Linen, the Word made flesh
Linen, the Word made flesh
Dear Children,
Living in Israel is very sweet and very bitter. It is bitter because of my constant sense of what it costs me to live here. It costs me a close relationship with each of you. For that matter it costs you the same, to be lacking the love and the presence of your mom. I miss seeing my grandchildren grow up. I miss helping Grandma and Grandpa in their declining years. I can honestly say that when I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit telling me I’d live in Israel I thought at that time it would be my children and me on an extended missions trip. But I also remember having an inkling that it would not be a temporary move. In some ways, Yehovah was gracious to take me out of the US before the majority of the grandchildren had been born, before Grandma and Grandpa’s health has really started to decline. If I had been leaving the US for Israel with all of my quantity of family standing front of me saying goodbye to each face, I have to say; within me, there would not have been sufficient strength. But Yehovah knows our limitations. I believe this is why part of the plan for my life was to live in Latin America for those ten years first. By doing so the farewell to you came at a time when I didn’t know I wouldn’t be returning back to the US and our family wasn’t so big nor had the Grandparents become so elderly.
It is sweet beyond words and imagination because I have a rare opportunity as a non-natural seed of Abraham to live on this land, The Land written about in the scriputres. With the Bible in my hand, I look out and see the words that are written. I need you to know that these words are so precious to me. It is my constant prayer that the sacrifice of my life will be accepted in heaven for extended mercies on you and that you will come to love Elohim as I love Him, even more so. I need you to know the words in this magnificent love letter we call the Bible are true. The things I’ve seen with my eyes and read from the book, they are all here. They all happened. Sadly, I believe much of it has been lost to the understanding of the average Bible reader because of that sorrowful disconnection from this land.
I brought all of this up before I started the study because it ties directly to being connected to the land of Israel. So now let’s get started.
This study and Unleavened Barley the Bread of Affliction came out of my Bible and land experiences. They are related because the Torah links the two elements of barley and flax together in Exodus chapter 9. I’ve learned from living in Israel there is a reason that things are ordered as they are when they are presented in the Torah.
Linen is produced from the flax plant
In Egypt, there were two crops that were smitten and not destroyed they were barley and flax. Both symbolically and prophetically represented the Messiah. In fact, it there is a stunning that the passage in Isaiah 42. 3 “A bruised reed (קנה qaneh a reed, rod, shaft, tube, stem radius, beam) shall he not break (.ש.ב.ר shabar break up into small pieces; detail small numbers), and the smoking (כהה keheh feeble, obscure) flax shall he not quench (כבה kabah expire, estinguish) : he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.”
break (.ש.ב.ר shabar break up into small pieces; detail small numbers) is used in Exodus 9.25 “And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree (.ש.ב.ר shabar break up into small pieces; detail small numbers) of the field.
When we compare these two verses together we get a clear picture that the barley and flax in Egypt were smitten but not destroyed. Yes were a prophetic shadow picture of the death of Yeshua.
The resurrection of the Messiah happened on the barley wave sheaf day which is Yom Rishon, the biblical first day of the week, or Sunday. He was represented in the offering of ground barley covered with olive oil and frankensense. Yeshua was in the tomb three days and night but he was not destroyed because after those three days and nights were accomplished His Father redeemed Yeshua from death so that Yeshua would be the firstfruit from those among the dead.
The flax was also not destroyed that day in Egypt.
The smoking flax shall he not quench this is such a difficult translation. The Hebrew for ‘smoking’ in this verse actually has nothing to do with the action of smoke, עשן is the word for smoking. Our word is .ה.ה.כ dim; weaken H3544. It is the same word we see used to describe Eli in the first book of Samuel when he is losing his eyesight. In 1 Samuel 2:27-36 a man of יהוה prophesied to Eli about a day when the priesthood would no longer belong to the house of Aaron. In 1 Samuel 3:2, Samuel’s eyes are dimming ה.ה.כ dim; weaken H3544 .
The Hebrew for ‘quench’ in Isaiah 42:3 is .ה.ב.כ extinguish. Together we are told the flax would not dim, weaken and be extinguished. This portion of the verse is a reference to the changing of the priesthood from the Levitical to the Melech-tzdik. It’s a reference of the Levitical priesthood being imperfect, while the High Priest Yeshua would not fail in perfection.
