The Aaronitic Blessing
BY RONALD VAN OVERLOOP
Numbers 6:22-27 God has brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. He has given them all the laws. Now, in closing, He teaches Aaron and his sons what they, as representatives of God and by the authority of God, are to say as they bless the people:
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. (Num. 6:24-26)Not as a priest, but nonetheless with the authority of one called of God by the church, many a minister of the Word today has been giving that same blessing to the congregation. It's a benediction that you no doubt have heard many, many times. And yet, it's something that we hear and forget.So, let's explore the richness of that beautiful blessing so that the next time you hear it, you will better understand what the Lord is saying to you.
Jehovah bless thee...
The benediction begins with "The Lord bless thee"or literally and more precisely, "Jehovah bless thee." It doesn't say "God bless thee," or "the Lord bless thee." The name "Jehovah" is placed there purposefully.You see, Jehovah means I AM. He is the Ever-Existing One, the Self-sufficient One. He doesn't need anything or anyone else to support Him. He is perfectly complete in Himself.
The name "I AM" also means that He is unchangeable. We humans are changing all the time. We always have parts of our body dying, being wasted and disposed of. We need constant supplements. God doesn't. He never changes from that position of perfect self-sufficiency. He doesn't waver one bit from what He purposes to do.
The name Jehovah has yet another meaning. In Exodus 6, when God assured Moses that He would surely deliver the enslaved Israelites from Egypt, He said in verse 3, "I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them."
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you see, knew God by the name God Almighty. To them, He is the omnipotent God. But now, the children of Israel, who are soon to be delivered, will know Him by the name Jehovah. He is the merciful Deliverer; He is the Savior; He is the Messiah.
When God says, "Jehovah bless thee," therefore, He is telling us that we are being blessed by the God who is ever-existing, the God who never changes, the God who has mercifully delivered us from our enslavement to Satan and sin.
We often forget that, though. Understandably, in times of great trouble and affliction, we often wonder if God is still blessing us. Whether it's real or imagined, the cry that comes from us is like that of Psalm 77: "Hath God forgotten to be kind? Is his mercy gone forever?"
What concerns me the most is that we forget God's blessings in other times as well. We follow our daily routine unmindful of God. We rush around and engage in all kinds of activities without a thought of our Lord. Often, we even forget to pray. This concerns me the most because it's forgetfulness in those times that we're in the greatest danger of falling.
And then we stop all of a sudden for one reason or another and we hear this blessing ringing in our ears: Jehovah bless thee. Regardless of how forgetful you and I may be, regardless of how deeply we may fall into our sins, the God who had given us to Christ from all eternity hasn't changed in His gracious attitude toward us.
One body. Notice who is being blessed. He blesses thee. In our modern day English, the word "you" can be either singular or plural. But in the old English used in the King James, "you" is always the plural pronoun; and "thee", the singular.
Thus, the blessing that God wants the priests to give to the children of Israel is given to them as if they're all one. True, Christ has a personal relationship with us and He knows us individually by name. But in this blessing, God sees all the believers as parts of the whole body, the body of Christ.
No man's an island unto himself, the poet has said. And we all try it. Or we select a certain group about us with whom we'll be on the island.
In the church, that's not to be the case. In the church, we are all parts of a body. As we worship and serve together, we are blessed together.
...and keep thee.
Now, what does it mean to be blessed? We get health, wealth and everything else that our hearts desire? No. Nothing like that. The result of Jehovah blessing you is that He will keep you. See that? "Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee."This keeping is like that of a shepherd or a guard or a defender. When you are blessed by Jehovah, you are preserved from the fearful grasp of death, from the angry paw of Satan. The devil can no longer take charge of your soul.
The unchanging and merciful God also keeps you from falling completely away, from ever committing the unpardonable sin. Maybe not from every specific sin, but you are so kept and cared for that you will repent whenever you do sin and will hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Jehovah make his face shine upon thee...
God says in Ecclesiastes 11:7, "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun."I lived in Michigan for awhile. I remember on the other side of the Lake, especially in the winter, clouds almost always covered all of west Michigan. What a wonderful sight it was when, in one of those days, we could see the sun shine! While it's wonderful that the sun shines, it's much, much more wonderful when the face of God shines on us.
Remember the time Moses saw the glory of God? Actually, Moses only saw God's backside because no one can see God's face and live. God had put Moses in a cleft of the rock so that he could see His back as He was departing. Even so, as a result of that glorious shining of God upon him, Moses' own face shone.
Now, God actually tells the priests to bless His people by saying, "Jehovah make his face to shine upon you."
