Hallelujah. Are you ready to get into
YAH's Word today? I am as well. I want you to open your bibles with me to
Deuteronomy chapter 22, we're going to begin with verse 12 in just a moment and
I've entitled this message today "Tzitziyot: Covering Yourself With The
Covenant." Tzitzyot, that's Hebrew for the plural of tzitzit.
So you could say tzitzit if we want to say in English, tzitzit covering
yourself with the Covenant. We're going to start again with Deuteronomy chapter
22 and verse 12, it says, "Make tassels on the four corners of the garment with
which you cover yourself." Now this is a commandment, this is a right ruling, an
instruction that YAH gave to Mosheh for the children of Israel and so we see here the
commandment to make tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you
cover yourself. So that garment that covers you, that garment that you cloak
yourself in, that garment that you clothe yourself in must have tassels on the
four corners and when you make those tassels and they're on the four corners
of that garment and you cover yourself. This is a very important principle, then
what it means is that you're covering yourself, your clothing yourself, in the
Covenant or your clothing yourself in the Commandments because the tzitzit
or the tzitziyot, they represent the Commandments. We're going to read about
that in just a moment. They represent the Covenant, for those of us who believe in
Yeshua, the Covenant that we have with Abba YAH in Yeshua. And so when we look
at those tzitzit on the four corners of the garment that covers us, it reminds
us that we're covered in the Covenant. We're covered with the Commandments.
We're clothed, we're cloaked in the Commandments which brings life
and blessing when we obey the Commandments. And so this is a very very
powerful principle, we are to be covered. The Almighty wants us to be covered with
our covenant and covered with the blessings and covered with the life that
comes through obedience to the Commandments. Now
Yeshua speaks of this in John chapter 15 starting with verse 5, he says, "I am the
vine, you are the branches. He who stays in me," He who wraps himself in me,
he who cloaks himself in me, he who covers himself in me. "...and I in him, he
bears much fruit. Because without me you are able to do naught! If anyone does not
stay in me," Stay covered in me. "...he is thrown away as a branch and dries up and
they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned. If you stay in
me," Now when He says, "in me" He's talking about the fact that He, Himself, is the
living Torah, He is the Word manifested in a human body and so if we stay in the
Word, if we stay in the Commandments, if we cloak and cover ourselves in the
Covenant, it says in verse 7, "If you stay in me and my words stay in you. You
shall ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you." So a key to answer
prayer is that we stay clothed in the Commandments, we stay clothed in the
Covenant, we stay clothed in Yeshua. Verse eight, "In this my Father is
esteemed that you bear much fruit, and you shall be my taught ones. As the
Father has loved me, I have also loved you."
So in the same way the Father loved Yeshua, Yeshua says He loves us. He said,
stay in my love, stay cloaked in my love if you guard my command.
See that's how you stay cloaked in His love by being obedient to His commands.
"If you guard my commands, you shall stay in my love. Even as I have guarded my
Father's commands and stay in His love." And they're the same commands, Yeshua
didn't come to teach some new doctrine. He didn't bring some new word. Yeshua is
the Living Word, He said "Men shall not live by bread alone but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of Elohim." and Yeshua lived by every word. Yeshua
taught every word. Yeshua was the ultimate Torah Teacher and so He's
saying, if you guard my commands, the commands that I'm teaching you, and we
know that He taught the Torah. I shared in a message last week the title of the
message was "Did Yeshua teach the Torah?" And the fact is yes, He did. He was
the ultimate Torah Teacher, so if you guard my commands, Yeshua says, "If you
guard the commands that I teach, you shall stay in my love even as I have
guarded my Father's commands," All the Torah commands. "...and stay in His love." And
so I want to start our conversation about tzitzit or tzitziyot by
saying the principle is that we're to cover ourselves in the Commandments.
We're to cover ourselves in the Covenant. We're to cover ourselves and stay in
Yeshua. We are to guard His commands and when we do that we stay in His love.
