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YHVH our Elohim’s Tallit and the Two Houses.

The first time YHVH instructed the nation of Israel about the wearing of Tzitzit was in Numbers 15: 37 – 41 in this way: ‘YHVH also spoke to Moses, saying, (38) “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments (either on a tallit katan or tallit Gadol) throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassels of each corner a cord of blue. (39) And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of YHVH, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, (40) in order that you may remember to do all My commandments, and be holy to your Elohim. (41) I am YHVH your Elohim who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your Elohim; I am YHVH your Elohim.” Let’s determine who the harlot is that YHVH mentioned in verse 39? When we turn to the book of Hosea 1, we soon learn the house of Israel is the one who committed flagrant harlotry and YHVH told Hosea to marry a harlot named Gomer, to depict His marriage with both houses of Israel at Mount Sinai. YHVH wanted Hosea to show through His marriage with Gomer and the three children that she bore him, how YHVH was about to scatter the house of Israel into the nations of the world, because of her idolatry and how He will have no compassion for her any longer, but also how they will become not His people any longer.

 

We see that after Hosea married Gomer, she bore him a son and they called Him Jezreel  (as recorded in verse 4), meaning YHVH will scatter the lost ten tribes of Israel into the nations of the world, where they will become a multitude of nations (melo Hagoyim) as YHVH also promised Abraham. Hosea’s second child through Gomer was a daughter and they called her Lo-ruhamah (verse 6), meaning YHVH will have no compassion or mercy for the house of Israel after He scattered them into the nations of the world. The third child that Gomer bore for Hosea was another son and they called him, Lo-ammi (verse 9), meaning not my people, essentially telling us that once we were scattered into the nations, we were not Elohim’s people any longer. After the ten lost tribes of the house of Israel separated from the house of Judah during the time Jeroboam was king over them, the Assyrians took them captive during 721 - 718 BCE and moved the majority with them into Europe where some remained, whilst the rest went on to England, the United States of America and later to what became known as the commonwealth of England, namely Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, etc. Whilst in Europe the lost sheep of the house of Israel was initially hidden amongst the people of Greece which were absorbed by Rome and over time they lost their language, culture and religion and were again taken hostage by the Roman Catholic Church and became Christianized. The only way for the house of Israel to escape from the clutches of the harlot or the false church identified in Revelation as BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH or the Roman Catholic Church (Esau) who captured them for the past 2,000 years, is to acquire wisdom as advised  by King Solomon in Proverbs 5: 1 – 11, as follows: ‘My son, give attention to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding; (2) that you may observe discretion, and your lips may reserve knowledge. (3) For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and smoother than oil is her speech; (4) but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. (5) Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of Sheol. (6) She does not ponder the path of life; her ways are unstable, she does not know it. (7) Now then, my sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. (8) Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house. (9) Lest you give your vigor to others, and your years to the cruel one; (10) lest strangers be filled with your strength, and your hard-earned goods go to the house of an alien; (11) and you groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed.’ This tells us unambiguously that the only way to escape from the temptation of the harlot and Satan, who has deceived the whole world to believe in the false salvation provided through Rome and her protesting daughters, is to obtain wisdom from Elohim. 

 

Let’s get a Scriptural definition of wisdom and determine how we are able to obtain it? Firstly we read from Psalm 119: 98 – 100: ‘Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. (99) I have more insight than all my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my meditation. (100) I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Thy precepts.’ As part of the whole armor of  Elohim discussed in Ephesian 6, we understand Torah to be the belt of salvation that protects us from Satan’s tactic of temptation to follow the false religion of BABYLON THE GREAT, also known as the Roman Catholic Church and her protesting Christian daughters through whom he deceived the whole world as witnessed in Revelation 12: 9, as follows: ‘And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.’ Turning to Deuteronomy 4 we read a second witness that Torah is the wisdom and understanding of the united nation of Israel as recorded in verses 5 – 8, in this way: “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as YHVH my Elohim commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. (6) So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ (7) For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as YHVH our Elohim whenever we call on Him? (8) Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?”

