"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD'S DESIRE TO BLESS YOU"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD'S DESIRE TO BLESS YOU"

Num 6:22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

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.”

Some explanatory thoughts, application and a prayer:

1. Here is what the Lord said to Moses. He was to instruct Aaron, who was to instruct his sons. So, God was giving very specific commands to Moses, to be passed down to the High Priest, and then to his sons, who were in turn to deliver this message to the people of God.

God was telling Moses, Aaron, and his sons, that this was they way to bless the children of Israel. The blessing was to come through what was said to them. God was very specific, and very detailed, and very serious if you will about what He wanted communicated to His people.

2. So, here is what the priests were to tell the people when them would minister to them.

(1) The Lord bless you and keep you. The word bless means, to salute, to kneel, to be blessed. And, the word keep, has the idea of protecting you. In the NT, the word bless, or blessed, has the idea of being "fortunate" So, in the opening words, God wanted the people to know how fortunate they were, and He wanted them to understand this, and that part of their being fortunate, was, that He was going to protect them, and to preserve them. And, this is what God promises to do for each of us who have come to faith through Jesus Christ.

(2) Next, the Lord wanted the priests to say, "The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;" This is partly easy to understand, and partly not. What does it mean, that the Lord would make "His face shine upon you?" It simply means to smile upon You.

What an interesting thought to think that God is smiling at you, and wants you to know that. God wanted His people to know that He was smiling upon them, and towards them. The word shine, literally means to become light, to be bright, to be illuminated, to become lighted up. God is light, and He is the Light of the World, and we live in darkness, but He wants to be the light of our lives, lighting our way, showing us how to walk, where to walk, and to give us the light of understanding about Him, about us, about the world around us, about all things that we need to know about.

The part that is a little easier to understand, is the "And be gracious to you;" part. Gracious means, mercy, merciful, favour, to direct His favour towards His people. To show His consideration to His people. Grace in the NT, means, God's undeserved favor and blessing. So, the Lord wanted to remind the people that He is the God of grace, that we do not earn His favor, but He gives it freely, to the undeserving. He is gracious, and He wanted His people to be constantly reminded of it. And, I might add, that He wants us to walk in graciousness towards people as well,

(3) Next here was what they were to say. "The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’ Actually there are two things here. First of all, that God would lift up His countenance upon the people, and that He would give them peace. This is similar in meaning to what was just said about being gracious. It means, "May the LORD show you his favor and give you his "peace.’

Repetition is important. It helps us hear again what is being said, and thus, God was in a sense repeating Himself about His being gracious. He wanted to get this point across loud and clear. But, then He adds, "And give you peace" The word peace means, prosperity, to be safe, to be healthy, to be complete, sound, to enjoy rest and quietness, tranquility and contentment. God gives this to us. We can receive it.

In fact, Jesus said, John 14:27* “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

We can truly experience this peace as we trust God with our cares and our concerns and believe His Word and act upon it.

(4) Finally, God said, to tell them 'So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” This was more of an explanation to Moses, Aaron, and his sons, as to what the effect of their faithful ministry to the people would be. By telling the people what they were told to say, they would in fact, be doing two things.

One, putting God's name on the children of Israel, and two, that God would bless them. Putting His name upon them, means to communicate His person to them. To speak to the people about who God is, and how much He loves them, and cares for them, and wants to protect them. And, in their knowing this about Him, it would bring them peace. God wants His people to have peace.

Why? One main reason, is so we can enjoy concentrating our lives, our thoughts, our energies upon Him. When we are not at peace, we are frazzled and distracted and disturbed, but when we are at peace, we are more mindful of Him, and it's so much easier to enjoy thinking about God and fellowshipping with Him.

A prayer:

Father, this message from You to Moses, to give to Your people, and it's application in our lives is so wonderfully encouraging. Thank You for Your desire to bless us, to keep us, to take care of us. You are the LORD, and there is no one like You. We love You, and we exalt You today. May all of these truths become part of our lives, part of our understanding, and may we learn to receive Your Word, and to live it out, walking in it day by day.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia