Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth

Head coverings for men.

 

Before YHVH entered into the covenant with Israel 50 days after leaving Egypt at Mount Sinai, He said to Moses in Exodus 19: 5 & 6, ‘”Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; (6) and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.’YHVH was offering the first-born children whom He saved from death, a priesthood when He killed all the first-born in Egypt during the night of the Passover in the evening of the 14thday of the first month.

 

Prior to descending upon the mountain in the cloud and fire, Elohim told Moses to tell the people of Israel to consecrate themselves for two days, so as to enable them to stand before Him and hear His voice. On the third day after consecrating themselves for two days, the people gathered around the mountain, which Elohim had warned them not to touch. Because of our inherit weakness and tendency to worship that which we see with our eyes and touch with our hands, YHVH send Moses down the mountain a second time to warn the people not to touch the mountain, or break through the set boundary. Then YHVH commanded Moses to go down again and tell the priests to consecrate themselves as recorded in verse 22 of Exodus 19, repeating the charge in verse 24, saying: “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to YHVH, lest He break forth upon them.” Who were these priests? To determine who they were, let’s consider the ordination of the Levitical priests in Numbers 3: 12, where YHVH says to Moses: “Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every first-born, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine.” The Levites had replaced the firstborn’s priestly position.

Now, let’s return to the day on which YHVH took the sons of Israel out of Egypt. One of the first things that He did was to take the first-born unto Himself, saying in Exodus 13: 2, “Sanctify to Me every first-born, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.” These first-born of man and beast did not belong to themselves; rather they belonged to YHVH for His work and purpose. They were to be priests unto Elohim, set-apart for His use. By Scriptural definition a priest is a first-born who does not belong to himself, but is (YHVH)’s special treasure and possession. After Yahshua our Messiah fulfilled His redemptive role as the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world, YHVH began to draw out the progeny of Abraham, a first fruit of the New Universal order. The initial outpouring of the Set-apart Spirit upon the disciples on the Feast of Pentecost, the exact date upon which YHVH entered into a marriage covenant with ancient Israel, by giving them the Ten Commandments under the cover of Mount Sinai, was the beginning or germination of the Abrahamic seed which was to grow and become an expression of a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. We read accordingly from Revelation 1: 5 & 6, ‘and from Yahshua Messiah, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, (6) and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His Elohim and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amein.’ 

Immediately after giving the children of Israel the commandments, statutes and judgments in Exodus 20 – 23, Moses wrote down all the words of YHVH, he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said (as recorded in Exodus 24: 7): “All that YHVH has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” So Moses took half of the blood of the young bulls that the young men (mentioned in verse 5) offered as peace offerings to YHVH and sprinkled it on the altar and the other half he sprinkled on the people saying in verse 8: “Behold the blood of the covenant, which YHVH has made with you in accordance with all these words.”The statutes that YHVH gave to the children of Israel included how to deal with murderers, thieves, sorcerers and the disorderly, how to settle different charges and claims, how to observe Elohim’s annual Sabbaths and even how to deal with vicious and problematic animals. YHVH warned Israel that they will be confronted by nations of idol-worshippers when they get near Canaan, but that He shall weaken their armies with swarms of hornets, so that they will be able to take over the land bounded by the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the desert of Arabia and the Euphrates River, a land much bigger than the present state of Israel in the Middle East.

 

Next YHVH tells the children of Israel through Moses that they should raise a contribution for YHVH in order that they may construct a sanctuary for Him to dwell among them. He gives Moses the detailed pattern according to which the tabernacle should be constructed, after which he tells him how to make the altar and its utensils. Then YHVH tells Moses to bring Aaron and his sons from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priests to Him. He further tells Moses to make holy garments including caps (or headgear) for the priests for glory and for beauty. The covenant or agreement made at Mount Sinai between Elohim and the united nation of Israel was later referred to in the Scriptures as a sacred marriage contract between Elohim, as the husband, and Israel as the wife. The rules of the marriage covenant were the Ten Commandments and the statutes and judgments given on Mount Sinai. The terms were that Israel was to remain faithful by obeying Elohim’s laws to ensure good health, prosperity and happiness. Unfaithfulness would mean misery, disease, poverty and possible divorce. To better understand the old or original marriage covenant, it is necessary to go forward in Israel’s history and show how the house of Israel failed to live up to the terms of the contract that they entered into with Elohim at Mount Sinai. As a result YHVH eventually divorced the house of Israel (as witnessed in Jeremiah 3: 8). Many years later Yahshua Messiah came to earth, to come and renew the marriage covenant with Israel. He came as a mediator of the new covenant, much like Moses was a mediator of the original covenant between Elohim and Israel.