 

Brethren we from the house of Israel have been deceived by the biggest lie ever perpetrated in human history, but because Elohim knew the beginning from the end, we should be extremely thankful that He created us from physical matter, with the full potential to over time develop our characters to become like Him in every respect. Other than with Satan and his demons who sinned willfully with full knowledge, mankind does not have all knowledge. In addition we can misunderstand and most are ‘blinded’ to all the truths Yahshua came to reveal to us, as He said in the very first sermon He delivered in a synagogue in Nazareth where He had been brought up as witnessed in Luke 4: 16 – 21, as follows: ‘And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. (17) And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, (18) THE SPIRIT OF YHVH IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR (in spirit – meaning those of us from the lost sheep of the house of Israel who did not have the Set-apart Spirit, because we rejected Elohim’s Torah). HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES (the lost sheep of Israel who were captured by Rome {Esau} and lost our faith, language and culture), AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND (those blinded by Satan not to understand the true gospel of the coming kingdom of Elohim), TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE DOWNTRODDEN (when He returns one day He will set the exiles free and make them one with the house of Judah once again), (19) TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF YHVH.” (20) And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. (21) And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Yahshua the word of Elohim became a human being to become our kinsman redeemer or the Son of Man to take away the judgments/curses that we earned as the house of Israel, after we lost our faith, culture and language and became like Gentiles.

 

Messiah had to die to pay the penalty of our sins and to buy back the piece of the Promised Land which we lost because of idolatry, but also to let the Set-apart Spirit come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (as per John 16: 7 & 13 & 14[1]), like members of the house of Judah receive by being Torah observant (as per Matthew 19: 16 & 17[2] and Acts 5: 32[3]). It is only after being immersed into Yahshua’s saving name and the laying on of hands by a teaching elder that we receive the Set-apart Spirit and have access to eternal life, as witnessed in Romans 8: 11, ‘But if the Spirit of Him who raised Yahshua from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Messiah Yahshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. Messiah the word of Elohim or embodiment of Torah, the one through whom YHVH created the world was the only one whose life was worth more than the lives of the people He created and accordingly He became our kinsman redeemer. As the word of Elohim who became flesh He is similar to Torah, the wisdom of Elohim as witnessed in 1 Corinthians 1: 22 - 24 the wisdom and power of Elohim, as follows: ‘For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; (23) but we preach Messiah crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, (24) but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Messiah the power of Elohim and the wisdom of Elohim.’ Rav Shaul continues explaining the mystery that Elohim’s wisdom and power is Messiah Himself in 1 Corinthians 2: 1 – 8, saying: ‘And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of Elohim. (2) For I determined to know nothing among you except Yahshua Messiah, and Him crucified. (3) And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. (4) And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, (5) that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of Elohim. (6) Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; (7) but we speak Elohim’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which Elohim predestined before the ages to our glory; (8) the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Master of glory.’ As explained before, if Messiah did not die, we from the lost sheep of the house of Israel and indeed the rest of mankind would not have access to the Set-apart Spirit to lead us into all truth, but also without which we could not have access to eternal life. It is only once we have the Set-apart spirit dwelling in us that we begin to understand the things of Elohim as Rav Shaul continues to explain in 1 Corinthians 2: 11 – 14, in this way: ‘For who among men knows the thoughts of man except the spirit of man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of Elohim no one knows except the Spirit of Elohim. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from Elohim, that we might know the things freely given to us by Elohim, (13) which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. (14) But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of Elohim; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.’

