The Commanded Blessing
Today we are going to speak on the subject of the commanded blessing. We will explain what a commanded blessing is, the areas God commands blessings, and I will break down the commanded blessing in Numbers chapter 6.
As we look in the scriptures we see that God commands blessings in three main areas, in giving, in believers walking in unity, and upon His "peculiar," people. So...
What do we mean by commanded blessing?
A commanded blessing is a promise of God that carries within itself the irrevocable power for it’s fulfillment.
In Genesis 1, 8 times we read, "and God said...", which is usually followed by, "and it was so." Everything He said to happen, happened, simply by the power of His words.
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
God made a statement and incredible things resulted. But, when we talk about a command that God issues we take things to a whole new level of assurance. This is illustrated by what it means when God swears an oath:
Heb 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed [it] by an oath:
Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
The writer of Hebrews says they can have strong encouragment because: 1. It is impossible for God to lie, and 2. He added an oath as an additional layer of promise. The writer calls these two, "immutable things."
Immutable is an attribute that belongs to God alone, it means unchangeable. Everything we know changes, God cannot be added to or subtracted from. Mal 3:6 For I [am] the LORD, I change not...
When God says something, it happens, period. When He commands something it is like what is described in Heb. 6, now there are two complimentary forces, either of which cannot be changed, annuled, or stopped, that serve to give us extra assurance that something will happen.
So now that we understand that, where has God commanded blessings?
God has commanded blessings in three area’s, I will only speak briefly on the first two, but at length on the third. They are:
1. In the area of giving, God commands blessing.
2. In believers walking in unity God commands blessing.
3. Upon God’s peculiar people God commands blessing.
1. In the area of giving, God commands blessing.
Many of you are familiar and have heard sermons on tithing from the book of Malachi, where it says if we tithe God would open heaven and pour out blessings.
I want to show you a similar thought from another scripture:
Le 25:20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
Le 25:21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
Le 25:22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat [yet] of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat [of] the old [store].
In verse 21 is where we see a commanded blessing.
God instructed the Jews not to plant crops every seventh year, He answers their objections before they even have time to make them: If you obey me, I will give you so much in the 6th year it will last all the way through the 7th (what would happen normally) on through the eighth year when they had planted again and all the way to the ninth year when the harvest of the eighth year would be brought in.
So the 6th years crops would be commanded by God to be blessed (Lev 25:21) and last for 2 plus years (3 calender years). In other words, if they committed themselves to obeying God and giving up 1 years income (which is what their crops were) God would give them the same as if they never had given up anything. Giving to God doesn’t cost you money, withholding from God does. (Hab 1, sown much reaped little.) I also believe the text speaks of more than the provision of crops, because it actually says, "Then I will command my blessing upon YOU..." In addition to the crops they would have a year off from sowing, from all the labor that entailed, that would allow them to work on so many other things. How would you like a year off with pay? God gives back much more to us then we ever gave to him, and He gives in far more many ways they we could ever enumerate. A denominational leader I once knew, often quoted this phrase:
"God, teach me to give to You, as You have given to me, lest You give to me, as I have given to You."
A second place God command His blessing is in the unity of believers.
Ps 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Ps 133:2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, [even] Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
Ps 133:3 As the dew of Hermon, [and as the dew] that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, [even] life for evermore.
The commanded blessing is found in verse 3, "there the LORD commanded the blessing..."
I say God commands His blessing not simply on unity, but on the unity of believers. The UN is a body that can come together in unity, so can our congress, but some of the things they come together in unity over, are far from what God wants. This commanded blessing is spoken specifically over believers.
The greatest illustration of this is Acts 2:1-4, God poured out the Holy Spirit as they were together in one accord. When a church walks in unity the blessing of God is commanded upon them.
3. The blessing of God is commanded upon His peculiar people
Nu 6:22 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Nu 6:23 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ’Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:
Nu 6:24 The LORD bless you, and keep you;
Nu 6:25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;
Nu 6:26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’
Nu 6:27 "So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them."
