“Living in a Post-Easter World: The Shining”
Numbers 6:22-27; John 14:25-27
What is the greatest blessing you could receive this week? For that matter, what is the greatest blessing you’ve ever received? For God’s people, Israel, freedom from slavery in Egypt had to be at the top of their list of blessings. You’d think, in fact, that what God did in freeing them would have sustained them for a long time to come. But we know it did not; they began to grumble, complain, and lose faith almost as soon as they set foot in the desert. They were in need of a reminder of who and whose they were – that they belonged to God who would never abandon them. So God spoke to them through a benediction– one He still speaks to us today.
Consider the CHARACTER OF THE BENEDICTION. It’s helpful to review when it was spoken. THE CONTEXT WAS preparation for THE WILDERNESS. Israel stood between the Exodus from Egypt and entry into the Promised Land. It would be a long, testing journey and God knew they would grumble and complain. So God wanted to affirm them and remind them of their special, spiritual identity and of their privileges as God’s people. So He shared this benediction with them.
To do so GOD ESTABLISHED THE ROLE OF THE PRIEST. After the Priest offered the sacrifices on behalf of the people he would face them and hold his hands high to remind them the words he was speaking came from God. Just as the blood of death on their doorposts was a sign of life, so now the hands stained with blood were stretched out with the blessing of life. It was God’s way of laying His hands upon their heads. As such, these were more than just words – power and life were bestowed through the benediction.
So just what does THE CONTENT OF THE BENEDICTION mean? Let’s begin by considering what it meant FOR ISRAEL. The benediction contains three couplets. The first is “The Lord bless you and keep you.” The keys words are BLESS AND KEEP YOU.
For God to bless means that God is coming down to His people to show them favor, to give them significance, to bestow prosperity, to endow them with gifts, and to protect them. It’s like one little girl’s description of an elevator. She said, “I got into this little room and the upstairs came down.” Israel stepped into the wilderness and God came down in blessing. Israel could have felt much like John Donne, who wrote, “We are God’s tenants here, and yet here He, our landlord, pays us rents – not yearly, nor quarterly, but hourly and quarterly; every minute He renews His mercy.” Remember how Jeremiah put it (Lam. 3:22-23)? “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
God blessed His people by keeping them. The word ‘keep’ brings to mind the shepherds who put thorn bushes around the sheep to protect them. God was saying he would put a hedge around His people to protect them from harm and prevent them from wandering. God keeping his people was a favorite theme of the Psalmist. Listen to Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 91 has much the same theme. When the priest said, “The Lord bless you and keep you” he was giving the Israelites the assurance that THERE IS NO MOMENT WHEN GOD’S EYE IS OFF YOU, OR HIS ATTENTION IS DISTRACTED FROM YOU, OR HIS CARE FOR YOU FALTERS. What a blessing for Israel – and for us!
The second couplet of the benediction is “The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.” The key words are FACE SHINE AND BE GRACIOUS. The shining face would bring to mind Moses’ experience of being in the presence of God on the mountain (Ex. 34). Because God’s face shone so brightly, Moses face did as well – so much so that he had to wear a veil when he returned to the people for it was too brilliant for them. The shining face represents intimacy with God. Much like solar energy, God’s shining face radiates life and power.
And that life and power are rooted in the graciousness of God – that is, in God’s grace. To see God’s face should have meant death – but the benediction promised that instead they would receive grace, they would not be treated as they deserved, that God would always be gracious to them. Later God would even give them a tremendous offer through the Psalmist (81:9-11): “For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.” God’s graciousness, His grace, always points to the fact that GOD IS MORE READY TO GIVE THAN WE ARE TO RECEIVE. Did you catch that? I fear that too often it’s as
if He has given us blank checks from his bank of blessing and we fail to fill in the amount – and then wonder why we aren’t being blessed. God is pouring out His graciousness!
The benediction ends with the third couplet: “The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” The key concepts are TURN HIS FACE AND GIVE PEACE. Many of us learned these words as “The Lord lift up his countenance upon you…” But its basic meaning is to turn the face towards. An Israelite understood the sense. When a citizen appeared before a ruler the ruler would either look away – meaning disapproval or lack of interest – or turn his face towards him – meaning approval. So for God to turn His smiling face to His people is a sign of approval; God is saying we have His attention and favor.
And to see God’s face is to receive His peace – to be whole. It’s to be in a right, healthy relationship with oneself, with the world, with others, and with God. It is to be well in the depths of the soul. God was telling the Israelites that no matter what happens, no matter how long the journey, IT CAN BE WELL WITH YOUR SOUL. Indeed, this benediction was more than just words – power and life were bestowed every time the priest spoke them.