We are cloaked in His love. And so we see in numbers chapter 15 starting with
verse 37 that the tzitzit are a reminder to us. Let's take a look at that
numbers 15:37, "And YAH spoke to Mosheh saying, "Speak to the children Israel and
you shall say to them to make tzitzit on the corners of their garments,"
Remember the garment that covers you. "...throughout their generations," This is
something that He wants the children of Elohim to do throughout their
generations. "...and to put a blue cord in the tzitzit of the corners." Now the
bible doesn't go into great detail about what these tassels are to look like
exactly. There are different things that people consider as they make the
tassels. We're not going to get into that today, but we do know the bible says
there needs to be a blue cord in each one of the tassels and you put a tassel on each corner of the garment so that you're covered with the Commandments and
you're covered in the love of Yeshua. Verse 39, "And it shall be to you for a
tzitzit and you shall see it," It's a visual reminder, it's something for
yourself to remind you of the Commandments. "...and shall remember all the
commands of YAH and shall do them." So this is a visual reminder. It's for you,
it's not necessarily for anyone else. It's to remind you of the Commandments,
it's to remind you of the Covenant that you're in with Abba YAH through Yeshua,
and you are to obey the Commandments and it goes on to say, "...and not search after
your own heart and your own eyes after which you went whoring," So these tzitzit are to remind you of the Commandments. The Scripture says "and
shall do them" so we need to be reminded of them and we need to do them, we need
to obey them. "and not search after your own heart and your own eyes
after which you went whoring," In other words, don't do what's right in your own
eyes. We're gonna share a few verses here in
just a moment about that, don't do what's right in your own eyes, all right, and
we'll go a little bit further here. Verse 40, "so that you remember and shall do all
my commands and be set-apart unto your Elohim." We're gonna talk about all these
elements in just a moment. "I am YAH your Elohim who brought you out of the land
of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohim I am YAH your Elohim." Now the first point that I
want to reiterate is that the tzitzit are a visual reminder to you, you are to
see them, you are to remember the Commandments and you are to obey the
Commandments. We see that the Scribes and the Pharisees got off track, they thought
it was all about other people seeing them, they got into pride and arrogance
and I wanted to share passages of Scripture here out of Matthew chapter 23
and verse 1. It says, "Then Yeshua spoke to the crowds and to His taught ones, saying,
"The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Mosheh. Therefore, whatever they say
to you to guard, guard and do." In other words, when they teach Mosheh, when they're
sitting on the seat of Mosheh, they ought to be teaching Mosheh. The seat of Mosheh is a literal seat in the synagogue so when they're sitting there
representing Mosheh, they ought to be teaching Mosheh. So when they're teaching
Mosheh, then you guard and do that. "But do not do
according to their works, for they say, and do not do." They're hypocrites. "For
they bind heavy burdens hard to bear and they lay them on men's shoulders, but
with their finger they do not wish to move them." So they're putting heavy
burdens, extra rules, extra regulations and laws on the people but they're not
paying attention to them themselves. Verse 5 "And they do all their work
to be seen by men," They want men to see them, they want men to talk about them
and respect them, and they do all that they do so that they're seen by men.
They're proud, they're arrogant, they're hypocritical. It goes on to say "And they
make their t'fillen wide and lengthen the tzitzit of their garments," They make
them long, not as a reminder to themselves, you don't need something long
and dangling to remind you, but they were lengthening those tassels so that people
would see them. They wanted people to see them and think oh how righteous, how
pious, you know, what a spectacular person this man must be. And it
was all for show, it was all about pride and arrogance and Yeshua said don't do
that, don't do that, this is not a visual reminder to everybody else. This is a
visual reminder to you when you wear your tzitzit. It's to remind you of
some things and the first thing that I want to mention is that your tzitzit are to remind you of the Covenant that we have with the Father through
Yeshua our Messiah. And I want to start with Jeremiah 31 and verse 31 it says,
"'See the days are coming,' declares YAH 'when I shall make a renewed Covenant with the House of Israel and with the house of Yehudah," So the Covenant is caught with the House of Israel and the House of Yehudah. The Covenant is
not cut with some romanized Gentile Church that's divorced itself from
everything Hebraic. The Covenant is cut with the House of Israel and in the House of
Yehudah, so if you're going to be in the Covenant you have to be grafted in, you
have to believe upon Yeshua who was of the house of Yehudah and then
you're grafted in. The Set-Apart Spirit grafts you in to believing Israel. That's
the only way you can be in the Covenant. These are things that you need to be
reminded of when you look at your tzitzit. Verse 32 "Not like the covenant I
made with their father's in the day when I strengthened their hand to bring them
out of the land of Mitsrayim, my Covenant which they broke," They broke the
Covenant. The problem was with the people not with the marriage arrangement. "'...though
I was a husband to them,' declares YAH. For this is the Covenant I shall make
with the House of Israel the whole House of Israel after those days declares
YAH." Notice. "I shall put my Torah in their inward parts and write it on their
hearts," Now what happened to the Torah? Was it abolished according to religion?
No. In this New Covenant YAH puts His Torah in the minds of believers, those
who have believed upon Yeshua, He binds His Torah to their minds. You think
about tying those tzitzit, He ties His Commandments to our minds and He
writes them on our hearts, but you could think of it as binding or tying the
Torah commands to our heart cords, we have a tassel right there in our heart.
And so He says here, "I shall put my Torah in their inward parts and write it on
their hearts and I shall be their Elohim and they shall be my people. And no
longer shall they teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother saying,
"Know YAH, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of
them." declares YAH." See we have the indwelling Set-Apart Spirit who becomes
our Teacher. "For I shall forgive their crookedness, and remember their sin no
more." So this is marvelous and this is one of the things that we should always
remember when we look at our tzitzit. When we have that visual reminder, we
need to remember that we're in covenant with Abba YAH, and there are two parties
in a covenant. Abba YAH'S part is to hear and answer our prayers and to fulfill all of
the promises that He makes in His set- apart written Word,
that's His side of the Covenant our side of the Covenant is to have a belief in
Yeshua our Master and Mashiach that leads to obedience to the Torah commands when
we believe upon Yeshua then the indwelling Set-Apart Spirit comes in and
takes that old heart of stone out and gives us a heart of flesh. The heart of
flesh is the want-to heart and then we're filled with the indwelling Set-Apart
Spirit and the Spirit then gives us the power to be obedient.
