Touching the Hem of His Garment, part 4

The information about Lydia, which means very little to us today, said a lot to the early church. It said, in effect, “One of the wealthiest and most influential people in the Roman Empire has gotten saved!” Imagine the impact this would have made on getting the message of the Gospel out to others. Think of the richest person you are aware of, what would happen if they were to get saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit, and started really promoting the Gospel, and helping the church to prosper. 

Since Blue also represented God, wearing it marked the fact that they were a people set people apart from the rest of the common world and reminded them that they were God’s chosen people, a royal priesthood and a holy nation. This treasured thread would likely have been passed on from a father to his son, as one of his valuable legacies. The blue stripe on the prayer shawl of Jewish men, has the same meaning, and is still represented in the blue stripes on the flag of Israel today.
 

The tassels around the fringe and corners of the prayer shawl, signify much to those who understand why they are there. First, they represent Authority – in 1 Samuel 24:4-6 we read about King Saul and we find that David humiliated him, by sneaking up to him in a cave at the Spring of En-gendi and cutting off one of Saul’s tassels, a symbol of his authority. David’s conscience bothered him so much for what he had done, he said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord”
 

Why was David upset with himself? Even though David did this to prove to Saul that he was not trying to kill him, the symbol of taking the corner fringe would be humiliation to Saul. David immediately went out of the cave and prostrated himself in humility before Saul, to prove to Saul that he was not trying to kill him.
 

Everyone, including Saul, knew that David had been anointed by Samuel to be the next king, which is why Saul feared David. David had literally taken Saul’s authority, and at that point, he probably could have taken the throne from Saul. But, he didn’t, rather, he let God choose the time for him to receive the throne.
 

Another example of the authority represented in the tassel is found in a passage in the book of Ruth. And in Ruth, it is also connected with the second reason for the tassels – they were to remember to stay, “Under His wings,” for God was their protector and provider! In Chapter three, Ruth went to Boaz to receive his blessing, which would help her out of her difficult situation. She went to the threshing floor and slept at his feet. Ruth 3:8-9, “In the middle of the night something startled the man; he – and there was a woman lying at his feet! 9 “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family” NIV.
 

Boaz immediately understood and started to make every arrangement to help her… and eventually, he married her. What Ruth did in asking Boaz to spread the corner of his garment over her was a symbolic way of saying she was placing herself under his authority and thereby his protection.
 

A third thing the tassels was to remind them of is that they must have Humility. Interestingly, by the end of the Second Temple period (70 BC - AD 135), tassels had become a symbol of social status. The wealthier you were, the fancier and larger your tassels might appear.
 

Isn’t that a clear picture of human nature? We tend to turn everything into a competition; we show-off with a public display, like the kind of car we drive, the house we live in, or the jewelry we wear, and so on. It is known, that during the time of Jesus, the tassels of some Pharisees were so long and elaborate that they dragged on the ground. It was this obvious display of pride, one that Jesus was rebuking when He said, in Matthew 23:5, “They do everything to be seen by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.”

Continued tomorrow