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Monday
Today I'd like to talk to
you about the Jewish prayer shawl, called Talit in
Hebrew.
In Numbers 15:37-40, God
commanded the Israelites to put fringes on the corners of
their garments. The fringes, known as “tzitzit”
(pronounced tzeet-zeet in Hebrew) represent the 613
commandments in God's Torah. God commanded the Israelites
to wear the “tzitzit” as a reminder to them to obey all of
His commandments and not to stray after the lust of the
eyes and the lust of the flesh, which the pagan nations
surrounding them did.
To gain a deeper knowledge
of the significance of the “tzitzit”, we must understand
that the letters of the Hebrew language also have
numerical value. The numerical value of the word “tzitzit”
is 600. Each corner of the Jewish pray shawl, Talit in
Hebrew (pronounced tah-leet) has 8 strands (fringes) which
are tied in 5 knots. When you ad the numerical value of
the word “tzitzit” which is 600, plus the 8 strands and
the 5 knots, it gives us a total of 613, which is exactly
the number of commandments in God's Torah.
In addition, there are 39
loops wrapped between the 5 knots on each corner of the
Talit. The 39 loops spell out the Hebrew phrase “Adonai Echad”, which means “the Lord is One”.
By virtue of God's name
being in the tzitzit, there is a supernatural dispensation
of God's power and authority in the garment itself. I am
not talking about magic or about ancient Jewish mysticism
which is found in the Kaballah. I am talking about
something that is very scriptural and very real. Here are
some examples:
When Elijah, a
Torah-observant Jewish prophet, touched the Jordan River
with his Talit, the waters parted in two (2 nd Kings
2:8). The same thing happened again when Elisha, the
successor to Elijah, took the same garment and struck the
water – it divided in two (2 nd Kings 2:14)
Yeshua (Jesus) was also a
Torah-observant Jew who kept all of His Father's
commandments. He, too, wore the Talit with the fringes at
the hem of His garment. According to Luke 8:43-48, a woman
with an “issue of blood” pressed through the crowds and
when she came in contact with the tzitzit of Yeshua's
garment, she was instantly healed!
Matthew 14:36 tells us that
multitudes who were sick, who touched the hem of Yeshua's
garment were instantly healed! According to Revelation
19:16, when Yeshua returns riding on a white horse with
the armies of heaven behind Him, that the edge of the
garment resting on His thigh will bear the name of God –
“Melech Hamlacheem” (King of kings) and “Adon Ha Adonim”
(Lord of lords).
For believers in Yeshua
today, wearing the Jewish Talit has great significance:
Obedience to the Word of God; supernatural power,
authority and healing; divine covering and protection;
divine intimacy with God. When the Talit is draped over
one's head, it literally becomes a “prayer closet” and
also (Revelation 19) reveals that it is a symbol of the 2
nd coming of the Messiah Jesus.
Tuesday
Yesterday, I spoke to you
about the significance of the Jewish prayer shawl called
the Talit in Hebrew. For a copy of that teaching, please
contact our Temple office. Today, I'd like to speak to you
about another garment, the Jewish skullcap which is called
the “Kippah” in Hebrew (pronounced Key-pah) and means
“covering”.
In Yiddish, which is a
European dialect of the Hebrew language, the kippah is
referred to as a “yarlmulka”. This comes from the Hebrew
phrase “Yaray may Elohim” which means “in fear” or “in
reverence for God”. While there is no Biblical mandate to
wear the kippah, the origins of it being a sacred garment
is traced back to the wardrobe of Aaron, the High Priest
of Israel and to Aaron's ministry in the Tabernacle of
Moses. According to Exodus 28:4, one of Aaron's priestly
garments was a turban which was wrapped around Aaron's
head. The turban was called “Mitznefet” in Hebrew.
Attached to the front of the turban was a gold plate with
the words “Kodesh L'Adonai” engraved on it, which means
“Holiness to the Lord”. (Exodus 28:36)
1 st Peter 2:9 says that as
believers in Yeshua (Jesus) we are all a “royal priesthood
and a holy nation”. Hence, the application for male
believers (Jew or Gentile) to wear the Kippah, recognizing
that it is a sacred, holy garment, just like the Talit,
the Jewish prayer shawl.
Some of you may be saying,
didn't the apostle Paul warn men not to cover their heads
in 1 st Corinthians Chapter 11? There is a great
misconception here by many believers today. First of all,
as you read through all the chapters in 1 st Corinthians,
you will see that the believers in Corinth were
experiencing many problems which Paul had to address. One
of them was a “role distinction” problem, which was part
of the Greek culture – namely men giving the “appearance
of women” and women giving the “appearance of men”.