Here’s the story of the sons of Eli:
12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord. 13 And the priest’s custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; 14 And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. 15 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. 16 And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. 17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:12-17
Eli’s sons did not know Elohim. They did not serve according to Elohim’s instruction for the Levitical priesthood. The priest were to eat only flesh that had been seethed or boiled. Exodus 29:31, 32 says that Levitical priesthood was to eat animal flesh that had been seethed or boiled. Again in Lev 8:31-32 the Levites were instructed to consume boiled flesh at the door of the tabernacle and to eat it with the bread of consecration, they were to burn what remained of the flesh. We are going to see a little later that they were following their fleshly desires and not serving Elohim because they were taking more than they needed and all three; Eli and his sons, were massively fat.
In 1 Samuel 2:22 we are told:
Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; how they lay with the women that assemble at the door of the tabernacle of congregation.
Verse 23 and 24 are spoken by Samuel says:
And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay my sons; for it is not good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’S people to trangress (עבר abar, to crossover [back into the wrong direction]).
When Abraham become the first עבר it was because he had left the land and the pagan practices of his family for a covenant with Elohim. Here was are seeing a crossover back into the pagan ways that were to have be felt behind.
Instead of following Elohim’s instructions they were they were following their own flesh.
In 1 Samuel 2:27 Eli receives a prophecy from a man of Elohim. In the verse I will add my comments and understanding:
27And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father (Aaron), when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28 And did I choose him (the Levites) out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father (Aaron) all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? 29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat (Eli and his sons were taking more than the needed from the flesh pot at the door to the tabernacle. Verse 4:18 says that Eli fell backwards and broke his neack and died for he was an old man and heavy [massive in Hebrew]). with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? 30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. (There are two sides to a covenant. What is expected from our side and what is expected from Elohim’s side. If we knowingly, decisively, and willfully break our side Elohim is not bound to keep His side) 31 Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm (the sons of Eli and Eli) , and the arm of thy father’s (Aaron’s) house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. 32 And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever. ( I believe this changed begin to happen when Yeshua because the Melech-tzadik and finished to come to pass when the Herodian Temple was destroyed in 70 CE) 33 And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. 35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest (Yeshua, Melech Tzadik), that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house (King David, 2 Samuel 7;13-16); and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. 36And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.
This was aprophesy of the day that Yeshua would wear the linen garment of the Levitical priesthood when he became the cohen gadol (high priest) in the order of the Melch Tzadik. Here is what the book of Hebrews had to say about that change:
Heb 7. 11 “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. 17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” The Levitical priesthood was extinguished or quench at the death of the Messiah when he rose as the Melech-tzdik.
I want to take you to some definition in the a Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, it is the language of the King James bible. I want you to look at smoking flax in its pages. Here is our word for smoking. It is kind of difficult to work with because the spelling style has fallen out of use in our day. You can see it speaks of linen and smoke. It really doesn’t add to my understanding of this portion of the verse.
This next photo is the word flax in the dictionary. Notice they are mentioning ‘smoking flax that doesn’t extinguish” and Ex 9:31 the bolled flax. They are tying the two references together.
But we still are not getting a word picture, that is until the online dictionary search brought up the phrase itself and I believe that this is what the passage was referring to. It perfectly fits to the Hebrew for this phrase “The smoking flax shall he not quench “. I believe this was a common expression.
When we look at this phraseology that is being used we can see the similarity of the Hebrew words. The flax was dimming or weakening, suffocating or stifling. Even in the above definition the suffocation did not lead to destruction. As the soon to be melech-tzadik priest His body did not suffer corruption, it did not decay. After three days and night in the tomb the Father quicken his mortal or body of flesh and it rose out of the tomb. He he had become the Melech-tzadik priest.
But what were the grave clothes that the body of Yeshua wore?
And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre. Mark 15:46
Joseph of Arimathaea, had asked for and received the body of Yeshua. He had wrapped his body in linen.
“The smoking flax shall he not quench” today we could say his dead body wrapped in linen would not stay dead.
One of the things that I notice about the flax bloom that volunteers here in the Galilee is that when the plant is drying or dying (choking) the pink bloom of the flax plant turns blue. So in the ‘weakened and dimming‘ state the dying flax bloom turns the color of the Law or the color of covenant. (for better understanding about the blue color read The Headcovering of 1 Corinthians). In the photo below you will see at the blue base of the bloom is the blue color and in the second photo that the whole bloom will change to blue when it is dried.
Dying flax turns blue or dark
Ex 12.35 “And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.”
Deut 8.4 “Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.”
Deut 29.5 “I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet.”
Neh 9.21 “Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.”
Three times Yehovah tells us that the clothing the Israelites received from the Egyptians lasted them for forty years. Linen has an extremely long life; it is a very strong and long-lasting fiber. When it is wet it increases in strength.