But these words were not limited to Israel and the Old Testament. They take on an even deeper significance in the New Testament – and for us. JESUS IS OUR PRIEST, as the book of Hebrews makes so very clear. As such He is the deliverer of the benediction blessings but is also Himself the blessings. Jesus’ hands, stained with blood, are now stretched out in blessing. He is laying His hands upon our heads. As such, these are more than just words – power and life are bestowed through Him.
Think about what that does for the impact of the benediction and for us! In Jesus God will BLESS AND KEEP YOU. Jesus came down from upstairs to bring favor, significance, prosperity, gifts, and protection. He blessed little children, He laid His hands on adults, He fed the multitudes. As He ascended into heaven (Lk. 24:50) “he lifted up his hands and blessed them.” Whenever Jesus stretched out his blood stained hands, God broke into life. And still Jesus continues to stretch out those hands to you to bless you!
The power of Jesus’ blessing is that He is promising to keep you. He told the Jews (Jn. 10:27-30 NLT) “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” Through Jesus you have the assurance that NOT ONE IS LOST; NO ONE WILL PERISH; NO ONE WILL SNATCH you away from Him.
Also in Jesus God will make His FACE SHINE AND BE GRACIOUS to you. Because of sin God’s face had been turned away. But Jesus, the light of the world, is the face of God, God’s shining down on us. As Paul wrote, we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. As John wrote (1:4) “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
And we know that Jesus deals with us in grace. “From the fullness of his grace we have all received on blessing after another.” (Jn. 1:16) Jesus Himself said, “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” (Jn. 15:7) As Paul wrote, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Rom. 8:1). It reminds me of an incident portrayed in Gore Vidal’s Lincoln. The president’s counselors came to discuss what would happen after the war, which was drawing to a close. They wanted to punish the South as a vanquished enemy. When asked how he planned to deal with the South, Lincoln said, “I will treat them as if they never left.” What a great description of Jesus’ grace: JESUS TREATS YOU AS IF YOU NEVER LEFT! He is the face of God shining down on you, in the spirit of grace.
In Jesus God also TURNS HIS FACE AND GIVES PEACE. This is more than saying God turns His smiling face to His people as a sign of approval, and that we have His attention and favor. In Jesus God comes all the way to us. Jesus’ consistent promise to His disciples was that after He left them he would come to them. Jesus, in fact said (John 14:23) "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” More than just smiling on us with approval – God makes His home in us. Through the Holy Spirit Jesus fills us with Himself.
And that’s why Jesus can bring us God’s peace. Just after promising to make His home with us, Jesus said (Jn. 14:27) “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” The peace of God is within us! Is it any wonder that the great preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “TO BE COUNTENANCED BY GOD IS BETTER THAN BEING COMMENDED BY PRINCES.” The apostle Paul certainly lived with and understood this peace. Residing in prison, awaiting a verdict that could lead to his death, wrote (Phil. 4:4-7 NLT) “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Listen to how the Message translation puts it: “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” In Jesus God turns his face towards us, makes His home in us, and gives us peace.
What a marvelous benediction; what a promise; what a power for living! Yet that’s not all; God said one more thing after giving Moses the benediction to pass on the priests. Listen THE CLAIM OF THE BENEDICTION (Numbers 6:27) “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Every time the benediction is pronounced God stakes His claim upon us. These promises, these divine realities are our spiritual brand – our identification mark. We are called by His name and filled with the power of His name. We are children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus, joint heirs with Jesus! IT’S WONDERFUL FOR GOD TO KNOW AND CALL US BY NAME – BUT FOR US TO BE CALLED BY HIS NAME…! Wow!
In Disney's animated movie Toy Story, Woody (a plush toy cowboy) confronts Buzz Lightyear (a toy astronaut) with the fact that he is only an action figure and not really a space hero. Early in the movie Woody shouts, "You're not a space ranger! You're an action figure—a child's plaything." After failing to fly, Buzz realizes the truth of Woody's statement. Grief-stricken and disillusioned, Buzz hangs his head in resignation, declaring, "I'm just a stupid, little, insignificant toy." Woody later seeks to comfort his friend by underscoring the love of the boy who owns them both. "You must not be thinking clearly. Look, over in that house, there's a kid who thinks you're the greatest, and it's not because you're a space ranger; it's because you're his." As Buzz lifts his foot, he sees a label affixed to the bottom of his little shoe. There in black permanent ink is the name of the little boy to whom he belongs. Seeing the image of his owner, Buzz breaks into a smile and takes on a new determination for living.
So we bear the name of Jesus – we have been branded by Him. Never forget – you are His. IT CAN BE WELL WITH YOUR SOUL.
Paul expressed it so dynamically in Eph. 1:3-14 (MSG): “How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.”
This is who and whose you are. This morning, open yourself to receive the blessing. Fill out the check; make the withdrawal. For this Jesus wants you to experience the shining of God. Let us pray.
