Tassels of Remembrance
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In life, we need reminders. Ministry can be busy. Several of our Dream Center guys will tell you that the minute they ask me to do something, I immediately go, “Hey Siri, remind me Monday at 8am”. Why? Because in the busyness and distractions of every day life, i know that i am prone to forget things.
I wake up throughout the work week at the same time. I wake up at 3, get in my word, then go to the gym. But the other morning my alarm didn’t go off; anytime there’s a new update and i fail to update my phone, i notice an issue with the alarm. Well, when that alarm didn’t go off, instead of waking up at three, i woke up at four. I have to set an alarm because, even though it’s what i always do, my body is prone to desire more sleep. I need a reminder to wake up.
God knows man inside out, better than we could ever know ourselves. God knew that because of the heart of man, we needed A REMINDER! Tonight’s message is entitled TASSELS OF REMEMBRANCE.
37 The Lord said to Moses,
38 “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.
39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.
40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”
In verse 38, God told Moses to have the Israelites make these tassels to put on the corners of their garments, and on each tassel there shall be a cord of blue. Today there is actually two garments predominantly found in jewish communities. One that is for special occasions, sabbaths, feast days, weddings; which is rather large and colorful. The other garment is much smaller, small enough to wear comfortably underneath your clothes, the garment has a hole to slide on over your head with tassels on the four corners and a cord of blue on each tassel. These tassels look something like this. (ADD PICTURE HERE)
These fringes or tassels are tied in unique ways in differing communities; but the standard is that on each corner there are eight strings with five knots. This is especially meaningful in Jewish communities because in the Hebrew alphabet, letters have numerical value. The numerical value of the Hebrew word for tassel is 600, add the 8 strings and the 5 knots you have 613; which is the commonly agreed upon number of commandments in the Torah, or the old testament. Isn’t that amazing? God gives a command for tassels to remind His people of His commands, and these tassels numerically represent the exact number of Gods commands.
The Lord tells Moses that the people need something to remind them of ALL of the commandments of God. But the question is. Why do we need a reminder? Why do people need a sign of remembrance? Because God knows the nature of man.
39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.
The need for a reminder to walk in the commandments of God is found in the second half of this verse; WE ARE INCLINED TO WHORE AFTER THE THINGS THAT OUR HEARTS AND OUR EYES ARE DRAWN AWAY BY!
Yes, the scripture says we are prone to WHORE after other things. Why is worded that way?
5 For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
God is the Husband of Israel. And in the New Testament Paul not only makes it clear that as believers we are Spiritually now a part of Israel, but he also explains that we are married to Christ.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
As a born again body of believers, we now make up the church, who is the bride of Christ. But why is all of this significant? Because God said we are inclined to whore after our OWN EYES AND OUR OWN HEART;
WHEN WE TAKE OUR EYES OFF OF GOD AND FOLLOW AFTER OUR OWN WAY WE ARE COMMITTING SPIRITUAL ADULTERY
God is essentially telling His people, “I know that if you do not keep your eyes firmly fixed upon ME, you will be quick to commit adultery, you will be quick to go after another, because the heart of man is evil”.
We see a great example of this in Ezekiel. God is speaking to the prophet Ezekiel, and commanding him to prophesy destruction to the mountains of Israel for all of their sin and idol worship; and their refusal to heed the warnings of God.
Ezekiel 6:9 (ESV)
9 then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols. And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations.
There are three truths conveyed in this verse we need to ponder.
The sinful nature of man is inclined to be led astray with our eyes and our heart
Even as born again believers, we have this propensity, in our flesh to be drawn to sin. This means we must be diligent to guard our eyes, and our hearts from sin.
WE MUST BE CONFIDENT, NOT COMFORTABLE
What do i mean by that? Well the word tells us
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
We must be CONFIDENT in the fact that we have died with Christ; we are dead to sin. Meaning it no longer has dominion over me, I am no longer a slave to sin.
But i cannot allow that fact to make me too COMFORTABLE. Because i still have a CHOICE.
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
That word contrary in the Greek can also mean TOWARD YOU! It’s desire is FOR YOU! Sin is always crouching at the door. Contrary to you, wanting you, to grasp you, to kill you. And if we leave the door open just a crack… it will have it’s way. If we get too comfortable, we will find ourselves in situations where compromise has opportunity. We must stay awake, we must be alert.
A lack of CONFIDENCE in the power Jesus has given me over sin is a sign of unbelief. And that will allow sin ample opportunity to destroy our lives, slowly but surely.
