Today is Christmas and I realize that the color blue is not really considered part of this holiday… I choose to celebrate the birth of Christ during the Fall Festivals, so Christmas has become a different sort of holiday for me.
With the significance placed on the “star of Bethlehem” that appeared in the night sky many years ago, and the lining up of Jupiter and Saturn this year to produce something many believe is similar to that bright light, we must realize that BLUE is important in the Kingdom of God.
I chose a picture of a night sky for this reason. We need to “LOOK UP” to be reminded of the greatness of God. We must see HIM in the heavens and stand in awe of His creation. The color blue is significant in the Word of God. It brings many reminders to us of His commands and teachings. I pray that as you SEEK HIM in Spirit and Truth in new ways this year, that you will be drawn to a new understanding of the roots of our faith. We need to see His commands and teachings with eyes of grace and mercy. He truly does LOVE each and every one of you.
As I am going through these colors of the rainbow I am finding out that colors in the Bible are not what we think of today… The color blue is another example. I have learned the word for blue in Hebrew, and when I looked that up, I found out that it is not in the Bible. There are verses that use the word blue, but it is a different word. Most times the word used in the Bible means more of a sapphire blue color.
What I do know, this color has to do with garments worn by the priests, and a blue thread added to their prayer shawl.
Exodus 28:31-35 -31 “You are to make the robe for the ritual vest entirely of blue. 32 It is to have an opening for the head in the middle. Around the opening is to be a border woven like the neck of a coat of mail, so that it won’t tear. 33 On its bottom hem make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet; and put them all the way around, with gold bells between them all the way around — 34 gold bell, pomegranate, gold bell, pomegranate, all the way around the hem of the robe. 35 Aharon is to wear it when he ministers, and its sound will be heard whenever he enters the Holy Place before Adonai and when he leaves, so that he won’t die.
The ritual vest is made entirely of blue… Do we really need to know the exact shade for today? Maybe it was more of a sapphire blue than we would think of today. Maybe it was more of a royal blue… One article I read suggested that the snail the blue dye comes from produced a different color in the North than it did in the South. I could see that happening based on climate or other factors in the area.
Anyway you look at it, blue was a significant color. It became a part of the hem of pomegranates put around the bottom of the garment. There were also bells, and they have actually found a bell that was part of one of these robes. The bells were worn into the Holy Place so the sound would be heard and so the priest “wouldn’t die.”
Here is a verse from Ezekiel 1:26
Above the dome that was over their heads was something like a throne that looked like a sapphire. On it, above it, was what appeared to be a person.
Sapphire is a shade of blue. This vision Ezekiel saw was one of high importance. The person on the throne spoke to Ezekiel and had a message for the Children of Israel. They had become a “nation of rebels” and God was sending a messenger to teach them.
In the book of Esther we see “blue” again:
Esther 8:15 Meanwhile, Mordekhai left the king’s presence arrayed in royal blue and white, wearing a large gold crown and a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted for joy.
Royalty… Once again we do not know the exact shade of blue, but we do know that it was defiantly considered a royal color. If the king of Susa gave Mordechai a royal robe of “blue and white” there was something significant for this color.
One other way that the color blue is remembered is in the “fringes” or “tzitziyot” on the prayer shawl.
Numbers 15:37-41 37 Adonai said to Moshe, 38 “Speak to the people of Isra’el, instructing them to make, through all their generations, tzitziyot on the corners of their garments, and to put with the tzitzit on each corner a blue thread. 39 It is to be a tzitzit for you to look at and thereby remember all of Adonai’s mitzvot and obey them, so that you won’t go around wherever your own heart and eyes lead you to prostitute yourselves; 40 but it will help you remember and obey all my mitzvot and be holy for your God. 41 I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt in order to be your God. I am Adonai your God.”
This blue thread in the knots made from the fringes was to be a reminder of God’s teachings and commands. They grabbed these and saw that blue thread to “REMEMBER that Adonai is God.”
For a period of time, the snail which produced the blue dye to color the wool went extinct. They did not make blue tzitzit for many years. It has just been since Israel became a nation in 1948 that this snail was found again and they began to produce the blue dye and are making blue tzitziyot once again.
Significant? Some may say no, but I see it as a way of God reminding ALL of us that HIS commands and teachings are important. We are not to stray from them. We are not to demean them. We must recognize God for WHO He is and remember all He has done.
We are part of a royal priesthood and family. We need to remind ourselves daily, through prayer and communion with Him, that HE is our God. We must LISTEN to Him.
I pray that the color blue becomes a reminder of that today. I pray that when you look at the sky, a sapphire, or simply a blue thread, that you will REMEMBER His commands and teachings and be reminded of HIS LOVE that will carry you through.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rose Horton
Restored People Community 