Unlocking The Ancient Secrets of the Prayer Shawl (1 of 2)
September 18, 2011 FBC Chester Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A Last month a 15 year-old punk from Syracuse, NY was sentenced to 2 years in juvenile detention for assaulting and robbing a 73 year-old man.
1 The boy and a friend of his ran up to a 73-year-old man, punched him in the face, breaking his glasses, and robbed him of 7 cents -- all the money he had in his pockets.
a How about death sentence for picking up sticks?
b Numbers 15.15.32-35
aa Guy was probably picking up some sticks for a fire but he knew it was WRONG, BREAKING A COMMANDMENT. . . . which there was lot.
bb 613 to be exact in the Torah (first 5 books), which was there Bible at the time.
cc You must obey the laws and you can’t read . . . problems.
c In the ancient world very few people could read so the use of symbols, stories, customs, manners were used to teach. (Go to an Orthodox Church, Catholic Church filled with statues, beautiful stained class windows, etc.)
aa I don’t think their practicing idolatry but rather we’re seeing a remnant of how the church taught biblical truths to people who couldn’t read.
bb We’ve got our customs & symbols, too.
(w.w.j.d., bell, stained glass, steeple, etc.)
cc The church adopted this teaching tool because they saw God do it first.
2 Numbers 15.37-40
a The prayer shawl (Tallit) was a piece of clothing designed by God for God’s People to remind them of God’s Commandments which lead to Godly living.
aa Gen. 3.21, tells us about the last piece of clothing God designed in Eden after the fall.
bb At the fall the clothing was about covering sin, the Tallit is about covering in righteousness!
b The most important part of the tallit are the tassels (tzitzit)
3 The tassels remind the Jews of the Word of God.
a Each tzitzit is seven (completion) white strands of thread (purity @ perfection) wound with a blue thread (8 being a number of new beginnings)
b Each time a Jew looks at a tzitzit it reminds of the Law in three different ways.
aa Shema (Greatest of the Commandments; Deut. 6.4-5)
*The LORD is one.
*YHWH= 26 (The Lord) ECHAD =13 (One)
*7 wrappings 8 wrappings 11 wrappings = 26
*13 wrappings = 13
bb Ten Commandments (Blue Thread)
*Blue dye was produced from a snail/mollusk
(Same dye used to color the curtain to the Holy of Holies) until the 7th Century this dye was used in tzitzits when the Muslims killed the dye makers.
*Sold to European royality for YEARS.
*The snails were thought extent for the last 1,300 years so the blue thread turned either to white (or black) until 1983, when suddenly the Murex Tranculus snails begin reappearing in the eastern side of Mediterranean again!
*Exodus 24.10,12 KJV
*Jews have always thought the Ten Commandments were written on two cubes of Sapphire. (Sorry, Cecil B. DeMille)
cc Sum Total of the Law *613 btw.
*tzitzit equals “600" in Hebrew.
*PLUS 8 strings + 5 knots+600=613!!
c John 14.15; 15.10
B The Tallit has fulfilled its function for 3,500 years by calling Jews back to Sinai, Word of God.
1 IL. Ink Flag of Israel (1948)
a Still the flag of Israel today!
b When a Jewish man dies his tallit is wrapped over his face and a tzitzit is removed from the tallit.
aa No longer under the Law.
bb Their life on earth is over.
c If you were murdered, you were to buried in your bloody tallit to show proof, to give vindication & justice to those who killed you.
2 Tallit in Scripture Saul/Samuel, David/Saul.
a 1 Samuel 15.27-29; 24.5
b Prayed for the sick they would cover their sick with the tallit & pray for them.
A Elijah the prophet wore a mantle (Tallit).
1 In 2 Kings 7.8, we find the kind sending his men out to find Elijah.
a His tallit was made of camel hair & a priestly girdle around his waist.
aa He wasn’t a hairy man, he wore a Tallit made of camels hair.
bb A priestly leather girdle around his waist.
b Remember 1 Kings 19.13,, as God passed by front of the cave Elijah was in Sinia, Elijah went out and put his Tallit on his head.
aa Elijah, I’ve found your replacement because I’m gonna take you home alive.
bb 1 Kings 19.19, Elijah puts his mantel/tallit over the shoulders of Elisha.
cc Elisha went home, kissed mom & dad good-bye, sacrificed the oxen and went to become Elijah’s protégée.
2 The time came for Elijah’s departure so he went down to the School of the prophets at Jericho (Preacher boys)
B 2 Kings 2.5-8
1 He took his mantle, wrapped up the tassels, hit the waters of the Jordan & the waters parted. (He & Elisha went across)
a While they’re walking up the mountain Elijah asks Elisha, “What do you want?”
aa Tall order! Double anointing!
bb If you see me when I go . . It will be so (2 Kings 2.11)
b On Elijah’s way up, apparently he takes off his leather girdle/Camel hair tallit . . . to give Elisha his double-portion.
aa Elisha took the mantle, went back to the Jordan alone w/ 50 kid preachers watching from the other side.
bb “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” Elisha took the tallit, hit the water and walked over on dry ground . . . beginning his double-miracle ministry. (Elijah 14, Elisha 27 when he died)
2 Elijah went to heaven alive, Elisha died like other men and was buried one miracle shy of his promised double.
a The bible tells another miracle that both men did was to raise 12 year old boys from the dead (2 Kings 4.32-24)
b Jewish tradition says Elisha covered the boy in his tallit, wrapped the tzitzits around the boys hand, breathed into him and raised him from the dead.
