That you may be holy...
Num. 15:37 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 38 "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. 39 "And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you [may] not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 "and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. 41 "I [am] the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I [am] the LORD your God."
The word for tassel is tzit-tzit. These ornaments were the BMW's of the ancient world, to know a man's status, look at the decoration on his cloak. The details which God gives to Moses tell us much about His covenant people. First, they were a royal people. The word for blue here is techelet. This referred to a very specific dye made from the excretions of a rare snail in a very small area of Palestine, such that it was affordable only for royalty. Every Son of the Covenant wore a kingly garment. (This also served as an equalizer, no one wore more than any one else, and everyone could afford the needed four strands.)
Second, they were a priestly people. The techelet blue was also the color of the priest's robe, and the threads made of flax were customarily worn on a wool garment. This mixture of wool and flax was only used for the priestly garments, being outlawed in the Torah for anyone else. These two elements marked each man as a priest for his family.
Third, they were a Messianic people. The blue thread has been understood as a symbol of the Messiah. Isaiah records that Messiah would have healing in His wings, the word is tzit-tzit. In the Gospels, the woman with issue of blood who grabbed His garment, is described as literally grabbing the "twisted coil" at the corner. That act of faith was not just belief that He could heal her, but that He was the Holy One of Israel. The blue thread is referred to as the Shammash, the Servant. Jesus also applied the Servant Songs of Isaiah to Himself.
God Himself tells us the purpose of these tassels. To teach holiness. 39 "And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you [may] not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 "and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.
The structure of this statement is itself a lesson in the process of sanctification. The structure is called chiasm, in which each half is a mirror image of the other. I've arranged the key words as they appear in the verses.
Look (eyes)
Remember (heart and mind)
do (action)
not follow (action)
heart
eyes
While I am in a structural mood, the entire second section of the passage is a bipartite structure (of which the first section is a chiasm)exhibiting progressive parallelism. (The commandment is recapped with an added detail. 40 "and that you may remember and do all My commandments, (a repeat) and be holy for your God. (the new detail). )
The central idea is holiness, and we may derive three principles about how one becomes Holy.
1. Guard your heart by guarding your eyes.
The first purpose of the tassels was to have something to look at, a sign. (covenant signs were very important. Every time a Jewish man went to the bathroom he was faced with the Covenant.) What you look at has the single greatest impact on your thought life. Looking at the tassels brought the commandments to remembrance. By thinking on those things, they did not follow the harlotry of their heart or of their eyes, but this assumed they knew the commandments, which brings us to...
2. The Scripture you memorize is the Scripture you will utilize.
For the tassels to do their thing, so to speak, you had to know the words of God, to be fulfilling the directives of the Torah. The tassels have a very interesting way of doing this. First, they are tied with five double knots, representing the five books of Law. Second, these make ten single knots, bringing to mind the Ten Commandments. Between those knots there are wraps of the Shammash, 7,8,11,and 13. The hebrew alef-bet has a numerical value for each letters. The letters connected with the number of wraps spells YHWH Echad, the Lord is One, bringing to mind the Shema of Duet. 6:4, the first and greatest Commandment. Take those values and that of the word tzit-tzit, you get 613, the number of individual commands in the Torah. The tassels very literally reminded you of God's commands. For our purposes, recognize that the more we are immersed in Scripture, the less trash we are putting into our hearts. That is what brings about genuine transformation.
3. Ask not why a man does something, but what he will do next.
This maxim of Aristotle's is dead on. A man acts according to how he thinks. To understand why a man does something, see what he does next, and this will tell you what he thinks about, which gives you a good clue as to what he is putting into his brain. The central core of that chiastic structure is action. I am reminded of the parable of the two sons. One says "yes" to his father's orders but doesn't fulfill them. The other refuses, but ultimately obeys. The second was the one who was righteous. How we behave is of great importance. (Balance this with the sermon on the mount, evil thoughts are tantamount to evil acts.) This is the final step, put good things into your brain, think right, do right.
41 "I [am] the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I [am] the LORD your God."
God calls us to be holy so we can have fellowship with Him. Christ who has redeemed us as our own Passover Lamb, desires that we share eternity with Him, to be our God.
