The last story in the Book of Numbers is about a man who was caught collecting sticks on the Shabbat. After Moses consulted God, the verdict was that the man must be stoned to death for violating the command about not working on the Shabbat.
But what God said next shows that he wants to help us protect ourselves from being punished.
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God had given us the commandment to honor the Sabbath (Exodus 20), and one important way was not to do any ordinary work on that day. Well, this guy went out to collect sticks, which was ordinary work, and even worse than that, he probably was going to use them to start a fire, which is another violation of the Shabbat (Exodus 35:3).
Now, this seems to be the first recorded event of someone violating the Shabbat, and so his punishment was pretty harsh- he was to be stoned to death.
And he was.
But, as Paul Harvey used to say, “Now, for the rest of the story…”
In Numbers 15:37-41, God commands us to make tzitzit, those strings that hang down from all four corners of our garments.
The idea is that when we wear these, it will remind us to obey all of God’s commandments.
That makes sense, but then again, who walks around looking at their waist?
Yes, I have to see them when I put them on each morning (the garment that has these on them that is worn under the shirt is called a Katan), but who remembers everything you do in the morning as you are going through your day?
The Tzitzit are really there for you to be a reminder to everyone else you meet, because they are the ones who see your tzitzit all the time. And, when you are a constant reminder to your neighbor that they must remember to obey God, then you are actually showing them love, because you are helping them to avoid sinning, which leads to eternal damnation.
So, nu? Did you ever think of tzitzit in this way? Or that by being a constant reminder to people how to obey God, through speech and actions, that you might be saving their eternal soul?
That’s an interesting thought, isn’t it? When you obey God, not only are you helping yourself, but you are an example to others that might just motivate them to be more obedient, and thereby saving their soul!
But I am not talking about being obedient to a religion- no! I am talking about being obedient to God, and the only way to obey God is to do as he says, right? Well, there is only one place in the entire Bible where we are told, exactly and undeniably, what God wants us to do because he tells Moses to instruct us in that way, and that is in the Torah.
POP! (That’s the sound of Christian “the law is done away with” bubbles being burst).
Wearing tzitzit is a commandment, in and of itself, but many Jews do not do that, myself included (I am ashamed to say). Mostly just the Orthodox and Chasidic are obedient to this commandment. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be living tzitzit, in how we treat each other and show our obedience to God’s Torah in many other ways.
So, whether you wear tzitzit or not, always be a reminder to others how to obey God’s commandments, and not those of some religion, especially if that religion tells you the Torah is only for Jews. Yeshua (Jesus) lived in 100% accordance with the Torah, 100% of the time, so if you want to follow in the footsteps of the Messiah, and DWJD, then you have no option other than to read and know the Torah so that you can live the way it tells us to live, as best as you can.
Trying our best to be Torah observant is as good as we humans will ever get to be, and thanks to Yeshua’s sacrifice for us, when we fail we have his blood to wash away our sin.
Thank you for being here, and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. After all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot, and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!