Numbers 15:39-40
And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The tassels were more than just decoration; they were a constant, visible reminder to resist the powerful pull of personal desires and faulty perceptions, the very things that had led Israel astray into worship that God branded as spiritual adultery. This wasn't just about remembering rules, but about actively choosing God's way over the allure of what their own hearts and eyes found appealing.
Immediately preceding this command, the Israelites had demonstrated a grave disobedience by presumptuously trying to enter the promised land without God's direct instruction. Now, God provides a visible, everyday reminder, symbolized by blue cords on their garments, to keep His commandments constantly in view. This is meant to prevent them from being led astray by their own desires and perceptions, which can easily lead to straying from God's path, much like spiritual adultery.
Why would God command a specific, visible reminder on clothing? It wasn't just a fashion statement; it was a profound spiritual tool.
In Numbers 15:39, God instructs the Israelites to put a blue cord on the tassels of their garments. This wasn't about superstition or outward show, but about constant spiritual remembrance.
More Than Just Fabric
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The verse warns against following 'your own heart and your own eyes.' What makes our inner desires and perceptions so dangerous?
The tassels served a crucial dual purpose: to remember God's commands and to actively resist the pull of personal desire and perception. The phrase 'seek not after your own heart and your own eyes' points to a deep internal struggle.
The Danger of Self-Direction
Why does the passage connect remembering commandments and avoiding self-will to God's act of bringing Israel out of Egypt?
The command about the tassels doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's deeply connected to God's redemptive act, providing the ultimate 'why' behind obedience.
The Foundation of Our Service
Understand the original words
mitsvah · Hebrew Noun
Refers to the revealed will and statutes of God given to His people; they are the authoritative directives that govern the life, ethics, and worship of the covenant community.
zanah · Hebrew Verb
A metaphorical term describing spiritual unfaithfulness or idolatry, where the people turn away from their covenantal devotion to God to pursue desires or gods that compete for His place in their hearts.
qadosh · Hebrew Adjective
Meaning 'set apart,' it signifies being dedicated exclusively to God’s service and bearing His character. It is the status of being distinct from the secular world because one belongs to the living God.
This instruction about tassels comes during the wilderness wandering, a time when the Israelites were constantly being reminded of God's presence and their covenant obligations. The tassels served as a visible, everyday reminder not to fall back into the idolatrous and self-willed practices they were prone to, both before entering the Promised Land and in their recent past.
c. 1446 BC
Exodus from Egypt
God delivers the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, establishing His covenant relationship with them and giving them the Law at Mount Sinai.
c. 1446-1406 BC— this verse
Wilderness Wanderings
The Israelites journey through the Sinai desert for 40 years. During this time, God gives them numerous laws and instructions for their life as a people.
c. 1446-1406 BC
Instruction on Tassels
God instructs the Israelites to wear tassels on the corners of their garments, with a blue cord, as a reminder to obey all His commandments.
This passage parallels the idea of constantly remembering God's commands, linking it to the phylacteries and doorposts, similar to how the tassels were meant as a visible reminder.
Jeremiah 2:13This verse speaks of abandoning God, the 'fountain of living waters,' for 'broken cisterns,' which resonates with the warning against seeking after one's own heart and eyes instead of God's commandments.
Ezekiel 6:9This prophecy describes Israel being 'broken' for going 'a whoring' after idols, highlighting the severe spiritual consequences of straying from God, a theme echoed in the Numbers passage's warning.
1 Corinthians 6:18This New Testament passage uses the strong imagery of 'fleeing sexual immorality' and the body being a 'temple of the Holy Spirit,' connecting the idea of purity and avoiding defilement, which is also a spiritual undertone in Numbers 15:39.
Colossians 2:8Paul warns against being taken captive by 'philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ,' which directly mirrors the danger of following one's own heart and eyes rather than God's commands.
calvinNumbers 15:37-41: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,"
Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
Alloquere filios Israel, et dic eis ut faciant sibi fimbrias in angulis vestimentorum suorum, per generationes suas, et ponant in fimbria anguli filum hyacinthinum.
And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may lo…
ellicottNumbers 15:39: "And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:"
(39) That ye seek not after your own heart.— Or, That ye go not about, or search not out, &c.
The tassels were more than just decoration; they were a constant, visible reminder to resist the powerful pull of personal desires and faulty perceptions, the very things that had led Israel astray into worship that God branded as spiritual adultery. This wasn't just about remembering rules, but about actively choosing God's way over the allure of what their own hearts and eyes found appealing.
Immediately preceding this command, the Israelites had demonstrated a grave disobedience by presumptuously trying to enter the promised land without God's direct instruction. Now, God provides a visible, everyday reminder, symbolized by blue cords on their garments, to keep His commandments constantly in view. This is meant to prevent them from being led astray by their own desires and perceptions, which can easily lead to straying from God's path, much like spiritual adultery.
Immediately preceding this command, the Israelites had demonstrated a grave disobedience by presumptuously trying to enter the promised land without God's direct instruction. Now, God provides a visible, everyday reminder, symbolized by blue cords on their garments, to keep His commandments constantly in view. This is meant to prevent them from being led astray by their own desires and perceptions, which can easily lead to straying from God's path, much like spiritual adultery.
"And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my command…" — The tassels were more than just decoration; they were a constant, visible reminder to resist the powerful pull of personal desires and faulty perceptions, the very things that had led Israel astray i…
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