The Scarlet Thread

2 Samuel

There is a subtle prophecy regarding God’s provision, uttered by Abraham and confirmed by Moses, which really begins to take shape in the last chapter of 2 Samuel. Moses writes that Abraham, after almost killing his own son Isaac, received a ram in his place as an offering.

Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.” Genesis 22: 13 – 14

God’s provision being prophesied would occur on the “mount of the LORD”; this mount became a Jewish idiom for the temple, as the temple was built on Mount Moriah. And how did the temple come to be built on Mount Moriah? By the purchase of land detailed in the last chapter of 2 Samuel.

So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” David went up according to the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded. Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be held back from the people.” 2 Samuel 24: 18 – 21

We know that this threshing floor was the temple location based on 2 Chronicles 3:1:

Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

The temple played a significant role in the Old Covenant, but the building of the temple was not the ultimate fulfillment of Abraham’s prophecy. The temple was not God’s ultimate provision for His people.

Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, is the ultimate provision for God’s people. On the day when Jesus died, the Scripture records an earthquake and another wonder:

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. Matthew 27: 50 – 51

This temple veil was the veil separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, which could only be entered once a year (Day of Atonement) by the High Priest following a strict procedure. Yet the New Covenant of Christ, established by His blood, atoned for sin perfectly and forever, made the temple obsolete, and truly fulfilled the prophecy of Abraham. For on the mount of the LORD, on the day Jesus died for our sins, reconciliation with God was provided, and the temple veil on that mount was torn in two.

Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place. Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail. Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?…For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Hebrews 9: 1 – 14, 24

1 Samuel

The LORD gave Israel the law through Moses; He gave them prophets who spoke His word; He gave them judges to deliver them; but He did not give them a king.

It was God’s desire that Israel would look to Him rather than a man, as ruler and king. But the hearts of the people were wicked, and their desire to have a man rule them was prophesied by Moses even before the people ever officially asked for a king.

When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. Deuteronomy 17: 14 – 15

These are condemning words from Moses, for it was not a good thing that Israel desired to be like “all the nations…” rather than be like God’s chosen nation. This prophecy of Moses was fulfilled a few hundred years later, in the days of Samuel.

And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba. His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. Like all the deeds they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day – in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods – so they are doing to you also.” 1 Samuel 8: 1 – 8

Perhaps understanding Israel’s wicked desire for a king in the days of Samuel makes the incarnation of King Jesus that much more profound. For by the Son taking on human flesh, God fulfills both His desire to be thought of as king by His people and the desire of His people to be ruled by a man. For Jesus Christ will reign over His kingdom forever and He will do so in human flesh.

Paul preached a message once relating the days of Samuel and the appointing of kings to the eventual coming of Christ.

Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it. For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness. When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance – all of which took about four hundred and fifty years. After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’ From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel…And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You.’ As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I will give You the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.’ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: ‘Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish; for I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you.’ Acts 13: 13 – 24, 32 – 40

And what is this work of King Jesus that the scoffers scoff at? God in human flesh. Crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection. Forgiveness of sin, not by works, but by believing in the King.

Ruth

Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, was born in Bethlehem.

…Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king…Matthew 2: 1

The Messiah was foretold to be born in Bethlehem, by the prophet Micah.

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet…” Matthew 2: 3 – 5

In order for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem, his parents needed to travel from their residence in Nazareth to Bethlehem. But why would they travel while pregnant? To partake in the census decreed by Caesar Augustus.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. Luke 2: 1

The reason Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to partake in the census was because they were descendants of David, and Bethlehem was the city of David.

And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. Luke 2: 3 – 6

The reason Bethlehem was known as David’s city was because he was born there and because of his role in the history of Israel, as king and as ancestor of the Messiah to come. The events leading up to how David came to be born in Bethlehem are detailed in the book of Ruth.

So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. Ruth 1: 22 – 2: 1

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Ruth 4: 13

Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron, and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab, and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon, and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed, and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David. Ruth 4: 16 – 21

Many may be inclined to read the book of Ruth and marvel at the morality of Ruth and of Boaz or at the beauty of their love story. But the story behind the story – the greater story – is how the events detailed in Ruth prepared the way for the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, a birth and a birthplace that fulfilled prophecy.

Judges

There are those who think that if there was an increase in signs and wonders performed by the church for the general population, that many unbelievers’ hearts would change and they would believe in God and be endeared to Him. The simple church focused on preaching the gospel and making disciples of the nations by teaching the full counsel of God, and focused on performing what could be called ordinary good deeds, is not enough to convert the lost soul. More is needed from the church to impress contemporary pagans and idolaters. The church must do audacious things like give sight to the blind and prosperity to the poor and health to the sick and purpose to the confused and dreams to the despondent. Through these things the godless believes in Christ and becomes godly.

