mean? It is Strong’s #2226, and it comes from #2225 which is found one time in the New Testament. It is also the same word as #2224. They are all the same word if you remove the vowel pointing. It means “arise,” and it is found in some very significant places. The first place we will see this word is in Psalm 112:4:
Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
And, certainly, the world is in darkness at this point, the thick darkness of the ignorance of mind, or darkened understanding, as well as a darkened heart.
We also find this word in Malachi 4:1-3:
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith JEHOVAH of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith JEHOVAH of hosts.
Do you see in verse 1 and verse 3 which “sandwich” verse 2 is speaking of the wrath of God, or Judgment Day? And in verse 2 it says, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” So in the context of judgment, we find this word.
It also says in Deuteronomy 33:2:
And he said, JEHOVAH came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them…
That is where the Law of God comes from, does it not? So keep this in mind because it is going to talk about Judgment Day. It is saying that JEHOVAH came from the Law, spiritually, and the Law is the Bible, and that is what we have learned regarding Christ coming in judgment through the Scriptures. He is coming “in the clouds,” which represent the commandments of God. It is the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, which is the revealing of His judgment through the process of comparing Scripture with Scripture, with God bringing forth doctrine: 1) It is Judgment Day; 2) There is no more salvation; 3) The elect are also making an appearance before the judgment throne, and so forth. All this information is coming from the Bible regarding May 21, 2011 being the beginning of Judgment Day, as well as all the other information coming from the Bible.
And that is why it says in Deuteronomy 32:2:
And he said, JEHOVAH came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
This would go along with several other verses, but I will read one in Jude 1:14-15:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Does anyone object to the word “ungodly,” or is that totally fitting and appropriate to apply to the world at this time? I think none of God’s people would have any objections to this being an accurate description of the desperate wickedness of sinners at this time of the end. The unsaved are conducting themselves in an ungodly manner in every way possible. And it is because of this that God is coming with all His saints, the elect, to execute judgment upon all. “Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?” And here we are doing just that. We were not raptured (prior to Judgment Day), and we have a task to perform, although we do not focus on that in particular. That is, we do not go forth with the mindset, “Here is the Word of God judging you, you ungodly sinners! Good for you!” No. Never. And this is the wisdom of God that we can go forth praying, “O, Lord, could it be that some of your elect are in this place, and could it be that you will draw them to yourself, and that you will feed them as part of that great multitude?” Our desire for every individual that we hand a tract to is that maybe he or she is one of the elect.
And yet we are carrying out the judgment by sharing the information from the Bible that the Lord has brought forth as He reveals a doctrine to our understanding. And we “pour it out,” as it were, like the seven last plagues of the wrath of God upon the whole world.
So it says here in Deuteronomy 33:2:
And he said, JEHOVAH came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
It is a “fiery law.” The Word of God, the Bible, is a fire. It is a flame. Christ has come, and He has been revealed with His mighty angels, or messengers, from heaven, in flaming fire taking vengeance with His “fiery law.” The Law of God has been transgressed, and the Law has been trampled upon and broken, the everlasting covenant that the inhabitants of the earth have broken. It has provoked God to anger, and His anger burns to the “lowest hell,” and it is being revealed through the Bible. Even the breath of JEHOVAH is likened to “fire and brimstone” in Isaiah 30, as all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, meaning it is “God-breathed.” Therefore all Scripture is breathing forth fire and brimstone from heaven upon the unsaved inhabitants of the earth, as well as the saved inhabitants of the earth.
The elect are also in this place of “hell” that the world has been turned into, and we have not gone anywhere. As the Apostle Paul said when all the prison doors had opened, and after all the shackles had fallen off them after the great earthquake, “We are all here! We have not gone anywhere.” So the elect have had their bindings loosed by God’s magnificent salvation program, but we are all still here and present. And that is what is in view when God comes in judgment with His saints, and from His right hand went a fiery law for them. Then it says in Deuteronomy 33:3:
Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.
What an incredible statement to put in this context of the coming of God in wrath with His saints, carrying His fiery Law. Then He says that He loves His people, and all His saints are in His hand, protected according to His will. Then it says, “And they sat down at thy feet.” It is like what happened with Mary when her sister Martha was troubled with the task of serving and requested that Mary help her. But Christ said that Mary had chosen that better part – to sit at His feet and hear His word. It is really amazing and incredible that God makes this statement in this context because it is evidence, and it evidence on a spiritual level because you have to know what it means to sit down at the feet of Christ. The only way you can know that is to check it out in other verses.
But it is incredible evidence of our understanding of the things the Lord has brought forth (from His Word) and so graciously granted us to understand. It is telling us that the people of God will be listening to His Word, that fiery Law, at the time when Christ comes with all His saints. And that is precisely what we are doing at this point. We are reading the Bible – we are sitting at the feet of Christ. In doing so, we are learning, and we are following the things we are learning, and that is point in Revelation 19 when Jesus was entering into Judgment Day, and His name is “The Word of God.” He is specifically known there as “The Word of God,” and the armies with Him are clothed in that clean white linen, which is “the righteousness of saints.” It is Christ and all the saints, the armies of heaven, and we follow the Word into the battle of Judgment Day, the battle of this time period. And to follow the Word, you must sit at the feet of Jesus. It seems very spectacular in Revelation 19, but Deuteronomy 33:3 is teaching the same thing. We are listening to the Bible, and we are following the Bible.
Let us look at one last verse, and then we will finish our study in Genesis 38, and we will move on to chapter 39 in our next study, Lord willing.
Again, we are looking at the word “rise,” in Isaiah 60:1-3:
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of JEHOVAH is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
The words “risen” and “arise” are Strong’s 2224, and the word “rising” is #2225, and is only found here in the Old Testament. So this is in the context of Judgment Day.
And Zarah, who had the scarlet thread is “rising,” and it clearly identifies with the Light of Christ which enlightens the earth, as it says in Revelation 18:1. He enlightens the elect, but the people of the world are in darkness, and they cannot see the light. But God’s elect have this light arising upon them. The Son of righteousness is rising with healing in His wings in the time of judgment. We know the response is that the elect will come, as it says in Isaiah 60:3: “And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” It is the drawing of the great multitude.