 

However, the Renewed Covenant will not be completed until Messiah returns to rule the world, as witnessed in Hebrews 8: 6 – 10, in this way: ‘But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. (7) For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.  (8) For finding fault with them (the house of Israel), He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS YHVH, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; (9) NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS YHVH. (10) FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS YHVH: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM UPON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR ELOHIM, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”’ After proposing the New Covenant, Yahshua died thus freeing Israel from the first marriage covenant.

 

Those of us who have come out of Christianity, with their no-lawteachings, often have a hard time determining just what of TORAHwas changed and what was not. A good guideline to remember: Things that had to do withanimalsacrifices in respect of sins, while not “done away,” are now suspended until those things are re-instated, during the Millennium rule of Messiah.  At this time however, Christianity teaches that because the original covenant was broken, the Ten Commandments are dead and not to be obeyed any longer. But, nothing could be further from the truth. Belief in that lie has caused much misery to the children of Israel and indeed to the entire world. The Ten Commandments were the basis of the original covenant and as Rav Shaul wrote in Romans 7 are living, unchanged spiritual laws, remaining in effect as does Elohim’s physical law of gravity, regardless of what anyone has to say about it. Those spiritual laws are meant for all men in all nations down through the ages. The breaking of the covenant did not lessen their effect; they existed before YHVH entered into the original covenant with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. In fact those are the main spiritual laws of the New Covenant. Yahshua our Messiah had to die because they were broken. He came to reconcile us to YHVH as well as to brother Judah. The Sacrificial Laws introduced after the original covenant agreement was to remind the Israelites of their sins and were not part of the original covenant made with Israel, as we read from Jeremiah 7: 22 – 23, as follows: “For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. (23) But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your Elohim, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’”

 

Galatians 3 & 4 tells us that Messiah came to introduce a new way of dealing with the sins of mankind; If we accept Him as our personal Passover, repent from breaking the original covenant made with Israel and are immersed in Yahshua’s saving name, we enter into the Renewed Covenant with YHVH, and are betrothed to Him, until Messiah returns one day to remarryHis bride, if we qualify to be in His everlasting Kingdom. This is why we read fromGalatians 4 that we will one day inherit the promised land with Abram, Isaac and Jacob, since we are like Isaac children of promise (as recorded in Galatians 4: 28). But, as children of promise, even though we are heirs of Abraham through faith in Messiah, we have to comply with our part of the covenant made between YHVH and Abraham and let our children be circumcised on the eighth day after birth, if we want to live in the Promised Land. Obviously those who were not circumcised at eight days old will like Abraham have to do it after we come to believe in Messiah, if we want to legitimately partake of Elohim’s Passover.If we partake of the Passover, before we are circumcised, it is not in accordance with the Torah, and can therefore only be considered as a practice run, until we are circumcised one day. The point is that every Israelite is required by Elohim to partake of the Passover annually as it is commanded by Him. We should therefore not delay too long before we partake legally thereof, meaning we have to be circumcised before it is too late, because of an untimely death, or before our Master returns,  in which case our sin will be on our own heads, as explained in Numbers 9: 13.

 

However, the qualifying factor turning us into a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation is as Rav Kepha wrote in 1 Peter 2: 3 – 9, saying: ‘If you have tasted the kindness of the Master. (4) And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of Elohim, (5) you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Elohim through Yahshua Messiah. (6) For this is contained in Scriptures: BEHOLD I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” (7) This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve,“THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,’ (8) and, “ASTONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed[1]. (9) But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE for Elohim’s OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excelencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Apart from being called, we also need to believe that Yahshua Messiah is as Rav Shaul has written in 1 Corinthians 3: 11, the foundation and corner stone upon which His ecclesia of called out believers are being built, in this way: ‘For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Yahshua Messiah.’Those who believe that they have the right to decide on their own when to keep Elohim’s Feast Days and other doctrinal matters believe that they are the foundation upon which the ecclesia is built. According to what Rav Kepha wrote, such believers should definitely not wear head coverings, as they are disobedient to the word, or Messiah.

