Phylacteries (Something worn to make people think you are religious)
June 22nd 2010 06:11
In Matthew 23.5, one can find the word phylacteries. It is used with another outstanding word which helps us to understand the context. The idea is to wear clothing which make people think highly of us along spiritual lines.
The old idea comes from the Mosaic law found in Exodus 13:16 where it counsels people to wear frontlets between the eyes and to write the law upon the doorposts of one’s houses.
In Jesus time, some men wore the phylacteries as a sign upon their forheards to that people would know they are religious people. These were supposed to be worn about an inch square and worn on the forehead. They were to contain the four Hebrew passages of Scriptures (Ex. 13:2-10, Ex. 13:11-17, Deut. 6:4-9 and Deut 6: 13-23).
At times, the phylacteries appeared larger than the one inch, to signify the way the wearer wanted to appear more religious than others. Jesus was critical of the wearers of larger than the phylacteries.
It was a means to attract attention to the wearer of the phylacteries rather than to the God whom the wearer was allegiant to.
Some people, even in today’s world, wear oversize religious items with the obvious attention of attracting people to their religious observation. We see people wearing a highly polished cross on a chain or having oversize bumper stickers on their cars. Some of them could well be wearing the phylacteries.
We should remember that the cross was actually an instrument of death, not a fashionable statement. Wearing a cross, should actually be seen as wearing a necktie of death (such as the fashionable cross-members of society). Do the wearers of a cross also wear the instrument of poison. Probably not.
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