Part 5 – The Real Prayer Closet!
Numbers 15:37-40 (NIV)
Sunday, September 20, 2015 Pastor Ray Cummings
Matthew 6:6 (NIV)
6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Numbers 15:37-40 (NIV)
37
The LORD said to Moses, 38 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations
to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39
You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD,
that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts
and eyes. 40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your
God.
Deuteronomy 22:12 (NIV)
12
Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.
The tallit (pronounced TAH-lis) is a prayer shawl. It is a rectangular shaped piece of linen or wool
with special fringes called Tzitzit on each of the four corners. The purpose of the garment is really
to hold the Tzitzit. The tallit is a prayer shawl which when used to cover the head also creates a
personal isolated space for prayer shutting out of the world around. The name Tallit comes from the
two Hebrew words:
TAL – meaning tent and ITH meaning little.
Thus you have tallit as a LITTLE TENT! It is this that Jesus was referring to when HE said what
we have recorded in Matthew 6:6. By wrapping yourself in it, or by covering your head with it, you
can create an individual tent for yourself to converse with God. Each man had his own little tent.
Six million Jews could not fit into the tent of meeting that was set up in the Old Testament.
Therefore, what was given to them was their own private sanctuary where they could meet with
God. Each man had one! His prayer shawl or Talith. They would pull it up over their head, forming
a tent, where they would begin to chant and sing their Hebrew songs, and call upon God. It was
intimate, private, and set apart from everyone else – enabling them to focus upon God. This was
their prayer closet! Their War Room!
A tillit is commonly spread over the wedding symbolizing the unity of husband and wife and
reminding them of the commandment Genesis 2:24. Therefore a man leaves his father and cleaves
to his wife, and they become one flesh. A wedding blessing would be “Bless Adonai, O my soul.
Adonai, My God, You are very great, You are clothed in glory and majesty. You have wrapped
yourself with a garment of light, spreading out the heavens like a curtain.” The mystical
interpretation of the covering shawl is the representation of the covering of glory of God on man.
Psalm 104:2 (NIV)
2
He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent
The reason for the tassels is given by the torah. The sole significance of the tallit (prayer
shawl) was in the tzitzit. (tassels.)
The tsitzit strings of one corner of a tallit. Note how the eight strings are really four that are
folded through the hole on the tallit. Before tying begins, a blessing is said: (For the sake of the
Commandment of Tzitzit.) One prominent Jewish commentator bases the number of knots on the
word tzitzit (in its Mishnaic spelling) has the value of 600. Each tassel has eight threads (when
doubled over) and five sets of knots, totaling 13. The sum of all numbers is 613, traditionally the
number of commandments in the Torah. This reflects the concept that donning a garment with
tzitzit reminds its wearer of all Torah commandments. 248 positive, 365 negative. 365
corresponded to the number of days in a year and 248 at that time was believed to be the number of
bones and significant organs in the human body.
When they looked at the tzitzit, they remembered that they were both free and bound in their
relationship to God. Bound to the commandments of God.
There are a number of symbolisms in the knots and windings.
1. The five knots tied in each tassel can be viewed as symbolic of the five books of Moses, these
books are known as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This is the
Torah, which is of course the foundation for all of Judaism.
a. The knots and windings are also considered symbolic of the Shema. Shema Yisrael
Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad. Hear Oh Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is
One. (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Shema is commonly referred to as the watchword of the
Jewish faith. The recitation of this line is a important part of the morning and evening
services.
2. The five knots can be viewed as representing the first five Hebrew words of the Shema. The
last word, Echad, is represented by the winding between the knots. Echad means “one.” The
windings bind the knots into a single unite.
3. Each Tzitzit is made from 8 strings, 7 white and one blue. Seven is the number representing
perfection in the physical realm. Eight therefore, transcends the physical realm and symbolizes
a direct link to the spiritual realm.
a. Each group of 8 strings knotted 5 times to form a Tzitzit. There are five books in the
Torah.
b. Each of the 4 tzitzit have 8 strings making a total of 32 strings. 32 is the numeric value
of the Hebrew word for “Heart.” The tzitzit’s loose strings represent God’s ‘heart
strings.”
