King of Kings & Lord of Lords

***Kind of a long study, but OH SO WORTH IT!
(you asked for it, Monica! lol) Enjoy!

I was reading: Revelation 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Then it dawned on me...what in the world does it mean that it is written on his vesture & thigh? In our 21st Century, Gentile way of thinking, we tend to picture a tattoo of the words forever imprinted on Jesus's thigh, right? Well, this scripture says it's written on his vesture (cloak/covering) And on his thigh. So there must be more to it than that.
So I did a study...I've found that if I ever come across something in the Word that I don't fully understand, it's always best to start by studying Jewish customs/culture. It only makes sense--almost every word of the Bible was written by a Jewish writer (inspired by God, of course) who was most often writing, initially, to Jews. What did I find? I found something that answered my question and shed light on so many other Bible stories!
The tallit is the vesture that Jewish people (mostly men) wear; it's a prayer shawl--worn by covering the head while praying or resting on the shoulders during other daily activities (sometimes worn as a vest under shirts today). Almost every painting/rendering of Jesus that we see today portrays him wearing a tallit--typically over his head (signifying Him talking with God the Father). When I looked up images of Jewish men wearing their tallits, I noticed these knotted strings/tassels (called tzitzit) hanging down from the corners of the hem--resting on their thighs.
*In case you are wondering, Jews were commanded to wear the tallit/tzitzit in many scriptures; to name a couple of the scriptures: Num 15:38 & Deut 22:12--these scriptures instruct to make the tassels on the hem of the tallit garment.
Further study revealed that the knots spell out something according to the Hebrew letter-numerical value (basically, each knot tied represents a number/letter). In other words, the tzitzit on Jesus's tallit spell out: King of Kings and Lord of Lords...and it's written on His vesture and on His thigh!


Now let's take it a step further, because you know how cool the Word of God is. There is always so much more than what is seen on the surface...
In my studying of Jewish customs concerning the tallit, I found that there are different things spelled on the tallits for a very important purpose: whatever is spelled in the tzitzit represents the authority by which the wearer operates spiritually. Most Jewish priests/Rabbis wear tzitzit that represent the Law (of Moses) as their authority to operate and teach the Torah (the 5 books of Moses, aka the Pentateuch). Jesus even spoke about the Pharisees trying to operate on more authority than what they should by enlarging the hems of their garments (Matthew 23:2-5).
The tzitzit below show ways knots can be different & might spell out different things.
Now, we know what the tzitzit on Jesus's tallit reads: King of Kings and Lord of Lords; His ultimate authority. Let us then apply this new knowledge to some Bible stories we're already familiar with--and let's allow the Holy Spirit to reveal a deeper meaning in the scriptures...

Turn to Mark 5:25-34 and read the story of the woman with the issue of blood (I'll wait until you have finished reading lol). Now that you have finished reading, recognize exactly what she touched: the tzitzit is the hem of the garment. And what does the tzitzit represent? She recognized his authority and took hold of it! She had faith in His Authority to heal her.
She was not the only person who did this; read Mark 6:56.

Now read 1Samuel 24:1-20
David cut off Saul's tzitzit...he cut off his authority. That is why in verse 20, Saul says, "And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand." --He knew that the Authority had been passed to David because he was already anointed by Samuel to be the next King of Israel, and Saul saw that his own authority was cut off and was now sitting in David's hand!

Now that we see that authority can be passed from one person to another by passing the tzitzit to another person, let's look at some other scriptures...
1Samuel 18 Jonathan gives his tallit to David...thus turning over his own authority to David. If you continue reading, you can see what David did with that authority.
2Kings 2 The mantle is Elijah's tallit--represents his authority/anointing. Elisha wanted Elijah's garment because he too wanted an awesome ministry for the Lord.

What garment are you wearing? Isaiah 61:10
Romans 13:14 tells us to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ." We are covered in His blood; his blood is the authority by which we now operate spiritually. --Thank you Jesus for your blood!
Rev 19:13 shows Jesus clothed in a vesture dipped in blood--because of His blood, we can be clothed in righteousness (Rev 19:8).

There are many more scriptures that discuss garments/tzitzit; keep an eye out for them when you read. I hope this study shed some light on the scriptures for you.
May we each gather the faith to reach for the authority/tzitzit on Jesus's tallit & recognize the power and authority in His blood!