So the Torah is not abolished, the Torah is not omitted, the Torah is actually
internalized. The Set-apart Spirit places the Torah in our minds and writes it
upon our hearts. When we look at our tzitzit we're to remember the Covenant that we have with Abba YAH and the fact that we have,
through belief in Yeshua, the indwelling Set-apart Spirit who gives us the want-
to obey and the power to obey and as Sha'ul writes in the book of Romans in
Romans chapter 8 that when we believe it we have the indwelling Set-apart Spirit
the righteous requirement of the Torah is fulfilled by those of us who believe
in Yeshua. That's remarkable, that's remarkable. Hallelujah. And then Ezekiel
chapter 36 beginning with verse 25, the Prophet says, "And I shall sprinkle clean
water on you," He's speaking on behalf of Abba YAH. "...and you shall be clean from
all your filthiness and from all your idols I cleanse you." Praise Abba for that.
"And I shall give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within you." That's
what we were just talking about. "And I shall take the heart of stone out of
your flesh and I shall give you a heart of flesh and put my Spirit within you
and I shall cause you to walk in my laws and guard my right rulings and you shall
do them." That's the game changer. Abba YAH says - I am going to give you the new
heart, I'm gonna put my Spirit within you and I am going to cause you to
walk in my laws and guard my right rulings and you shall do them - so we're
gonna obey the Torah, we're gonna obey the Commandments. It's not like what
religion is saying people say - well just believe on Jesus that's all you're to do -
you say - well I want to obey - oh no don't obey because if you start trying to obey
the bible then you've fallen from grace and now you're a law-keeper - and you know
what we say? If you're not a law-keeper what are you? A law breaker. So these are
things that we're to remember when we look at our tzitzit. They are a
visual reminder of these things and then we're reminded to be obedient.
Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 1 says this "And now O Israel listen to the laws and
the right rulings which I am teaching you to do." That means to be obedient. "...so
that you live." Let's pause just a moment and realize
that the Torah was given so that we could have life, so that we could live.
We're talking about the instructions of the Almighty, the One who created
everything, don't you know that He knows how we should live, how we should live so
that we can enjoy this creation that He is made? "...so that you live and shall
go in and possess the land which YAH Elohim of your father's is giving you. Do
not add to the word which I command you," See those tzitzit represent the Commandments. Don't add to it. "...and do not take away from it," Don't subtract from it. "...so as to
guard the commands of YAH your Elohim which I am commanding you." So we are to
obey the Commandments, we're not to add to them, we're not to subtract from them.
Verse 3 "Your eyes have seen what YAH did Ba‛al Pe‛or, for YAH your Elohim has
destroyed from your midst all the men who followed Ba‛al Pe‛or. But you who
are clinging," Remember you want to be clothed in the Commandments? "But you who
are clinging to YAH your Elohim are alive today," You have that life. "...every one
of you. See I have taught you laws and right rulings as YAH your Elohim commanded
me," So this is Mosheh speaking. "...to do thus in the land which you go to possess."
Verse six "And you shall guard and do them," And the tzitzit are visual
reminder of that. "...for this is your wisdom and your understanding," Wait a minute, so if religion abolishes the Torah then religion abolishes our wisdom and our
understanding. "...for this is your wisdom and your
understanding before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these laws, and they
shall say only a wise and understanding people is this great nation," If religion
abolishes the Torah then religion abolishes greatness, religion abolishes wisdom and understanding. It's just not right. Verse seven "For what great
nation is there which has Elohim so near to it, as YAH our Elohim is to us,
whenever we call on Him? And what great nation is there that has such laws and
righteous right-rulings like all this Torah,"
Remember we're supposed to cloak ourselves and cover ourselves in these
wonderful laws and right-rulings? We're to cloak ourselves in this wonderful Torah
which gives us wisdom and understanding and life and blessing? "And what great
nation is there that has such laws and righteous right-rulings like all this
Torah which I set before you this day?" Verse 9 "Only, guard yourself and guard
your life diligently," Guard the Torah diligently because that's your life. "lest
you forget the words your eyes have seen, lest they turn aside from your heart
all the days of your life and you shall make them known to your children and
your grandchildren." So we're not to forget the Torah, we're not to forget the
words that our eyes have seen and we're not to allow the Torah Commandments to
turn aside from our hearts all the days of our life. That's why the tzitzit
are a visual reminder when we look at them these are the things that we are to
remember. And then another thing we're to remember when we look at our tzitzit
is that they're to remind us of this wonderful life that we have in Yeshua.
Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 1 says this "And this is the command the laws
and the right-rulings which your Elohim has commanded to teach you to do in the
land which you are passing over to possess so that you fear YAH your Elohim
to guard all His laws and His commands which I command you, you and your son and
your grandson," This is generational. "...all the days of your life and that your days
be prolonged." That's long life, do you want long life? Obey the Commandments. Do you
want long life cloak yourself in the Torah?
Do you want long life? Cover yourself in this wonderful covenant
that we have with the Father in Yeshua. Verse 3 "And you shall hear O Israel and
shall guard to do that it may be well with you," You want it to be well with you?
Then obey the commands. "and that you increase greatly as YAH Elohim of your
fathers has spoken to you in a land flowing with milk and honey." And then
verse 4 "Hear O Israel YAH our Elohim YAH is one!" "And you shall love YAH your Elohim with
all your heart, and with all your being and with all your might." Verse six "And these
Words," These Commandments. "which I am commanding you today shall be in your
heart," We know that the Set-apart Spirit is
going to put them in our hearts. The Set- apart Spirit is going to bind them, is
going to tie them into our heart cords, into our heartstrings like the tzitzit that we wear on the four corners of the garment which covers us. Verse six
"And these words which I'm commanding you today shall be in your heart, and you
shall impress them upon your children and shall speak of them when you sit in
your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise
up and shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets
between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and
on your gates." Doesn't that sound like covering yourself? I mean you're supposed
to teach them to your kids and your grandkids, you're supposed to talk about
them when you rise up and when you lie down and when you walk along the way. I
mean the Commandments are to literally cover you and those tzitzit remind
you that you're covered, you're covered with the Commandments with the Torah.
You're to write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates
and I think about what Yeshua said in John 10:10 He says, "The thief does not
come except to steal and to slaughter," Your bible may say "kill and to destroy".
He goes on to say, "I have come that they might possess life and that they might
possess it beyond measure." Your translation may say "more abundantly" more
abundantly. Remember Yeshua is the embodiment of the
Commandments. Yeshua is the living Torah and He says, "The thief comes those who
are empowered by Hasatan," Or Hasatan himself, demon forces, the forces of
darkness come to steal, to slaughter or kill and to destroy. But He's basically
saying here, don't get me mixed up with him and with that because I, the
living Torah, "...have come that they might possess life." That's what we're talking
about. Remember this life. "...and that they might possess it beyond measure." Or more
abundantly so it's all abut life. The Torah itself says that the Torah was
given so the children of Israel might have life and blessing. When Yeshua came
He said "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes unto the Father except
by me." The way the truth and the life. He's talking about the Torah, the Torah
is the way the truth and the life but He says, I'm the living Torah and He says,
the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but keep this in mind, when you
look at your tzitzit, always keep this in mind, "I have come," The living Torah has
come. "...that you," You believer. "...might have life and have it beyond measure." Isn't
that beautiful? So we keep that in mind when we look at
our tzitzit, and then when we look at our tzitzit we are reminded of the
great blessings that we have a covenant with our YAH through Yeshua. Deuteronomy 28, I love this passage. This is all about the blessings and I am going to
read all 14 verses because I want you to get it in your heart. I want you to
realize that when you look at those tzitzit, you are looking at a visual
reminder of the tremendous blessings that we have in covenant with Abba YAH
through Yeshua. Deuteronomy 28 verse 1 "And it shall be if you diligently obey
the voice of YAH your Elohim, to guard to do all His commands,"
Remember we're cloaked or covered in the Commandments to do all His commands.
"...which I command you today, that YAH your Elohim shall set you high above al
nations of the earth." You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if
you obey the voice of YAH your Elohim. So we had these tremendous blessings that
come upon us and overtake us, we can't outrun them,
they're constantly overtaking us. So when we look at our tzitzit, one of the
things that should come to our minds immediately is that we are blessed - that
blessings are coming upon us and overtaking us. Why wouldn't you want to
be reminded of that? Verse 3 "Blessed are you in the city and blessed are you in
the field. Blessed is the fruit of your body," That's your children. "...the fruit of
your ground and the fruit of your livestock - the increase of your cattle
and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed is your basket and your kneading bowl."
You're gonna have plenty to eat. "Blessed are you when you come in and blessed are
you when you go out." When you're coming and going. "YAH causes your enemies who
rise against you to be smitten before your face - they come out against you one
way and they flee before you seven ways." Verse 8 "YAH commands the blessing on you
and your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and shall bless you in
land which YAH your Elohim is giving you." Hallelujah. Verse 9 "YAH does establish you as a set-apart people to Himself," All these things
you remember when you look at your tzitzit. "as He has sworn to you, if you
guard the commands of YAH your Elohim and walk in His ways and all peoples of
the earth shall see that the name of YAH is called upon you and they shall be
afraid of you." In other words, they're gonna respect you. "And YAH shall make
you to have plenty of what is good," Isn't that wonderful, don't you want to have
plenty of what is good? "...in the fruit of your body," That's your children. "...and the
fruit of your livestock," Whatever it is that you're working on He will
bless, whatever it is that you do for a living. "and in the fruit of your ground
in the land of which YAH swore to your fathers to give you. YAH opens up to
you His good treasure," Remember that when you look at your tzitzit. "the heavens
to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your
hand." Aren't you glad that all the work of your hand is blessed? "and you shall
lend to many nations but you do not borrow. And YAH shall make you the head
and not the tail." Praise YAH. "and you shall be only on top and not be beneath.
