The Sabbath and the Tassels Text: Numbers 15:32-41 I. Introduction A. I recently received a question from someone concerning the particularities of the tassels (mentioned here in our reading). B. What I would like to do in this lesson is to cover some points concerning the law of the tassels, but also walk through the context of this chapter some, in order to more fully grasp Yahweh's intent in giving this commandment. 1. Of course, many people would hear a text like this read, or hear a message like this preached, and think, "Why in the world are we learning from Numbers? Shouldn't we be studying Romans or Galatians?"
2. Well, I certainly don't have any problem with Romans or Galatians, but at the same time I don't have any problem with Romans. 3. I had an encounter a few days ago with someone who I spoke to about the dietary laws of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. Talk a bit about this. 4. You know when Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:15) and said, "And that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures," and that "All Scripture is inspired by God" the only canon of Scripture was the Hebrew Scriptures, what is called the Old Testament. 5. Did you know that the NT church didn't have a NT? It's okay for us to read the New Testament canon but I'm just making a point here.
II. Numbers 15:22-41 A. Verses 22-31 1. What we see here is two types or categories that transgressions fall in. a. Unintentional Transgressions b. Defiant Transgressions 2. What we also see here is an unintentional sin committed by either the people (community; vss. 22-26) or an individual person (vss. 27-29) 3. These unintentional sins are called sins of ignorance (KJV), and the text makes is very clear by using the word some 7 times. 4. A sin of ignorance would be when someone didn't understand the meaning of the law, or didn't have knowledge of certain precepts within the law.
5. Notice though that unintentional sins are still sins. They still count as transgressions of the law, even though a community or person may not be fully aware of the particular law. a. Some people misuse a passage in the NT to teach that you only commit a sin when you do something you know is a sin. (James 4:17 - "So, for the person who knows to do good and doesn't do it, it is a sin." b. All this verse is saying is that a man who knows to lets say, not steal, but steals, it is a sin to him. c. Does this mean that a person who doesn't know the Biblical command "Do not steal" doesn't commit sin when he steals? Of course not, we just read in Numbers where even actions done in ignorance are called sins.
d. Simple Illustration: If you are an airplane pilot and the motor of the particular plane shuts down if you reach 200 mph, will the motor keep on going if you are ignorant of this fact? Of course not. e. Unintentional sins are just that - sins. 6. This all being said, we must take notice here that an unintentional sin is certainly not as bad as a defiant sin. a. The word defiantly (vs. 30) in the Hebrew literally means "with a high hand," or in otherwise, with pride. b. This person commits a sin and in doing so is haughty, bold, selfwilled, open, and unashamed about their sin. c. I can think of many examples of this, but one that comes to mind is
the gay (sodomite) pride weeks or gay parades in our nation. There is no shame. (Tell the story of video on youtube of the little woman holding the sign against homosexuality). d. Don't just focus on the sodomites though. All of Yahweh's laws can be violated defiantly by people. You can defiantly blaspheme God's name, or defiantly commit adultery. People today are prevalent with defiantly dressing immodestly; they take pride in showing their nakedness in public. 7. So what we see here is the difference between someone who sins (ignorantly, unknowingly, inadvertently) as opposed to someone who doesn't care about what Yahweh says. The way you know who cares and who doesn't care is not by what people say, but by what they do; how they live.