 

I firmly believe the reason why the house of Judah remained loyal to YHVH and the covenant they made with Him together with the house of Israel at Mount Sinai, is because they obeyed all of YHVH our Elohim’s teachings, including the physical things like putting mezuzot on the doors of their homes, putting tzitzit on the four corners of their garments and circumcising their sons at eight days old. After the lost sheep of the house of Israel became a separate nation and were eventually dispersed into the nations of the world and became Christianized, they had to forget all things Jewish and were even told that we do not do the physical things that the Jews do, since we now do it in spirit and in truth. The problem with that thinking was that we did not even know what it meant to worship Elohim in spirit and in truth, since most in Churchianity believe that the truth this is talking about, namely Torah has been abolished by Messiah. But we know just the opposite to be true since He said in John 5: 43 – 47, that unless you believe in Moses, meaning the Torah that Moses wrote, you cannot believe in Him. They also obviously miss the spirit part, since they cannot get the Set-apart Spirit unless they recognize and are immersed in the only name by which mankind must be saved, namely the salvation of YHVH, Yahshua. As explained in a Feast Lesson before, the practice of wearing a tallit or tallit-katan on the Sabbath has a deeper meaning for us who understand some of the deeper things of Torah. On the Sabbath and other Set-apart Days of Elohim, we wear a tallit that is white, as we want to express the symbolism of the white garments that we find in the Scriptures. We know that white is prophetic clothing that symbolizes the coming Messianic Kingdom.  On the deeper level, it is a symbol of something Adam and Eve possessed in the Garden of Eden. Wearing a white tallit is not just for teachers, but for all members of the congregation of Elohim. Whereas men wear white tallit’s, woman may wear white scarfs to cover their hair during prayer and worship services as Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 9: 8, saying: ‘Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head.’ What does the Hebrew idiom mean? Does it mean we should wear white clothing every day, or is it speaking of something deeper? We read a quote from the Zohar Book 3, 174B and 175A (The Zohar being a sod level commentary of the Torah), as follows: ‘Come see. What did he see? He saw standing before him, the angel, and Rabbi Isaac said: What does this tell us? That every man who in this world does not wrap himself in the ceremonial garb and clothe himself there with, when he enters the other world, is covered with filthy garments. It is brought up for trial. Many of the garments prepared for man in this world, and he who does not acquire the garments of religious observance, is in the next world, clad with the garment which is known to the masters of Gey-Hinnom and woe to the man who is clad therein for he is seized by many officers of judgment and dragged down to Gey-Hinnom and therefore king Solomon cried aloud at all times, let thy garments be white.”  Now this statement form the Zohar is not foreign to those familiar with Yahshua’s parable of the king who gave a wedding feast for His son in Matthew 22, where after those who had been invited to the wedding refused to come and eventually the king later told his slaves to go and invite all they can find in the streets, both evil and good. When the wedding hall was filled the king came to look over the wedding guests as recorded in verses 11 – 14, in this way: “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, (12) and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And he was speechless. (13) Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (14) For many are called, but few are chosen.”

But is there still a deeper meaning in this? Is there another garment that our white tallit is symbolic of? We read an explanation from Daniel 12: 10, as follows: “Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.” Daniel tells us that many shall be purified and made white. Does that mean they will have white skins? Not at all, since we find out that according to the Scriptures, the color white is symbolic of the Divine Nature of Elohim, also known as mercy transliterated as ‘chessed’ in Hebrew. Now let’s find a few additional places in the Renewed Covenant where the word white is mentioned in regard to the coming Kingdom of Elohim. Commencing in Matthew 17 where Yahshua was transfigured before three of His disciples to show them what His resurrected body will look like, after His death on the annual Passover, we read from verses 1 – 9, in this way: ‘And six days later Yahshua took with Him Kepha and Yaa’cov and Yochanan his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. (2) And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. (3) And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. (4) And Kepha answered and said to Yahshua, “Master, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (5) While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (6) And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid. (7) And Yahshua came to them and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” (8) And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Yahshua Himself alone. (9) And as they were coming down from the mountain, Yahshua commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead,” Yahshua’s disciples had a glimpse of what He would look like after His resurrection, but also how they will also look after they have been resurrected in the coming Kingdom of Elohim. They saw Him standing with Moses and Elijah; the one representing Torah and the other the Prophets, and Yahshua being the middle pillar or the embodiment of Torah. The fact that they suggested to Him to build three tabernacles or sukkot for Him, Moses and Elijah, shows that the vision was symbolic of the Messianic Kingdom.

