← All Chapters The Book of Numbers · Chapter 15

Numbers 15: Offerings and Remembering

Even after the wilderness sentence, God details offerings for the land to come, distinguishes sin in ignorance from defiance, and gives tassels as reminders to obey.

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Numbers 15 (WEB)

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you,

3 and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, of the herd, or of the flock;

4 then he who offers his offering shall offer to Yahweh a meal offering of a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of oil.

5 You shall prepare wine for the drink offering, the fourth part of a hin, with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.

6 “‘Or for a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil;

7 and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

8 When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh;

9 then shall he offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil:

10 and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

11 Thus shall it be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats.

12 According to the number that you shall prepare, so you shall do to everyone according to their number.

13 “‘All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

14 If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh; as you do, so he shall do.

15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so shall the foreigner be before Yahweh.

16 One law and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.’”

17 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

18 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land where I bring you,

19 then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to Yahweh.

20 Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering. As the wave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall heave it.

21 Of the first of your dough, you shall give to Yahweh a wave offering throughout your generations.

22 “‘When you shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which Yahweh has spoken to Moses,

23 even all that Yahweh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations;

24 then it shall be, if it was done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, with its meal offering, and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.

25 The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error.

26 All the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, as well as the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them; for with regard to all the people, it was done unwittingly.

27 “‘If one person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.

28 The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs, when he sins unwittingly before Yahweh, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.

29 You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them.

30 “‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, the same blasphemes Yahweh. That soul shall be cut off from among his people.

31 Because he has despised Yahweh’s word, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’”

32 While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.

33 Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.

34 They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.

35 Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.”

36 All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

37 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

38 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue:

39 and it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute;

40 that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

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

Summary

Immediately after sentencing the wilderness generation, God speaks of the land Israel will yet enter, giving instructions for the grain and drink offerings that are to accompany burnt offerings and sacrifices. The very command assumes a future in the land, a quiet word of grace after judgment. One law is to govern native Israelite and resident foreigner alike before Yahweh. God then distinguishes between sins committed unwittingly, for which the congregation or the individual brings a sin offering and is forgiven, and sin done defiantly, with a high hand, which despises Yahweh's word and cuts that person off from the people. The chapter illustrates this with a man found gathering sticks on the Sabbath in deliberate disregard of God's command; held in custody until God's will is clear, he is put to death outside the camp. Finally, God commands the people to make tassels with a cord of blue on the borders of their garments, so that whenever they look at them they will remember all Yahweh's commandments and do them, rather than following their own hearts and eyes. The reminders are anchored in the great fact that Yahweh brought them out of Egypt to be their God.

Key Figures

  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The God who, even after judgment, speaks of the land to come, prescribes offerings, distinguishes sin in ignorance from defiance, and gives tassels of remembrance.
  • Moses — The mediator through whom God delivers these statutes for offerings, atonement, and the fringes on Israel's garments.
  • The Sabbath-breaker — The man found gathering sticks on the Sabbath in open defiance of God's command, whose case illustrates the seriousness of high-handed sin.
  • The resident foreigner — The stranger living among Israel, included under the same statute and law as the native-born, a glimpse of God's wider welcome.

Key Verse

Numbers 15:39 (WEB)

and it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute;

Lessons Learned

  • God's instructions for the land are themselves a promise that Israel still has a future there.
  • Before God there is one law for the native-born and the foreigner alike.
  • There is a real difference between sin we stumble into and sin we defiantly choose.
  • We are forgetful people who need tangible reminders to obey the God who saved us.
  • Remembering God's commandments guards us from following our own wandering hearts and eyes.
  • Grace looks forward even after judgment. God speaks of “when you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you” (Numbers 15:2, WEB), assuring Israel of a future in the very chapter after the sentence to wander.
  • God's people belong to one community under one law. “One law and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger” (Numbers 15:16, WEB); access to God is not by ethnicity but by his gracious provision.
  • Defiant sin is graver than sin in ignorance. The one who sins “with a high hand… despised Yahweh’s word” (Numbers 15:30-31, WEB); rebellion that scorns God differs from the failures atonement covers.
  • Reminders are for remembering and doing. The tassels are given so the people “remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them” (Numbers 15:39, WEB), guarding against following their own hearts and eyes.
  1. Why is it significant that these laws about the land come right after the wilderness sentence of chapter 14?
  2. What does the inclusion of the foreigner under 'one law' teach about God's heart?
  3. How does the chapter distinguish between unintentional sin and sin done 'with a high hand'?
  4. What was the purpose of the tassels, and what does that reveal about our own need for reminders?
  5. What practical 'reminders' help you remember and obey God rather than follow your own heart and eyes?
  1. Coming straight after the sentence to wander, these instructions for offerings 'when you have come into the land' are a quiet word of hope (15:2). God's law presupposes a future in Canaan, assuring the people that judgment on one generation does not cancel his promise.
  2. The same statute governs native-born and foreigner alike (15:15-16), showing that nearness to God rests on his provision, not on birth. It points ahead to a people God gathers from every nation under one covenant of grace.
  3. Sin done 'unwittingly' is covered by a sin offering and forgiven (15:27-28), while sin done 'with a high hand' despises God's word and cuts the person off (15:30-31). The Sabbath-breaker illustrates deliberate defiance, not accidental failure.
  4. The tassels were a visible prompt to look, remember, and obey God's commandments rather than chase their own hearts and eyes (15:39-40). They reveal how forgetful we are and how God graciously builds reminders into ordinary life.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Invite members to share rhythms or symbols that help them keep God's word in view, such as Scripture, prayer, and community. As leader, emphasize that the goal of every reminder is loving obedience, not mere ritual.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.