This year, as I was thinking of a biblical theme for our time together, my attention was drawn to one of the most famous biblical blessings of all time. In the book of Numbers, after the Israelites had come out of their bondage in Egypt, Almighty God, with the help of Moses his faithful servant and leader, were establishing the uncompromising standards by which His people would govern their lives thereafter. Our God was carving out a people for Himself. And in the midst of these lists of legal instructions, Almighty God tells Moses how Aaron and all his priestly sons are supposed to bless the people. We hear this blessing all the time, but I wonder if we recognize what God is actually saying. Listen carefully to exactly what God said: 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.”
This is a lovely blessing. This is a wonderful way of helping us focus our thoughts as we enter into our own annual time of blessing. But this blessing is also enormously revealing…in this blessing we discover some wildly important things about God’s perspective and desires.
Blessing Is God’s Desire. Do we notice, for example, that blessing is God’s desire for us? This entire blessing is God’s initiative. It is God taking the initiative here. It is God who desires good for us. It is God both writing and commanding this blessing prayer. Lest any of us have any doubt about the loving character of Almighty God, these blessing instructions should clarify things. This blessing is God’s desire.
But what exactly is God desiring? What are the details of this blessing?
Blessing Is Face Time. God longs for face time with us. God wants His face to shine on us. God wants to turn His face toward us in the most wonderful and tender way. Pastor Chuck thoughtfully noted on Tuesday morning, as we were reflecting on this passage together, at how interesting it is that in other places in Scripture we talk about our inability, because of our sin and God’s perfect holiness, to see the face of God and live. And yet here, like the loving father of the prodigal looking down the road waiting for his son to come home, our God longs for face time with us. When we seek blessing, we are seeking face time with God.
Blessing Is About Security. But blessing is also about security. It is about being kept by God in a way nothing else on earth can keep us. We aren’t asking God to somehow miraculously protect us from all harm and danger, even though that isn’t a bad request. We are asking Him to keep us through all harm and danger – kept in such a way that, though we walk through valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil. Blessing is about seeking a security utterly transcending our dangerous and difficult situations.
Blessing Is About Grace. Blessing is also about grace. How lovely is it to notice that here, even as the ink is still wet on the Mosaic covenant, it is God’s desire to bless us with grace and mercy. God is never interested in punishing us as our sins desire; even as we reject His offer of grace and go our own rebellious ways, God’s gracious desires remain unchanged. God has always longed to bless us with grace, even at this ancient point in history when none of us could even fully comprehend grace.
Blessing Is About Peace. Blessing is about peace. Almighty God longs to bless us not only with security, but He longs for our experience of that security to be a tremendous, overwhelming sense of peace and serenity in the midst of storm. God desires to bless us with peace – peace with Him and peace with others. Even as the human race rejects this peace, even as we rebel against God’s utterly gracious plan, God still longs for us to enjoy a peace
Blessing Is About God’s Name. But the element of blessing I find most startling and revealing this morning, perhaps because I’ve never really considered it before, is the final one. Whenever I pronounce this great, biblical blessing of God on people, I almost never include the final, postscript note God includes in verse 27. Do you see it? God says Aaron and his priestly sons should pronounce these great blessings on the people so that “they might put my name on the Israelites.” Blessing is about putting the name of God on people. Blessing is about all of us humbly and intentionally gathering together before God and asking Him to put His name and His blessing on our lives. We long for face time with God. We long for security in Him. We long to experience and enjoy His grace and peace. But I suspect the most important aspect of God’s blessing is accepting His name on our lives – accepting His ownership of our lives.
So when we come forward for blessing this morning, these are the things we’re asking for. We’re asking God to put His name on us and, in so doing, bless us with all the rest of His good and godly desires for us. Isn’t that just wonderful? What could be better than that?
May the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace. May the LORD put His name on your life in an utterly glorious and life-changing way this year.
Amen.