If you obey the commands of YAH your Elohim which I command you today to guard and
do and do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today
right or left to go after other mighty ones to serve them." In other words, be
covered, be clothed, be clothed in the Commandments. Let those tzitzit remind
you of the Commandments. Let them remind you of the Covenant. Let them remind you
of the life we have in Yeshua or let them remind you of all the blessings
that come to us through belief in Yeshua. in this wonderful covenant
that we have with Abba YAH. These are so important.
Look at verse 14 again, "And do not turn aside from any of the words which I'm
commanding you today," The Commandments. "right or left stay right on track to go
after other mighty ones to serve them." It's interesting to me that religion
wants to abolish the Torah and by abolishing the Torah then religion is
abolishing the blessing. There are no blessings without obedience.
There's no blessing that comes to the lawless. Blessings come to the obedient
ones and the tzitzit remind us of that. All right? We talked in the Numbers
passage about the fact that it says that we're not to go after our own heart's
desires and what our eyes are lusting for that our hearts and our eyes are to
remain focused and centered on the Commandments. Let me give you a few
verses that tell us that Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 8 says this, "Do not
do as we are doing here today each one doing whatever is right in his own eyes."
Now religion is doing that today. I know there are many sincere people in
religion but religion is promoting lawlessness, in that they're saying don't
obey the Commandments - if you do that you've fallen from grace,
now you're just a law-keeper as if obedience is some horrible thing. The
Scripture says in the Torah that we are not to do what's right in our own eyes.
If we do not have a "law" a Torah, instructions to obey then we make things
up as we go along. We end up doing what's right in our own eyes and that's what
religion is done. I think about just the holiday - it's a Roman holiday of Easter
and how people gather together and they may go inside a church building and they
may hear a message about the resurrection of Jesus but then afterward
they go out in the yard and they have painted eggs and Easter bunnies and
Easter baskets and all the kids are running around looking for painted eggs
and candy and all of that - and that's such a mixture and the Torah prohibits
mixture. We are not to worship Elohim the same way that the pagan nations
worshiped their false deities and so a lot of religion is doing what's right in
its own eyes and they say - oh well that's not what it means to me - but you don't
get to make that determination. It's not about what it means to you, it's about
what it means to Him and we are not to do what's right in our own eyes, we're
not to go after our own heart's desires and we're not to go after the lusts of
our own eyes. Judges chapter 17 and verse 6 says "In those days there was no
sovereign in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes." And this is a
condemnation for people to be doing what's right in their own eyes according
to their religion and according to their traditions versus what the Scripture
says and judges chapter 21 verse 25 says the exact same thing. Everyone did what
was right in his own eyes. That's a condemnation. That's a judgment.
That's an abomination to do what's right in your own eyes, so the tzitzit are
to remind us that we are not to do what's right in our own eyes - that we are
not Elohim - that we are to guard and obey His commandments, we're to walk in His
laws and right-rulings. He has told us how He wants us to live and our
obedience spells love to Him. We love Him by obeying Him, Yeshua even said it John
chapter 14. He said "If you love me keep my Commandments." He was simply quoting
the Torah, He was simply quoting what was already written in the Torah. The Torah
says if you're gonna love Elohim you have to obey His commands and Yeshua
said the same thing also, we see in that passage in the Book of Numbers that
we're to be set-apart to Elohim that making tassels with a blue cord in each
tassel and putting them on the four corners of the garment that covers us
symbolizing that were covered by the Commandments that by doing that we're
set-apart, we're made set-apart unto Elohim by doing that. Let me give you a
passage here Leviticus chapter 11 verse 44 the first part of it says "This for I
am your Elohim and you shall set yourselves apart. And you shall be set-
apart, for I am set-part." And if we are children of Elohim then we're going to do
the works of Elohim. If we're children of Elohim we're going to be like Elohim in
that and He's saying I am YAH your Elohim and you shall set yourselves apart. Now
how do we do that? How do we set ourselves apart? Some people get the idea that certain people are more set-apart - they've got a certain
gene that makes them more set-apart or more holy than everybody else, but there
is no holy gene. The way that we're set- apart is that we obey the Scripture, if
you want to be set-apart from the vast majority of people who live on this
earth all you have to do is obey the Bible. By obeying the Bible, you are
unlike most people. As a matter of fact, many people will hate you because you
obey the Bible. You think - well if I obey the Bible and I live righteously people
ought to love me - the Scripture says the people love their own,
they love their own. They love people who are just like them, unrighteous. And so if
they love the unrighteous because they're unrighteous, they're going to
hate us and so we are to set ourselves apart. How do we do that? By obeying the
Bible, the more you obey the Bible the more set-apart you are. The less you obey
the Bible, the less set-apart you are so if you've bought in to this religious
lie that the Torah has been abolished that the right-rulings, the wisdom of
Elohim, all of the wonderful things that we read about in the Torah that speaks
to the Torah, all of that's been abolished then what are you doing? You're
abolishing your set-apartness. You're abolishing your set-apartness. If you
believe that the Torah has been abolished,
you are abolishing your set-apartness. And so it tells us in the Scripture that
we are to set ourselves apart, implying that we're to obey the Bible. It says
"And you shall be set apart," You should live that way. "for I am set-apart." In
other words, follow my example. And so the tzitzit are to remind us that we are
to be set-apart to our Elohim and by wearing tzitzit, you're set-apart. Think about the people that you know how many of them do not wear tzitzit?