B. Verses 32-36 1. Now we have a man who has violated the Sabbath commandment (4th commandment, Exodus 20:8-11, but it originates in Genesis 2:1-3). 2. We read in verse 32 that the Israelites found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. a. There has been much speculation about what this man was actually doing. b. I don't think he just bent down and picked up a couple of sticks while discussing the Torah with his fellow Israelite brother. c. Here's what we can know about this sin. The man was obviously acting defiantly against Yahweh's law. He was not sinning unintentionally or out of ignorance,
else he would not have been stoned. (Consider Exodus 16:21-30) d. Here's a good possibility of what he was doing. He may have been using the Sabbath for a preparation of the upcoming work week. 3. In verses 33-34 we read that those who found him brought him to Moses and Aaron and the rest of the community. They then placed him in custody. 4. And in verses 35-36 we read that Yahweh told Moses that the man was to be put to death. So they obeyed Yahweh's command. a. A couple of things here. First recognize that they didn't just start stoning him when they saw him gathering the wood. (I remember listening to a guy interviewed on the radio about living by Biblical law
for one year. He said he carried a small bag of stones with him when he walked and threw them at people that were committing certain sins.) b. What the people did was bring him to the leaders, the elders of the community, Moses and Aaron. In the wilderness there even existed a "court of law" so to speak. In Yeshua's day it was called the Sanhedrin, and Yeshua recognized the validity of the Sanhedrin in Matthew 5:21-24. c. Secondly, recognize that there were Israelites (plural) that found this man gathering wood. There was more than one eyewitness. In other words it could be proven or testified that the man had really committed a defiant sin. d. You don't just put people to death without eyewitnesses. Even Yeshua
told the woman caught in adultery, "Where are your accusers?" He was in effect saying, "Where are the witnesses?" He knew the Torah and without witnesses the woman could not be put to death. 5. At the same time recognize that capital punishment is Biblical. That's what we learn here. I believe in Yahweh, so I believe in capital punishment. a. Those in disagreement would not be in opposition to me, but in opposition to Yahweh. b. It was Yahweh that said to stone the man outside the camp. 6. Now, we might think that is awful harsh, but we do not make the rules or call the shots.
a. We do not get to decide what is lawful, nor what is unlawful. b. Likewise we do not get to make the decisions on how to punish various sins. Yahweh does, and Psalm 19:9 says that His judgments are true and righteous. c. See, the reason Yahweh punishes capital crimes this way is to deter these crimes from taking place again. (see Deut. 19:15-21) He has compassion on the community, He doesn't want the community having to live in fear and chaos. d. When you don't punish capital crimes with the death penalty you get more crime, because the criminal realizes that he or she can commit a murder and then even if convicted spend the rest of their life alive eating three meals a day and
reading books or watching television. e. What about this; I'm sure you've heard people say that capital punishment is just as much murder as the initial murder. However, for the person who's God is Yahweh the answer is that they aren't the same; why? Because Yahweh forbids one and permits the other. He decides what constitutes murder, not you nor I nor anyone else. 7. Now, before we move on, let us recognize that we are taught here that breaking the Sabbath is a capital crime. a. We tend to think that only murder or certain sexual immoralities deserve the death penalty. b. When we look at the 10 commandments, 8 of them are punished by death. The 10th
(coveting) leads to 8th commandment transgression (theft) or 7th commandment transgression (adultery). And even the 8th commandment transgression can sometimes lead to death if the thief just out rightly refused to make restitution. c. The Sabbath is holy time. He doesn't just say remember it, He says remember it to keep it holy; to keep it set apart from the other 6 days of work. d. Yahweh gives you 6 days to labor, 6 days to earn a living, 6 days to buy and sell, 6 days to travel, 6 days to plant and harvest, 6 days to "do your own thing" in the parameter of His law. Yet so many people neglect the Sabbath commandment as though it isn't important, or as though it is abolished.
e. You know, I don't believe that Sunday is the Sabbath, but if you research American history you will find that many of the early colonies in this nation kept Sunday as the Sabbath day. They really kept it like a Sabbath. They at least acknowledged that God gave us 1 day a week to dedicate to completely to Him. f. "But I live for Him everyday" some people say. So do I, but Scripture says that God blessed a particular DAY. You can live holy everyday, but that doesn't mean everyday has the same holiness in itself. g. "But Yeshu is my rest." That is true, but did you know that "Yahweh is my father." Does that spiritual truth mean I do not have to honor my earthly father? Yeshua gives us rest from what? From our
sins, one of which is Sabbath violation. h. Did you know that violations of the Sabbath is part of why Yeshua had to die? He died to pay the penalty for sin. One of which was violating the Sabbath day. i. Let me say this (I know we have a wide range of people here today); every time you break the 4th commandment, every time you forget the Sabbath, you are committing a capital crime against who you call your Lord. Every time you break the Sabbath you aren't being Christ-like. C. Verses 37-41 1. You know, I remember when I first learned about the tassels.
