Put upon the fringe. .. a ribband of blue.
The law of the fringe and ribband
Provision had been just now made by the law for the pardon of sins of ignorance and infirmity, now here is an expedient provided for the preventing of such sins. They are ordered to make fringes upon the borders of their garments, which were to be memorandums to them of their duty, that they might not sin through forgetfulness.
1. The sign appointed is a fringe of silk, or thread, or worsted, or the garment itself ravelled at the bottom, and a blue ribband bound on the top of it to keep it tight (Numbers 15:38). The Jews being a peculiar people, they were thus distinguished from their neighbours in their dress, as well as in their diet; and taught by such little instances of singularity, not to be conformed to the way of the heathen in greater things. Thus likewise they proclaimed themselves Jews wherever they were, as those that were not ashamed of God and His law.
2. The intention of it was to remind them that they were a peculiar people. They were not appointed for the trimming and adorning of their clothes, but to “stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance” (2 Peter 3:1). That they might look upon the fringe, and remember the commandments. Many look upon their ornaments to feed their pride, but they must look upon these ornaments to awaken their consciences to a sense of their duty, that their religion might constantly beset them, and they might carry it about with them, as they did their clothes, wherever they went. It was intended particularly to be a preservation from idolatry, That ye “seek not after your own heart,” and your own eyes, in your religious worship. Yet it may extend also to the whole conversation; for nothing is more contrary to God’s honour and our own true interest than to walk in the way of our heart, and in the sight of our eyes; for the imagination of the heart is evil, and so is the lust of the eyes. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
The ribband of blue
The chief use of clothing is defence against the chills and variations of the weather; two subordinate uses are for the promotion of beauty, and for distinction of office. We can be at no loss to perceive that there are mental uses corresponding to the above which require for the soul spiritual clothing. The soul has its summer and its winter, and all the varieties of a mental year. There are seasons of hopefulness and brilliancy in which we have all the elasticity and promise of spring; there are states of peaceful warmth, of continued serene happiness; “the soul’s calm sunshine and the heartfelt joy” which bespeak the spirit’s summer; but there are likewise periods of decreasing warmth, of incipient depressions, and coolnesses to what has formerly yielded the highest pleasure; until at length we arrive at states of painful cold, the joylessness, the hopelessness, and the sadness, which ate the characteristics of the winter of the soul. In this wintry state storms of distressing fears and darkening doubts will rush upon the soul. Strong delusions that we may believe a lie, will, like fierce tempests, howl about us. Thrice happy are they who remember that the Divine Word will be a blessing in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, in summer and in winter; but they should also bear in mind, that to be a protection in all seasons the Divine mercy has provided us with spiritual clothing. The doctrines of religion, when intelligently adopted and adapted to our particular states, serve this important purpose. And when those doctrines are, as they ought to be, full, comprehensive, and complete, applying themselves to all the departments of human affection, thought, and life, they make a complete dress. We are, then, to speak to the Israelites who are typified by those of our text, the spiritual Israelites; and say first that they clothe themselves with genuine doctrines of Divine truth, with the garments of salvation, and next, that they especially make them fringes in the borders of their garments. After we have meditated upon the doctrines of religion, and seen their fitness to our own states of mind and heart, thus clothed ourselves in them, the next part of our duty is to bring them into life. Many there are who put on religion as a dress for the head, and even also for the breast, but do not bring it down to the feet. But we are to make a border for our garments, and the border must be a fringe. The distinctive feature of a fringe is, that the material of which it is composed is divided into small portions firmly united at the upper part, but hanging with separate forms of beauty at the lower. The idea suggested by this is, that religion must be employed in all the small affairs of daily life as well as on great occasions; the lowest part of our spiritual dress must be a fringe. We are, however, not only commanded to have a fringe to our garments, but to have upon the fringe a ribband of blue. And this leads us to consider the correspondence of colours. Natural colours, we know, originate in natural light. They are the separation of the beauties which are bound up in the sunbeam, and their reflection to the human eye. There is a trinity of fundamental