Probably the vast majority the people that you know do not wear tzitzit.
There are some I would imagine who do but by obeying that one commandment
you're setting yourself apart by wearing those tzitzit. You are unlike
everybody else. And so we see in Numbers chapter 15 and verse 40 it says "So that
you remember and shall do all my commands and be set-apart
unto your Elohim." By wearing tzitzit you're set-apart unto your Elohim. He goes on to
say verse 41 "I am YAH your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohim. I am YAH your Elohim." Be like me, be set-apart. All right.
So let's talk about Yeshua, many people believe that Yeshua came to obey all the
Commandments so that He could then abolish all the Commandments. That makes
absolutely no sense at all. This is an attempt by religion to propagate and
promote what I call the doctrine of personal irresponsibility. In other words,
all you have to do is mentally acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ and
that's it, there's nothing else that you're responsible for and that runs
absolutely contrary to all of Scripture. Someone asked this question did Yeshua wear tzitzit, or tzitziyot in Hebrew, is there a record of it in the Good News
accounts? Well let's take a look, did Yeshua wear tzitzit? Well number one,
we know that Yeshua obeyed perfectly, He was the Righteous One, He did not fail at
one point of the Torah. So the Torah commends the children of
Israel, the people of Elohim, to make tassels, tzitzit, and put them on each
corner of the garment that covers you. So we know that Yeshua did not sin, if He
was a sinner He couldn't be a Savior - so He obeyed the commandment to wear tzitzit on the four corners of the garment that covers you but let's take a look in
the Good News accounts and see if we can discover tzitzit mentioned in the
Good News accounts. We'll start in Matthew chapter 9 verse 20 it says
"And
see, a woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years came from behind and touched
the tzitzit of His garment." Now your English Bible may say "the hem of His
garment" and that's totally lost in translation, she didn't come up and touch
just the hem, that folded part at the bottom of the garment, she came up and
she touched the tzitzit of His garment. She reached out and grabbed ahold of one
of those tassels that He was wearing. That's what it says right here in the
Scripture. Verse 21 "For she said to herself, "If I only touch His garment or
His tassel I shall be healed." She knew there was healing power in touching that
tzitzit because that tzitzit represents the commands - Yeshua was
obeying them perfectly - it also represents a covenant of healing. We're
gonna talk about that just a moment. It represents a covenant of healing and she
thought to herself - if I can only touch that tzitzit, if I could get my hand
around it I'll be healed. Verse 22 "but Yeshua turned and when
He saw her He said, "Take courage, daughter, your belief has healed you." And the woman
was healed from that hour." Now in Mark he goes into little greater detail so let's
read the same story in the Good News account of Mark. This is Mark chapter 5
starting with verse 25 "And a certain woman had a flow of blood for 12 years,"
Can you imagine that? "and had suffered much from many physicians," So she had
gone to a lot of physicians and none of them were able to bring about any sort
of healing. "and spent all that she had and was no better but rather became
worse." So she was getting worse and worse. Verse 27 "Having heard about Yeshua she
came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment," Well we know from the Good
News account of Matthew that she actually touched His tzitzit. "for she
said, "If I only touch His garments I shall be made well." and immediately the
fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed
of the affliction. And immediately Yeshua knowing in Himself that power had gone
out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" and His
taught ones said Him, "You see the crowd is thronging you, and you say, 'Who touched me?'
Verse 32 "and He was looking around to see her who did this and the woman
fearing and trembling knowing what was done to her, came and fell down before
Him and spoke to Him all the truth. She told Him what happened and He said to
her, "Daughter, your belief has healed you. Go in peace and be relieved from your
affliction." So that told us a lot more about what really happened there, but the
point is Yeshua was wearing tzitzit and she said in her heart "If I could
just touch a tzitzit I'll be healed." and she reached out and she touched it
and she was made whole now. Let's read the same story in Luke chapter 8
starting with verse 43 and we'll get even more details. "And a woman having a
flow of blood for 12 years who having spent all her livelihood on physicians
was unable to be healed by any, came from behind and touched," Here it is. "the tzitzit
seat of His garment." She touched His tzitzit. Now He was wearing His tzitzit as
a fulfillment of the commandment, it wasn't about anyone else seeing it
but she knew in her heart that it represented the Covenant that it
represented the Commandments and that Yeshua had cloaked Himself in the
Commandments and was obeying them perfectly and she thought to herself if
I just touched this emblem, this symbol of the Commandments of the life, and of the peace, and of the wisdom, and the understanding, and the blessing
that tassel represents - if I could just get my
hand on the healing covenant then I'll be made whole. "And she came from behind
and touched the tzitzit of His garment and immediately her flow of blood
stopped. And Yeshua said "Who touched me?" and when all denied it, Kepha and those
with Him said, "Master, the crowds throng you and press upon you and you say, 'Who
touched me?' but Yeshua said "Somebody did touch me," Somebody touched His tzitzit.
