Zech 8.23 doesn’t say that the non-Jew grasped the tzitzit, it says they grasped the “garment” of a Jew, or the “corner” in Hebrew. When the woman with an issue of blood in Mark 5.28 touched Yeshua, it says she touched his “garments.” It doesn’t say she touched his tzitzit either, but that is what is implied. We wouldn’t know that without a Jewish interpretation. In Mark 5.35-43, we have another account of the tzitzit. A twelve year old girl has died and Yeshua took the girl by the hand and said, “Talita Cumi” or “She which is in the talit, arise.” The English translates it as “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” However, that is not accurate. If that is what he said, being twelve, he would have said “Yaldah Cumi.” If she was 13-17 he would have said “Almah Cumi.” If she was eighteen years old or older he would have said “Betulah Cumi.” But that is not what he said.
You can even see the word “Talit” in the translations. The talit is a garment that held the tzitzit in the four corners. The same talit with the tzitzit that helped the woman with the issue of blood in the previous verses was wrapped around the twelve year old girl. Why? The word of God is symbolized by the tzitzit, and that word is greater than death and defilement. In Mal 4.2 it says, “The sun of righteousness will arise with healing on his wings.” The Hebrew word for “wings” is “kanaf” meaning the corners where the tzitzit hung (Num 15.38). It is what David cut off of Saul’s garment in 1 Sam 24.5-22. This meant that Saul’s authority as king has been “cut off” by the Lord. The woman touched the tzitzit on Yeshua’s “corners” because she believed he was the “sun of righteousness” (Messiah) and he came with healing.
The Shemoneh Esrai is a prayer and it consists of eighteen benedictions that were prayed every day in the Temple, and they are prayed by Jews when they were not in the Temple. They are still prayed today. This prayer is also called the Amidah, or standing prayer, because you stood when they are prayed. In Amidah #10 it says “and gather us from the four corners (“arba kanaf’ot”) of the earth. A talit can be called this. In Hebrew thought, the four corners had meaning. There were four corners on the altar, four corners in the Court of the Women and four corners to the Azarah (inner court). The in-gathering of the exiles will not be according to the compass that is used in the world today. It will relate to some concept that relates to the biblical concept of “four corners.” There are around forty commandments in the Scriptures that deal with “corners.” Peter saw a four cornered “sheet” coming down out of heaven in Acts 10.11 and many believe this was a talit.
We aren’t going to understand “the four corners” concept figuring it out on our own. We aren’t going to get it from Christianity, so where are we going to get it ? We will need to go back and see what God preserved among the Jewish people. The “corners” concept is all over the Scriptures. We have the four corners of the talit for the tzitzit, the four corners of the altar (two of them), the four corner buildings of the inner court, the four corners of the Court of the Women, the four corners of a field, the four corners of the head and the four corners of the beard, and much more. We need to get information on these things and other places where he has preserved the information.
We are all rebellious, and we want to do what we think is right in our own eyes, rather than learn. We are not saying that we should go to the Jewish people and stop believing in Yeshua, but we should go to the Jewish people because God has preserved the answers to our questions there. We have been “tainted” by our our own particular religious backgrounds, which has been absorbed from paganism, outside of God’s world. We have accepted what is out there as right, and most of it isn’t. Most people don’t even know what “holy” means. We didn’t fully understand it till after we had been believers for decades.
The concept of “holy” is the Hebrew concept of “Kedusha” and it means “to designate or set aside something for the service of God with formal, legal restrictions and limitations. The “kedusha” of time is marked by limits on man’s activities of work and construction.” There are thousands of concepts we didn’t have a clue about until we began working in Hebrew thought, concepts, idioms and phrases. As a result, our job is to teach the foundational concepts because people are coming from a background where they didn’t know what the Scriptures say, they just think they did.
Many people just follow the latest “celebrity” on religious TV. They don’t care what they say, they just see a person on TV and want them to come speak at their church. They give them thirty minutes or so, but you can’t learn these things in thirty minutes! If you want to learn, you are going to have to “get out of Dodge City” and start doing your homework.
Isa 65.3 says, “A people who continually provoke me to my face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks.” God’s altar was made with uncut stones, not bricks. Christian festivals are based on ancient pagan rituals and customs. Most everybody is aware of this. We don’t celebrate Christmas, but we would go to a family member’s house if they expected us to come. Some people we know follow the Torah, but will go to a family member to help them put up a Christmas tree if they needed help, like an aged father or mother. You don’t have to participate in that, but it may be a father or mother and what we are saying is, honor your parents, grandparents and so on. But you don’t have to participate in all of that yourself.
The Hebrew Roots Movement has people who kill Passover lambs and take the blood and put it on their doorposts, believing they are following the Torah. However, the Torah never says you are to do that every Passover. The Torah says later that you cannot do that anymore because korbanot must be offered before the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting). That is why they stopped doing it at their tents. So, we ask you, which is worse? Somebody who is observing Christmas and Easter and has no concept of the Torah, or someone who says they walk in Torah but misapplies everything?
Again, we are not saying that all Christians are attracted to “celebrity” preachers. We know many who love God and he is a part of their life. However, if they are truly a believer they will turn, in some way, to the Torah of the Lord. Not everyone in the Hebrew Roots Movement are in that category of offering sacrifices, but there is an attitude about the Jewish people and what God has preserved through them that needs to be dealt with.
The Messianic Jewish Movement is another area, and not everyone in this movement will be what we are going to refer to. But, in some congregations, if you are not Jewish you are a second-class citizen. That attitude is not from God and it does not agree with what we read about in the Gospels and the Epistles. We know that in some Messianic organizations, their stated goal was not to go to the Gentiles and teach them the Torah, but to disguise their Christian doctrines in Jewish window dressing in order to reach Jews with Christian doctrine. That is why these so-called “Rabbis” appear on television shows with known false teachers. They are truly “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and by the way, talits are made of wool.
We all have a role to play in the Kingdom of God, and that Kingdom is made up of Jews and non-Jews, male and female, free and slave. As a movement, all of this fairly new and many mistakes are being made. Non-Jews coming to the Torah is fairly new. It has always happened in the past, but not in a movement like we see today. In Zech 8.23, we read where non-Jews will grasp the tzitzit of a Jew, wanting to know the teaching of the Torah they represent. That happened two thousand years ago with a massive movement of non-Jews coming to learn the Torah. These non-Jews were called “God-fearers.” Paul went out and spoke to these non-Jews, teaching them the Torah and how to relate to these things, and filling a congregation with believing Jews and non-Jews. It is happening again today, but it is a young movement. As a result, mistakes are being made and we all need some maturing to do.
Some things that are being done in these movements cause friction with the Jewish people. For instance, wearing tzitzit on the belt loops instead of a four cornered garment is a problem. That is not what the Lord said. We need to learn the significance of the corners. Doing something that simple and in the correct manner can go a long way in smoothing things out between the Jewish people and the Hebrew Roots Movement. Learning the “corners” concept can be a teaching tool and thinking can be changed.
In Part 44, we will pick up here and continue with Isa 65.4-5.
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