I hope this rambling lesson has been of some interest to you. Please let me know anything that needs clarification.
The word for tassel is tzit-tzit. These ornaments were the BMW's of the ancient world, to know a man's status, look at the decoration on his cloak. The details which God gives to Moses tell us much about His covenant people. First, they were a royal people. The word for blue here is techelet. This referred to a very specific dye made from the excretions of a rare snail in a very small area of Palestine, such that it was affordable only for royalty. Every Son of the Covenant wore a kingly garment. (This also served as an equalizer, no one wore more than any one else, and everyone could afford the needed four strands.)
Second, they were a priestly people. The techelet blue was also the color of the priest's robe, and the threads made of flax were customarily worn on a wool garment. This mixture of wool and flax was only used for the priestly garments, being outlawed in the Torah for anyone else. These two elements marked each man as a priest for his family.
Third, they were a Messianic people. The blue thread has been understood as a symbol of the Messiah. Isaiah records that Messiah would have healing in His wings, the word is tzit-tzit. In the Gospels, the woman with issue of blood who grabbed His garment, is described as literally grabbing the "twisted coil" at the corner. That act of faith was not just belief that He could heal her, but that He was the Holy One of Israel. The blue thread is referred to as the Shammash, the Servant. Jesus also applied the Servant Songs of Isaiah to Himself.
God Himself tells us the purpose of these tassels. To teach holiness. 39 "And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you [may] not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 "and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.
The structure of this statement is itself a lesson in the process of sanctification. The structure is called chiasm, in which each half is a mirror image of the other. I've arranged the key words as they appear in the verses.
Look (eyes)
Remember (heart and mind)
do (action)
not follow (action)
heart
eyes
While I am in a structural mood, the entire second section of the passage is a bipartite structure (of which the first section is a chiasm)exhibiting progressive parallelism. (The commandment is recapped with an added detail. 40 "and that you may remember and do all My commandments, (a repeat) and be holy for your God. (the new detail). )
The central idea is holiness, and we may derive three principles about how one becomes Holy.
1. Guard your heart by guarding your eyes.
The first purpose of the tassels was to have something to look at, a sign. (covenant signs were very important. Every time a Jewish man went to the bathroom he was faced with the Covenant.) What you look at has the single greatest impact on your thought life. Looking at the tassels brought the commandments to remembrance. By thinking on those things, they did not follow the harlotry of their heart or of their eyes, but this assumed they knew the commandments, which brings us to...
2. The Scripture you memorize is the Scripture you will utilize.
For the tassels to do their thing, so to speak, you had to know the words of God, to be fulfilling the directives of the Torah. The tassels have a very interesting way of doing this. First, they are tied with five double knots, representing the five books of Law. Second, these make ten single knots, bringing to mind the Ten Commandments. Between those knots there are wraps of the Shammash, 7,8,11,and 13. The hebrew alef-bet has a numerical value for each letters. The letters connected with the number of wraps spells YHWH Echad, the Lord is One, bringing to mind the Shema of Duet. 6:4, the first and greatest Commandment. Take those values and that of the word tzit-tzit, you get 613, the number of individual commands in the Torah. The tassels very literally reminded you of God's commands. For our purposes, recognize that the more we are immersed in Scripture, the less trash we are putting into our hearts. That is what brings about genuine transformation.
3. Ask not why a man does something, but what he will do next.
This maxim of Aristotle's is dead on. A man acts according to how he thinks. To understand why a man does something, see what he does next, and this will tell you what he thinks about, which gives you a good clue as to what he is putting into his brain. The central core of that chiastic structure is action. I am reminded of the parable of the two sons. One says "yes" to his father's orders but doesn't fulfill them. The other refuses, but ultimately obeys. The second was the one who was righteous. How we behave is of great importance. (Balance this with the sermon on the mount, evil thoughts are tantamount to evil acts.) This is the final step, put good things into your brain, think right, do right.
41 "I [am] the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I [am] the LORD your God."
God calls us to be holy so we can have fellowship with Him. Christ who has redeemed us as our own Passover Lamb, desires that we share eternity with Him, to be our God.
I hope this rambling lesson has been of some interest to you. Please let me know anything that needs clarification.
posted by Brother Makarias | 4:26 PM
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