This type of ecclesiological speculation ignores the naturally sinful hearts of men and gives man undue credit to ultimately make the correct choice when presented with unbelievable things like signs or wonders. The Scriptures paint a different picture of the hearts of men. If signs and wonders were enough to endear men’s hearts to the only living God, how are the Israelites from the days of Moses to the era of the judges to be explained?

Who was it that asked for the molten calf idol to be made? The Israelites who saw the signs and wonders of God via the plagues on Egypt and the plundering during Passover and the parting of the Red Sea and the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

Who was it that grumbled for better food while in the wilderness? The Israelites who were given manna by God and who drank water that miraculously flowed from a rock.

It was those same people whom Moses spoke to when he said:

For I know your rebellion and your stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD; how much more, then, after my death? Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands. Deuteronomy 31: 27 – 29

The Scriptures that record the days of Israel in the wilderness do not seem to teach that if people are given a grand display of God’s power that they will choose Him over false gods and sin. Not only did those who directly walked in the wilderness disbelieve, but the generations of the judges disbelieved; those people did not have the benefit of witnessing the same signs and wonders as their fathers in the wilderness but they were undoubtedly told of what God did for their fathers.

…there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger. Judges 2: 10 – 12

Then the LORD raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. Judges 2: 16 – 17

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 21: 25

So the point is this – despite the Old Covenant God made with Israel, it was not enough to induce men to change their hearts. By contemplating the pervasive wickedness of men and Israel’s consistent inability to abide by the Old Covenant of God, we as Gentiles should be even more grateful for the New Covenant of God which comes through Christ.

But now He (Jesus) has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘know the Lord’, for all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” When He said, “A new covenant”, He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. Hebrews 8: 6 – 13

The beauty of the New Covenant is that God Himself changes the hearts of those He chooses to save; they are no longer required to fulfill the covenant by their own power, but rather God has done it all, in the giving of His Son on the cross to propitiate the Father’s wrath, and in the giving of His Spirit to all believers to help them and cleanse them daily.

Are the promises of the New Covenant and the knowledge of Christ enough for you, or do you need signs and wonders from God to feel His love and power? The Pharisees in the days of Christ wanted more proof as to His divine claims. The miracles He was performing were not enough for them. Jesus said:

An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Matthew 16: 4

What possible sign or wonder is there that can be performed by the church that exceeds the glory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

And what greater power could be displayed by the church that exceeds Jesus being raised from the dead on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures?

Joshua

There is a literal scarlet thread in the book of Joshua which ties into the theme of the Scarlet Thread. As the Israelites were preparing to take Jericho by force, they sent spies into town. The spies stayed hidden in the house of a harlot named Rahab. At the end of the spies’ stay with Rahab, an extraordinary interaction occurred.

“I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.” Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall. She said to them, “Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not happen upon you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.” The men said to her, “We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household. It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear.” She said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. Joshua 2: 9 – 21

Just like the Passover, just like Moses and the serpent in the wilderness, this account of Rahab the harlot foreshadows elements of the gospel; salvation from the coming wrath was achieved through faith.

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace. Hebrews 11: 31

Yet Rahab did more than serve as a participant in the prophetic foreshadow of the gospel. She literally participated in the extension of the line of Judah, and paved the way for the line of David, for she was the mother of Boaz, who was an ancestor of King David.

Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the king. Matthew 1: 5 – 6

Rahab’s participation in extending the line of Judah and establishing the line of David is significant because the Old Testament Scriptures teach that the Messiah would be from the line of David.

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. Isaiah 9: 6 – 7

And the New Testament teaches that Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, is a Son of David.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. Matthew 1: 18 – 25

Deuteronomy

In the days of Moses, the LORD promised the people a prophet, an Israelite. The people were admonished to listen to the prophet God sent. Moses wrote:

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ The LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’” Deuteronomy 18: 15 – 20

The remainder of the Old Testament Scriptures bear witness to God’s general fulfillment of the promise to send a prophet. Just consider the prophets who have a book of the Bible named after them: Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. And then there are Elijah and Elisha, and many other prophets, who were sent but did not write a book that made it into the Bible.

The prophecy from Moses, however, has a more specific fulfillment in the Messiah. In addition to all the prophets in the Old Testament, who in general fulfill God’s promise to speak through men, the Messiah is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s oath to raise up an Israelite in the manner of Moses.

Since the New Testament teaches that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, we can also say that the New Testament teaches that Jesus is the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18:15. Peter referenced the Deuteronomy prophecy in a message he preached to his countrymen after he had healed a lame beggar in the name of Christ:

And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. Moses said, ‘The LORD God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. And it will be that every soul that does not need that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways. Acts 3: 17 – 26

And Stephen, right before his execution for preaching Jesus, told the people of God’s promise to Moses to raise up a prophet, as he recounted the history of Israel for the people and tried to show how Jesus was part of it.

