Commentary - Numbers 15:37-41

Bird's-eye view

This short section at the end of Numbers 15 provides a striking and tangible solution to the problem of sin that has been illustrated so vividly in the preceding narrative, particularly the case of the Sabbath-breaker. The issue is forgetfulness, which leads to rebellion. God, in His practical wisdom, does not simply issue a command to "remember." He provides a physical, visible, tangible means for His people to remember. He commands them to attach tassels, with a cord of blue, to the corners of their garments. This is not arbitrary decoration; it is a divinely appointed memory aid. The tassels are to be a constant, kinetic reminder of their covenant obligations. Every time they look down, every time they feel the sway of the tassels as they walk, they are to be reminded of God's commandments. The ultimate goal is not mere recollection, but obedience that leads to holiness. This passage is a beautiful illustration of how God condescends to our weakness, providing external signs that point to internal realities, all grounded in the great reality of His redemptive act in bringing them out of Egypt. It is a guard against the spiritual harlotry of following our own hearts and eyes, and a call to be set apart for God, who is our God.

In the new covenant, we understand that such external reminders find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ. The law is now written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. However, the principle remains. God has given us tangible reminders of His grace in baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are our tassels. They are visible signs and seals of an invisible grace, reminding us of who we are and whose we are, calling us away from the idolatry of self and back to the holiness that is ours in Christ.

Outline

Context In Numbers

This passage comes at a crucial point in the book of Numbers. Chapter 15 follows the catastrophic rebellion of the people at Kadesh Barnea in chapter 14, where they refused to enter the Promised Land. As a result, that entire generation was condemned to wander and die in the wilderness. Chapter 15, then, is a chapter of gracious reaffirmation. God gives laws for life in the land that they will eventually enter, showing that His covenant promises have not been nullified by their sin. He provides for sins of ignorance but also demonstrates the severity of high-handed, presumptuous sin through the execution of the Sabbath-breaker (Num 15:32-36). It is immediately after this stark example of rebellion that God gives the law of the tassels. The placement is intentional. The tassels are a gracious provision to help prevent the very kind of forgetfulness that leads to such high-handed sin. It is a practical, pastoral command designed to help a forgetful people live faithfully in the wilderness and beyond.

Key Issues

Grace for a Forgetful People

We are a forgetful people. This is one of the central problems of the human condition since the fall. We are prone to wander, Lord, we feel it. We forget God's benefits, we forget His commands, we forget His warnings, and we forget His promises. The story of Israel in the wilderness is the story of our own hearts writ large. Just before this passage, a man is executed for brazenly breaking the Sabbath. Why did he do it? At the root of it, he forgot who God was and who he was in relation to God. He acted as his own god, setting his own standards.

God's response to this tendency is not simply to thunder "Remember!" from heaven. His response is pastoral and condescending. He gives them a tool. He says, in effect, "I know you are forgetful, so I will give you something to help you remember." This is grace. The tassels are a gracious provision. They are not a burden, but a help. They are a physical sign tied to a spiritual reality. This principle runs throughout Scripture. God gives us rainbows, stones of remembrance, circumcision, Passover, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. He knows we are embodied creatures, and He uses physical things to teach us spiritual truths. The tassels are an Old Covenant expression of this same gracious principle. They are a constant, nagging, blessed reminder to a people who desperately needed to be reminded.

Verse by Verse Commentary

37 Yahweh also spoke to Moses, saying, 38 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.

The command comes directly from Yahweh, mediated through Moses. This is not a human suggestion for spiritual formation; it is a divine ordinance. The command is for all the sons of Israel, and it is to be a permanent statute, throughout their generations. This was not a temporary wilderness provision. The tassels, or tzitzit, were to be placed on the four corners of their outer garment. This prominent placement ensured they would be constantly visible, not just to others, but to the wearer himself. A special detail is added: a cord of blue was to be woven into each tassel. In the ancient world, blue dye was rare and expensive, often associated with royalty and divinity. It likely was meant to remind them of the heavens, the throne of God, and the holy, transcendent nature of the law they were called to obey. It was a splash of heavenly color on their earthly garments.

39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot,

Here is the purpose statement, and it is absolutely central. The function of the tassel is twofold: to be seen and to provoke remembrance. But remembrance is not an end in itself. The goal is action: "remember...so as to do them." This is not about passive recollection or trivia. It is about memory that fuels obedience. Then comes the great antithesis. The Israelites are to follow God's commandments, not their own inclinations. The alternative to obedience to God is to follow after your own heart and your own eyes. This is the Bible's definition of autonomy. It is the creature setting himself up as the standard of truth and morality. And God gives this a name: spiritual harlotry. To follow your own way is to be unfaithful to your covenant husband, Yahweh. It is to chase after other lovers. The tassels, then, are a call to covenant faithfulness, a constant tug away from the spiritual adultery of self-worship.

40 so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God.

This verse reinforces and elevates the purpose. The chain of logic is clear: looking leads to remembering, remembering leads to doing, and doing leads to holiness. The ultimate goal of the tassels, and indeed of all God's law, is to produce a holy people. Holiness means being "set apart." They were to be set apart from the nations, and set apart for God. Their lives were to be distinctively different because they belonged to a different God. This holiness was not a means of earning their salvation, but rather the goal and evidence of it. They were to be holy to your God. Their obedience was a response to a relationship that already existed. The tassels were a tool to help them live out the reality of that relationship in their daily walk.

41 I am Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh your God.”

The entire command is grounded in this final declaration. This is the foundation upon which all obedience is built. God's commands do not come out of a vacuum. They are rooted in His redemptive action. He says, "I am Yahweh your God." This is the covenant name. And how did He become their God in this special way? By bringing them out of Egypt. The Exodus was the great saving act of the Old Covenant. Therefore, their obedience is not the striving of slaves trying to earn a master's favor, but the grateful response of rescued sons. He redeemed them so that He might be their God and they might be His people. The command to wear the tassels is a command to remember not just the law, but the Lawgiver who is also their Redeemer. The statement "I am Yahweh your God" brackets the declaration, emphasizing its foundational importance. All Christian ethics must begin and end here: with the declaration of who God is and what He has done for us in Christ.

Application

It is easy for new covenant believers to look at a passage like this and dismiss it as part of an obsolete ceremonial law. And of course, we are not obligated to attach tassels to our blue jeans. To do so would be to miss the point, like a man trying to find the manger in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. But the principle contained here is permanent and binding. We are just as forgetful as the Israelites were, and our hearts and eyes are just as prone to play the harlot.

The principle is that we must take deliberate, practical steps to keep the Word of God before our eyes. We need to structure our lives in such a way that we are constantly being reminded of the truth. What are your tassels? For some, it might be a Bible left open on the kitchen counter. For others, it might be the practice of family worship every morning. It could be the songs you sing, the books you read, or the fellowship you keep. And supremely, God has given the Church two prominent tassels in the sacraments. Baptism is a permanent mark on us and our children, a sign that we belong to God. The Lord's Supper is a weekly appointment where we are commanded to look, remember, and do. We look at the bread and wine, we remember the broken body and shed blood of our Savior, and we do this in obedience, proclaiming His death until He comes.

These things are given to us as gracious helps to keep us from the spiritual harlotry of following our own hearts. They call us back to the foundation: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt." For us, the refrain is, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the domain of darkness by the blood of My Son." Let us, therefore, gladly use the reminders God has given us, so that we might remember, and do, and be holy to our God.