Mark chapter five begins with the account of a man by the name of Yair (Jairus). He is a ruler of the synagogue who has a sick child. Yair seeks out the L-rd and begs Him to return to his house with him and heal his daughter. Yeshua agrees to the request and starts back with Yair. Just as they are making their way through the crowd of people, a woman with an issue blood, pushes her way through the mob and grabs hold of the L-rd's garment. Miraculously she is healed.
Now there is a bit of a problem here. You see, according to Jewish law, this woman had no business being in this crowd and she certainly had no business grabbing on to anyone. Look with me at Leviticus 15:19-28.
"And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. And everything that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: everything also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean. And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water; and be unclean until even. And if it be on her bed, or on anything whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even . . . And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation: she shall be unclean . . . But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her before the Lord for the issue of her uncleanness." This woman was ceremonially unclean. By law she was to be separated from people because if anyone touched her or if she touched anyone, she made them unclean. To do so would be sin. Not to mention that a ruler of the synagogue was in the very crowd of people that she was in. There was definately more to this womans actions than a tenacious attitude towards healing. What compelled her to force her way through the people to get to the L-rd? Why was she so adamant about touching His garment? Why did she think that the hem was so significant?
The Tzitzit
In Numbers 15:37 G-d instructs Moshe to tell the people that they are to attach fringes to the borders of a four cornered garment. This garment is called the tallit and the fringes are called tzitzit. The purpose of the tzitzit, is to cause the person wearing them to remember the commandments and to walk in them. It was a visual reminder that they were not to seek after our own heart or our own eyes. The fringe represented the authority of G-d's Word.
A Meaning Within The Fringe
There is tremendous symbolic meaning to the prayer shawl and the fringes. The word tzitzit has a numerical value of 600. There are 5 knots and 8 strands for a total of 13. When you add this to the value of the word tzitzit you have 613. This is the number of commandments. The wrappings between the knots numerically spell "YHVH is One" or basically the Shema.
Ok, thats interesting, but what does that have to do with the woman with an issue of blood. More importantly what does it have to do with my own walk? What we will see is that the tzitzit gives us understanding to HaShem's command that "Ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes."
How The Fringe Was Made
The making of the fringe began by taking four strands of thread and weaving them into a string. Four separate strings or strands were made in this manner. The Code of Jewish Law said,
"If one does not take four separate strings, but takes one long string, folds it into four, puts it through the aperture, makes a knot, and thereafter cuts the strings, it is invalid."
Did you get that? Four strands must be put through the aperture thus doubling them to make eight. You can not take a single strand, cut it into four pieces and then put those through to create the eight strands. Once the four strands are put through the aperture, two knots are made. Then the longest strand, called the shamesh, or helper strand, is used to make the wrappings. Again the Code of Jewish Law says,
"The strands of the tzitzit are to be twisted, and if any strand becomes untwisted, it is considered as cut off and nonexistent."
Seems a bit much , huh. Why so percise?
"And the Lord spoke unto Moshe, 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 the 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 15:38-41
The fringe was a teaching instrument. Not only did it provide a visual reminder of the commandments of G-d, but the intricate manner in which it had to be made testified of the daily need to recognize the Creator and His authority over His creation.
This is a difficult concept for us to grasp in these last days. We have been so saturated with the idea that we are in control, that to acknowledge G-d as the One to obey is almost unheard of. I am not referring to the world here. I am speaking of "believers". Today, the believer is much like Cain. Arrogantly we present to G-d our doctrines, our feasts, our day of worship , our idea of holiness and proclaim ... "hear it is G-d, take it or leave it , because this is my offering". Then boldy we justify ourselves with ... "he knows my heart".
You and I are not to live our lives based on our "determination" of what is right and what is wrong. We are to be completely dependent on G-d. Wrapped up in His Word. Trusting in obedience.
Waiting
There is a Hebrew Word that we need to learn. Qavah has been translated as wait in the King James. However, this does very little to convey the meaning. Look at the following scriptures.
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31
"Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause." Psalm 25:1-3
Recall the wrappings of the tzitzit? Four threads twisted together to make a strand. Four strands inserted through the aperture which makes 8 strands. After the two knots are made, the longest strand, the shamesh (helper strand) is used to do the wrappings. There are four strands, the Godhead plus you. Your life is being twisted together with the life of Messiah, the living Torah.
Keep the Wrappings Tight
Something I would like to point out concerning the details of the fringe, is that there is no instruction regarding how "tightly" one is to make the wrappings. It seems that that aspect of the fringe is entirely up to the one who makes it.
Again this is a picture of our walk with Messiah. It is entirely up to us, how closely we live with our L-rd. We can, like Joshua, place the Word in our mouths and keep it as the meditation of our heart day and night. We can seek Him with all our might, not satisfied with "membership", but insisting on intimacy. Or we can choose to follow the way of the crowd and barely know the One who gave His all that He might have all of us.
Here is the point to the story of the woman with the issue of blood. Yes, it is wonderful that she was healed, but I believe the reason her story is included in scripture, is not because she was healed. We know about this woman because she saw the tzitzit on Yeshua's tallit and recognized the authority of the Word of the Most High. She knew what the fringe represented, she also knew that one who would wear it would be submitted to that Word. The woman was wrapped in the Word.
Now lets turn the light on ourselves. Are we wrapping our lives with the Lord? If we are, how tightly? Let us purpose daily not to seek after our own heart or our own eyes. Instead, let the desire of our being be our G-d.