Sometimes, the blessing of God is beyond our ability to understand. There are occasions when we search for God but can't seem to find Him. But this Aaronitic blessing assures us that even when we are in our despair, God is making His face to shine upon us. Not His backside, not so that we see God leaving us, but God is looking directly upon us as He watches over us.
...and be gracious unto thee.
Although Moses couldn't see God's face directly, the Bible repeatedly emphasizes that God has spoken to him face to face. In other words, God communicated with him personally.Likewise, when God makes His face to shine upon us, He communicates to us. And what does He communicate to us? His grace. Isn't that what it says? "And be gracious unto thee." By His grace, He lets us know that we are the object of His love.
Literally, the first meaning of grace is beauty. Because God has communicated His beauty to us, we become increasingly beautiful. He works in our lives, molding and shaping us into the image of Christ. That's the beauty we see in each other. That's the ability that you and I have to love one another.
But grace also means favor. And so, when your life is pressed so sorely that you wonder if God has forgotten you, then remember that God causes His face to shine upon you. As you look up at the face of God, you can find comfort in knowing that you have found favor in His sight. He favors you. He smiles at you. He loves you.
Implicit in the grace of God is the power that saves us. We read in Ephesians 2:8: "By grace are ye saved." After we have become saved, that grace becomes the power, the activity of God in constantly rescuing us, whether we're conscious of it or not. No matter where you are and what you are doing, He gives us the grace that is fully sufficient for that moment.
It's really true. Sometimes, you think you're walking all alone. But God is gracious unto you. His grace is carrying you. Those aren't your footprints; they're His.
Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee...
Now, God could have told Aaron and his sons to give the blessing in such a way that the name Jehovah is said only once. They could simply say, "Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee; He make his face shine upon thee" and so on. But He doesn't.God told them to use the name Jehovah again and then a third time. He wants to push it deep into our consciousness that the God whose love elected you and who then sent His son to die for you hasn't changed one wit in His attitude towards you.
God also uses the third part of the Aaronitic blessing to drive something home to us because it is very similar to the second part. Literally, it says: "Jehovah lift up his face to
thee." Both the word "countenance" here and the word "face" in the preceding verse are from the same Hebrew word.Now, this lifting up seems to imply that the face of God is down and needs to be lifted up. But as we've already learned, God doesn't change; His love for us is always there. So, it's not that God ever has His face down on us. It's just that from our perspective, it may seem so in our times of distress.
Through this blessing, God is emphasizing that Jehovah's face is always lifted up and shining upon us. He is giving us this reassurance: You are well-favored, I am well pleased with you; in Christ, your sins are gone, I care for you and I am constantly watching over you.
You can therefore rest assured that in the divine plan that God has for your life, there are no mistakes, no unexpected developments. Daily, hourly, minutely, that perfect plan is being implemented, so that you can walk comfortably, pleasantly, in the ways of God. You can wake up every morning and know that you are in His care. You're kept.
...and give thee peace.
No wonder the blessing ends with the statement, "and give thee peace." When God lifts up His face and shines upon us, you and I have peace.If you're like me, there probably are no more terrifying experiences in your life than those times when you were caught red-handed. You worried and feared the consequences that you had to face. You didn't have a moment of peace.
After we have become saved, that grace becomes the power, the activity of God in constantly rescuing us, whether In Christ, however, we have real peace. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God." We are no longer at war with God. Although God knows all our sins, we can have a peaceful relationship with Him because Christ has paid for them in full.
God also gives us peace in our relationship to the circumstances around us. Because I know God is watching over me all the time, I can have peace with the different things of my life. I can be content with whatever lot that God has given me.
If I can get a good education and a good job, I thank God for them. But if I cannot afford to go to college or if I cannot have the things that my neighbors have, I still have contentment. This is the lot my God has given to me, and I'm pleased with it. And so, I have inner peace.
And I will bless them.
After having given the Aaronitic Blessing, God says in verse 27 of Numbers 6, "And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them." Actually, according to the Hebrew text, this verse starts with the word "So", not "And". In other words, God is telling Aaron and his sons, the priests in all of their generations, that when they bless the children of God in such a manner, they are effectively putting the name of Jehovah upon them.If I didn't know this, I would just make it a wish. I would just hope that God Jehovah will bless you and keep you. But here God flatly promises, "When the children have My Name upon them, I will bless them." Human's blessings are only words and wishes. We can only pray. But God's blessing is a reality.
The next time you hear the Aaronitic benediction being given, hear this: The Unchanging God blesses you; He is watching over you; He is giving you His grace and His peace no matter what circumstance you find yourself in because His name is upon you. o
Rev. Ronald Van Overloop is pastor of Bethel Protestant Reformed Church, 1047 Florida Lane, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007.