The Blue Tassel: Part 5 - High Priest's Garment Series

Numbers 15:37-41

"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, 40 and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 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.” 

Why would God care that the Israelites put tassels on their garments?  Is it simply so that they will remember to do as the LORD commands?  Yes and no.  Yes, He wanted them to follow His commands but He also knew that they couldn't do that on their own.  Man has no power.  So how does that happen? 

The only One Who perfectly knows God's will as outlined in the Ten Commandments and had the power to carry them out is JESUS!  Because we weren't able to do it, He had Jess fulfill them for us and gave us a new covenant, found in Hebrews 8. Read it carefully:  The only command for us today is to "BELIEVE."  Look to Jesus and "BELEIVE."  Our deal is that we REMEMBER JESUS and that God REMEMBERS OUR SINS NO MORE!

(Our New Covenent.)

That still doesn't answer the question, "So why the tassels on the corners of thier garments?"  Because God is always thinking about and pointing to His Beloved Son and His finished work!  He knows that if we keep our focus on Jesus, we can do all things through Him Who strengthens us.

Every detail, every picture, every name and place name in Hebrew, including the Hebrew letters themselves, have much to tell us.  They all paint beautiful pictures of Jesus.  Such is the case here.  Even when you know that, however, passages like the one above can kinda leave you scratching your head.  

God had Israel build a tabernacle in the wilderness.  Why? All their tents faced away from the desert, toward the tabernacle.  Why?  He had them put a bronze serpent on a pole in the wilderness when they were bitten by poisonous snakes.  Why?  When they looked intently, in faith, to that pole, they were healed.  Why?

Are you sensing a pattern here?   All are depictions of Jesus!  He wanted them looking "TO JESUS!"


Below is a screen shot of a portion of the opening passage in Hebrew.  This also clearly reveals that God wants us "looking to Jesus."

 





 

The passage says that the LORD wanted them to "remember all the commands of the LORD," which today are listed in Hebrews 8 as you saw above.  In this screen shot, on the far right, is the word, "Remember."  The untranslated word next to it, "et: [אֵ֥ת] is Jesus' signature.  "Aleph [אֵ֥] and Tav [ת]" are the first and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Jesus is "The First and the Last."  He wants them to remember Jesus!
(For more on the Jesus' Signature, follow this link:
http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-first-and-last.html)

The prophet Malachi in chapter 4 verse 2 wrote of our Lord Jesus that He would arise with "healing in His wings." I always assumed it was some reference to His being protective of us under His wings like a mother hen or mother eagle; you know, like in Psalm 91. Eagles and hens have wings, right?  Well, yes they do and yes, He does protect us like that.  But that isn't what the Holy Spirit meant here at all.

In Jesus' day, every Hebrew male wore a prayer shawl, called a "Tallit."  This garment was required to have a tassel on all four corners with a blue thread woven in it.  Though th hem of any garment is referred to as wings, the tassels of thei tallit are also called wings; "kanaphim," in Hebrew.  

(Tallit: Prayer Shawl."



 

 

The color blue depicts Jesus finished work.  We discussed the meaning of the color, 

"blue," in part 2 of this series.  Here's a link in case you missed it:

http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/07/tekhelet-part-2-high-priest-garment.html

You remember the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years?  She reached out to touch the hem of Jesus' garment, literally the tassel of His Tallit.  She touched the blue tassel by faith, connected with Jesus' finished work and was healed!  This is the only recorded instance in the whole Bible where someone touched His wings!

In order for her to have known to do that at all she would have had to believe , #1, that He was the Messiah and, #2, that there literally was healing power in His "kanaphim."     

Jewish children, both boys and girls, were taught the Torah practically from birth.  She would have been quite familiar with the passage in Malachi 4. 

But Jesus gave her something far more valuable than just her physical healing.  She had come from behind by stealth to touch His tallit.  Who could blame her. According to levitcal law, she was not even supposed to be out in public and, most certainly, not touching other people.  Leviticus 15:19 spells it out in great detail.  She was considered "unclean" and would make anyone else she touched unclean.  She could have been stoned to death for her actions.  

In the Old Testament, all the curses were behind God, at his back.  Because Jesus had not yet died, no one could look at the face of God and live. All they could ever saw of God was His back as He was leaving them.  

But Jesus is not about Law:  He's all about grace!  He reached out and physically, lovingly touched this poor woman who, like a leper, had not been touched by anyone for a long, long time.  He not only restored her health:  He restored her humanity.  WHAT A SAVIOR!!

He wasn't satisfied with her taking her healing by stealth.  He wanted to leave her with more than just her healing so He turned around and showed her His FACE.  He singled her out among that great press of people, restored her health and spoke grace to her in a very personal, very loving way, like He treats all of us.  We are His beloved!

He also called "daughter."  Nowhere else in the entire Bible is it documented that Jesus called anyone else, "daughter."  She is the only one.  Amazing!   

(Woman with the issue of blood.)

Any time you reach out and touch grace, instead of making it UNclean, grace makes YOU clean!  Today, when you and I reach out to Jesus, you can know and believe believe He loves you; that He wants you and I to be healed and whole even more than we do.  

She is a depiction of the church today.  Many Christians, like this woman, feel like God is far away, like He is angry or disappointed with the them, almost as if they are orphans. There is no sense of closeness or family.  Church, WE ARE NOT ORPHANS.  We are "Daughter" to Him.  We are His bride!  HE LOVES US WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE!

So, whenever you touch or are mindful of Jesus' FINISHED work and His love FOR you, your faith in that love for you soars.  You are connecting with His finished work.  

You are, in effect, touching the Blue Tassel.