The Spiritual Significance Of Colors In Scripture The Color Red - Part 1 by Mike Vinson Colors, like every word of scripture, carry a spiritual meaning with them. Light is truth and knowledge. Darkness is the absence of truth and knowledge. The entire spectrum of light carries with it equally important truths, understanding and knowledge. And they are all within Adam within us. It so happens that there are only three primary colors. Those three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. And it is out of these three colors, and combinations of these three colors that all other colors come. And what does the number three tell us? It tells us that colors, like all else in God's Word, reveal that there is a process taking place (read The Spiritual Significance Of The Number Three). Today we will see that the primary color red, shows us 1) mankind is of the ground, 2) God's rejected anointed, 3) symbolic of an incurable disease 4) the color of the Adversary himself and finally 5) in a positive application red indicates the health and beauty of God's chosen elect.   1) Red As Mankind, The Ground Of The Earth The first color mentioned in scripture is the color 'red.' Adam, man, was taken out of the 'adamah,' the ground: Gen 2:4  These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth [H776 - 'erets] when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 1

Gen 2:5  And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground. [H127 adamah] Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man [H120 - adam] of the dust of the ground [H127 - adamah], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.    Adam, the first man, whose name was Adam [Strong's # 121], according to Hitchcock's dictionary of names, means  "earthy; red." But the word 'man' [Strong's # H120] is also 'adam.' Gen 2:19  And out of the ground [H127 - adamah] the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam [Strong's # 121 - adam] to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. Here now is Strong's definition of 'Adam:" H121 ‫אדם‬ 'âdâm aw-dawm' The same as H120; Adam, the name of the first man, also of a place in Palestine: - Adam. Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man [Strong's # 120] in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

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So "Adam," [Strong's # H121] is the same as "the man" [Strong's # H120] , both mean "earthy, red." And both mean "man."   2) Red Is The Rejected Twin Brother Of God's Elect  This is very instructive, in as much as the color red is also associated with the very best that the flesh has to offer: Gen 25:25  And the first came out red [Hebrew - admoniy -Strong's # 132 - red or reddish], all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.[# H6215] Gen 25:26  And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. Gen 25:27  And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. Esau "a man of the fields" tells us who Esau is spiritually: Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; [Esau is Abraham's seed in this world] Jacob "a plain man dwelling in tents" tells us who Jacob is spiritually: Heb 11:9  By faith he [Abraham] sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles [G4633 - a tent]  with Isaac and Jacob [Esau is omitted], the heirs with him of the same promise: G463 σκηνή skēnē skay-nay' Apparently akin to G4632 and G4639; a tent or cloth hut (literally or figuratively): - habitation, tabernacle.

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Gen 25:28  And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. The fact that Isaac love Esau, and the fact that Esau was the first born twin brother of God's typical elect Jacob, tells us that Esau, is but an earlier type of God's rejected anointed, King Saul. It is always God's rejected anointed who want God's anointed dead. Esau wanted Jacob dead. Saul wanted David dead, and the established church wanted Christ dead . The three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are types of us. They typify the three stages of our spiritual progress. Esau's wild venison appeals to us more than Jacob's domesticated lambs and goats, when we are in our intermediate 'Isaac' stage of spiritual growth. Gen 25:29  And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: Pro 13:15  Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.  As contrasted with  Jacobs way of life: Gen 25:30  And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red [H122 - adom] pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom [ H123 edom]. Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. H123 ‫ אדם‬   ‫אדום‬ 'ĕdôm  'ĕdôm ed-ome', ed-ome' >From H122; red (see Gen_25:25); Edom, the elder twin-brother of 4

Jacob; hence the region (Idumaea) occupied by him: - Edom, Edomites, Idumea. H122 ‫אדם‬ 'âdôm aw-dome' >From H119; rosy: - red, ruddy. Gen 25:31  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. Gen 25:32  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? Gen 25:33  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Gen 25:34  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles [herb's without meat]; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. This is the spiritual significance of the color red. Red is "man, Adam, earthy, red." Our birthright is spiritual, blue as we will see, and we despise it for mere physical red herbs devoid of spiritual meat. But this is all by design. It is all being worked within us: Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all [things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil [within each of us because we must all live by every world of God. (Matt. 4:4) We are all Esau before we become Jacob. But as we will see below, red is also the beauty of God's elect. This is the New Testament reality of this Old Testament parable: Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water [first] and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 5

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh [water] is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Water is water and spirit is spirit. "Flesh is flesh and... spirit is spirit." 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. 1Co 15:47  The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. 1Co 15:48  As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly. 1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. If it is given us to desire the things of the spirit then we will, by circumstances beyond our control, end up going to Haran (Babylonspiritually called Egypt) to serve and to be given a wife. This was the experience of both Jacob and his son Joseph. Both lived lives of service, and both were given their wives outside of Canaan. Both first lived years of servitude before they were given their wives. This, of course, is Christ. 3) Red is indicative of an incurable disease:  Lev 13:19  And in the place of the boil there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish [# 125 - adamdam], and it be shewed to the priest; Lev 13:20  And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall

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pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil. Lev 13:49  And if the plague be greenish or reddish [# 125 - adamdam] in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a plague of leprosy , and shall be shewed unto the priest: Lev 14:37  And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish [# 125 - adamdam], which in sight are lower than the wall; Lev 14:38  Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days: Lev 14:39  And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, [if] the plague be spread in the walls of the house; Lev 14:40  Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague [is], and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city: Lev 14:41  And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place: Lev 14:42  And they shall take other stones, and put [them] in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house. Lev 14:43  And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered; Lev 14:44  Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, [if] the plague be spread in the house, it [is] a fretting leprosy in the house: it [is] unclean. Lev 14:45  And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place. God's Word is all a parable. Here is the New Testament interpretation and application of this Old Testament parable: 7

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly [that there is] fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, [concerning] him that hath so done this deed, 1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1Co 5:6  Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 4) Red Symbolizes The Adversary   But there is one more example of the color red. Red is also the color of the Adversary: Rev 6:4  And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him [of God] that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: Rev 12:2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

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Rev 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. Who else has seven heads and ten horns? None other that the crown of God's beastly creation: Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. Where then does the beast, old red Adam, the man, get his power and his throne and his great authority? He gets it all "from the dragon." Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the [great red] dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 5) The Positive Application of Red Red also represents the beauty and health of the spirit of God's elect: 1Sa 16:10  Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. 1Sa 16:11  And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all [thy] children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

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1Sa 16:12  And he sent, and brought him in. Now he [was] ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this [is] he. 1Sa 16:13  Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. Here is the New Testament Spiritual application of this Old Testament parable: Rev 2:9  I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Conclusion So the negative applications of  red- adamah - adam - edom, are, 1) of the ground and identifying with this earth. 2) Symbolic of a religious man, the rejected seed of Abraham. Red represents a religious man who cannot come out of this world, and yet is that part of Abraham's seed which, is closest to it's twin brother. Ishmael was Abraham's seed born of an Egyptian bondwoman. But Ishmael does not typify that which would deceive the very elect if possible. It is Esau, Jacob's twin brother, who sold his birthright for red pottage, who so despises God's elect. 3) Red symbolizes that facet of our  experience which is called an incurable deadly disease. 4) Red is also the color used of God to symbolize the Adversary.

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5) The positive application of the color red is the beauty and health of Gods elect, " ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance... anointed in the midst of [their] brothers."

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