The Skirt of a Jew and the Sacred Calendar - Is there any Connection?

OFTENTIMES ONE STUMBLES ACROSS A UNIQUE IF NOT ALTOGETHER IRRATIONAL “EXPOSITION” OF SCRIPTURE.

A PECULIAR APPLICATION of Zechariah 8:23 was recently posited in an internet group discussion. The scripture reads: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts: ‘In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying’, ‘We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.’”

This scripture was used as “proof" that PRESENT DAY Christ-followers desiring to follow the calendric instructions outlined in the Law at Leviticus 23, have to turn to the Jews to discover the correct sacred calendar, because “God is with [them]”, therefore, “We [the Gentiles] will go with you [the Jews]”, presumably to discover the correct sacred calendar.

The REASONING and CONCLUSION however are suspect because the contextual matrix within which the scripture appears is ignored, specifically the time-setting of the text. The key to the time-setting is found in verses immediately preceding this verse. It reveals that the time-setting for our text is THE MILLENIAL FUTURE. Therefore it cannot be applied to the present time. The crucial contextual time-setting verses from Zechariah 8 are as follows:

Zec 8:18 And the word of the Lord of hosts [YEHOVAH ZEBA’OTH, the Master of the heavenly angelic armies] came unto me, saying,

Zec 8:19 Thus saith the LORD of hosts [YEHOVAH ZEBA’OTH];

The fast of the fourth month [the 17th of Tammuz when Jewish women wept for the death of the illicit sexual “toy-boy” paramour of the sex goddess Ishtar (Ezek 8:14). This pagan feast is celebrated by the Jews to this day!], and

the fast of the fifth [the 9th of Ab, commemorating the destruction of the Temple], and

the fast of the seventh [the 4th of Tishri, the fast of Gedaliah, in remembrance of the assassination of the Governor of post-captivity Judah in the time of Jeremiah], and

the fast of the tenth [the 10th of Tebeth, the day in 606BC that Nebuchadnezzar started the siege of Jerusalem], shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

The fact that none of these fasts [all of them still being observed by the Jews today] have as yet been changed into cheerful feasts in Israel, clearly indicates that the time-setting for the fulfilment of these verses is not for the present time but destined for the FUTURE, for the millennium!

Zech 8:20 Thus saith the LORD of hosts [YEHOVAH ZEBA’OTH]; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:

Zech 8:21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts [YEHOVAH ZEBA’OTH]: I will go also. [Since the prophetic setting is millennial, 2540 years yet future, Zechariah anticipates his own resurrection!]

Zech 8:22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts [YEHOVAH ZEBA’OTH] in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.

Zech 8:23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts [YEOVAH ZEBA’OTH]; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

Zechariah explains in chapter 14 precisely WHEN the events described in Zechariah 8:20-22 will take place; that is, when cities and “many people and strong nations” like Russia, China, the USA, Germany, Britain, France, etc., will willingly and unitedly and joyfully march UP to Jerusalem to honor YEHOVAH ZEBA’OTH. That will only occur DURING THE MILLENNIAL RULE OF CHRIST.

Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zec 14:17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

Zec 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zec 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Since the events described in Zechariah 8:20-22 are millennial, therefore the event of verse 23, ten men grabbing hold of the skirt of a Jewish man, must, ipso facto, also be millennial. It will be a hermeneutical travesty of note to wrench verse 23 out of its prophetic context and apply it retrospectively to our time. As the preceding verses apply to the millennial future, so does verse 23.

Therefore to interpret this text as applying to our time and suggesting that we have to defer to the Jews for calendric truth is an equally great travesty and a hermeneutical horror of note.

Not only is it contextually inappropriate but the whole idea of going to the Jews to ascertain the correctness of the sacred calendar is equally improper for they do not follow the truth on this matter.

We will return to the truthful understanding of verse 23 in a moment, but let’s put to bed the erroneous application of going to the Hillelian oriented Jews for the calendric truth by asking this question:

Did Christ and the apostles observe the Hillelian calendar?