a. I learned about them from a precious brother named Orlando Smith, a friend of Brother Arnold and Sister Hazel. b. Orlando would sit in their living room all day long studying Scripture. Orlando had calloused knees from kneeling and praying so much. Kind of like we read of James in the writings of Eusebius. c. Orlando had tassels on his clothes, a tassel around his neck, and even a tassel wrapped around his hand. d. Not long after I learned of them I wrote a song we sometimes sing here called "Ribbon of Blue." 2. In verses 37 and 38 we read where just after this Sabbath violation Yahweh instructs Moses to tell the Israelites that they should make tassels for the corners
of their garments and put a blue cord on the tassel at each corner. a. In those days and in the days of Yeshua, tunics or robes had four corners. b. Notice that there are two commandments here actually. The first is to make the tassels, the second is the put within the tassels a blue cord. c. Some ask, why four tassels? The answer is in Deuteronomy 22:12. d. Also notice here that he does not specify this commandment for men only. There's nothing here that would even insinuate it. Some try to use the Hebrew "benay Yisrael" (literally sons of Israel) but this is used all through the Scriptures to speak of men, women, and children. (Examples: Ex. 14:22 [through the
red sea on dry ground]; Ex. 16 [Sabbath commandment]; Lev. 11 [dietary laws].) There's no Scriptural reason to believe that they are gender specific (like the beard, etc.) e. We also see that there must be a cord of blue in the tassel. The word in Hebrew is tekeleth. This word is defined by various Hebrew lexicons as a dye that came out of a shellfish in the Mediterranean Sea. (This fish is unclean to EAT, that doesn't mean you can't use the dye.) f. I don't know if they could even have obtained this dye in the wilderness, but they must have been able to obtain the blue color somehow (even the High Priest's ephod was made of this blue). People argue about the blue; whether it's dark or light or closer to a deep violet color, but I think the important thing is that you choose a
blue thread for your tassel in obedience to the commandment. (Also, there is nothing saying that the tassel must be white, that is tradition based upon Scriptures that speak of white as purity.) g. Another thing, there is no particular commandment in Torah as to how to tie the tassels. It appears from the Hebrew word used in the Deut. 22:12 passage (gedil, as opposed to tzit-tzit here) that they had the resemblance of intertwined chain. (The word gedil is translated as "wreaths of chain work" in 1 Kings 7:17) h. I don't think we should get into arguments about how to tie the tassels. I personally tie them to the numerical value of YHWH, but I do not say everyone else has to tie theirs this way.
i. The main thing here is to make four tassels with a cord of blue in them, and wear them on your garment. 2. Verse 39 gives us the reason for the tassels. They are to be looked at and used as a reminder for all of the commands of Yahweh. They remind us to obey all the commandments and not to follow our own heart and eyes. a. People used to (and some may still today) tie a string around their finger to remind them of something. b. Do we need a reminder? Sometimes people object by saying that now the Holy Spirit reminds us to keep the commandments so we don't need the tassels. c. Number 1, this is abolishing Torah and Yeshua said that is not what He came to do. Number 2,
don't you think that Yeshua had the Holy Spirit? John 3 tells us He was given the Spirit without measure. I would say He had much more Holy Spirit then anyone living today. Did Yeshua wear the tassels? Certainly; let's look at one passage - Matthew 9:20-21. If he wore them (and he certainly had the Holy Spirit) we should wear them. d. We still struggle with sin today. In Romans 7 Paul talks about the battle between the flesh and the spirit. There is certainly nothing wrong with obeying God and placing a reminder on your clothes that you should keep the commandments. e. The tassel represents Yahweh's law. The text says we shouldn't follow our own heart and eyes, but rather seek to have a heart that follows Yahweh's law.
3. Verses 40 through 41 reiterate the need to be obedient and also show that Yahweh has the right to command this because He is the God of Israel. He is the one who rules Israel. 4. The common objection to all of this is that it was given to Israel and not me. a. Well, all the commandments were given to Israel. The 5th commandment was given to Israel, as well as the 6th, 7th, and 8th. b. The New Covenant was made with Israel (Jer. 31; Heb. 8). c. There are many people today who although they think they are not Israelites actually are descendants of the 10 northern tribes of Israel that were sent into Assyrian captivity and then scattered amongst the different nations of the world.
d. However, even if you aren't an Israelite look at Numbers 15:26 again. e. Let's close with Isaiah 56:1-8. Why not just be obedient.