If you wave something red in front of a bull, it gets mad. But did you know that when God sees red, it makes him angry, too?
What color represents sin in the Bible? Well, most people would probably say “black,” but Isaiah the Prophet said it is red. In Isaiah 1:18, he writes, “Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” In the eyes of God your sins are red, Isaiah says.
The word “red” here, is the Hebrew word adom. When used as a verb, it means “to show blood in the face; that is, to flush or turn rosy.” It also means “to be dyed or made red.”
Actually, this is the very word God used to name the first man. He was made out of the red clay of the earth. So God called him Adam – really, God just called him “red.” I guess that means that red-heads are the purest species of human beings.
So, why does God use “red” to describe sin? Well, there are many suggestions offered by Bible scholars: red is the color of fire, which devours and destroys, like sin; red seems to remind one of the blood of violence, the ultimate sin; red is the color of passion and burning desire which consumes a person, as sin is all-consuming; red is the color of Adam, the father of sin in the human race; red is the color of sacrificial blood, the only covering for sin. Well, whatever the symbol, red is definitely the color.
“Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.”
Say – even if you’re blood-red like Adam, God can make you white as snow, if you come to Jesus Christ as your Savior.