This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren.’ Acts 7: 37

So the New Testament teaches that Jesus is the promised prophet; the one that God told the Israelites to listen to. At the transfiguration of Christ, when Jesus was standing with the two great prophets of God, Moses and Elijah, the Father said this about the Son:

“This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” Mark 9: 7

And the Scripture says that after the voice spoke, Moses and Elijah were gone.

All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. Mark 9: 8

Jesus is greater than Moses and Elijah; He stands alone. He is the beloved Son and the promised prophet of God.

Numbers

Many are familiar with John 3: 16.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

But out of all of those who know John 3: 16, how well do they know verses 14 and 15?

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

Jesus references an account recorded in the twenty-first chapter of Numbers; a bizarre one-time incident demonstrating both God’s wrath and a redemption outside of the Mosaic Law. Was it not for Jesus’ reference to Moses and the serpent, the account would be but a strange story in the history of Israel. Yet because of the gospel of Jesus, this strange story becomes prophetic in the same way that the Passover is prophetic; it foreshadows the gospel of Jesus Christ and New Testament doctrine.

Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. Numbers 21: 4 – 9

It is easy for the casual reader of Scripture to overlook this account, because just as quickly as it comes it goes. There is not really another significant reference to this passage in the rest of the Old Testament. Yet because of Jesus’ words we know that the Holy Spirit intended for this account to be used to foreshadow the gospel of Christ. Consider then, this Old Testament passage and its support of New Testament doctrine:

The people grumbled against God and Moses and were being afflicted unto death. The New Testament teaches
“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6: 23
The people in their sin could not have imagined God sending serpents to smite them unto death, and yet God also allowed Moses to intercede for the ignorant people. The New Testament teaches that we, in our sin, are ignorant of God’s wrath and need intercession to be saved.
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23: 34
The antidote to being bitten by a serpent was to look at a serpent. The New Testament teaches that the answer to our sin is to look upon Him who became sin.
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5: 21

Regarding The Scarlet Thread, this account of Moses and the serpent is a particularly fun passage to study, because Jesus Himself specifically references it and alludes to how we ought to read the passage in light of the cross of Christ. And yet it also serves as a stark warning to everyone who hears the gospel preached. The Apostle Paul references the passage in his warning to the Corinthian church, which was plagued with sin:

Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents…Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 1 Corinthians 10: 9, 11 – 12

Leviticus

Jesus was tested one day by a lawyer and asked what the great commandment was.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22: 36 – 40

Jesus’ source of the second great commandment is Leviticus (the first great commandment was from Deuteronomy).

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. Leviticus 19: 18

Regarding this law of God, the New Testament tells us this:

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Romans 3: 19 – 20

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…Romans 3: 23

…for the Law brings about wrath…Romans 4: 15

I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. Romans 7: 7 – 11

For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” Galatians 3: 10

For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin…Galatians 3: 21 – 22

The primary function of the law in Biblical teaching is to prepare you for the gospel of Jesus Christ by exposing your sins and your need for a salvation outside of the law. For no one has ever “loved God and loved neighbor” according to the standards of God. Without Christ we would be condemned.

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. John 1: 17

Exodus

Pictured in the Passover are both the first and second comings of Christ.

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. Exodus 12: 21 – 23

The first coming is pictured in the slaying of the lamb, for Jesus Christ was crucified during Passover and is called the “Lamb of God”.

When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.” Matthew 26: 1 – 2

Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover…John 19: 13 – 14

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1: 29

…For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5: 7 – 8

The Israelites were asked to slay the lamb and apply it’s blood to their home; we are asked to believe in the One who was slain so that we might be redeemed by His blood.

The second coming of Christ is pictured in the destroyer who “passed over” the homes with the blood of the lamb on their lintel and doorposts and who smote those without the blood. When Christ returns He will judge the world in similar fashion: His eternal wrath will pass over those saved by His blood and will fall upon those who would rather boast in their works rather than in the blood of Christ.

…you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 1 Peter 1: 18 – 19

How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10: 29

Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6: 15 – 17

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life…He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3: 16, 18

Genesis

The Scarlet Thread of Scripture starts with the very first verse of the Bible.

Since Jesus is God, meaning not only Savior but Creator, the first reference to Jesus is Genesis 1:1.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

Do you think of Jesus when you read the opening line of the Bible? The apostle Paul upholds both Jesus’ deity and role as creator in his letter to the Colossians.

“He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1: 15 – 16

And John writes this:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” John 1: 1 – 3