Such a notion would be the greatest display of historic ignorance, for Hillel’s calendar came into effect for the Jews only in 359 AD—and then it was incomplete! The Hillelian calendar was not complete as in its present form until about the fourteenth century AD! Thus Christ and the apostles did not observe Hillel’s calendar because it did not exist during their time! To suggest otherwise is anachronistic trickery.

But to return to Zechariah 8:23. To understand the text we need to understand some biblical metaphors. Let’s consider the verse clause by clause:

In those days – we have already seen that period refers to the millennium when "ten ...men ..." Why ten? — Ten fingers represent all our fingers---the largest number of fingers we normally have; that’s the complete number. “Ten” thus, analogously, denotes a large and complete multitude in this context. That is, a definite number is being put for an indefinite [Gen 31:7; Lev 26:26; 1 Sam 1:8]. The “ten men” is thus symbolic, IMPLYING a large number. This is contextually clearly supported by the next phrase referring to people ...

Of all languages of the nations — there are hundreds of languages, dialects, nations and tribes on earth; thus there cannot be just “ten men” out of all nations and languages. This is clearly a figure of speech, ten being a symbolic representation of a large number of people who will espouse the teachings—the truth—of YEHOVAH ZEBA’OTH, identifying themselves with “a Jew” by [taking] hold of the skirt [some translations read “the hem” meaning the tassels at the edges of their garments]. The action manifests a suppliant entreaty as to a superior [Isa 3:6 and 4:1] as displayed by the woman who crept through the crowd to “touch the hem of his garment” [Mat 9:20] which had the distinguishing blue ribbon fringes or tassels serving as an identifying sign of the Israelites [Nu 15:38; De 22:12].

Of him – a specific person,

that is a Jew – this is not just any Jew but a particular Jew. Only during the millennium will the Gentiles eagerly seek the great blessings and religious privileges associated with the worship of YEHOVAH ZEBA’OTH.

Let’s be blunt about this matter. If Zechariah 8:23 may be applied to ANY JEW we need to ask: Are the Jews TODAY in any way suitable representatives of YEHOVAH’S TRUTH?

CHRIST ANSWERS the question for us when he states: "They [the Pharisees and in our time their spiritual offspring, the Rabbis] are blind leaders of the blind. Leave them alone!" But if you wish to remain blind and follow the blind Pharisaic Rabbinate you will fall in the ditch [the pit] with them! [Matthew 15:14].

Some segments of Churchianity have become enamoured with Judaism and believe that ultimate truth can only be found in Mishnah, Talmud, Targums and bizarre Kabbalistic speculations. They seem to forget that only

in THE ONE MAN, Christ, all truth is found. He declared that the learned Jewish teachers [Rabbi’s] make void the word of Yehovah by their tradition—their man-made rules, THE TAKANOT [Mat 15:1-6]. Paul, quoting Isaiah, said it is the “root of Jesse”, that Jew, that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust—not in just ANY Jew! [Rom 15:12.]

And what about Christians TODAY? We find the ultimate truth, about all things spiritual, in Christ, that one Jew. Paul stated “in everything you are enriched by him [by Christ, not by just any Jew or Rabbinic teacher or teaching] ... in all knowledge” [1Co 1:5]. And that “knowledge” applies to the calendar as well, if we are willing to accept his Word about the calendar as declared from Genesis 1:14, et al.

Therefore, Christians should “glory in” Christ [1Co 1:31] not Jewish rabbinic calendric tradition which make void the calendric truth of scripture! We follow Christ's example, not Jewish calendric tradition formalized more than a millennium after his death!

“Rooted and built UP in him” [that specific Jew, not just any Jew] we shall be “[e]stablished in the faith” [Col 2:7], “once delivered unto the saints” [Jude 1:3] by the Apostles as received from Christ. He, by example and obedience, manifested the true calendar—and it was not the Hillelian calendar which began to be "officially" constructed more than three centuries after his death with the aid of two Babylonian priests and formally completed only about a millennium later!

Consider further, the Jews have adopted many pagan idolatries, even adopting to this day a fast in honour of Tammuz! Also, they proudly display the “star of their god” Kaiwan, Kiyyun, or Chiun. The Septuagint reads: "the star of your god Raephan "; others render it "your star god," or “the star whom ye worship as god” [Amos 5:26]. Their crime lay in their self-will, despising and deserting the WAY OF YEHOVAH, THE ETERNAL CREATOR GOD by following the despicable pagan customs in creating idols as seen in lust-laden, idolatrous, demon-serving lands.