But we see this is also what Yahshua appeared like, when long after His resurrection and ascension to heaven, He appeared to Yochanan in a vision to show him what will take place before, during and after His return to rule the world from Jerusalem, as recorded by Yochanan in Revelation 1: 12 – 15, saying:  ‘And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; (13) and in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle. (14) And His head and His hair were white like white  wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; (15) and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.’ Yahshua in addressing the seven ‘church’ eras during the past 2000 years since He ascended to heaven in Revelation 2 & 3, addresses the congregation in Sardis in verses 4 & 5 of Revelation 3, saying: “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy. (5) He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” He continues to address the congregation in Laodicea in verse 18, saying: “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.” The underlined words in verse 18 are almost the same wording Elohim used in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve realized that they had lost the garments that Elohim had given them at creation and they saw they were naked. This was when Elohim asked them in Genesis 3: 11, saying: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?  In Revelation 3: 18, Yahshua advised the congregation in Laodicea (near the end of the 2000 years) to buy white garments from Him that they may put on clothes so that their shame will not be seen. That is exactly what Elohim did for Adam and Eve, since they lost their original garments of light. He gave them ‘garments’ of skin, to cover their nakedness, but which also resulted in them returning to the dust from which they were made. The word nakedness is dealing with the concept we know as sin, as with sin comes shame.

Moving on to Revelation 6: 9 – 11, we read about those who were killed because of their testimony to faith in the word of Elohim, as follows: ‘And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of Elohim, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; (10) and they cried out with a loud voice saying, “How long, O Adonai, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (11) And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.’ We read from Revelation 7: 9 about the sealing of the 144,000 from the nation of Israel, in this way: ‘After these things I looked and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands.’  Notice, they have palm branches in their hands, which is also indicative of the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, which takes us back to Zechariah 14, where we see that during the millennium kingdom all nations will journey to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. In verses 13 & 14 of Revelation 7, we see who this multitude mentioned in verse 9 of Revelation 7 is, as follows: ‘And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?” (14) And I said to him, “My master, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”’ They are before the throne of Elohim and serve Him day and night in His Sukkah, and He shall dwell among them.

That is after all what the Feast of Tabernacles is all about. In the Sukkah we experience the manifest presence of Elohim transliterated as His ‘Shekinah’. The quoted verses in Revelation 7 above tells us that this great multitude came out of great persecution and took their robes and dipped it in the blood of the Lamb and it came out white. We also see from verses 15 – 17, that they will be cared for by the Lamb, in this way: “For this reason, they are before the throne of Elohim; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. (16) They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; (17) for the Lamb in the center of the throne, shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and Elohim shall wipe every tear from their eyes.” Then to confirm that this is when Yahshua returns to rule the world from Jerusalem and to remarry His bride made up of all twelve tribes of Israel, we read from Revelation 19: 5 - 7, as follows: ‘And a voice came from the throne, saying. “Give praise to our Elohim, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” (6) And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For Adonai our Elohim, the Almighty, reigns. (7) Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”’ A wife, in order to make herself ready for marriage goes to the mikvah to cleanse her of any ritual impurity and then puts on her white wedding garments. When we come into the Sukkah, we come under the Chuppah. During the Millennial Kingdom, (YHVH)’s name shall be One (as per Zechariah 14: 9) and we are told that because of the Renewed (marriage) Covenant that He will enter into with both the house of Judah and the house of Israel (as per Jeremiah 31: 31 – 34), that all people, great and small will know Him, from the least of them to the greatest of them. We have gone through Yom Teruah (Rosh Hashanah), experienced the fast on the Day of Atonement transliterated as ‘Yom Ha Kippurim’, have been cleansed and enter the Sukkah rejoicing with the bridegroom, as shown in Revelation 19: 8 & 9, in this way: ‘And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (9) And he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb’” And he said to me, “These are true words of Elohim.” The marriage of the Lamb to His bride the commonwealth of Israel is the theme of the Feast of Tabernacles.

We read from the first part of Psalm 104: 2 about YHVH Elohim, as follows: ‘Covering Thyself with light as with a cloak.’ The Jewish Sages teach from Daniel 7: 9 and Psalm 10 2: 2 that YHVH wears a tallit. In the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 17b it says, Rabbi Yochanan said," If it were not written it would be impossible to say. But we are taught that [YHVH] wrapped Himself [in a tallit] like a prayer leader and showed Moses the order of prayer...” By teaching this truth from Psalm 104: 2, they are revealing to us a deep truth concerning (YHVH)’s relationship with Israel. In Ezekiel 1: 1 – 14 we need to consider the words in the last part of verse 4, namely: ‘…a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.’  This is a vision of (YHVH)’s throne in heaven. The first thing the prophet sees is ‘a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually’. The sages teach that this represents the forces of evil that YHVH allows to exist to bring about His will on the earth. The prophet Ezekiel had to first break through these forces to see the throne of YHVH.  Ezekiel sees the ‘glowing metal’ which represents the barrier that is between good and evil, or a type of ‘force field’ which is called ‘a rainbow’ in the book of Revelation. Next the prophet sees four living creatures before (YHVH)’s throne. The sages call them the tzitzit of (YHVH)’s tallit. We know in Scriptural interpretation that we are dealing with the idea of anthropomorphism here concerning YHVH and Him wearing a tallit. The function of clothing is to create a barrier against passion and evil. A garment therefore functions as a protection from evil (remember the command of tzittzit was so our eyes would not look upon other things and lust after them). A garment also functions to protect us from the elements - to keep us warm and dry, etc. So, we can say that (YHVH)’s tallit is the element of His providence that protects us from evil. Therefore the sages teach us that (YHVH)’s garment protects us and is equal to the brilliant light (Chashmal) around YHVH that stood between Him and the forces of evil. Also, the gematria or numerical value of CHASHMAL (378) is equal to the gematria of MALBUSH or garment (378).

Now, we know the Torah contains 248 do’s and 365 don’ts for a total of 613 commandments. The commandments or Torah serve to protect us from sin and evil and is a barrier between us and the Evil One. The gematria of tzittzit is 600. When we add the five knots and eight strings we have 13. Then we add 600+ 13= 613! By using the method of interpretation (sod) we conclude that the tzitzit is equal to the Torah! This is why the sages say, "He who keeps the commandments grabs the Divine presence. This is the meaning of Tzitzit.” Zohar 1: 23b.They also teach that, "The command of tzitzit is equal to all the commandments." The command of the tzitzit then alludes to (YHVH)’s tallit, which in turn, represents the whole Torah that stand as a barrier against sin and evil, or the chashmal in Hebrew! There is a theory (Midrash) that tells us the first time YHVH appeared wearing His tallit was to Moshe, when He gave him the commandment concerning the calendar. When He started teaching Moshe the calendar, He showed Moshe His tallit that eludes to them all (the commands). Proverbs 6: 23 informs us that: ‘For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching (meaning Torah) is light.”  We can therefore see that YHVH wraps Himself in the Torah as a garment! You should now begin to understand the meaning behind all the priesthood garments YHVH gave to Israel in Exodus. They are the armor (protection) that YHVH gave His priests against sin and evil and are equal to the light He wraps Himself in –the Torah. We see then that YHVH wears a "tallit" or a garment, that He in turn gave it to Israel to wear to protect them from sin and evil. Remember that He told Moshe to make EVERYTHING AFTER THE PATTERN SEEN IN HEAVEN! When we put on the tallit, we are putting on the Torah and the bright light that Ezekiel saw around YHVH!

