THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE.
Numbers 6:22-27.
Jews and Christians alike are familiar with the so-called Aaronic blessing of NUMBERS 6:24-26. Yet this blessing is not in the power of the priest to accomplish. Rather, the priest or minister who calls down this blessing on the people is making a declaration of the LORD’s gracious intention toward us, based in what the LORD has already done. It is not ‘may’ the LORD bless you (NUMBERS 6:24), as if he were asking a question, but rather a “putting” of the name of the LORD upon us in recognition of the fact that the LORD has promised, “I WILL bless them” (NUMBERS 6:27; cf. Matthew 8:2-3).
“Bless” them, says the LORD (NUMBERS 6:23). Blessing is the work of the LORD, reaching in to the lives of His people and working for their benefit in all spheres of life, not as they may deserve, but according to the riches of His grace and mercy towards us in Christ Jesus. And despite the collective, all-embracing pronouncement of this benediction to “the children of Israel” (NUMBERS 6:23, NUMBERS 6:27), the words of blessing are addressed in the singular, to every individual within the community of His people: “the LORD bless YOU” (NUMBERS 6:24a).
Now the people knew about the LORD’s ability to bless. He had blessed the first man and woman to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ (cf. Genesis 1:28). Likewise He had blessed Noah and his sons to ‘replenish the earth’ (cf. Genesis 9:1). He had blessed Abram to become a great nation in the land of promise (to which they were now headed), and to be a blessing to ‘all families of the earth’ (cf. Genesis 12:1-3). In time, ‘God, even our own God, shall bless us’ (cf. Psalm 67:5-7),
Not only does the LORD (our Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer) “bless” us, but He also “keeps” us (NUMBERS 6:24b; cf. Exodus 23:20). Retrospectively, Joshua could observe, ‘the LORD our God KEPT us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed’ (cf. Joshua 24:17). ‘Behold, the Psalmist adds, ‘He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is THY keeper’ (cf. Psalm 121:4-5).
The next verb speaks of the LORD’s face “shining” upon us (NUMBERS 6:25a). The “shining face” of the LORD speaks of His pleasure in His people, for which we yearn (cf. Psalm 31:16). It is the opposite of His hiding face in Psalm 13:1. His shining face was reflected in the face of Moses when he came down out of the mountain (cf. Exodus 34:29). Likewise, His shining face is reflected in the radiance of the LORD’s believing people (cf. Psalm 34:5).
The LORD’s shining face is seen in that He is “gracious” towards His people (NUMBERS 6:25b). The same word was used when the LORD proclaimed His name in Exodus 34:5-6, and forgave the sin of the idolaters of the Golden calf incident. The measure of that forgiveness is seen in the fact that it was Moses’ brother Aaron who had been the leader of that rebellion, and that now, as a forgiven man, it was he who was to pronounce this blessing over the people!
The next verb speaks of the “lifting up” of the LORD’s “countenance” (NUMBERS 6:26a). This is equivalent to the “shining face” of the previous verse (in fact “face” and “countenance” are both the same word in the Hebrew). The LORD’s uplifted countenance grants us His “peace” (NUMBERS 6:26b).
“Peace” (Shalom) here, as elsewhere in Scripture, speaks of wholeness, perfection, well-being; prosperity (cf. Psalm 37:11), longevity (cf. Psalm 128:6), safety (cf. Psalm 4:8), security (cf. Psalm 122:6-8); ‘health and cure’ (cf. Jeremiah 33:6).
The emphasis in NUMBERS 6:27 falls upon the “I,” (which is spoken by “the LORD,” NUMBERS 6:22). In each instance, it is “the LORD” who blesses us through the pronouncement of these words (NUMBERS 6:24, NUMBERS 6:25, NUMBERS 6:26). Not the priest, not the believer; certainly not any other so-called ‘god:’ but the LORD God of Israel, the maker of heaven and earth, and all that in them is; the keeper and sustainer of all things; ‘the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ’ (cf. Ephesians 1:3).
The benediction starts with “bless thee” and ends with “give thee peace:” to which the Lord replies, “I WILL bless them” (NUMBERS 6:27).
