L A Y I N G T E F I L L I N
A T THE E N D OF T I M E
by Jeremy Chance Springfield
Surely you’ve seen them; those curious small black boxes sitting atop the head and the strap winding down the arms of observant Jewish men. Tefillin. That’s their more modern designation (some 2000 years old, at that), but Hebrew Scripture speaks of them using eleven other descriptor words, such as Totafot, Zikaron, Oth, Tzitz, Pathil, Chotham, Nezer, Etzadah, Cheyvel, Avoth, Tzamid. They are hard to ignore. Made out of carefully-crafted leather, they have been used for thousands of years in effort to literally fulfill a commandment given four different times in the books of the Law (Exodus 13:1-10; Exodus 13:11-16; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Deuteronomy 11:13-21), which tells believers to place the Word as a sign upon the hand and as a frontlet on the head.
While the adornments are spoken of in several other places by the terms shared above, they are never entirely explained in regards to how they should be constructed. The exact form or material to be used is not laid out in the Word. In light of this, one would logically wonder why they look so uniform in appearance across their usage in Judaism and Messianic Judaism. From ancient times, the manner of performing this commandment in a literal fashion has remained extremely consistent. How did the Jewish people come to make them like this, and why are they adamant that this particular form is the necessary style?
If you ask a Jewish person the question about why tefillin are made in such a way, you will get an interesting answer. You will be told that the rules for how tefillin are to be constructed were given to Moses at Sinai, and were simply not recorded in the written Law, but were a part of what Judaism calls the Oral Law, that is, the accepted tradition of how certain religious actions are performed. The Oral Law consists mainly of two large texts known as the Mishnah and the Gemara, and when joined together these are known popularly as the Talmud. In the Talmud, tefillin are mentioned over 500 times, which shows how significant a commandment they were considered to be by the Jewish people of antiquity. Among the many passages that speak of them, there are included discussions on the proper way to construct the boxes and their contents. One such passage, in tractate Megillah 24b of the Talmud, we are told that the shape of the tefillin needs to be square, that is, a cube. The exact statement is thus:
This reads in the English as: “Tefillin are square. It is the teaching [given] to Moses from Sinai!” This statement writes it as plainly as it can be understood: the shape of the tefillin is considered to have been given to Moses when he was receiving the Law from the Holy One at Sinai. For the observant Jewish person, this settles all debate. Their construction is thus seen to be divinely-inspired. Some further notable details of how they are to be made are worthy of stating here: Inside the tefillin are four passages from the Law, those places where they are specifically commanded to be worn.
These passages are written in an organic ink called D’yo, of a unique recipe, made especially for writing on the carefully-prepared skins of a kosher animal.
Once finished, they are then bound together using the hairs of a calf.
When these are inserted into the boxes, they are sewn together with the dried veins of a kosher animal at the base with twelve holes and twelve stitches that can be seen – three on each side.
In this way have tefillin been constructed almost uniformly across the millennia in Judaism.
At this point, it is very important to note that the Messiah Yeshua stood opposed to much of what the Oral Law proposed were divine mandates from Sinai not recorded in the written Law. The Pharisees and the rabbinic authorities in existence today stem from ancient religious schools who placed strict emphasis on the Oral Law, to the extent of setting aside the Written Law that was given by Divine decree undebated. Most of the arguments Messiah had with the Pharisees and the scribes were over matters which the Oral Law deemed significant, and yet were not important or addressed directly in the Written Law of the Holy One. Of course, while not everything in the Oral Law is inherently wrong or against the commandments, there yet do remain aspects of it that should cause one to proceed with caution when reading it.
