In the church I grew up in, the offering was received at the end of worship services. The congregation would walk around to bring their offering. Some members walked forward, placed their offering in the plate, and walked out. The minister would encourage members to remain until the end of the service. His reason was simple: “There’s a blessing in the benediction.”
As a young pastor, I issued the same exhortation and rationale. Then I became curious. What is the blessing in the benediction? I discovered the benediction is a blessing. That is what the word means. It is the pastor’s privilege and duty to announce the blessing of God on the people of God as the worship ends. It is my custom to announce the benediction from the words of Numbers 6:24-26: “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.”
This great blessing in a strange place. Numbers 6:1-21 records regulations for Nazarites, who committed themselves to the Lord for a specific period. During this period, Nazarites abstained from wine, did not cut their hair, and avoided anything dead. After these regulations for Nazarites, the Lord commands a blessing.
Very few Israelites became Nazarites. But the Lord’s blessing was not limited to the super-spiritual. Verses 23 and 27 state the blessing was for “the people of Israel.” The blessing was for the whole community. But the pronouns are singular. The Lord blesses corporately by blessing individually. The Lord blesses individually by blessing corporately. Blessings are for us. But they are not about us. They are about God! This is the good news of Numbers 6: God is still in the blessing business!
This is the first benediction in scripture. Yet it is used today by both Jewish rabbis and Christian pastors. It is the Old Testament equivalent of The Blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This priestly blessing is also considered the Lord’s Prayer of the Old Testament. It is the Lord teaching his people how to pray to him and for one another.
Dwight L. Moody wrote: “Here is a benediction that can go all the world over, and can give all the time without being impoverished. Every heart may utter it; it is the speech of God; every letter may conclude with it; every day may begin with it; every night may be sanctified by it.” What does it mean that God is in the blessing business? Numbers 6:22-27 tells us how the Lord blesses his people.
Every Blessing Comes from the Lord.
A rich man took a journey, carrying a bag of treasure. A thief joined him. But the rich man was wise enough to be wary of newfound friends. The thief plotted to steal the treasure as the rich man slept. But each night, the rich man let the thief wash up first. Then he hid his bag of jewels under the thief’s pillow. As the rich man washed up, the thief searched unsuccessfully for the treasure. After several nights, he gave up. As they parted ways, the rich man said, “The treasure was closer than you think.”
This is the story of our lives. We are this foolish and frustrated crook, looking for blessings in all the wrong places. Jeremiah 2:12-13 says, “Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” It is evil to forsake the Lord for things that cannot save, sustain, or satisfy. Every blessing comes from the Lord. Numbers 6:22-23 records, “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 blesses according to his will and according to his word.
The Lord blesses according to his will. In verses 22-23, the Lord says to Moses, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them…” The Lord met with Moses. In that meeting, the Lord instructed Moses to meet with his brother, Aaron, the high priest of Israel. In that meeting, Moses was to command Aaron’s sons, the priests, to bless the people of Israel. Leviticus 9:22 says, “Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings.”
This was not a spontaneous act. In Numbers 6, the Lord instructed Moses to command Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel. The priests announced the blessing. But they did not script, edit, or ad-lib the blessing. They were to bless the people by divine formula. Verses 22-23 are more than the setting of the text. These directives make it clear that the Lord blesses according to his will. This point is also made in verses 24-26, where each line begins with “The Lord.” This is not grammatically necessary. The name of the Lord in verse 24 establishes the source and subject of the blessing in verses 25-26. The threefold repetition of God’s covenant name teaches us that the blessing of the Lord is the blessing of the Lord.
God is not under contract to play ball when, where, and how you coach him. God is an unrestricted free agent. God is sovereign. God blesses whom he wills, as he wills, where he wills, how he wills, as long as he wills. There is nothing you can do to make God bless you. Great faith cannot do it. Fervent prayer cannot do it. Faithful obedience cannot do it. Sacrificial service cannot do it. Passionate praise cannot do it. Positive confession cannot do it. Seed offerings cannot do it. There is nothing you can do to make God bless you. But there is nothing you need to do to make God bless you. It is the Lord’s will to bless you. The fact that you are still alive means the Lord is not through blessing you.