colours, red, blue, and yellow. From the blending of these in varied proportions all others are made. Red, the colour of fire, is the symbol of the truths of love, the fire of the soul. Blue, the colour of the azure depths of the sky, is symbolic of the deep things of the Spirit of God, on which faith delights to gaze. Yellow is the hue of truth which applies to outward life, and in combination with blue it makes green, which corresponds to truth in the letter of the Word, made simple to the common eye of mankind. Blue gives a sense of clearness and depth, in which it surpasses all other hues. Blue, then, is the colour which represents the spirit of the Holy Word, the depths of heavenly wisdom. There is, however, cold blue, as it has more of white in it, and warm blue, as it derives a certain hue from red. There has also been some difficulty in determining the exact shade meant by Techeleth, the Hebrew name for this colour. But from a full consideration of this subject we are satisfied it was the name for blue tinged with red, from violet to purple. And this very strikingly brings out the Divine lesson by correspondence. While the blue indicates that in our demeanour in life we should be correct, in harmony with the spirit of truth, the red hue indicates that all our truth ought to be softened and warmed by love. “Speak the truth in love,” said the apostle, and to remind them of this duty God commanded the ribband of warm blue to be worn upon the fringe of their garments by the sons of Israel. It is religion in life that is observed by and is attractive to good men. When it not only enlightens the head and rules the heart, but comes down to the skirt of the garment, infusing justice, kindness, and courtesy in every act and word, then it has an eloquence which will inspire many a well-disposed heart to say, “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Let your good works and your good words so shine before men, that they may glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (J. Bayley, Ph. D.)
The ordinance of the fringes: gracious reminders of Divine commands
I. The proneness of man to forget the commandments of the Lord. This tendency arises from--
1. The sinfulness of human nature.
2. The worldly spirit which so largely prevails in human society.
II. The arrangements which God has made to remind man of his commandments.
1. The means which God employs to remind us of His commandments.
(1) The Bible. In this He not only reveals His will concerning us, but illustrates and enforces it in various ways so that we might not forget it.
(2) The Holy Spirit. He influences our spirits; speaks in us by means of conscience, &c.
(3) Holy examples. In these the will of God is “drawn out in living characters.”
(4) Warning examples of the evil consequences of overlooking His commands. These witness to us that it is perilous to forget the Divine will, and admonish us against doing so.
2. The design of God in reminding us of His commandments. “That ye wander not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring; that ye may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God.” Recollection of the will of God must be followed by obedience to that will, or it will be worse than useless.
III. The grounds upon which God requires from us this recollection of and obedience to His commands.
1. His personal relation to us.
2. His gracious doings for us. (W. Jones.)
Remembrancers
How wonderful is what we call association! I hang some thought upon an object, and say, “Whenever I come hither, ring for me as a bell of joy”; and upon another I fasten an experience, saying to it, “Toll to me of sadness”; and to another, “Give forth some bold, inspiring strain”; and to another, “Speak to me always of hope.” And, thereafter, each thing, true to its nature, whether it be tree, or place, or rock, or house, or that which is therein, never forgets its lesson. Yea, and when we forget, they make us to remember, singing to us the notes which we had taught them. Thus the heart, though it may not dismember itself, to give a soul to the material world, has yet a power half to create in physical things a soul in each for itself. So its life is written out, and it keeps a journal upon trees, upon hills, upon the face of heaven. Is it not for this, then, that in turn God has used every object in nature, every event in life, every function of society, every affection and endearment of human love, yea, and things that are not, the very silences of the world, and memories that are but disembodied events, to represent to us by association His nature and affections? Thus the heaven and the earth do speak of God, and the great natural world is but another Bible, which clasps and binds the written one; for nature and grace are one. Grace is the heart of the flower, and nature but its surrounding petals. (H. W. Beecher.)
Association
Thus a house becomes sacred. Every room has a thousand memories. Every door and window is clustered with associations. And when, after long years, we go back to the house of our infancy, faces look out upon us, and an invisible multitude stand in gate and portal to welcome us, and we hear airy voices speaking again the old words of our childhood. (H. W. Beecher.)