30 More Days... Day 5

Num. 6:23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
Num. 6:24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
Num. 6:25 The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
Num. 6:26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’
Num. 6:27  “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

Just recently we were reminded of the prayer of priestly blessing recorded for us in Numbers in a message given at the mission conference we attended. It is a blessing or benediction that many of us are familiar with and not a few of us rush through at top speed at the closing of a service. There can be a tendency, in our familiarity, to speed through the words and miss the meaning as we often do with other well known verses like The Lord’s Pray and Psalm 23.

Last year when I was participating in the grape harvest (also see the blog post for Nov 14, 2007) we worked until lunch time and then sat down to a large meal. Before the meal the catholic family members recited “grace” for the food. The speed was incredible. It was obviously something they had said many times. Said normally it would have taken perhaps 45 seconds to a minute, but for them they got through it in 15-30 seconds. It was almost like a competition to see who could get through it first. I can’t say that I have never been guilty of such things though. Prayer at meal time (or on many other occasions) can become a “God’s neat, let’s eat” type event. There is a danger in familiar things. We can miss the meaning and the intent.

For the Jew, this blessing was a familiar thing. It was repeated often over the people. It was meant to be said daily, and was also said at many special events. It is a prayer commanded by God of the priest over the people. It is always possible that the people as well as the priest became too familiar with the words, so that at times the meaning was lost to the performance of tradition. Yet, there are great truth and meaning in these words.

As we look through the prayer we see Jehovah mentioned 3 times.
The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace
The fact that Lord is used 3 times is significant from the standpoint that many commentators point to the 3 persons of the Trinity being involved in the blessing of the people. In fact, the various blessings associated fit well with what we know of the character and personality of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Father is the keeper and protector. He takes care, provides, oversees and rules over all. The Son has made the Father’s face to shine on us. He has, by His graciousness on the cross, brought us back into right relationship with the Father. Grace being only available to us because justice was satisfied on Him on the cross. The Spirit is our comforter. He is the one that comes to us and reminds us of all that Jesus said and did. He is the seal that is the “earnest” of our salvation and the one that guides us into all truth.

However, beyond that we have some wonderful pictures and reminders of who God was to the Jew and who He is to us.

Often as we look at the Old Testament we get a picture of God as severe and almost mean. God’s punishment seems swift and harsh. He seems like the hardened old school master ready to whip out the “rod of correction” at every opportunity. Yet, here repeated each and every day, to remind them of God’s desire toward them, were the words bless and keep. God is a God of blessing and that is His desire toward us. His great love is there proclaimed to us as it was to the people each day. There is nothing that God wants to do more than to bless us in our way.

Not only that but He is also a keeper. He is a protector and He upholds us. He is not looking to hurt us but rather to guard us. Every parent knows that, sometimes, in an effort to protect a children that they must be in some ways restrained and limited. Boundaries are needed and appropriate. This can seem quite severe to the child and yet, all the while, God is simply blessing and keeping.

In fact, the next phrase takes this idea a step farther. In the message we recently heard, Pastor Damian evoked the image of “Make His face shine upon you...” using the example of a grandfather to his grandchildren. A grandfather’s face shines at the sight of grandchildren. He loves to see them and know them. He is warm and loving, and his face just shines toward them. It is a beautiful picture of how God also feels about us and just wants to shine His face toward us as well.

But God also is gracious to us. Each day we have evidence of His graciousness to us in the simply change of the seasons and the coming of the rain and sun. But that isn’t all. We also have the daily provision for our bodies and souls. If all that were not enough, He is also gracious towards us to salvation through faith for the forgiving of sin. His intent then is also to be gracious and good toward us.

Finally, the blessing is that God would “lift up His countenance” or turn His face toward us. Often we can feel forgotten. We might feel that God doesn’t see or we are not important enough for His attention to fall upon us. Yet, here the blessing is just that. God looking at us. He sees us even when we feel alone or abandoned. As Hagar who was mistreated and ran from Sarah realized, He is the “God who sees me”. Having received such understanding she was able to return and submit herself to Sarah even as God has told her. Knowing that He is a God who “lifts up His countenance upon us” allows us to live at peace. Just knowing that He is there can give us peace and let us rest because we are in His view. He give us peace.

The priests were to pray this daily over the people. They were to bless them and put God’s name upon them. God has made us a royal priesthood. Such blessing and proclamation should then also be made by us daily to bless the people around us. The priest would lift up his hands and proclaim the blessing that the Lord commanded, over the people. He proclaimed the Name and good intent of God over the people reminding them of God’s care for each of them. As people see our lives and hear our words, may we also bless them and teach them about God’s blessing for them that gives protection, love, grace, remembrance and peace.

God “put” His name on the people. His name proclaims who He is and His intent toward us. Ultimately, it is to bless. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Prayer Request
* That our lives and prayers would bless the lives of those around us. That they would see God’s mercy and love in us. That our lives would be full of worship and proclamation of God with boldness. That God would protect us and keep us from the attacks of the enemy that our lives would proclaim His blessing, love, protection, peace and provision. That people would see the goodness and greatness of God and come to Him through that blessing and truly know Him.