The Lord blesses according to his word. The Lord introduced himself to the children of Israel with signs and wonders. The Lord brought them out of Egypt with a strong and outstretched hand. During their wilderness wanderings, the Lord provided manna from on high to feed them. But once Israel settled into the promised land of Canaan, the Lord’s care switched from supernatural to providential. The Lord would work through his word. Aaron’s blessing was a part of this disappearance of God.
The Lord often commanded Moses to do something to bless Israel. But the Lord commanded Aaron and his sons to say something to bless Israel. No magic. No miracles. No manifestations. The priests were to announce, “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.” When this blessing was announced, the people believed they were blessed because of what they heard, not what they saw. Do not miss your blessing by focusing on what you can see. Consider yourself blessed according to the word of the Lord.
Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he mediates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaves do not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”
In 1979, archaeologists discovered an ancient burial site near Jerusalem. Among the remains, two small silver scrolls were found. One had a virtually identical inscription of this priestly blessing; the other had an abbreviated version of it. The burial site dates back to the sixth century B.C. The scrolls may be a hundred years old. It is the earliest archeological discovery of the covenant name of God. It confirms the place and prominence of this priestly blessing in the life of Israel. And it affirms the integrity and authority of sacred scripture.
Some ancient Israelites wore the words of Numbers 6:24-26 as a medallion to remind them that he was blessed according to the word of God. It is easy to forget how blessed you are, when what you see in the world contradicts what you see in the word. But you experience the blessed life to the degree you believe the Lord will always keep his word. Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
The Lord’s Blessing is All You Need.
The Aaronic Benediction is recorded in verses 24-26. It consists of three lines. Each line begins with the name of the Lord. The Christian sees this Old Testament text pointing to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A twofold blessing is announced in each line. It begins with divine activity and results in spiritual benefits. In Hebrew, each line is successively longer. It is a picture of divine favor cascading down on God’s people. The Hebrew text contains fifteen words. If you remove the Lord’s name, there are twelve words – a subtle reference to the twelve tribes of Israel. This exquisite poetry was designed to make the blessing more memorable. Moreover, the poetry emphasizes the message of the text. The Lord’s blessing is all you need. Let’s meditate on this all-sufficient blessing line by line.
The Lord bless you and keep you. Here are two ways the Lord provides for your needs.
The Lord bless you. A blessing is a gift of God’s good favor. It may include health, children, land, property, and success. Moreover, a blessing is about God’s presence. In 1 Chronicles 4:10, Jabez prayed, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain.” Being blessed is more than increased territory. It is when the hand of the Lord is obviously present, actively in charge, and dynamically at work in your life.
“The Lord bless you” is not about your circumstances. It is about you. Whatever the circumstances, God can bless you. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” The promise of blessing is ultimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are blessed in Christ. R. Kent Hughes rightly asks, “The Devil may curse us, but if God blesses us, what does it matter?”
The Lord keep you. Don’t boast over blessings. Blessings are vulnerable. Current blessings easily and quickly become former blessings. How do you keep blessings? Verse 24 says, “The Lord bless you and keep you.” The word “keep” is used about 450 times in the Bible. It is never used for a person keeping another person. The Lord is the only one who can bless and keep you. Keep you from what? The text does not specify. The Lord will keep you from anything and everything that may come against his blessing on your life. Numbers 22-24 records the story of the prophet Balaam. Balak of Moab hired Balaam to curse the people of Israel. But every time he tried to curse Israel; the Lord made him bless Israel. This is why you should not live in worry, doubt, or fear. The Lord who blesses also keeps. The Lord who gives it also guards it. The Lord who provides also protects. You are blessed because of what the Lord kept you from.
- The Lord kept you off a sickbed.
- The Lord kept you out of divorce court.