God commanded Aaron to bless the people of Israel. As you know it is my custom to say this blessing every week at the end of service, the text says in essence, tell the pastor’s (priests) they are commanded to bless the people, and this is what they are to say... It is not empty, idle words, for God said if I do my part, He will do His part, v.27 ... "I then will bless them". Before I break this passage down, I need to make it very clear, this commanded blessing is reserved for God’s people, if you are not a Christian, or not sure, at the close of the message I will give you instructions from Gods word how to become a Christian or how you can have assurance you are, so that you can be a partaker of God’s commanded blessings.
The commanded blessing begins this way, "The Lord Bless you..."
Well what does the Lord Bless you mean? A key to properly understanding this thought is to understand how would the people who heard it would have understood it?
I think the idea of the Lord’s blessing, and how they would have understood it, is summed up in this passage from the book of Deuteronomy:
De 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
De 28:3 Blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the field.
De 28:4 Blessed [shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
De 28:5 Blessed [shall be] thy basket and thy store.
De 28:6 Blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out.
De 28:7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
De 28:8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
I think this is primarily the way the Jews would have understood the Lord’s blessing. I believe the Deuteronomy passage describes God’s ideal, while it may not be what everyone experiences, I still see in it what God in general wants to do for His people.
AND KEEP YOU.
Keep primarily means to preserve you from evil, that is, to keep you safe.
But I also liken it to one Jesus’ shortest parables:
Mt 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
Mt 13:48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
It is God’s will to keep us, to bring us safely to Heavens shore. He who has begun a good work in us...
Being kept safe, means in part, being kept as one of God’s children, that is the blessing God commands to be spoken over His people.
The Lord make His face shine on you
This is the blessing of revelation.
The face is what makes us recognizible as an individual.
God wants us to know Him and recognize Him, to have a revelation of who He is.
In Luke 24:16 two disciples were walking with Jesus and we read: Lu 24:16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. They saw but they did not recognize. There is a causing from God that has to happen if we are going to know Him for who He is.
Mt 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mt 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mt 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
So when the priest blesses the people with the Lord make His face shine on you, the thought is that God will illuminate our understanding in such a way, that we see Him for who He is. We will have the blessing of revelation.
And Be gracious to you.
The Hebrew word translated gracious is Khawnan and it means to have mercy for, and to direct favor towards. When God is gracious towards us, He is loving us not because of what is inside us, but because of what is inside Him. That love that He has towards His people moves Him to direct unmerited favors our way. Gracious is such a warm comforting word, and it describes how God wants to relate towards us.
The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon thee.
This is the blessing of fellowship with God.
What do I mean by that? When we spend time with God, His glory is reflected in us. He rubs off on us. Some of Him spills over into us. Spending time with God produces tangible evidence that you have done so. Moses face shone, when he spent time with God. It was so awesome a sight, the Jews couldn’t handle looking at it, so Moses would put a veil over his face when he talked with people, and take it off when he talked with God. (Ex 34:29-34) I am not suggesting that if we spend time with God our faces will glow like Moses’ did, (although I do think we could have a "glow" about us), what I am saying is that when Aaron blessed the people of God, that God would make His face to shine on them, - that is probably what it was understood by them to mean. People who spend time with God have a glow about them. That is exactly what God wanted for His people, He wants us to bo so near Him, some of Him is absorbed by us.
One of my favorite quotes is this from William Arthur, "it is only by waiting before the throne of grace that we become endued with the Holy Fire. He who waits there long and believingly will imbibe that Fire and come forth from his communion with God bearing tokens of where he has been."
And give thee peace.
One of the most profound effects of being around God is the peace He brings. He leads us besides the still waters. Martha, Martha you are troubled by many things. Calm down. Peace give I to you, not as the world gives give I to you.
As we get ready to wrap up this morning, I want to challenge those of you who have forgotten that God wants to make His face shine upon you, and to lift up the light of His countenance on you with the words of this older Christian song: (Bring back the new again)
I can still remember, the wonderful feeling, back when I first got to know You
It seemed the world was mine, I had joy, I had springtime
But that’s all just a memory anymore
I guess I took my eyes off You Lord, but I don’t want this callous feeling anymore
Oh, please bring back the way it was before
Chorus:
Bring back the new again, I want to see You again
Bring back the way it was, when we began
How did I miss the road? When did I lose the glow?
Close: God commands blessings on giving, on unity, and on His peculiar people. What has the Lord spoken to you about today? How do you need to apply this message? Are you sure you are one of His peculiar people...