A lack of being COMFORTABLE is wisdom. It’s understanding that I AM DEAD TO SIN but that I STILL HAVE FLESH, AND SINS DESIRE IS TOWARD ME!
The word tells us to make NO PROVISION FOR THE FLESH. There’s a reason for that. The smallest provision for the flesh is all it takes.
2. God BREAKS OVER OUR WHORING
9 then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols. And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations.
This should change our attitude towards any sort of disobedience. Yes, it can be fearful to imagine God angry with us; but how heart wrenching to imagine the CREATOR OF ALL THINGS broken because I am giving my devotion to something other than HIM. That’s how much He loves us. That love should motivate us to want to live different.
3. After times of compromise, we should remember God and be grieved.
When i sin today, it truly breaks me. I honestly go through a time of mourning. There may be a point where it can reach unhealthy levels, where I’m staying in a place of feeling condemned. But that conviction is good. That mourning, that brokenness shows the change inside of us. And it’s a reminder that i DON’T want to sin against the Lord.
If we have reached a place where our sin no longer breaks us, there is a heart issue that needs to be dealt with.
This is a truth we need to be careful to consider. The things we allow our eyes to see, the things our hearts are inclined to long for, will pull us away from God. So many people blame the enemy. “The devil tempted me, the devil made me do it”. We give satan too much credit.
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
WE TEMPT OURSELVES! James said that we find ourselves tempted when we are lured away and enticed by our OWN DESIRES! Get this revelation; it’s one i’ve learned the hard way. We need to understand that anytime we sin or we fail we can always trace it back to a moment of entertainment.
What do i mean? Any time in my Christian walk that I fell into compromise, i can trace that sin back to a moment where i entertained that sin in some way. Wether you entertain a thought, a conversation, an image, a friendship, a relationship; when we give attention to something that could lead to compromise, eventually it comes to fruition.
God said that we are inclined to whore after our own eyes and our own heart. We are tempted by our own sinful desires; and when we entertain anything sinful, anything immoral, from lust, to deceit, to covetousness, and everything in between; that desire will conceive, and give birth to sin. And sin, when it is fully grown brings death.
That word entertain is key. It means to give attention or consideration to. So, if entertaining, or giving consideration to something our flesh desires brings forth sin and death; what must we do?
WE MUST KEEP OUR EYES ON JESUS
Today, our tassels of remembrance are not braided cords on the corner of our garments. Those tassels were to represent the fullness of God’s commandments. But today we have a better representation of those commandments.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Jesus is the fulfillment of those 613 commandments; the fulfillment of all that is written in the prophets. Back in the book of Numbers, God commanded the Israelites to look upon these tassels ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, EVERY WHERE THAT THEY WENT so they would remember the Lord their God and not go after their sinful ways. But we no longer look to the shadow of things to come. We look to the fulfillment of those things.
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Looking to Jesus is our answer. The way to guard ourselves from whoring after the lust of the flesh, or the lust of the eyes, is to keep our attention on Him.
39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.
So first we see that
Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, will keep us from giving into the flesh.
Understand that anytime we fall into sin, it’s because we took our eyes off of HIM! That’s why satan wants to distract us, and keep us busy. That’s why our flesh wants to distract us and keep us busy. We must maintain our focus.
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.
8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
This is my entire sermon in 10 verses. You don’t even need to hear me teach at this point. Paul says clearly and chronologically
Since you have been raised with Christ (which implies that you died with Him), then Put your eyes on CHRIST and not on the things below (of this world)
SET YOUR MIND ON CHRIST since you have died and your life is HIDDEN WITH HIM!
Setting your mind on Christ will cause you to PUT TO DEATH THE DEEDS OF THE BODY! (because when our mindset is Christ, we are aware of our sin, we do not want to sin, and we are more aggressive about cutting out provisions to sin)
You’re not who you used to be, so put on the new self, which is being RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE AFTER THE IMAGE OF IT’S CREATOR!
This is all in the context of FIXING YOUR EYES ON JESUS! You’re being renewed in knowledge by fixing your eyes on Jesus, and His word! You want to look more like the IMAGE OF YOUR CREATOR, THEN KEEP YOUR EYES ON HIM!
THE THINGS WE BEHOLD ARE THE THINGS WE BECOME
Keeping our eyes on Jesus not only keeps us from indulging the flesh,
IT WILL KEEP US IN OBEDIENCE, SET APART TO GOD
40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
God said when we look upon the tassels, we will be reminded to obey His commandments, and we will be HOLY or SET APART TO GOD! But today, if i want to live truly holy, i need to look upon MY HOLINESS!
