And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God. (Numbers 15:37-41)
Recently the subject of tzitzit came up in my Facebook feed. At first, I avoided getting involved in the discussion because I didn’t think it would be very fruitful. But then I joined in a few days later to give my perspective on the matter.
Here was my initial comment on the matter:
In my view the tassels are more like “a scarlet letter” than anything.
While Korah’s rebellion did happen after the instruction was given for fringe-wearing, it was also right after a Sabbath-breaker was stoned to death.
Why was he stoned to death?Because immediately prior to that, we’re told of instructions that were given concerning sacrifices for *unintentional sin*, and it is concluded by saying:
Numbers 15:30-31 But **the soul that doeth ought presumptuously**, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. (31) Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.The Sabbath-breaker is executed, and the instruction is given for wearing fringes. Notice what it says:
Numbers 15:38-40 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: (39) And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and **that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:** (40) That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
This whole episode needs to be considered in its greater context. This is not an instruction that was handed down on Mt Sinai — this is after that.
This is not an instruction that was given to prepare the people for going into the promised land — this is after they were sentenced to 40 years in the wilderness for continually testing/proving YHVH. See Numbers 14.
The keeping of the Sabbath day set apart was a commandment given by YHVH on Mt Sinai in Exodus 20. That was the commandment the people were expected to keep. This Sabbath-breaker despised the word of YHVH and had to be cutoff.
The point of wearing the fringes was to be reminded to **keep the commands given at Sinai**, not to keep the fringe-wearing instruction.
For a time I wore fringes myself…this was after I recognized that I had spent a lifetime of disregarding the Sabbath day. In time, the more I studied Scripture, the more I realized what these fringes were all about.
There are those who insist the wearing of them is required for all who seek to obey our Father’s ways, yet others claim they are not.
So, I decided to bring the subject up this past weekend in the Messyanic Misfits Zoom Room to see what others’ experiences were concerning them. Here’s that discussion:
In my journey the past 8 years, I started out wearing fringes after having wrestled with the idea of whether the instruction pertained to women, or if it just pertained to men.
Then, in time, I had a change of heart. Now, I no longer wear them, but I felt it served a purpose in my life at the time. I share more about my perspective in the above video.
What about you? What’s your experience with them? Please share below.