Before the twelve tribes left Egypt they would surely have been dressed as the slaves they were. In Egyptian reliefs slaves were always portrayed by their minimal clothing. The Israelites would have needed protection from the strong sun in the wilderness; they had been provided a change of clothes just before the exodus, the clothing of their Egyptian masters. I imagine that if the surrounding nations had seen the Israelites wandering in their slave clothing they would have tried to gain the favor of Pharaoh by returning his missing property to him. Slave clothing may have also prevented the work force of Egypt from wondering away in the desert.
Suffice it to say the Israelites were dressed in the ‘raiment’ (the style and textiles) of the Egyptians during their time in the wilderness.
Linen, which is the spun and woven fiber of the flax plant, has been used for many thousands of years in Egypt. From birth to death the Egyptians used linen. In death their bodies were mummified with herbs and linen wrappings. Many of the linen Egyptian garments that have survived over the centuries show the linen being embroidered with wool. Yehovah gave a prohibition to the mixing of linen and wool.
Deut 22.11 “Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.” Since He did not want them to mix wool and linen it would be obvious that He would be saying, ‘don’t do as the Egyptians do’ and ‘take all of those wool embroideries out of the garments you received in Egypt”. Lev 13:47-59 gives the law of the plague of leprosy; this law only mentions two types of garments: woolen and linen. It is really safe to say that the law given at Sinai reflects the clothing they had brought with them out of Egypt, the clothing they were wearing.
Archive.org has a very interesting book that I discovered about flax and linen production. The book is called Linen Trade, Ancient and Modern. It was printed in 1867. On page 133 the writer mentions that it was known even at the time of writing this book “Linen was frequently in early times for writing on. Even long before the use of papyrus, Linen books are noticed my Pliny (23-79 CE), and Vopiscus (Roman senator of the 2nd century AD), and Livy (59 BCE to 17 CE) speaks of such books being found in the temple of Moneta (ancient Rome). Some biblical scholars suppose that the original of the Pentateuch and of the other books of the Old Testament were written on rolls of Linen. The question is open to investigation, as the Bible does not say of what the rolls were composed. Very probably when a roll or book is mentioned it is to be understood as of Linen, or of the skins of animals. The Sibylline books (prophecies written in rhyme from a prophetess) were made of Linen, and many mummy cloths have hieroglyphics on them.”
What I just presented is not evidence that the Torah was made of linen. But I do want to build on this train of thought and talk about linen’s health properties, as we know them today.
Linen is helpful in wound care, especially ulcerated wounds as bedsores. As you all are aware Ken and I have been interested in alternative medicine and having experience with frequency medicine we were pleased to find out linen fabric measures 5,000 frequency signature. The human body has a frequency signature of 115; linen has the ability to raise the frequency of the body and aid in body’s ability to repair itself. Dr Heide Crawford-Yellen is a Messianic Jew in charge of these studies. Her findings are that linen aids in pain reduction as well.
Linen rapidly absorbs water and becomes stronger when wet. History records that fishing nets used in the days of Yeshua were made from linen fibers. Linen also rapidly release water and dries quickly. Linen does not accumulate static electricity. It is a hard, long-lasting fiber. Linen does not cause any allergies. It does not shed lint. It is resistant to fungus and bacteria.
If we compare available materials for the purpose of recording The Writing of our Elohim when Moses wrote them in a book (Deut 31:24) they would have possibly been papyrus, animal skins or linen. Of the three, linen has the most longevity.
Also of consideration in the reseach about why the ‘linen was smoked and not quenched’ back in Isaiah comes from looking at the command for the tzitzit give in Numbers 15:38; the fringe or the tzitzit were given to the Israelites as a reminder of the law or the words (Yeshua) of Elohim “Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders (כנף kanaf wing, extremity, edge, winged, border, corner, shirt) a ribband of blue: 39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: 40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.”
This was also given when the Israelites had linen or wool at their disposal. Linen is known to breathe, to keep bodies cool in a hot climate, to reflect the hot sunrays. Something thing that was not known to me about linen is that organic linen free from chemical processing only absorbs indigo blue dye.
