THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TECHELET
Several times I have taught on the Jewish Prayer Shawl, or the Tallit as it is called in Hebrew.
This has been very close to my heart and although we are New Testament Christians, and we do not use the Tallit any more, it still carries a huge significance to me personally.
It helps me to understand the Quiet Time each Jew was to have before God. It helps me to know that God can speak to any one…He hears our prayer, when prayed in secret, and then rewards us openly. It helps me understand that God’s covering is upon me, and He always comes to me with healing in His Wings. Malachi 4:2. (The edges of the Tallit were called ‘wings’).
These are Old Testament foundations revealed and fulfilled already through Jesus. So we do not need the Tallit today. We have the Bible, we have the Holy Spirit, and we remember His Commandments daily.
Is this a sign. But let me go on.
We read in Numbers !5:38-41…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 my 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.
Wow!
Did you notice… ‘that you may look upon it and remember’?
The ribband of blue was called ‘Techelet’. This ‘blue thread’ was to remind them that they were a kingdom of Priests, and to remember the Commandments.
But here is the sign I am talking about. This blue thread, four in all, tied together at each of the four corners of the Tallit along with other white threads was a key. The fringes were called ‘Tzit tzit’ (Remember the woman with the issue of blood who touched the fringes of Jesus’ garment, Luke 8:43,44. In Greek, it was called ‘kraspedon’, which is a fringe). Jesus came from Jewish heritage and He always wore a Tallit, especially when he prayed. You can bet on that!
So what about this blue thread or ‘Techelet’? This unique blue dye came from the ‘chilazon’ or a small sea creature or a marine snail ‘Murex trunculus’, from the Mediterranean Sea. Divers would dive 30 or 40 feet below and get them from the rocks underneath. These ‘chilazon’ were very hard to come by and became unavailable for years. Some scientists say it surfaces every seventy years or so.
Today they have come back in huge numbers. Is this a sign that our Messiah Jesus is coming back soon? Your answer!
Be blessed!