Amidst the stands Messiah took against the performance and promotion of some of the Oral Law by the Pharisees and their like-minded brothers, noticeably absent from His condemnation is the literal performance of tefillin by Jewish people. While He criticized their performance of the Oral Law, He also criticized their misuse of Biblical Law, such as how they were honoring their parents, as seen in Matthew 15:3-6. He did not speak against the commandment, but against how they performed it. At a later point, in Matthew 23:5, in like manner He addressed the Pharisee’s performance of tefillin, surprisingly not condemning their literal wearing of the articles, but criticizing the size of the articles they made to literally fulfill the commandment. This criticism of how they performed an actual commandment is paired with criticizing their performance of another literal commandment – the lengthening of tassels on a person’s garments. Therefore, the Messiah accepted the validity of the actual wearing of these bands and boxes, but He addressed that they need be done in a proper way that exhibits a correct spirit behind the physical act. The fact that He did not condemn a literal performance of this commandment does not need to go overlooked, and will make sense why He supported it by the end of this study.
It is obvious that Moses received amazingly intricate details while on the Mountain during his stay in the cloud where Yah had descended. For over a month he was taught various details about how to approach the Most High in national community and in an individual manner. Could he have received further details on the construction of these unique adornments during this time? It is indeed possible, but how can we know? Scripture tells us that Moses wrote down all that he was told to write down (Exodus 24:4). However, the context for that statement is actually right after the receiving of the Ten Commandments and a handful of other passages, and comes before the very intricate and particular giving of the Law itself that he receives for the extended time when he returns to the mountaintop and is instructed about worship and the Tabernacle, and doesn’t include those unique commands given in Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy. In this way, to say that he wrote everything down is not contextually accurate, since not everything had yet been spoken. At the end of his life, in Deuteronomy 31:9, we are told that “Moses wrote this Law,” which we know the contents of it would now encompass the various detailed commandments and statutes that came after his initial writing down of the Ten Commandments, back in Exodus 24. Still, when approached contextually, there are laws and blessings given after this statement in Deuteronomy, which seems to point to the reality that the “Law” mentioned in 31:9 was contextually referring to a specific part of the whole. Since more chapters come after that particular statement is made, it cannot be understood immediately as a finished product. Therefore, is it possible that further details were given about certain commandments that were not preserved in the written text?
Judaism says more was given. Those who take the written record of Scripture as solely authoritative say nothing more was given. Who is correct? How could we ever know it if the Word is silent about how tefillin are to be constructed?
Well, perhaps we are looking at the Word in the wrong way for an answer. Consider this carefully: the teachers of Judaism have long held that the written Law, being the product of the Spirit, possesses an amazing facet that opens up the ability to interpret it in novel ways. This idea is that it is eternal, just as the One who gave it, for it is the expression of His everlasting will. In that manner, in a sense, it has no beginning and has no end. Looking at it like this allows the expositor of Scripture to go in reverse, and interpret Scripture in ways that would not normally be thought possible. Essentially, if there is no beginning or end of the Word, one could apply Biblical laws to events that happened before the Law was even yet given. One could view the bread and wine brought forth by Melchisedek to Abraham as the unleavened bread and cups of the future Passover observance, or the wearing of goatskin by Jacob to trick his father into thinking he was touching the hairiness of Esau as being the living-out of the two-goat ceremony of the Day of Atonement; those things had to be because what was yet future had to be, and as such, what had not yet happened determined what would happen in the past. Effectively, this would propel the understanding of the Word as something like a hyper-Law, a multi-dimensional document of the Spirit that can be legitimately utilized in profound ways. In this lay some notions of Quantum Entanglement and how it can be understood in a spiritually-valid sense. The list of examples could go on, but hopefully you see how Scripture can be interpreted in this manner if the eternality of the Word is drawn upon.
If this manner of exegesis is utilized, then the construction of the tefillin begins to make perfectly complete sense. They are a cube. They must be made in this way, or so the tradition tells us. The key to understanding their construction lay in the cube detail. Of all the detailed construction that Israel was told to employ in order to build the Tabernacle that would house the Presence of the Holy One on earth, there is one significant place that is commanded to be built as a perfect cube structure: the Holy of Holies. From the Tabernacle to the Temple, the Holy of Holies was to exist as a cube (Exodus 26:15-30; 1st Kings 6:19-20).
This affinity of the size of the Holy of Holies to the shape of the tefillin should not be ignored.
As one continues further into the Word, another squared space is presented: the latter chapters of the book of Ezekiel give careful attention to the Third Temple that has yet to be built, as well as for the unique size of the city of Jerusalem at that time. In 48:30-35, we find that the dimensions of the city create a square of equal sides. It should be noted that this is a square, however, and not a cube, but it is important to realize that a transformation is taking place. The unique characteristics of the innermost Holy of Holies are beginning to affect the outer areas of worship. A transformation begins with the Temple and city that Ezekiel saw.
That transformation is ongoing, just as the Holy of Holies commanded to be built originally stood unchanged for so long, so too is the maturing seen in the book of Ezekiel to continue for 1,000 years, until the end of all time. At that point, when Messiah has reigned supreme upon this earth for a millennium, He will hand over the Kingdom to the Father (1st Corinthians 15:24), and then begins eternity in its purest concept. Heaven truly comes to earth. When this happens, the final transformation of the Temple and the city will take place, and the realization of His desires will be manifested into reality forevermore. This is spoken of in the book of Revelation 21, where a vision is shown of the New Jerusalem descending from heaven to earth. The city is described in beautiful imagery. However, the dimensions of the city, given in 21:16, are of special note:
That transformation is ongoing, just as the Holy of Holies commanded to be built originally stood unchanged for so long, so too is the maturing seen in the book of Ezekiel to continue for 1,000 years, until the end of all time. At that point, when Messiah has reigned supreme upon this earth for a millennium, He will hand over the Kingdom to the Father (1st Corinthians 15:24), and then begins eternity in its purest concept. Heaven truly comes to earth. When this happens, the final transformation of the Temple and the city will take place, and the realization of His desires will be manifested into reality forevermore. This is spoken of in the book of Revelation 21, where a vision is shown of the New Jerusalem descending from heaven to earth. The city is described in beautiful imagery. However, the dimensions of the city, given in 21:16, are of special note:
The city was shaped like a cube, because it was just as high as it was wide. When the angel measured the city, it was about fifteen hundred miles high and fifteen hundred miles wide. (CEV)
Consider yet further parallels between the New Jerusalem and tefillin:
- The city is a cube, just as tefillin are cubes.
- Part of the city’s detailed description includes a listing of twelve gates by which the people enter (21:12-13), three on each of the four sides. Recall that tefillin are sewn together at their bases with twelve stitches that create three on each side, just as the gates of the city are situated.
- Inside of the boxes are organic pieces that are combined to form a parchment upon which the Word is written. The living inhabitants of the New Jerusalem are said to have the Name YHWH written upon their foreheads (22:4).
- Interestingly, the final passage that is written and placed into the tefillin (Deuteronomy 11:13-21) has a curious ending phrase in light of the context of the New Jerusalem: the passage speaks of laying tefillin with the result of your days being increased “as the days of the heavens upon the earth.” It is amazing that embedded within the last time that tefillin are commanded is the purpose of all things: when the heavens truly have come to earth in the form of the New Jerusalem!
- Finally, the placement of the tefillin on a person’s head parallels incredibly the placement of the New Jerusalem, when it descends upon the earth, in Israel. This means that the earth, with the presence of the massive New Jerusalem, will effectively appear to be laying tefillin at the end of all time!
The unique construction of tefillin, therefore, is extremely significant. Whether one can firmly say that the specific details of how they should be made truly were dictated to Moses at Sinai is something that can rightly be debated, as some doubt exists as to that possibility - it is possible the shape became standardized after the passing of time. However, even if such construction was not given to Moses at the start, one can still see that at some point in the history of the Hebrew people, these articles of faith were inspired in their construction to yield parallels of the ultimate goal of the Holy One for humanity: to dwell with Him constantly on this earth! The guiding Spirit of the Most High led His people to create forms for this commandment that would point to the purpose of all things: the Presence of Yah with man! The New Jerusalem is on the mind when we lay tefillin in faithful obedience. In physically laying tefillin, the Jewish people have prophetically preserved an image of the New Jerusalem that the earth shall wear at the end of the ages!
All study contents Copyright Jeremy Chance Springfield, except for graphics and images, which are Copyright their respective creators.