 

Since we are already a royal priesthood, we should wear head coverings, as was the requirement for those serving as priests in the Tanach, as this also conforms to Rav Shaul’s ruling in 1 Corinthians 11: 4, which read as follows: ‘Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying, disgraces his head.’The correct translation from Greek reads: ‘Every man who has something hanging down on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.’ The Greek word used here is(Strong’s 2619) ‘katakalýptō’ from (Strong’s 2596) ‘kata’ meaning down and (Strong’s 2572) ‘kalýptō meaning to cover – properly, cover down, i.e. to wear a veil. This ruling is therefore not against a yarmulke as worn by all Jews including Nazarene Jews/Israelites during worship services and prayer, but is a prohibition against men wearing veils hanging down like a woman’s veil or scarf, as it was a sign of cross-dressing which is forbidden in Torah, as may be read from Deuteronomy 22: 5. This is also against a veil of hair in the form of a long fringe of hair worn over the forehead as a woman. Torah warns against all cross-dressing, whether it is veiling the face as the temple prostitutes did in Athens and Corinth, or using long hair for similar purposes. In ancient Israel as a nation of priests, men were always to have their heads covered. The same holds true today. We see in Isaiah 61: 3 that when Yahshua returns one day, He will give those in Zion a garland (head covering like a priest) instead of ashes, and (anointing) oil of gladness instead of mourning. Isaiah also tells us in verse 6, that we will be called priests of YHVH and will be spoken of as ministers of our Elohim, at Messiahs’ return. Continuing in verse 10 of Isaiah 61, we read: ‘I will rejoice greatly in YHVH, my soul will exult in my Elohim; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and the bride adorns herself with her jewels.’ This is obviously talking about the time when the ecclesia of Elohim, who remain faithful to the end have made herself ready to remarry Messiah at His return.

At this time we wear head coverings like the one king David wore in 2 Samuel 15: 30 - 32, as follows: “And David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and his head was covered and he walked barefoot.Then all the people who were with him each covered his head and went up weeping as they went. (31) Now someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said: “O YHVH, I pray, make the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness.(32) It happened as David was coming to the summit, where Elohim was worshipped, that behold, Hushai the Achite met him with his coat torn, and dust on his head. ” King David went up to the summit where YHVH was worshipped and covered His head and so did the people with him. Even so, there are those in our community who insists that the custom of wearing a cap (yarmulke)/turban comes from Babylon. In the quoted section above we saw that King David wore a head covering whilst praying, and we know for a fact that he was never in captivity in Babylon. We also know that Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were some of the Jewish people who were definitely in captivity in Babylon. Did they perhaps get the custom of wearing head coverings form Babylon?  We see from Daniel 3: 21 that Daniel’s three friends were thrown into a furnace of fire, because they were defying king Nebuchadnezzar, by not worshipping the golden image that he set up, as follows: ‘Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.’  These men were thrown into the fire with all their customary clothing on, which included their caps. So I do not believe that these Jewish lads who were in defiance of king Nebuchadnezzar learnt to wear head coverings in Babylon. As witnessed in Job 29: 14, Job mentions a turban which shows that it must have been worn in his day. From Jobs age in Job 42: 16, we understand that his lifespan was nearly 200 years, which shows that he lived in the patriarchal  period – the time during which Abraham lived. So, head coverings were customary dress of the Hebrews before Israel became a nation.

The wearing of caps came from Israel, before these men were taken to Babylon. In fact we see that Yahshua joined the three men in the fire because in verse 25 of Daniel 3, the high official answered the king, saying that he saw four men walking about in the midst of the fire without harm and the appearance of the fourth man was like a son of the gods. Even though it does not say so in Daniel, I believe that Yahshua also had some sort of head covering on in the fire, similar to the ones worn by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you believe that I am making things up, let’s have a look in Zechariah 3, which is the prophets vision of Joshua the high priest. In verse 3 he sees that Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the Angel.  This is really a reference to Yahshua, who according to Galatians 3:13 has redeemed us from the curse of the law: having become a curse for us – for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” Yahshua became dirty with our sins and was cursed on our behalf. Yahshua was standing before the Father as the first of the first-fruits, to be accepted on the day that He was cut off as the lamb of Elohim who takes away the sins of the world, as well as the waive sheaf or grain offering, as witnessed in Leviticus 23: 12 & 13 and Daniel 9: 27. 

