Should Christians Wear Phylacteries?
A king sent to a Rabbi a priceless gem
as a gift, and Rabbi presented to him in return a Mezuzah (a scroll containing
Deut. 6:4-9 and Deut. 11:13-21). When the king met Rabbi he said: "I sent
you a costly gift, but thou hast given me in return a gift worth a small
coin." Rabbi replied: "The portion of the Torah inscribed upon it is of
more worth than all valuables. Moreover, your gift must be kept safe by
me, whereas my gift will keep you safe, as it is written: 'When thou liest
down, it shall watch over thee.'" (Prov. 6:22) (Bereshit Rabbah, 35).
The Zohar 2:36a mentions that the name "Shaddai" should be written on
the Mezuzah to protect the person inside the house. Maimonides says the
Mezuzah is not a "lucky charm" or an "amulet" (Hil. Mezuzah 5:4) but obedience
to God does cause Him to protect us (Ps. 91). Cut out and fold up each
four-scripture set of phylacteries so that either the initial 
or the complete name 
is all that is visible and attach them to your hand and put them between
your eyes (Deut. 6:8 & 11:18). The Jews use large black cubes with black
straps attached. Jesus didn't criticize the Pharisees for wearing phylacteries
(tfillin), but for making them "broad" and showy to "be seen of men" (Matt.
23:5). Therefore ours are small. Jesus did "not come to destroy" this
law (Matt. 5:17). Instead he said, "Whosoever, therefore, shall break
one of these least commandments ... he shall be called the least in the
kingdom" (5:19). Notice Deuteronomy 11:18 tells us to remember them "and
bind them." The Holy Spirit which brings "all things to remembrance" doesn't
take their place. Just tape these miniature copies of the four pertinent
scriptures to the wrist band of your watch and roll them around the nose-arch
of your glasses. Use your imagination! Also, "thou shall write them upon
the posts of thy house, and on thy gates" (Deut. 6:9). The bold type is
God's name to fulfill the scriptural "mark upon the foreheads" (Ez. 9:4)
and "the seal of God in their foreheads" (Rev. 9:4; 7:3) and the "Father's
name (Shaddai) written in their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1; 22:4). True Jewish
worshippers also used the first letter in Shaddai ().
Satan's counterfeit is three Hebrew vavs or 666 (
)
made to look like a Hebrew Shin (Rev. 13:16).
Some Bible followers believe that it is the TEN COMMANDMENTS that are to be put on our hands and between our eyes and on the doorposts rather than the four scriptures (Ex. 13:1-10; Ex. 13:11-16; Deut. 6:4-9; Deut.13:13-21) because the TEN COMMANDMENTS are found in Exodus 20:2–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21 and are the core foundation. Notice closely: "Now these are the COMMANDMENTS" (Deut. 6:1). "And THESE WORDS... BIND THEM for a sign upon thine hand, and THEY shall be as frontlets between thine eyes" ... upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates" (Deut. 6:6-9). Some Bible followers also believe they should be VISIBLE "for a SIGN" (6:8) rather than hidden in a mezuzah holder. In other words, a visitor to your door or gate can actually READ the TEN COMMANDMENTS on the posts -- like a solar light on a red radius post.
"Do His will as if it were your own, so that He will do your will as if it were His. Nullify your own will before His so that he will nullify the will of others before you" (Pirke Avot 2:4).
"To all other pleasures prefer this -- to know that you are obeying God, and performing, not in word but in deed, the duty of a wise and good man." (Epictetus 3:24).
USE THESE AS A "SIGN" THAT CAN BE READ:
|
|
|
RATHER THAN THESE ROLLED UP IN A SCROLL:
"Hear, O Israel: The Eternal our God is one Eternal: And thou shall love the Eternal
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; And
thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou
liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shall bind them for a sign upon
thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shall
write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates" (Deut. 6:4-9).
"And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which
I command you this day, to love the Eternal your God, and to serve him with all
your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land
in its due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather
in thy grain, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields
for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that
your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship
them; And then the Eternal's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the
heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest
ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Eternal giveth you. Therefore
shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them
for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And
ye shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou
risest up. And thou shall write them upon the doorposts of thine house, and upon
thy gates. That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in
the land which the Eternal swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days
of heaven upon the earth" (Deut. 11:13-21).
"And the Eternal spoke
unto Moses, saying, Sanctity unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the
womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. And
Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt,
out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Eternal brought you
out from this place; there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day came ye
out in the month Abib. And it shall be when the Eternal shall bring thee into
the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites,
and the Jebusites, which he swore unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing
with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. Seven days
thou shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the
Eternal. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened
bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all
thy quarters. And thou shall show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because
of that which the Eternal did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it
shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine
eyes, that the Eternal's law may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath
the Eternal brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shall therefore keep this ordinance
in its season from year to year" (Ex. 13:1-10).
"And it shall be when
the Eternal shall bring theeinto the land of the Canaanites, as he swore unto
thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, That thou shall set apart unto
the Eternal all that openeth the womb, and every firstling that cometh of a beast
which thou hast; the males shall be the Eternal's. And every firstling of an
ass thou shall redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou
shalt break its neck; and all the firstborn of man among thy children thou shall
redeem. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What
is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Eternal brought
us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage; And it came to pass, when Pharaoh
would hardly let us go, that the Eternal slew all the first-born in the land
of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore
I sacrifice to the Eternal all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the
first-born of my children I redeem. And it shall be (or a token upon thine hand,
and (or frontlets between thine eyes; for by strength of hand the Eternal brought
us forth out of Egypt" (Ex. 13:11-16).
"Hear, O Israel: The Eternal our God is one Eternal: And thou shall love the Eternal
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; And
thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou
liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shall bind them for a sign upon
thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shall
write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates" (Deut. 6:4-9).
"And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which
I command you this day, to love the Eternal your God, and to serve him with all
your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land
in its due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather
in thy grain, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields
for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that
your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship
them; And then the Eternal's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the
heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest
ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Eternal giveth you. Therefore
shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them
for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And
ye shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou
risest up. And thou shall write them upon the doorposts of thine house, and upon
thy gates. That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in
the land which the Eternal swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days
of heaven upon the earth" (Deut. 11:13-21).
"And the Eternal spoke
unto Moses, saying, Sanctity unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the
womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. And
Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt,
out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Eternal brought you
out from this place; there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day came ye
out in the month Abib. And it shall be when the Eternal shall bring thee into
the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites,
and the Jebusites, which he swore unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing
with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. Seven days
thou shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the
Eternal. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened
bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all
thy quarters. And thou shall show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because
of that which the Eternal did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it
shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine
eyes, that the Eternal's law may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath
the Eternal brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shall therefore keep this ordinance
in its season from year to year" (Ex. 13:1-10).
"And it shall be when
the Eternal shall bring theeinto the land of the Canaanites, as he swore unto
thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, That thou shall set apart unto
the Eternal all that openeth the womb, and every firstling that cometh of a beast
which thou hast; the males shall be the Eternal's. And every firstling of an
ass thou shall redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou
shalt break its neck; and all the firstborn of man among thy children thou shall
redeem. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What
is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Eternal brought
us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage; And it came to pass, when Pharaoh
would hardly let us go, that the Eternal slew all the first-born in the land
of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore
I sacrifice to the Eternal all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the
first-born of my children I redeem. And it shall be (or a token upon thine hand,
and (or frontlets between thine eyes; for by strength of hand the Eternal brought
us forth out of Egypt" (Ex. 13:11-16).
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