Today I want to share a word about the Aaronic Blessing as I comment on Numbers 6:22-27. This passage reads,
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
I am writing this during the 2023 New Year season, and at times like this we want to be positive. We want to be positive about our future: the year to come. We want to be positive about the past: the record we wrote last year. We even want to be positive about what is happening in this moment in time. Sometimes, though we try hard, it is difficult to be positive.
An example of this is what a lady said to her pastor on the way out of church one Sunday. She said, “Pastor, thank you for sending tapes of our services to the nursing home. You just don’t know how much your sermons mean to my husband since he lost his mind!”
Yes, often it is hard to be positive with all the difficulties we face in the world and all the frailties we see in our own lives and the lives of others. Yet, we should be positive because we have been greatly blessed by God.
Our focal passage for understanding these blessings today is from Numbers 6:22-27. This passage is the blessing that Israel’s priests were told to bestow upon Israel from God. This blessing is called the “Aaronic,” or “Priestly” benediction or blessing.
The church, as Spiritual Israel, is the inheritor of this blessing. As we begin the New Year together, let us be blessed by the words of this benediction.
IT IS A BLESSING IN TRIPLICATE:
First, let’s notice that the blessing repeats “Lord” three times. This shows the fullness of God’s blessing. He is blessing us again, and again, and again. The repetition intensifies the blessing unto infinity. It reminds me of the words in Isaiah 6, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty” and of Ecclesiastes which tells us that, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Not only was this blessing intense, but it was also prophetic: this was written for Israel and for the church as well. God had not yet fully revealed Himself as Triune, but He has now. Looking back, we can see the fullness of God in this blessing. This is very much like the Apostolic Blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14, which says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Therefore, some would read it this way:
May God the Father bless you and keep you. May God the Son make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May God the Spirit lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
This is a triple blessing with double the potency. We need a powerful blessing in this day, and like getting a powerful dose of the right medicine, we have been given an intense blessing from the fullness of God.
IT IS A BLESSING WITH AUTHORITY:
This blessing came from God through His priests. A priest stands between God and people making intercession: A priest transmits to God human repentance and in return, he transmits to people God’s forgiveness. A priest, therefore, is like a pipeline, or an internet connection.
The Aaronic Priesthood foreshadowed Christ’s Priesthood as we clearly see in Hebrews 5:5-10:
So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
The Hebrews passage tells us that Christ is our priest. He is the one who blesses us. Even His last act upon Earth was to bless His people as we read in Luke 24:50 & 52:
And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.
Because Jesus is High Priest and God, His blessing has authority. Blessings are intended to invoke the power of God upon people. This is why it was so tragic for Esau that Jacob was able to steal his blessing from his father. They all believed it had real, spiritual power! If a human blessing could have power, how much more a blessing from God Himself. This is reflected in lines from the song “He touched me”:
He touched me, He touched me, and suddenly, nothing, nothing is the same!
When the God of the universe blesses us, nothing is ever the same again!
IT IS A BLESSING ACCORDING TO OUR NEEDS:
The Lord Bless You: The word “Bless” is found 415 times in the Old Testament. It implies life, health, and prosperity. This covers a multitude of our earthly needs.
The Lord Keep You: The term “Keep” means to protect. It was used to describe a shepherd watching over his flock and it comes from a word which means to “hedge about”. This would mean today “to secure a perimeter around” and the implication is to “exercise great care over.”
The Lord Make His Face To Shine Upon You: As He shines upon us, we soak up light, joy, and enthusiasm, like feeling the warmth of the sun on a cold day. As we feel His warmth, we begin to draw close to him like a plant turning toward the light. So, like it was when Moses’ face shined when he came down from the mountain, we reflect that light to the rest of humanity.
The Lord Be Gracious To You: "Gracious" means “kind and beneficial.” It means giving us what we need rather than what we deserve. Today, a common cry during civil unrest is “No justice, no peace!” In relationship to the perfect, righteous, and Almighty God of the universe, what we need is grace, not justice!
The Lord Lift Up His Countenance To You And Give You Peace: When we are angry or upset our facial expressions give us away. When we see this in others, we can’t have peace. We need to know that God isn’t angry with us so we can have peace, and the truth is, we need peace most of all.
CONCLUSION:
As we start off this year of 2023, the most important questions for each of us is this: do I have the God in my life that gives blessings like these? Do I receive His blessings every day? To realize His blessings, seek Him and He will find you! When He does, He will give you His greatest blessings!
So, as we begin this New Year,
May the LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Every blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook,
2004 Edition, Robert J. Morgan, Editor
