The Torah commands the Jews to place “fringes in the borders of their garments” (Num. 15:38). The Jewish tallit, or prayer shawl, is a white rectangular mantle-type garment worn by devout Jews during weekday morning services, on the Sabbath and during festivals. The standard Jewish tallit is made of lamb’s wool, cotton or silk, although no tallit will ever have wool and linen mixed, as this combination is forbidden in the Torah (see Lev. 19:19). Each tallit has special knotted fringes on the four corners called arba kanof. The four corner fringes are called the tzitzit and are knots tied a certain way, each knot holding a certain meaning.
For many years the stripes on the tallit were black in color, since for many years the dye used for the blue thread was unknown. However, Jewish research has uncovered that the blue dye was obtained from the shell of a Mediterranean mussel, the Helix ianthina, which provided a hue called cerulean purple. It is also defined as a violet color, a shade between blue and purple. Traditionally, a tzitzit has 613 knots as a reminder of the 613 command- ments comprising the entire code of law. The fringes themselves—knotted or not—were commanded as a reminder not to wander from God’s commandments (see Num. 15:39). A tallit can vary in size, from thirty-six by fifty-four inches to seventy-two by ninety-six inches.
A band is sown on the top called the atarah, or the crown, and often is embroidered in silver Hebrew letters with a special prayer: “Blessed are You, our God, Creator of time and space, who enriches our lives with holiness, commanding us to wrap ourselves in the tallit.”
Among more Orthodox communities, men wear the tallit but women do not. This is because the tallit is consid- ered a man’s garment and the Torah forbids women from wearing men’s apparel (see Deut. 22:5). Observant Jews are often buried in their tallit, with two exceptions: the neckband is removed, and one corner fringe is cut off, indi- cating that the deceased person is no longer required to follow the Torah obligations.
Today, observant Jews conduct a ceremony for their firstborn sons, called the Pidyon HaBen (Redemption of the Son), based on Numbers 18:15-18. Rabbis can explain why five shekels were selected as the redemption amount (v. 16). Joseph, Rachel’s firstborn son, was sold by his brothers for twenty pieces of silver, the equivalent of five shekels (see Gen. 37:28). Therefore, five shekels are given to the priest to redeem the son back. The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Hei, and was the letter God inserted into Abram’s name, changing it to Abraham (see Gen. 17:5). In Christian theology the number five represents the grace of God.
The Jewish custom of the redemption of the firstborn son begins when the infant is at least thirty-one days old. God wanted all men in Israel to be a nation of priests (see Exod. 19:6). After Israel sinned with the golden calf, God selects Levi as the single priestly tribe. By providing the five shekels to the priest, the father could redeem his first- born son from entering the priesthood. It also reminds the Jews that God preserved the firstborn sons of the Hebrew family on the night the destroying angel entered Egypt (see Exod. 12).
The Silver Tray, Jewelry, and Coins
Normally, ten men are present for the ceremony. The priest (rabbi) asks the father if he would prefer the child or the five shekels he must pay. The father says, “the child,” recites a blessing, and gives the silver coins to the priest. Holding the coins over the infant, the priest declares the redemption is paid. He blesses the child, then returns him to the parents. He usually returns the coins to the child as a gift. A festive meal follows the ceremony, sometimes including the distribution of sugar cubes and garlic cloves.
At times the child is placed on a blanket on a silver tray and surrounded by jewelry borrowed from women in attendance. This could allude to the time when the Hebrews left Egypt and borrowed jewelry from their Egyptian neighbors (see Exod. 12:35-36).
Girls are not excluded from experiencing their own naming ceremony, called Zeved HaBat among the Sephardic Jews and Simchat Bat among the Ashkenazi sect. These ceremonies often occur within the first month of a girl’s birth and can be celebrated privately in the synagogue or at a party at home. A rabbi and a cantor often participate.
The various Jewish traditions and customs involving children are too numerous to elaborate. However, some customs include lighting seven candles—representing the seven days of creation—while the infant is held or wrapped in the four corners of a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl). Other customs involve lifting the baby and touching its hands to the Torah Scroll. These detailed rituals stem from the command to redeem the firstborn found in Numbers 18.
Three main colors were used in the fabric of the tabernacle. The first color, blue, is mentioned thirty-four times in Exodus and represents the color of heaven. It alludes to how the Son of God would descend from heaven and dwell (tabernacle) among men (see John 1:14).
The second color is purple. The dye for this color is believed to have come from a small snail (the Murex). This color is mentioned twenty-six times in Exodus and is a color alluding to royalty. It speaks of the fact that Christ has come, not only in the flesh to dwell among men, but that He is also the future King of kings, or a combination of a priest and king after the order of Melchizedek (see Rev. 19:16; Heb. 7:17).
The third color is scarlet, also known as crimson. Crimson comes from the Persian word kermes, meaning “worm.” The scarlet dye is believed to have come from a worm that affixes itself to certain plants. These worms would have been collected, dried, and crushed into a powder that produced the colored dye needed for the scarlet curtains. This color speaks of Christ’s sufferings. During Christ’s trial, a scarlet robe was placed over His shoulders in a mocking gesture (see Matt. 27:28). Scarlet-colored strips of wool were also used to mark the two goats on the Day of Atonement, and a scarlet thread was placed in the window of Rahab’s house at Jericho as a token (sign) of divine protection for her household (see Josh. 2:18). Isaiah wrote, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18).
If the dye for the scarlet color came from a worm, and scarlet represents Christ’s suffering, how interesting that in Psalm 22, which predicts several events that occurred at the crucifixion of Christ, we read, “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people” (Ps. 22:6).
Gold, Silver, and Brass
The gold, silver, and jewels used in the tabernacle came from the precious metals and jewelry the Israelites seized from the Egyptians prior to their departure from Egypt (see Exod. 12:35-36). Gold was used to cover the Ark, the golden altar, and the table of showbread. Gold was also used to construct the candlestick (the menorah) and to make certain shovels and smaller vessels. The silver came from silver half-shekels collected from the Hebrews and was used to form the sockets for the tabernacle planks (see Exod. 38:26). An annual half-shekel of silver was collected to fund the purchase of communal offerings for the tabernacle, and optional gifts of silver were used to make silver vessels.
Jeremiah predicted a “time of Jacob’s trouble” for Israel (Jer. 30:7). Many scholars believe this term alludes to the seven-year Tribulation referred to as “Daniel’s last seven years (called Daniel’s seventieth week) in Daniel 9:27. Jacob works for seven years and when he finishes, his father-in-law deceives him and forces him to marry Leah instead of his beloved Rachel. Laban instructs Jacob to “fulfill Rachel’s week” (Gen. 29:27). The Hebrew word for week is shabuwa, and is literally a week of years, not days. This word is found four times: in Genesis 29:27 and 28, and twice in Daniel 9:27. The word week in Daniel 9:27 is a prediction of a seven-year covenant that the future Antichrist will sign.
Jacob’s trouble is actually two periods of seven years. He works the first seven years only to be deceived by Laban. He works seven more years and receives the wife of his choice. Some rabbis believe that the Jewish holocaust, from 1938 to 1945—a period of seven years—was the fulfillment of Jacob’s trouble. However, there were two “sevens” in Jacob’s life. If the Holocaust is the “first” seven, the future seven-year Tribulation will be the second and final seven years of Jacob’s (Israel’s) time of trouble.
After the second seven-year period, Jacob receives Rachel as his wife and later returns to the Promised Land. He reveals himself to Esau and sees his father, Isaac. Following the future seven-year Tribulation, Christ the Messiah will return to Israel and reveal Himself as the suffering Messiah to the sons of Esau and the sons of Isaac (see Zech. 13:6).
The complaining Israelites soon expressed dissatisfaction with the manna God had provided to feed them; instead they desired the six foods they had eaten in Egypt (v. 5). In response, God sent a strong wind and dropped a massive amount of quail near the camp (v. 31).
The amount of quail that fell is staggering. Quail lay about three feet deep (two cubits) all around the camp, and a person would have to have traveled a full day’s journey in any direction to reach the end of the birds. Some rabbis believe the quail became so tired from resisting the wind that they struggled low to the ground, making an easy catch. The people spent at least thirty-six hours collecting the quail. The least a person gathered was “ten homers,” an amount equivalent to 249 liters, or sixty-six gallons (v. 32).
The people began eating the quail and a plague struck the camp (v. 33). This plague may have come because the people were unable to properly prepare and store the quail in a hot, desert setting. After all, how can one person eat sixty-six gallons of fresh quail? Numerous people died, and the area was called Kibroth-hattaavah, meaning the “graves of lust.”
Skeptics believe that this story of God providing this amount of quail is simply an embellished myth. However, even in Israel today a huge migration of quail occurs during the spring season, bringing the birds into the southern Sinai in an area of the Wadi Abu Gada, the headwaters of Wadi Gharandal. Millions of various birds migrate through the Sinai twice a year on their way to Africa and Europe. In modern Israel, quail appear around February at the Gulf of Aqaba and in the Arabah, south of the Dead Sea. The quail often migrate in the dark and hide from predators during the day. This may be why the Israelites sometimes collected the birds at night (v. 32). We are told the birds came from the sea (v. 31), which agrees with witnesses who say migrating quail cross the Gulf of Suez and arrive on the western shore of the Sinai.
OCTOBER 13, 2021 Exodus 25:9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. In Judaism it is believed that the tabernacle — in Hebrew, mishkan — became a traveling Mount Sinai. The idea is, wherever the sanctuary rested, it […]
The people give the largest offering ever received at one time to provide for the building of the tabernacle, a dwelling place for God:
1. Bracelets, earrings, rings, and gold jewelry are freely given (v. 22).
2. Skins from goats, rams, and badgers are given, along with offerings of colored linen and cloth (v. 23).
3. Silver, brass, and shittim wood are freely provided (v. 24).
4. The women spin blue, purple, and scarlet linen (v. 25).
5. The wealthy rulers bring gemstones for the breastplate (v. 27).
6. Others provide spices and oil for the light, the anointing oil, and the incense (v. 28).
This offering should be a spiritual example showing us that all believers can give something for the work of the ministry. No gift is too large or too small. Large quantities of gold are required for the sacred furniture, but simple linen also is necessary to clothe the priests. Thus, both types of gifts are needed and of great importance. This is the only offering where the minister finally said, “Stop giving, we have more than enough” (see Exod. 36:5-6).
Abram (later Abraham) is told his seed will leave Egypt after 400 years (see Gen. 15:13). Yet, here we read it was 430 years, which is also mentioned in the New Testament (see Acts 7:6). Why is there a thirty-year difference in these two accounts? This list may explain the difference:
Abram (Abraham) is seventy-five years of age when God tells him to depart for the Promised Land (see Gen. 12:4).
Abraham is one hundred years old when the promised seed, Isaac, is born (see Gen. 21:5). The time from age seventy-five to age one hundred is twenty-five years.
Abraham eventually removes Ishmael (at about age fifteen) when Isaac is weaned (see Gen. 21:8-21).
If the prophetic count starts from the giving of the “promise” to Abram when he is seventy-five and continues to the Exodus, the total time is about 430 years. If the count begins with Isaac is being weaned, it becomes about 400 years until the time of Israel’s departure from Egypt.
How can people bind God’s Word on their hands, put it as a memorial between their eyes, and write it on the gates and doorposts of their houses (see Exod. 13:9; Deut. 6:8, 9)? From these commandments, several Jewish customs emerged. The first was the creation of a Tefillin, also called a phylactery, or a small, square black box with a long, flowing leather strap. The box contains four compartments with four Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 11:13-21, Exodus 13:1-10, and Exodus 13:11-16. These verses are writ- ten by a scribe on a small kosher parchment with a special black ink.
The Tefillin have two boxes, each attached to the black leather straps: one is attached around the bicep about heart level and the other is attached above the forehead, but not lower than the hairline. The straps then wind around the fingers and around the arm. Two blessings are repeated as the Tefillin are placed on the bicep and the forehead. Most young Jewish men begin wearing the Tefillin just prior to their thirteenth birthday.
During the time of Christ, Torah-observant Jews wore phylacteries. Jesus, being Jewish and being raised in the synagogue, would have worn the phylactery. However, He rebuked certain Pharisees for enlarging the boxes to make themselves appear more spiritual than others and to be seen of men (see Matt. 23:5).
OCTOBER 12, 2021 Exodus 25:9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. We understand from Scripture that Moses received the pattern of the Sanctuary when he ascended the mountain to confer with the Almighty. So then, if he […]
