Psalms 16:2; 8:1; 5:1-3

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Numbers 15:37-41, and I read  through chapter 18. Our Evangelist, Paul Abbott, had brought our attention to Numbers 15:37-41 last night (September 22, 2026), the Lord spoke to me as I read the passage, and so I marked it for a closer look this morning.

Numbers 15:37 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Numbers 15:38 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:

Numbers 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:

Numbers 15:40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.

Numbers 15:41 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.

I’ve been thinking about the significance of holiness lately. As I read this, I thought of the Orthodox Jews (Haredi—Ultra-Orthodox and especially the Hasidic sect within Haredi) we sometimes see with these fringes (tassels) hanging from their garments even today. They debate over how rightly to comply iwth the blue ribbon requirement.

Along the still waters, I pondered God’s purpose for this: “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” (Numbers 15:39). But this is not the conclusion of God’s purpose for the blue ribboned tassels: “That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God” (Numbers 15:40). And the last verse in the passage really took hold of my heart: “I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God” (Numbers 15:41).

Clearly, it was intended as a reminder of their covenant with God to keep His commandments. Remember that Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Keeping His commandments was the way the Israelites showed their love to God (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37-38). Wearing the fringe, which was itself an act of obedience to God’s commandment, was a way to remember this. Wouldn’t it be sad if one obeyed the commandment regarding the reminder but ignored what it was intended to remind them of?

I think all these things were about separating the Israelites from the other nations and distinguishing them as peculiarly belonging to GOD, hence the emphasis throughout and the doubling down on this: “I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God” (Numbers 15:41).

Holiness is about identification and the remembrance of our covenant relationship with God, in our case, the New Testament secured by the blood of Christ, and that of bulls and goats (Hebrews 9:11-14).

Our religion does not require any of this from us. We show our love for Him in departing from iniquity, in obedience to the commands of Jesus, and our religion is marked by care of widows and orphans, and keeping ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27).

In the valley, shadowed by His Cross, where, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances,” all such carnal commandments (Hebrews 7:6) were taken “out of the way, nailing it to his cross,” and having thereby “spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:13-15).

I admit, I thought about sewing tassels to the corners of my garments, but the LORD rebuked me. First, He humbled me by the fact that this would be offensive to Him because I am not a Jew, and I am not connected to Him by that covenant; it would be pretentious, and presumptuous. And second, because adopting such things into my relationship with GOD would repudiate the Cross, deny its work, and be an insult to Christ.

My holiness is that of the Holy Spirit and not of the holy Law, the token of my covenant is spiritual, not carnal circumcision (Colossians 2:11), and the seal of my bond to Christ is His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14).

I heard Him speak: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, my Head, the Chief Shepherd, anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup to overflowing, mingled with His grace. Goodness and mercy attended as we walked together into the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v7fvwhu-shepherds-pasture-our-tassel-reminders.html