We read from verse 4 of Zechariah 3, how He was accepted before the Father where we read in the second part of the verse: “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.”  Continuing in verse 5 of Zechariah 3, we read that a clean turban is put on His head and that He is clothed with clean garments, while the angel was standing by. In verse 8 we read a reference about ‘the Branch’ who we know refers to Yahshua, but we also read about His friends who are sitting before Him. This is talking about the disciples of Yahshua (including us His modern day disciples), whom Yahshua called His friends in John 15: 14 & 15, saying: ‘You are My friends, if you do what I command you. (15) No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.’ In Zechariah 6:11 we see it talks about Joshua the high priest again and in verses 12 – 13 we read about the Branch who will build the Temple of YHVH and who will have two offices, namely, that of both King and Priest. We know that kings wear crowns and according to Exodus 29: 9, a High Priest wears a cap. So yes our KING and High Priest Yahshua is pictured in Zechariah as wearing a turban and will certainly wear some sort of a head covering during His rulership as our King and High Priest during the millennium, as He is shown in a vision to Yochanan in Revelation 14: 14 wearing a golden crown.

Yahshua has already qualified to be our High Priest as may be read about in Hebrews 2: 17,  as follows: ‘Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to Elohim, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.’Ezekiel 44 talks about the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east and was shut. In verse 3 it mentions the prince Yahshua who shall enter by way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the same way. This is a scene of the future when Yahshua will have already returned. In verse 7 and 9 we read that only those who are among the sons of Israel, who are circumcised in the heart and in the flesh, will enter YHVH’s sanctuary. The priests entering the sanctuary will also, like in the days of Aaron wear linen turbans on their heads – as recorded in verse 18 of Ezekiel 44.This quote from Ezekiel is an end-time prophecy, and a scary one at that. If we think we are circumcised in heart, and refuse to be circumcised in the flesh, is that not rebellion? Can we truly be circumcised in the heart, and yet refuse to be circumcised in the flesh too? It is just a matter of which comes first. We have seen that Abraham was circumcised in heart, first. His obedience and faith in Yahweh preceded his fleshly circumcision.

Those who insists that the yarmulke or head covering that our Jewish brothers wear come from the Catholic Church, are definitely not familiar with Torah, where the High Priest as well as the priests who serve under him, were given caps to wear, as witnessed in Exodus 28: 4, 37,38, 39 & 40; 29: 6 & 9; 39: 28 & 29. This will again be the case after Messiah’s return, as witnessed in Ezekiel 44 above. Yes, it is true the pope and priests in the Catholic Church wear a type of yarmulke similar to the ones we and our Jewish Brothers wear, since  they maintain that they are today in the Aaronic priesthood. Only priests in the Catholic Church are permitted to wear head covering and lay members of their Church are forbidden to wear head coverings like their priests. Since we are not part of the Christian Church and therefore not under the authority of the Catholic Church or the pope, we as the called out ecclesia of Elohim that are according to Revelation 1: 5 & 6, already a kingdom of priests, we wear a priestly garland during prayer and worship services. The Catholic Church is like the Great Deceiver, a very good counterfeiter; they know that priests are supposed to wear head coverings. However, you will notice that they wear scarlet yarmulkes - this is the color of the attire worn by the whore, discussed in Revelation 17. It is a known fact that scarlet or Red is usually associated with woman of ill repute. We as Israelites do therefore not wear Scarlet caps: our head coverings (for men) should be the color associated with royalty, i.e. blue.

YHVH rejected Israel from being priests before Him because they forgot His Torah. He will again reject His called out people from becoming priests, as witnessed in Hosea 4: 6, in this way: ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your Elohim, I also will forget your children.’ We see that it is not because knowledge is not available, but because people reject knowledge available in His word, that they will be rejected as priests in the coming kingdom of Elohim, and worse is when YHVH forgets their children, especially when we are assured in Isaiah 61: 9, that ‘Then their offspring (of those who will be called priests in verse 6) will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are offspring whom YHVH has blessed.’ Think about it!

 

[1]In Mark 4: 11 & 12 and Matt 13:11, 12 & 19 we see that YHVH is not calling everybody during this age. There will be two harvest periods - like in Israel today. First the first fruits during the First Resurrection and then the rest during the Second Resurrection. In James 1: 18, you will see that those of us called now are going to be the first fruits, who will, if we make it, become kings and priests ruling under Messiah during the millennium (as per Revelation 5:10). We who are called during this age are being judged at this time. Most of those who are resurrected during the second resurrection never really had a chance and will be given a chance to repent. The people who died without the knowledge that we have today, never had a chance - remember, there is no such thing as a second chance. But if you never heard the name of Yahshua in your life time, or never heard about YHVH’s plan of Salvation, how can you be considered to have had your chance?