  |
Numbers 15:37-40 - (NKJV)
Again Yahweh 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. Deuteronomy 22:12 You shall make tassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you cover yourself. Our Master Yahushua said:
Knowing
that heaven and earth have not passed away and therefore there is much yet
to be fulfilled, I came to the conviction that we should obey this
So we see that according to Yahweh's word, the purpose for the tassel (Hebrew #6734 "Tsitsit") is for us to look upon it and remember all of Yahweh's commandments and do them. This is the primary purpose of the tassels. But just what is a tassel? According to the BDB Hebrew lexicon it is:
In this tassel, there are four sections of wraps. From right to left (as Hebrew reads), there are 10 wraps in the first section which corresponds to the Hebrew letter Yod. The second section has 5 wraps which is Heh. The third section, 6 wraps is Waw. And the fourth section is Heh once again with 5 wraps. This gives us the tetragrammaton, Yahweh's name. I don't know that it is necessary to have it exactly like this, but I like it :) It is commanded though that we must have tassel and with a blue cord. But why 4 tassels?
Plain and simple, Yahweh's word says to. I wear the tassels on a tunic (a garment similar to a long shirt except the lower portion is split, giving me 4 corners) or on four equal places, pinned with a safety pin underneath my belt. Others tie it to their belt loops. Others sew it to their belts. I believe that what is important is not that we wear a tassel exactly like the Israel wore them but that we do wear 4 tassels with a blue cord. Should a woman wear tassels? I see no evidence that the commandment was gender specific. The command in Numbers 15:38 was for "B'nay Yisrael" (commonly translated "children of Israel or sons of Israel") which is the same phrase that prefixed many other commands such as: The commands against unclean meats:
The commands against incest:
Surely a woman was not permitted to have a pork roast or commit incest. Thus I see no scripture indicating that a woman need not wear the tassels. It seems that just as men could use a reminder to keep Yahweh's commandments, women could also. Now many would like to say that we need not wear the tassels any longer since we have the Holy Spirit to remind us of His commandments. While it is true that the Holy Spirit can remind us of Yahweh's commandments, it is also true that one of Yahweh's commandments is to wear tassels! We should beware of any thoughts coming into our mind which subtly suggests "Hath Elohim said?". Yahweh didn't give all the reasons why He didn't want Eve to partake of the fruit, He just instructed Adam and Eve not to eat it. If Yahweh says it, why would we go about finding reasons why we don't need to do it? Besides this, are we greater than King David who had the Holy Spirit? Yet we know he was commanded to wear tassels. We can
also be certain that Yahushua had the Holy Spirit. Did He wear tassels?
This woman was healed by touching the "hem" of his garment. What does this word "hem" mean in the Greek? It is word #2899 in the Strong's concordance: The
Barkley-Newman Greek Dictionary has: The Friberg Greek Lexicon has: kraspedon ou to (1) as the outer limit of someth.; of a garment hem, border, edge; (2) in Jewish usage, the tassel or fringe on the four corners of the outer garment, worn as a reminder to observe the commandments (cf. NU 15.38ff; DT 22.12). The DuTillet, which is a 450 year old Hebrew manuscript of the book of Matthew contains "Tzitzi" (tassel) in this passage as well as the other verse (Matthew 14:34) listed below. So the woman with the flow of blood was healed by touching the "tassel" of his garment. So not only did Yahushua wear the tassels, but Yahweh used them in a mighty way! I believe that wearing the tassel must have some type of spiritual significance in addition to reminding us to keep His commandments. I'm not certain as to what that might be however. as the word of Yahweh seems to be silent otherwise. Here is another place:
and again:
So we can see that Yahweh used the tassels that Yahushua wore in a powerful way. I'm sure that all of us are commanded to walk as Yahushua walked:
If Yahushua wore the tassels and we walk as He walked, then surely Yahweh can use our tassels in a mighty way also. Through my experience of wearing the tassels, I have been reminded of Yahweh's commandments and have also been reminded when I see other believers wearing them. I can imagine that this would have also been so in the days when Israel was a righteous nation. Wearing the tassels often serves as a witnessing tool as well. Many will ask why I wear the tassels and it becomes an opportunity to share the testimony of Yahushua and how He wore them and that it is to remind us of the commandments of Yahweh. Most people are amazed that it is even in Scripture! Now lets consider this scripture:
In the days of Yahushua, the quality of your tassel apparently indicated your social rank. It is not this way today however. In fact, a person might even receive ridicule for wearing them. But we must not be ashamed of doing the things that Yahushua did. Yahushua said:
Therefore
if Yahweh's word tells us to wear the tassels, we need to be diligent and
obey His commandments. For this is the evidence of our love for Him. Men
in this day and age have no shortage of excuses as to why we need not obey
His commandments, but I believe that we will be expected to live by every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh. Remember the words of
Yahweh in the book of Malachi,
|
|
