To Tzitzit or not Tzitzit?
I have been studying this as of recent. Why would it be wrong to wear Tzitzit if the heart and mind is aligned properly on why you are wearing it?
The Numbers passage does use the same language we reformed subscribe to when we speak of the Abrahamic covenant and the requirement in placing the sign on our children: ‘throughout their generations’.
Gen. 17:9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you:
Num. 15:37 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.”
How is wearing Tzitzit any different from wearing a shirt with a passage on it or wearing a cross? Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating for wearing any symbols, especially those that break the 2nd commandment; we see no command to wear crosses. However, we do see this command in Numbers. If one wanted to wear Tzitzit with the mindset that the Tzitzit was a reminder of God’s commandments, why is that a bad thing? Not to mention that wearing them may be a chance to explain what they are to people who are not familiar with the gospel message, why is that a bad thing? Believers do much more grievous things that are not commanded!
“the Israelites received a command from God to stitch tzitzit in the corners of their robes, entwining a cerulean thread in each tassel. And what was the rationale for this divinely-ordained fashion statement? “That when you shall see them, you may remember all the commandments of the Lord, and not follow your own thoughts and eyes, going astray after others” (Num. 15:39). What the children of Israel wore on their bodies reflected and shaped the disposition of their souls.” J.J.
Matthew Henry on Tzitzit:
Provision had been just now made by the law for the pardon of sins of ignorance and infirmity; now here is an expedient provided for the preventing of such sins. They are ordered to make fringes upon the borders of their garments, which were to be memorandums to them of their duty, that they might not sin through forgetfulness. 1. The sign appointed is a fringe of silk, or thread, or worsted, or the garment itself ravelled at the bottom, and a blue riband bound on the top of it to keep it tight, v. 38. The Jews being a peculiar people, they were thus distinguished from their neighbours in their dress, as well as in their diet, and taught by such little instances of singularity not to be conformed to the way of the heathen in greater things. Thus likewise they proclaimed themselves Jews wherever they were, as those that were not ashamed of God and his law. Our Saviour, being made under the law, wore these fringes; hence we read of the hem or border, of his garment, Mt. 9:20. These borders the Pharisees enlarged, that they might be thought more holy and devout than other people. The phylacteries were different things; these were their own invention, the fringes were a divine institution. The Jews at this day wear them, saying, when they put them on, Blessed be he who has sanctified us unto himself, and commanded us to wear fringes. 2. The intention of it was to remind them that they were a peculiar people. They were not appointed for the trimming and adorning of their clothes, but to stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance (2 Pt. 3:1), that they might look upon the fringe and remember the commandments. Many look upon their ornaments to feed their pride, but they must look upon these ornaments to awaken their consciences to a sense of their duty, that their religion might constantly beset them, and that they might carry it about with them, as they did their clothes, wherever they went. If they were tempted to sin, the fringe would be a monitor to them not to break God’s commandments: If a duty was forgotten to be done in its season, the fringe would remind them of it. This institution, though it is not an imposition upon us, is an instruction to us, always to remember the commandments of the Lord our God, that we may do them, to treasure them up in our memories, and to apply them to particular cases as there is occasion to use them. It was intended particularly to be a preservative from idolatry: that you seek not after your own heart, and your own eyes, in your religious worship. Yet it may extend also to the whole conversation, for nothing is more contrary to God’s honour, and our own true interest, than to walk in the way of our heart and in the sight of our eyes; for the imagination of the heart is evil, and so is the lust of the eyes.
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 208–209.
‘all generations’
‘Throughout all generations’
Psalm 72:5
5 They shall fear thee as long as the sun
And moon endure, throughout all generations.
Psalm 102:24
24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days:
Thy years are throughout all generations.
Psalm 135:13
13 Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever;
And bthy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.
Psalm 145:13
13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
‘All generations’
Exodus 3:15
15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Psalm 33:11
11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever,
The thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Psalm 45:17
17 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations:
Therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.
Psalm 49:11
11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever,
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They call their lands after their own names.
Psalm 72:5
5 They shall fear thee as long as the sun
And moon endure, throughout all generations.
Psalm 79:13
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture
Will give thee thanks for ever:
We will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
Psalm 85:5
5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?
Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
Psalm 89:1
1 I will sing of the cmercies of the LORD for ever:
With my mouth will I make known dthy faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 89:4
4 Thy seed will I establish for ever,
And build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
Psalm 90:1
1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
Psalm 100:5
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting;
And his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalm 102:12
12 But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever;
And thy remembrance unto all generations.
Psalm 102:24
24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days:
Thy years are throughout all generations.
Psalm 106:31
31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness
Unto all generations for evermore.
Psalm 119:90
90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:
Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
Psalm 135:13
13 Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever;
And bthy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.
Psalm 145:13
13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
Psalm 146:10
10 The LORD shall reign for ever,
Even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.
Praise ye the LORD.
Luke 1:48
48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:
For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
‘Throughout your generations’
Exodus 12:14
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
Exodus 29:42
42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.
Exodus 30:8
8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
Exodus 30:10
10 And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.
Exodus 30:31
31 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.
Exodus 31:13
13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
Leviticus 10:9
9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:
Leviticus 23:14
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:21
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Leviticus 23:31
31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Numbers 10:8
8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
Numbers 18:23
23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
Numbers 35:29
29 So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.