7 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 chasing 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. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’” Numbers 15:37-41
The word for “corner” in Hebrew is “kanaph”, which can also be translated as wings. Thecorners of the Jewish prayer shawl were sometimes referred to as the wings of the garment.
The word for “tassels” in Hebrew is “tzitzit”, which is a specially knotted tassel worn in antiquity by Israelites and today by very observant Jews. It is attached to the four corners (wings) of the prayer shawl. Each tzitzit (tassel) is made of 8 threads and tied with 5 double knots. 8 + 5 = 13.
Also, in Hebrew each word has a numerical value. The numerical value of the word tzitzit = 600. 600 + 13 = 613. There are 613 commandments in the law of Moses. By placing the prayer shawl over themselves (they would sometimes place it over their head), they are representing the placing of themselves under the authority of the laws of Moses. If you place yourself under the covering of God’s law, being obedient to His law,, you will find protection and a refuge. This is what the psalmist was referring to in Psalm 91: 1-4.
Whoever 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 will cover you with His wings.
When you place yourself under His wings (i.e., live under His authority, following His law) you will find it as a protection and refuge.
During the 400 years of silence (from Malachi to Matthew) there arose a thought / belief that the tassels of the shawl the Messiah would wear would be different. Since the Messiah would complete or fulfill all the law, the tassels of the cloak of the Messiah would have healing in them.
The prophet Malachi in Malachi 4:1-2 gives support to this thought.
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.
The “sun of righteousness, of course, referring to the Messiah.
Now we have the story in Matt. 9:20-22 (also in Mark 5:25-34) about the women with menorrhagia (continuous and heavy menstrual bleeding) for 12 years.
20 Then a woman, who was ill with a flow of blood for twelve years, came behind Him and touched the hem of His garment. 21 For she said within herself, “If I may just touch His garment, I shall be healed.”
22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her, He said, “Daughter, be of good comfort. Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well instantly.
The word for “hem” is “kraspedon”, which is a tassel of twisted wool. It is referring to the tzitzit.
There would be healing in the tzitzit (tassels) of the shawl the Messiah would wear.
Now the object (the tassels) had no magical power. And it wasn’t her determination that healed her. It was her faith in the fact the Jesus was actually the Messiah, the long awaited one, that healed her.
There is “healing in His wings”. It is still true today for us.
-Allen Graber