"for I knew power went out from me." And the woman seeing that she was not hidden
came trembling, and falling down before Him she declared to Him in the presence
of all the people why she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.
And He said to her, "Take courage daughter, your belief has healed you. Go in peace."
She knew if she could just get her hand on that tzitzit, she could touch the
healing covenant, she could be healed, she could receive power and that's exactly
what happened. Touching the healing covenant, there's a thought. Getting
your hand on the promises of healing through the Commandments, we see in
Matthew chapter 14 started with verse 34 that very thing taking place. "And having
passed over, they came to the land of Gennesar. And when the men of that
place recognized Him," Recognized Yeshua. "they sent out into all the surrounding
country," They sent word out throughout the country. "and brought to Him all who
were sick and begged Him to let them only touch the tzitzit of His garment."
Again, your English Bible may say "the hem of His garment" That's such a bad
translation. " and they begged Him, "Master, can we please only touch the tzitzit of
your garment?" And as many as touched it we're completely healed."
Those who touch that tzitzit, that emblem, that wonderful picture of the
Commandments and the Covenant were made whole.
Those who touched the promises with belief received an answer to their
desire and were made whole. Mark chapter 6 verse 53 says this "And having passed
over they came to the land of Gennesar and drew to shore. And when they came out
of the boat He was immediately recognized and all that neighbourhood
ran about and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever
they heard He was." They were following Him carrying sick people on beds. "And
wherever He went into villages or cities or the country, they were laying the sick
in the market-places and begged Him to let them touch if only the tzitzit of
His garment," We don't want to bother you with anything, all we want to do is touch
the tzitzit of your garment. "and as many as touched Him were healed." Why
don't we know these things? Because our English translation says, the hem of His
garment, just touch His clothes but there's no detail concerning what
actually happened. That they were touching the tzitzit of His garment
and what the tzitzit represents, take it all the way back to the Torah and
study it out. It's so rich in meaning when you understand these things. They
were touching the tzitzit, they were touching the Covenant, they were touching
the Commandments, they were touching the promises of wellness. They knew that
Yeshua was obeying the Commandments perfectly and they knew if they touched
the tzitzit of His garment they'd be made well. Hallelujah. What is the
covenant of healing that we can know and understand
from the Torah? Exodus chapter 15 starting with verse 22 "And Mosheh brought
Israel from the sea of reeds and they went out into the wilderness of Shur.
And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water and they
came to Marah," Marah means bitter. "and they were unable to drink the waters of
Marah for they were bitter." So the name of it was called Marah. And the people
grumbled against Mosheh saying "What are we to drink?" Then he cried out to YAH and YAH
showed him a tree." Showed him a stake, the stake that Yeshua would be executed on.
"And when he threw it into the waters," When you throw that wonderful, selfless,
sacrificial act of dying in our place, taking our sins and transgressions upon
Himself, paying our death penalty, when you throw that wonderful act of
redemption into the bitter waters of life the bitter waters of sin and
depravity and transgression - what happens? It says, "And the waters were made sweet."
And the waters were made sweet. "There He made a law and the right-ruling for them,
and there He tried them." Verse 26 "And He said, "If you diligently obey the voice of
YAH your Elohim and do what is right in His eyes," Obey His Commandments. "and shall
listen to His commands and shall guard all His laws, I shall bring on you none
of the diseases I brought on the Mitsrites." On the Egyptians. "For I am YAH who
heals you." So first we see the bitter waters of sin and depravity were dealt
with through the wonderful act of Yeshua of dying in our place on the stake,
on the tree, paying our death penalty, being buried and raised,
and then ascending to the right hand of the Father and then pouring out the Set-apart Spirit so that when we believe upon Him, we have the tools that we need
to be obedient and to walk in the blessings of the Commandments of the
Torah including this wonderful promise of healing. So when we believe upon
Yeshua we're empowered to be able to obey the Commandments, when we obey the
Commandments, here's the promise that's associated with obeying the Commandments -
"I shall bring on you none of the diseases I brought," On the Egyptians. "on
the Mitsrites. For I am YAH who heals you." That's what we're to remember when
we look at our tzitzit, we're to remember that wonderful covenant of
healing He's given us everything that we need to be obedient and to walk in the
blessing and to walk in healing and our tzitzit remind us of that every
day. Now I just have a couple of other passages and we're going to close. But
some say that we have the Set-apart Spirit to remind us of the Commandments
and we don't need the tassels, well let me remind you this - Yeshua had the Set-
apart Spirit without measure. Did He wear the tassels? Of course He did and so we
should wear them as well. And then go with me quickly to Acts chapter 21
we'll start with verse 18 and I want to say that through Scripture we can
determine that Sha'ul, the Apostle Paul and all the early emissaries, the
Apostles, wore the tassels. They wore the tzitziyot. And so let me show you in
the book of Acts where we know this to be true. Acts chapter 21 starting with
verse 18 "And on the following day Sha'ul went in with us to Ya'aqob, (to James) and
all the elders came. And having greeted them he was relating one by one what
Elohim had among the nation's through his service."