Scripture tells us that the tallit is to have four corners on it, so we know it has to be a square or a rectangular piece of cloth (wool or linen) with the tzitzit attached to the four corners (with a cord of blue in them). The tzitzit are to be tied in a chainlike manner consisting of knots and windings. The pattern is NOT given in the Torah but comes from rabbinical tradition. The important thing is that they are tied with knots like a "chain" and have a cord or ribbon of blue (techlet) in them. But, the traditional way of tying them does teach us many truths concerning the Name of YHVH and the Torah. For example the 39 windings teach us "YHVH Echad" through the gematria of YHVH=26 Echad=13 /26+13=39! The first three groups of windings (7+8+11=26) give us the gematria of YHVH. The last group of 13 windings is equal to ECHAD. ECHAD is the ALEF – CHET - DALET. Alef=1 the tallit, the Chet=8 the eight strings (four doubled) and the Dalet=4 alluding to the FOUR CORNERS of the tallit! The 4 tzitzit have 8 strings or a total of 32.The number 32 is written in Hebrew as LV or LEV=heart in English! Next let us examine the final part of Ezekiel’s vision and His garment by looking at the four lining creatures. This is where we begin to see the truth of the tallit and the two houses of Israel.  Ezekiel 1 – 5 – 28 tells us of the vision of the four living creatures. There were FOUR living creatures; they had the likeness of man or human shape; they had four faces, one of a man looking south, one like a lion looking east, one like an ox looking west and one like an eagle looking north. They had two wings (corners up) and two (corners down).  As we look at these "creatures’ we can see a picture of the encampment around the TABERNACLE  of YHVH found in Numbers 2 – around the tabernacle or throne of YHVH. Judah - the lion on the east side of the tabernacle; Ephraim - the ox on the west side of the tabernacle; Reuben - the man on the south side of the tabernacle and Dan - the eagle on the north side of the tabernacle.

So the four Angels standing at the Four Corners of the Tabernacle or (YHVH)’s tallit are symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel encamped around the tabernacle. The four corners of the tallit therefore are representations of the Four Corners of the encampment of the WHOLE House of Israel.  When we put on the tallit we are putting on our identity as Israel and declaring the reuniting of the Two Houses into ONE Nation again (the tallit being ONE garment)! EVERYTHING ACCORDING TO PATTERN! Not only this but the angels are symbolic of Yahshua the Messiah or all Israel. The FOUR gospels follow this pattern, Matthew – LION or KING, Mark - the OX or Yahshua the SERVANT, Luke - the MAN or Yahshua the MAN from Nazareth and Yochanan - the EAGLE or Yahshua the SON of YHVH. Therefore, when we put on the tallit, we are clothing ourselves with YAHSHUA! It is traditional when we recite the SHEMA that we LIFT UP TWO corners (or wings) of the tallit to cover our eyes or face and let the other corners (wings) hang down. After we finish saying "ECHAD-ONE" we drop the corners to SEE the 13 attributes found in Exodus 3: 46 and Micah 7: 18-20 (the last winding is 13 the value of ECHAD) of YHVH in a fresh revelation! We can only declare as the Angels did, saying Holy! Holy! Holy! The four corners also represent the four corners of the earth from which YHVH will gather ALL the House of Israel as per Isaiah 11: 12 and Jeremiah 49: 36. The word for the four corners in these verses is WING, the very same word used for the CORNERS OF THE GARMENT/TALLIT! So, the tallit is a declaration to the world that YHVH will fulfill His Word to Israel and gather them from the FOUR CORNERS where they were scattered! When we put on the tallit we are declaring we believe in the fulfilment of Ezekiel 37 in the latter days.

To end we quote from Zechariah 8: 23: ‘Thus says YHVH of hosts, in those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew (YHVH) saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.”’ Here YHVH has Zachariah prophesy that the 10 Lost Tribes (Ephraim) from the nations will take hold of the tzitzit of a Jew and return to their heritage of worship as Israel. What a wonderful symbolic picture and remembrance YHVH has given us in the tallit! Halleluyah!  

 

 

[1] John 16: 7, 13 & 14:  “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” 

[2] Matthew19: 16 &17: ‘And behold, one (a Pharisee according to verse 3) came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life? And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”’

[3] Acts 5: 32, “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Set-apart Spirit, whom Elohim has given to those who obey Him.”

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