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
Jesus is my holiness, therefore, to look upon HIM causes me to live more holy!
When my eyes are fixed on Christ, even when temptations arise, I find the strength to say no. Why is that? Because I’m more AWARE of Him. Being aware of Jesus brings power, it brings peace, it brings discipline.
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
So if this verse is true, why do born again believers fall into sin?
WHEN WE ALLOW OUR EYES TO WANDER AWAY FROM HIM, WE WILL NOT SEE THE WAY OF ESCAPE HE HAS PROVIDED!
The way of escape is provided, the way of escape is surely there. But we tend to have our eyes so fixed upon our self, that we cannot see what God is showing us.
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
When i’m tempted to be frustrated, impatient, angry, or any other thing; the cause of it is always selfish passions within me. So what is the solution? Get my eyes off of me, and onto Jesus.
But there’s a flip side to this as well. It’s not just in times of compromise where we find our eyes have slipped off of Jesus and onto us. We have to watch ourselves in times of doing good as well.
When we get born again and we begin to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, we must be sure to check the motives of our heart.
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
The Pharisees took the commands of God and used it as a tool to be seen by others. The phylacteries they broadened were a little leather box holding written scripture that was worn at morning prayer. They made theirs large and easily visible. But Phylacteries were not a formal command from God. God told the Israelites to “fix His words in our hearts and minds, and tie them as symbols on our hands and foreheads.” Somewhere as early as 4th century BC they began to take this scripture literal and Phylacteries for all to see came into being. Then they took the commands of the tassels and extended and lengthened their tassels. Why? Jesus said to be seen by others. We must always be careful to ask ourselves:
Are we doing the work of God, FOR GOD? Or are we doing it to be SEEN BY OTHERS?
I’ve had to check myself in the area of giving. It’s so much more convenient to give online; but there were times where i felt like i had to bring cash to church; i had to put it in an envelope. I had a check in my spirit one day, and questioned myself. Why won’t you just give online? I realized i had a fear that others would notice i didn’t put anything in the bucket, and i didn’t want people to think i wasn’t a giver.
Now, i didn’t give so others would see me. My heart was truly to give to God. He blesses me, and i feel compelled to give back. So it wasn’t that i was giving for the wrong reasons. I say that to say this.
You can be doing the right thing, for the right reasons, and allow just a little bit of the wrong motive to mix in, and it voids the entire deed. Today I don’t care how i give. Sometimes it’s online, sometimes it’s in person. I no longer think about it. God sees it either way, and that’s all that matters.
41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”
No matter who you are, no matter your background or criminal history; if you are born again, then God delivered you out of the land of Egypt. Egypt was the Israelites place of bondage, their place of slavery. Some of us were slaves to addiction, some of us were slaves to money, some of us were slaves to lust, some of us were slaves to it all. But all of us were slaves to sin.
You’re here today for a reason. God didn’t deliver you just to say that He could. God didn’t deliver you just to warm a seat.
GOD DELIVERED YOU SO THAT HE WOULD BE YOUR GOD
We spent enough time making dead things our god. If we have been born again, it’s time we act like it. Stop making that relationship your god. That woman can’t fix you; that man can’t save you. That lust can’t fulfill you, that money can’t bring you joy. He brought you out of bondage so that you would finally WORSHIP HIM!
He tells you why at the end of verse 41. He brought you out of Egypt, to be your God, BECAUSE HE IS THE LORD YOUR GOD!
No matter how you feel, no matter your worldview, no matter your beliefs. HE IS LORD, HE IS GOD, and we will be judged accordingly. Just because someone doesn’t “make Him Lord of their life” doesn’t mean that He’s not Lord. It just means that you’re suppressing the truth (romans 1) and you’re actively choosing to be judged according to the strictest letter of the law. Which means condemnation; the lake of fire; eternal punishment.
For those of us who have been born again, Jesus bore the judgment for our sins. We are legally righteous before God, in Christ. Our sins will not be counted against us, but our works will be judged. God delivered us out of our bondage, out of our living hell. It’s time that we serve Him.
Sin tries to entangle us, and pull us away. But if we keep our eyes fully fixed on Jesus; the new testament fulfillment of the old testament Tassels of Remembrance; we will find ourselves living holier, fulfilling God’s calling upon our lives, and walking in the Spirit.
So let us take our eyes off of the world, off of fleeting pleasures, and let us commit to looking at Jesus. Reading the Word, spending time in prayer, spending time serving with the correct motivation; and we will find more joy and peace and holiness in our walk with Christ.