Why Red Thread Writings? The red thread is the cord tying the Bible together, story after story, account after account, letter after letter, it is revealed to us. We trace it from the garden to the grave and beyond. God’s plan is revealed through this common thread, signifying the shedding of blood that saves us. We see it first after Adam and Eve disobey God by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They try to cover themselves and the sins they committed with fig leaves, but the Lord found them and made for them clothes from the skin of a lamb. This was the first blood ever shed and this is were the cord originates from. It is this outpouring of blood, this trail of scarlet, that signifies the end of a life, that is threaded intentionally throughout the Bible.
In between the garden and the grave we find this cord many times, one of those is in Genesis 22:1-18. Most of us know the story well. It follows Abraham and Isaac up Mount Moriah where Abraham is expecting to have to sacrifice his son, but when Isaac is lain out on the alter and Abraham’s knife raised above him, the Lord spoke. Out of the thickets a ram appeared, sparing Isaac from the death that eagerly waited to consume him. This is another instance where we see the lamb’s blood poured out in a covering for our sins.
In Exodus 12 the Lord says to Moses that a man from every household of Israel is to sacrifice a lamb and spread it’s blood over the doorframes of their houses, so that the angel of death will know that they are God’s people and will pass over them. You see, God’s chosen people were enslaved by Egypt and Moses was the unlikely leader, chosen by God, to lead them out of bondage. When the pharaoh’s heart was hardened against God’s people the Lord directed a series of plagues, each one showing his authority over the Egyptian idols. The last of these plagues was the angel of death, sent out to take the life of every firstborn son, but God sent a lamb to save his people from the punishment of death that Egypt was receiving. In Joshua 2:17-20 Rahab, the harlot, shelters the two spies sent out by Joshua. Before they departed they made an oath with Rahab, telling her to tie a scarlet cord in the window, so that she and anyone in her house, may be spared. Here we see an actual scarlet thread being used, it symbolizes saving blood, which was the only thing that could rescue her.
In the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), we read of Jesus’ death on the cross, his three days in the grave, and his victory over death. 1 John 1:7 tells us clearly,
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.”
ALL SIN! He is our ultimate sacrifice, our perfect lamb. Because of his death we have eternal life and no longer are subjects to sin. The red thread that is woven throughout the beautiful books of the Bible does not end with Jesus’ death and resurrection, but weaves on into our lives and into the prophesized future. Revelation 12 says this: “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Even in the end it is our savior’s blood that will save us from the devil’s clutches and concur Satan once for all.
There is a red thread woven through the tapestry of your life, too. Tune your eyes and ears to see and hear the works of Jesus in your life. Peer into the muddled mess of threads, the weaving of years, and see the streams of red, the thread of crimson, the beautiful scarlet of salvation that shows that you have been washed in the blood and are no longer slaves to sin or subjects to death.
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