Further, the Jews’ religious hierarchy teach the devilish pagan doctrine of reincarnation. They intimidate and hold their subjects in fear by telling them that if their lives are less than perfect “HaShem” [“the Name”, their supposed sacred substitute for Yehovah] might reincarnate them as a rock, a roach, a rat, a rinkhals, a rhino, or even a Rabbi! [By some mythical cacodemonic reasoning they have Moses reincarnated as the false prophet Akiva!]

Christ said of them that they are “hypocrites ... [who] shut up the kingdom of heaven against men” who neither go into the Kingdom themselves NOR make it possible for others to enter it! [Mat 23:13.] Christ plainly stated they are spiritual “serpents, [and a] generation of vipers” who have Satan as their spiritual father who “abode not in the truth” [John 8:44] and hence, they will not “escape the damnation of hell” [Mat 23:33]. Should Christians "grab a hold of the skirt" of any Jew given their cacodemonic spiritual traditions?

We will refrain from detailing their historic worship of demons, and idols, and the sacrificing of their children to the pagan god, Molech.

Could there thus be a more unlikely group than they that should teach the nations of the earth, today? Should “ten men” grab the garment of any such Jew for teaching true Christians in this day and age?

With all this in view we conclude therefore that the text of Zechariah 8:23 does not ANTICIPATE primarily the Jewish nation in general or Jewish Rabbis in particular who uphold their Pharisaically designed praxes of righteousness [the Takanot, the man-made rules on how to tie shoe laces, washing pots and cups and vessels and hands, etc.] all of which Christ condemned [Mk 7:8].

Zechariah 8:23 anticipated "him that is a Jew" who will provide salvation to the Gentiles. They shall lay hold of the skirt of only one Jew in particular whose God is with him and who can provide eternal salvation. That one Jew is none other than Christ of whom it was prophesied that he shall come from Judah as a lawgiver… for whom the gentiles shall wait [Gen 49:8-10].

It is also stated: “And in that day [in the millennium] there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign [banner, flag] of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek [Isa 11:10]. It will be a dangerous spiritual mission to seek ultimate truth from such as have declaring Christ a bastard and demon possessed [Jn 8:41, 7:20].

In "the man that is a Jew" the Holy Spirit anticipates that one seed out of Abraham [Gal 3:16] in whom is Salvation for all nations. He is “the man that is a Jew” unto whom the nations will flow and from whom they will learn the truth unto everlasting life. And, since all nations will have to observe GOD'S calendar [the holy days] during the millennium, Christ will provide the knowledge of this sacred calendar unto them all. The logical question that proceeds from that fact is: Will Christ provide a different calendar then than that which he created in the beginning, and observed during his sojourn on earth, and which he expects us to observe today? Since he is not fickle, inconsistent, or duplicitous, being “the same yesterday, and today, and forever” [Heb 13:8], he will teach the same calendar today as then, and which he gave to Moses over 3500 years ago.

Only Christ is that ONE MAN WHO IS A JEW unto whom “shall the gathering [obedience] of the people be” [Genesis 49:10]. David writes of him, "All the nations, whom Thou hast made, shall come and worship before Thee, O YEHOVAH" [Psalm 86:9]. This can hardly apply to the present age. Today the nations despise the Jews as evidenced by the global manifestation of anti-Semitism.

Why would the Eternal want anybody to hold the skirt, the fringes and the tassels of any Jew or Rabbi thus showing spiritual deference and submission to them when they pervert truth, and whom Christ condemned?

How can we find truth in a religion that is riddled with error—especially in regard to the calendar? Cling to the skirt of him in whom is vested all truth from the beginning—truth, found from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. After all the polemic we ask one last question: Why did Christ in his final Gethsamane prayer state in the hearing of this disciples, to be remembered for all time, "Thy word is TRUTH"? He did not subject truth to Pharisaic, Rabbinic, or Hillelian authority, much less to just "any Jew"! Christ, and Christ alone, is THE JEW with the TOTAL TRUTH--the calendar included!