So he was talking about his ministry and what Elohim had accomplished amongst the
Gentiles. "And when they heard it they praised the Master and they said to him,
"You see, brother, how many thousands," Or myriads, tens of thousands. "of Yehudim, (Jews) there are who have believed and all are ardent for the Torah," All the Jewish
believers in Yeshua were ardent for the Torah, that makes sense. "but they have
been informed about you that you teach all the Yehudim," Or all the Jews. "who
are among the nation's to forsake Mosheh," In other words, to abolish the Torah
basically, just like religion has done. "saying not to circumcise the children or
to walk according to the practices. What then is it they shall certainly hear
that you have come. So do this, what we say to you we have four men who have
taken a vow. Take them and be cleansed with them," According to the Torah. "and pay
their expenses so that they shave their heads and all shall know that what they
have been informed about you is not so," In other words, you're not teaching
against Mosheh, you're not abolishing the Torah. "but that you yourself also walk
orderly, keeping the Torah." So Sha'ul was a follower of Yeshua. Sha'ul said if
you imitate me, you will be imitating Yeshua because Yeshua was the one that
Sha'ul was following and Sha'ul said - if there's anyone any teacher who teaches
anything different or in disagreement to the sound words those of our Master
Yeshua Messiah withdraw from such - that's the standard that Sha'ul used. So Sha'ul,
himself, would not teach anything different or in disagreement to Yeshua's doctrine. Yeshua taught the Torah, He was the ultimate Torah Teacher. Yeshua lived the Torah, Yeshua obeyed the Torah perfectly.
This passage tells us that Sha'ul also walked orderly and kept the Torah, so we
know from this passage that Yeshua set the example that Sha'ul and all the
other emissaries followed. He wore the tzitzit, they also wore the tzitzit.
Now one final passage in Zechariah chapter 8, we'll pick up with verse 20.
This tells us that tzitzit will be worn in the Millennial Kingdom and so if
Mosheh gave the commandment of Elohim that the children of Israel were to
clothe themselves in the Commandments to be reminded of the covenant, to be
reminded of the blessings, to be reminded of the life, to be reminded of the wisdom,
to be reminded of the good things that come through obedience to the
Commandments and He did teach them that. We see that that period all through the
Bible from Mosheh receiving that, all the way up to the time of Yeshua into the
time of Sha'ul and the other emissaries. Now we see in Zechariah we see tzitzit worn in the Millennial Kingdom and I've often said look, if they're going to
be doing certain things, celebrating certain feasts - Bible feasts, living a
certain way, Yeshua's going to be teaching the Torah from Yerushalayim in
the Millennial Kingdom, if they're gonna be wearing tzitzit then why wouldn't we
want to wear them? Now let's take a look. Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 20 "Thus
said YAH host, 'People shall yet come inhabitants of many cities, and the
inhabitants of the one go to another saying, "Let us earnestly go and pray
before YAH, and seek YAH of hosts. I myself am going. And many peoples and
strong nations shall come to seek your hosts in Yerushalayim, and to pray before
YAH.' Thus said YAH of host, "In those days," Listen to this. "ten men from all languages of the nations take hold, yes, they shall take
hold of the edge of the garment," In other words, the tzitzit. "of a man (a Yehudim)
saying, "Let us go with you for we have heard that Elohim is with you."" And so the
children of Elohim are going to be wearing tzitzit, tzitziyot in the
Millennial Kingdom and the nations are going to come and they're going to see
those tassels and they're going to say, "We want to go with you because we heard
that Elohim is with you." And this also substantiates what I mentioned a moment
ago that when you wear the tzitzit, you are set-apart to Elohim. So I just want
to encourage you, I want to bless you, I wanted to give you the background and
what the tzitzit were all about and what the tzitzit remind us of. I
wanted you to have this information so that when you look at your tzitzit
and when you see them on that garment that covers you, you know you're
covered in the Commandments - you're covered in the Covenant - you have the
blessings of the Covenant - you have the life that Yeshua came to give us as the
living Torah and you can praise Abba YAH knowing that you are set-apart and there
will be people who will look upon you and your life, your Torah lifestyle, and
say I want to go with that person because Elohim is with him. Hallelujah.