In Shamir_O._2016._Mixed_Wool_and_Linen_Text he stated: “Linen does not absorb dyes, except for blue products of indigo (Yadin 1963:271; Wild 1970:8; Shamir and Sukenik 2011:216). N. Sukenik recently conducted an experiment on the dyeing of linen with dyes from different sources and arrived at the same conclusion (pers. comm.). Consequently, the only way to decorate linen textiles was with self bands (a group of weft threads in a single shed) or with another material such as wool, which absorbs dyes very well”
Long before I had read this article I held the belief that using an unclean murex sea snail for the color blue in the desert was a ridiculous idea and I held the opinion that the Israelites being the slaves of Egypt would have had good skills with the Egyptian indigo plants. Reading the whole article in the link will allow you to see why the Romans and Egyptians mixed linen with wool. Wool could be dyed many colors and used to add designs on top of white or indigo dyed linen.
To the left is a photo of wool found in Israel that is believed to be from the time of King Solomon. Note the ‘ribband’ of blue on the kanaph of the garment. Kanaph not only means wings but also mean edge or extremity. A flighted bird’s wings are longest part of his body. When measuring most flighted birds the wings measurement has the greastest distance when measured from tip to tip. When measuring from head to tall the distance is much less. . When you know this little peice of anatomy about flighted birds you also understand a bird’s wings are his extremities.
The wing tip distance is very profound in appearance when you take away the feathers and the flesh and look at the skeleton.
While wool could be dyed with indigo it would not be the cloth of choice for the dessert. Knowing the law forbids the mixing of linen and wool we are left to see that the fringe and ribband would have been on the borders of the linen they brought with them when they left Egypt. I don’t have a problem seeing the Israelites deconstruct the edges of the garments they had carried out Egypt when they left. Or imaging them removing the colorful woolen embroideries they had created for the Egyptians in the image of their pagan gods and afterwards weaving in a blue ribband and createing tassels into the linen garments hem. These were created to carry the blue and tasseled rememberance to obey the Words (Yeshua) of Elohim. After all processing flax-to-linen, weaving and dyeing textiles would have been the work of Egyptians slaves such as they were.
So far we have a fairly clear picture how linen with a fringe and a blue ribband representing the Torah could be a symbol for Messiah.
20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem (כנף kanaf border, edge) of his garment: 21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. Matthew 9: 20-22
I want to add another fact to our data. I think this will make it inescapable for most that the flax that was smitten represented Yeshua.
Linen production in the Galilee
In our previous link there’s a very short blurb about linen being produced in Bet She’an and the greater Galilee during the Roman period. The truth of the matter is since the days of the Hasmonean Dynasty flax has been grown in the Galilee (Google books. Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Galilee, by Uzi Leibner)
More specific there was a large processing facility at the base of Mount Arbel. It was very famous, so much so that a spindle for weaving, called the Arbel Spindle was developed here. A lot of water is needed for processing linen, a spring runs through this valley and fed into the Sea of Galilee.
Mount Arbel is divided from Migdal by a valley. Magdala, where Mary Magdelene was from is directly in front of the valley approaching the Sea of Galilee. From Midgal, from Magdala, and from Mount Arbel you can easily see Kfar Nahum (Capernaum) where Yeshua lived for an extended period. Kfar Nahum was the fishing village where Peter lived. From Capernaum (Kfar Nahum) you can stand on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and look directly at Mt Arbel, Migdal, the valley and Magdala. Yeshua spent his most of his ministry time in a region famous for growing flax and processing that flax into linen.
This is the flax that covers the Galilee, especially near Tiberius. It is called Hairy Pink Flax, Line pubescens
This is command was to wear the remembrance of the Law, the fringe and the blue stripe; as our outer layer of clothing:
“Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters (extremities) of thy vesture wherewith thou coverest thyself “ Deut 22.12
What a magnificent thing it is that this word vesture from the command was preserved for us exactly as ‘vesture’ in the New Testament.
“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.”
The vesture or coat that was not torn or divided was Yeshua’s linen vesture that carried the fringe and the blue ribband. This garment represented Yeshua, the Word of YElohim made flesh. Here’s our archeological discovery again.
It’s no coincidence that I am able to find flax in bloom in the same season as the barley. On the day in 2017, 2018, and 2019 the barley was Aviv the flax is in bloom> It was in 2017, the first year, the Holy Spirit lead me into watching the flax grow, it won’t be the last year.
Exodus 9:31 These two signs of our Messiah, the barley and the flax, were together and smitten in Egypt, they prophesied His coming. They were together the year He was crucified in spiritual Egypt, that is Jerusalem when His physical body was smitten. They were a symbol of who He came as, the first fruits preeminent in all things, the Word of Yah made flesh, the righteous High Priest of the Most High in the order of Melech tzadik. Every year these two signs return and bring witness of Him to us.
Read Barley the Unleavened Bread of Affliction to understand the significance of the Messiah as barley.