Lectio- 5/29/24

 

Commentary Below from Blue Letter Bible 

C. The priestly blessing.

1. (Numbers 6:22-23) The command to bless the people.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:’”

a. This is the way you shall bless: Moses, Aaron, and their spiritual descendants were commanded to bless the people of God. They were to do it according to the procedure detailed in the following verses.

 “The priests were always there pronouncing this blessing at the close of the daily morning service in the temple and later in the synagogues.” (Wenham)

 “So Christ did upon his apostles, which was his last action upon earth, (Luke 24:50) and so must all pastors do that would do good on it, pray down a blessing on their people.” (Trapp)

b. Say to them: The Bible does not give us many written prayers, that were meant to be repeated. Another example would be what is often called “The Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-13 (perhaps better titled “The Disciple’s Prayer).

2. (Numbers 6:24-26) The Aaronic blessing.

“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.”

a. The Lord bless you: This simple desire begins everything. God loves to bless His people, and He wants leaders who long for the people be blessed. This also recognizes that all blessing really comes from God; and without His blessing, nothing really works right.

i. We remember also that God’s blessing has always in mind our greatest and highest good. We often expect God’s blessing to mean a life of comfort and ease — but that certainly isn’t for our greatest and highest good. God knows how we need to be blessed, even if we don’t.

ii. We have often settled for happiness or comfort or wealth when God wanted us to be blessed. True blessing from God is higher than happiness or wealth or comfort.

b. And keep you: To be kept by the Lord is blessing indeed. Some are kept by their own sin and desire, some are kept by idolatry and greed, and others are kept by their own bitterness and anger. But to be kept by the Lord insures life, peace, and success.

c. The Lord make His face to shine upon you: To have the glorious, pleased face of God shining upon man is the greatest gift one could have. To know that as God looks upon you, He is well pleased — not because of who you are, or what you have done, but because you are in Jesus Christ — there is no greater source of peace and power in life.

i. We can imagine a father disciplining his son and putting the son out of his presence — and then receiving the son back to see his loving face again. This is how God receives sinners who come to Jesus by faith.

ii. “Why should he fret when God smiles? What matters though all the world should censure, if Jehovah countenances his servant. A look of approval from God creates a deep, delightful calm within the soul.” (Spurgeon)

d. And be gracious to you: The idea is that God would show tender mercy and care for His people.

e. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you: The priest was to pray that God would look upon His people; when He blesses, keeps, shines, and is gracious towards His people. Any look that God directs toward His people is filled with nothing but blessing. His loving attention is on the believer.

i. To lift up one’s eyes or face means to pay attention, and to look favorably towards. “When God smiles on his people, they can be sure that he will be gracious to them, that is, he will deliver them from all their troubles. He will answer their prayers and save them from their enemies.” (Wenham)

f. And give you peace: The Hebrew word is shalom, which is more than the end of aggression. This peace, this shalom is God’s word for wholeness and goodness and total satisfaction in life. This is the abundant life Jesus promised (John 10:10).

g. The Lord…the Lord…the Lord: The repetition of Lord three times does not prove the Trinity, but it illustrates it.

• God the Father blesses and keeps His children.
• God the Son makes God’s face to shine on us and brings us grace.
• God the Holy Spirit communicates God’s attention to us, and gives us peace.

i. “The thrice-mentioned YHWH, which grammatically need not be repeated, and the final resounding “I will [surely] bless you,” serve to heighten the emphasis that the God of Israel is the source of all grace, blessing, hope, and peace.” (Cole)

ii. “I will not say that this teaches the doctrine of the Trinity; but I must say that, believing the doctrine of the Trinity, I understand the passage all the better. The shadow of the Triune God is on the sacred benediction in the name thrice repeated.” (Spurgeon)

h. You…you…you…you…you…you: It is repeated six times for emphasis — God wants to bless you. We often feel as if God really wanted to bless someone else. He wants to bless us.

i. “So long as you are resting upon Christ—Jesus, the great High Priest, speaks from the eternal glory, and he says, ‘The Lord bless thee.’ ‘Oh! but I do not deserve it.’ Just so; but ‘the Lord Bless thee.’ ‘I am so unworthy, I am so backsliding.’ Yes, but the Lord Jesus Christ knows all, covers all. We will read it, then: ‘The Lord Bless thee — thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.’ Oh! have you got that wrought into your very hearts?” (Spurgeon)

ii. As God bestows His blessing on us, we must receive it by faith. We must be like Jacob — who would not let go of God until God blessed him.

iii. “The prayer is cast in poetic form and is probably one of the oldest poems in Scripture.” (Wenham)

3. (Numbers 6:27) The fruit of the blessing.

So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

a. So they shall put My name on the children of Israel: To be blessed by God is to have His name on you — to be identified with who He is and all His nature. This was a great gift, to have God’s name upon them.

i. Aaron was commanded to pronounce this blessing over the people of Israel — not over the other nations. Though God blesses all mankind, there is a definite and strong sense in which He has blessing only for His people. We have to join ourselves to Him to gain that blessing.

b. And I will bless them: God promised to bless according to these words. This makes these words appropriate for pastors to pronounce over their congregations. More importantly, every believer should remember that we have a High Priest in heaven — Jesus Christ — who lives forever to pray for us and to bless us.

i. “When God saith, ‘I will,’ all the devils in hell cannot turn aside the blessing, and all the ages of eternity cannot change the King’s word.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “The Lord has blessed his people, and he would have them know it. He has blessed them with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and it is his wish that they should experience the fullness of this blessedness. Are any of the Lord’s people without a sense of this blessing? It is not the will of God that you should continue in this low condition.” (Spurgeon)