Jewish thought was that prayer opens your heart. Of course, prayer engages your intellect,
too. But in Judaism, prayer is not about learning texts or practicing your Hebrew. Rather, it’s
about cultivating your awareness, awe, gratitude, and humility. It’s about increasing your
awareness of God on a daily basis and using that awareness to help you grow as a person.
When they put the Tallit on, they would say a blessing that in English translates, “Blessed
are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and
commanded us regarding the commandments of fringes.
Saul tore Samuel’s tassel from his shawl. Samuel told Saul the kingdom of Israel would be
torn from him as Saul had torn Samuel’s tassel (authority) from him.
1 Samuel 15:27-31 (NIV)
27
As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to
him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your
neighbors--to one better than you. 29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind;
for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." 30 Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please
honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may
worship the LORD your God." 31 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
We also see David’s anguish in 1 Samuel 24:5 when he cut the tassel from Saul’s shawl.
David knew he was to replace Saul as king over Israel, but, by cutting the tassel off Saul’s shawl,
he had gotten ahead of God’s timing. Thus, stripping Saul of his authority by cutting of Saul’s
tassel, David repented before God and Saul in 1 Samuel 24:5.
1 Samuel 24:4-5 (NIV)
4
The men said, "This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy
into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.'" Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a
corner of Saul's robe. 5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his
robe.
THE DEAD WERE WRAPPED IN IT WHEN THEY WERE BURIED
After a ritual washing of the body, the body is dressed in a shroud and then a tallit. One of
the tzitzit is then cut off. In the land of Israel, burial is without a casket, and the shroud and tallith
are the only coverings for the corpse. In addition to the shroud, some Jews are wrapped in the
prayer shawl in which they prayed. Before the tallit is placed on a body for burial, however, one of
the sets of fringes is cut to demonstrate that the person is on longer bound by the religious
obligations of the living.
Jesus, the Messiah, also was put in the tomb with His prayer shawl about His head, as was
the custom of burial. The Tallit, which the KJV calls the napkin, is one of the many great infallible
proofs, as Jesus showed Himself ALIVE after His death on the cross.
John 20:6-8 (NIV)
6
Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of
linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded
up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first,
also went inside. He saw and believed.
As Peter and John entered the empty tomb, they saw something that immediately convinced
them that the resurrection of Jesus was an irrefutable fact. Jesus knew that when Simon Peter burst
into the tomb and found it empty, Peter would think the Romans had somehow disposed of the
body. That is why Jesus, at the time of His resurrection, folded His Tallit. Jesus took the time to
precisely fold His prayer shawl, His Tallit, and lay it apart from the other grave wrappings. When
Peter saw the tallit, as only Jesus would fold it, he knew that the Romans did not take the body;
because if they had, No Way would they have folded, or even known how Jesus folded His tallit.
Jesus must be alive to fold that tallit.
Numbers 15:37-38 (NIV)
37
The LORD said to Moses, 38 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations
to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.
Tassels – Tzitzit
Corners – Kanaf – Also translated WINGS
Garments – Talith
Malachi 4:2 (NIV)
2
But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. .
The same word used in Numbers 15:38 for corners is used in Malachi 4:2 for wings.
Luke 8:43-46 (NIV)
43
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal
her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding
stopped. 45 "Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people
are crowding and pressing against you."
46
But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."
Matthew 9:20-21 (NIV)
20
Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and
touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
So even though Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for enlarging their fringes, despite this, He must
sometimes have warned one Himself as the story in Luke suggests.
Matthew 23:5 (NIV)
5
"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on
their garments long;
Psalm 91:1-4 (NIV)
1
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say
of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will save
you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
Matthew 14:35-36 (NIV)
35
And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country.
People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his
cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
The material for this message was taken from the following two major sources:
“Secrets of the Prayer Shawl” by Professor M.M. Ninan
“The Essential Guide to Jewish Prayer and Practices by Andrea Lieber, Ph.D.