3 When Elisha died he was buried and the Bible tells us that some Jewish soldiers coming back from battle carrying the body of one of their countrymen.
a 2 Kings 12.21
b Without knowing it, they threw his body in Elisha’s grave, touched his bones and . . . the soldier came back to life. . . number 28! EVEN IN DEATH GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES!!!
4 After Elisha’s death, the priests looked high & low to find one worthy of the camel hair tallit & priestly leather girdle. None.
a Jewish history tells us that they built a stand & placed it beside the alter of incense in the Temple . . . waiting for one to come who was worthy
b Mal. 4.5 (This spreads throughout all of Israel...looking)
aa Still looking!
bb Jewish Seder they still put a place seating out for Elijah (Pour wine in the glass!)
c With Babylonians destruction of the Great Temple in 587 BC, we lose track of Elijah’s mantle until . . .
C Luke 1.5 (Zacharias the priest was elected to go into the Holy Place)
1 Luke 1.11, 17 John! (Spirit & Power of Elijah)
a Fast Forward 30 years, along the Jordan river (Where Elijah was last seen) John the Baptist appears.
b Matt. 3.4!!
c 7 As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, . . .And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Matt 11:7b, 14,15 (NASB)
2 What we see is a fulfillment of prophecy as the mantel of Elijah being put on John The Baptist as he preached the Messiah.
D Jesus (as a Jewish man & Rabbi) would have worn a tallit.
1 In the synoptic gospels (Matt. Mk. Lk.) we read of our Savior coming ashore the city of Carpurniam where He was asked to go & heal the very sick 12 year old daughter of Jairus, an official of the synagogue in that city. (Mk. 5.21-23)
a As Jesus went with Jairus a large crowd pressed in close so they might receive blessing, healing, or just a glimpse of tall, olive complected man from Nazareth.
aa Among the crowd was a woman who had female problems, “had had a hemorrhage for twelve years (Mk. 5.25).”
bb She had spent everything she had seeking a cure but only got worse . . . then she heard about Jesus!
b Mk. 5.27-30
aa Matt. 9.20; Lk. 8.44 (FRINGE! TASSEL! TZITZIT!) tells us that it wasn’t just any part of the garment but the tzitzit on Jesus’ tallit. (This was common in His ministry Matt.14.35-36; Mark 6.56)
bb The tzitzit which symbolized the Covering/ Word/Will/Way ineffable name of God!
cc Malachi 4.2 became a reality for this woman as she reached out by faith and touched Jesus’ tzitzit to find healing in the Son of Righteousness’ wings!
3 Mark 5.35, tells us that while Jesus was talking to the woman, word comes from Jairus’ house that his 12 year-old daughter had passed away. (I don’t believe the length of the woman’s illness & the age of the daughter are both 12 years: The Father had arranged for double honor to come to Jesus)
a He went to Jairus’s house to raise his little girl from the dead! (Laughed/mocked)
aa Jesus enters the girls room w/ Peter, James, John, Jairus & his wife and shuts the door.
bb I believe Jesus took His tallit and covered the little girl’s body, placing the tzitzits in her hand and prayed.
b Matt.9.25; Lk. 8.54, tells us He took her by the hand and said, “Child, arise.”
aa Mark 6.41, tells us the exact words that our Jesus spoke (KJV & NASB) Talit ha Cumi
bb Literally, “Young woman, damsel, child ... in the tallit, arise.” AND UP SHE CAME!
E I believe it was Jesus’ tallit that the soldiers cast lots for at Calvary (Matt. 27.35; John 19.24).
1 Some how Joseph of Arimathaea got Jesus’ tallit back for Him to be buried in (John 19.38-40 KJV) because Jesus was buried in “ . . . the manner of the Jews is to bury.”
a His body was wrapped in new linens and would have had his tallit draped around head as was (and is) their custom (Jn. 11.44 NASB, Lazarus had a tallit over his face, too as was the manner of the Jews to bury.)
b John 20.6-8 NASB
aa Peter & John knew Roman soldiers would not have wasted the time to fold Jesus’ tallit; The Master had folded his tallit just like they had seen it hundreds of times before.
bb In Jerusalem, near the traditional Hill of the Skull there is a Garden tomb that many say is the tomb Jesus used, put your tallit on the slab of stone it points to the door and to the direction of the Mt. of Olives.
cc Ancient Jewish tradition tells us that the Rabbis would fold their tallits pointing in the direction they had left or are returning to.
2 John the Revelator tells us about His return in Rev. 19.11-16.
a Look at these things as text is read:
aa Name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself (v.12a) TZITZIT!
bb Robe dipped in blood (v.13) Bloody tallit that bears witness to the public execution of Calvary.
cc His name is called The Word of God (v.12b) TZITZIT The Word of the God!!!
dd v.14 We’re riding right behind Him!
ee v.15, Ruling the nations with the full authority of the Almighty!
ff v.16 He’s on a horse, wearing His tallit: where are the tzitzits? ON HIS THIGH!!!
b Zech. 14.4 NASB, He’s back!
aa I believe every eye will see Him come but the Jews will see and understand something that will no one else will see.
bb Just A Thought: The nations armies are gathered against Israel, prepared to execute the Final Solution & Jesus shows up wearing the Flag/Banner of Israel over His shoulders!!!
RIDE ON KING JESUS!!!
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Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