In 1 st Corinthians 11,
Paul uses the Greek word “kataka-loopto” for the word
“covering” when he warns men not to “cover” their head.
“Kataka-loopto” means to cover one's head with a “veil” or
with “long hair” as some were doing. It has nothing to do
with the kippah, the Jewish skullcap, which wasn't even
invented until about 500 years later. Paul was telling the
men in Corinth not to look like women!
Paul also warns women in 1
st Corinthians 11, not to “shave their heads bald” as some
were doing. This kind of appearance was associated with
temple prostitution in the pagan Greek society. Instead,
he instructs the women to cover their heads with a veil, a
symbol of humility, dating back to the humility of Rebekah,
who covered herself with a “veil” when she first saw Isaac
(Genesis 24:65)
So, for all of you
men out there who are discovering your Jewish roots in the
Messiah Jesus, feel free to wear the kippah, a sacred holy
garment in Judaism and don't let anyone condemn you for
doing it.
Wednesday
Please listen to the words
of this song “Ruach” which means “Spirit of God” in
Hebrew. You can order the CD “On Mount Zion”
here.
Thursday
In Deuteronomy 6:9, God
told the Israelites to write His commandments on the
doorpost of their houses and upon their gates. This is
done through the fastening of what is called in Hebrew, a
“mezuzah” to the doorpost of Jewish homes and synagogues
today. The word “mezuzah” means “doorpost”. In the exodus
from Egypt , the “blood of the Passover Lamb” was applied
to the doorposts of the homes of the Israelites leading to
deliverance and salvation. The follow-up was obedience to
God's commandments (His Torah) given to the Children of
Israel at Mt. Sinai , further represented by the mezuzah.
It is the same for
believers in Yeshua (Jesus) today. First the blood of
Yeshua, our Passover Lamb, was applied to the “doorpost”
of our hearts, giving us deliverance and salvation. Then
we received the Ruach Ha Kodesh (the Holy Spirit) giving
us the “grace to embrace” God's commandments in the Torah
and in the entire Bible. As believers, we should actually
hide the Word of God IN our hearts!
The mezuzah itself is
comprised of two major parts – a container and the
parchment paper itself. The container may be of almost any
material (wood, brass, silver, ceramic or glass). The
container generally bears the Hebrew letter “shin” which
stands for the Name of God, in particular, “El Shaddai”
which means “Almighty God”. “Dai”, comes from the Hebrew
word “daiyenu”, which means “enough” or “sufficient”. God
(El Shaddai) is certainly “sufficient” for all the needs
of our household!
Sometimes the container of
the mezuzah spells our the entire name “Shaddai” using all
three Hebrew letters of the word, which are the “shin”, “dalet”,
and “yud”, which is an acronym for the Hebrew phrase
“Shomer daltot Yisrael” and means “Keeper of the doors of
Israel”. Certainly “He that keepeth Israel neither
slumbers nor sleeps”.
The “parchment paper”
itself, which is rolled up and placed inside the container
is made from the dried skin of a kosher animal on which a
scribe has written by hand, in Hebrew, the scriptures from
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Deuteronomy 11:12-21. On the back of
the parchment paper, we again see the Hebrew letter “shin”
representing God's name, made visible by a small opening
on the back of the container.
The mezuzah is then
fastened to the upper third portion of the right hand side
of the doorpost. It is fastened in the vertical position
with the top slightly inclined to the inside of the home.
It is customary to touch the mezuzah and then bring your
finger(s) to your lips, whenever you leave or enter the
home as a reminder that the Word of God is always on your
lips and that He will bless you in your “going out” and in
your “coming in”.
What is the Messianic
application to the mezuzah? Yeshua is the “Living Word”,
El Shaddai, Himself, who came in the flesh. Through Him
and through His Spirit, the Torah of God is written on our
hearts. He is also the one who said in John 10:9, “I am
the door, if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and
will go in and out and find good pasture”.
If you would like to
purchase a mezuzah for the doorpost of your home, please
contact our temple office.
Friday
At The Tabernacle, we place
an emphasis on spirit-filled high praise and worship for
Yeshua (Jesus), King of kings and Lord of lords!
Psalm 100 says: “Make a
joyful shout to the Lord, all you nations, serve the Lord
with gladness, come before His Presence with singing . . .
Enter His gates with thanksgiving in your hearts and come
into His courts with praise . . . be thankful to Him and
bless His Name for the Lord is good and His mercy endures
forever!”
Please listen to the words
of this song from one of our CDs entitled “I Will Bless
the Lord My God” and remember that the “Joy of the Lord is
your strength”. You can order the CD “On Mount Zion”
here.
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