- The Lord kept you off the unemployment line.
- The Lord kept you from sleeping on the streets.
- The Lord who kept you from a dangerous accident.
The Lord will keep you from the chances, changes, and challenges of life. Psalm 121:5-8 says, “The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Here are two ways the Lord shows his favor toward us.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you. This is an anthropomorphism. God is Spirit. He does not have a physical face. But the Lord is described here as making his face shine on you. When the Lord hides his face, it is a sign of judgment. God’s shining face is a sign of his favor. Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.”Moses met with the Lord on Mt. Sinai. When he returned, his face was shining from the presence of the Lord. It frightened the people. So Moses wore a veil until the light wore off. But 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” In Christ, we live under the perpetual smiling face of God.
The Lord be gracious to you. This is how the Lord makes his face shine upon us. We deserve God’s hidden face. We deserve God’s frowning face. We deserve God’s angry face. But the Lord mercifully withholds what we deserve and graciously bestows what we do not deserve. Grace is the most precious attribute of God to sinful people. It is the kind of treatment of a superior toward a subject that has no right to make any claims on the superior. Grace is the unmerited favor of God.
In a comic strip, Dennis the Menace walks away from Mrs. Wilson’s house with cookies in hand. The friend asked what they did to deserve the cookies. Dennis answers, “Mrs. Wilson did give us cookies because we were good. She did it because she is good!”That’s how we are blessed. That’s how we made it this far. That’s how we got saved. Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.”
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Here are two ways ministers to our cares.
The Lord lifts up his countenance upon you. The countenance of God is the face of God. More specifically, it is the expression of his face. God’s uplifted face denotes both attention and affection. It is for the Lord to turn toward you and smile on you. Psalm 4:6-8 says, “There are many who say, ‘Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord! You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”
The Lord give you peace. Peace is more than the absence of conflict. It is the presence of something positive, not merely the absence of something negative. Peace is the presence of something positive in the midst of something negative. A person without peace is like a thermometer that registers the temperature. A person with peace is like a thermostat that regulates the temperature. Philippians 4:6-7 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” When you pray, the Lord may not change your circumstances. But he will guard your heart and mind with peace that surpasses all understanding! Psalm 29:11 says, “May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace.”
You Can Trust the Blessing of the Lord.
There is divine initiation in verses 22-23, divine benediction in verses 24-26, and divine ratification in verse 27. The Lord tells Moses, “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”The Lord plans to bless his people. Then the Lord pronounces blessing on his people. Then he promises to fulfill his blessing for his people. F.B. Meyer wrote: “What human lips spoke on earth, God authenticated in heaven.” There are two reasons why you can trust the blessing of the Lord.
The Lord puts his name on his people. In verse 27, the Lord says, “So shall I put my name on upon the people of Israel.” In the bible, a name was a statement about the person’s nature, character, or authority. So it is with God. The name of the Lord represents his nature, character, and authority. The name of the Lord represents the Lord himself. In Exodus 20:7, the second commandment says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord our God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” The Lord does not play with his name. In this priestly blessing, the Lord promises to put his name on his people. It is a promise of his presence, power, and protection. Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”
As my wife and children were traveling, I saw a picture of them eating breakfast on the plane. When they landed, I fussed at my wife for taking my SkyMiles to upgrade her and the kids. She said she did do it. “You did it,” she said, “When you named my son, H.B.” When he checked in, they thought he was me. They gave him TSA pre-check. He was upgraded to first class. And they all were upgraded with him, because he has my name. This is what happens when you run to the cross and put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord will bless his people. Verse 24 says, “The Lord bless you.” The verb is in a grammatical sense that denotes a habitual act or ongoing activity. But the divine ratification in verse 27 is in the future tense: “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” This is a promise of God: “I myself will bless them.” Warren Wiersbe said it well: “Christians do not live on explanations. We live on promises.” And you can live on a promise for a long time, if you know and trust the one who makes the promise. The Lord is a faithful God who always keeps his promises. The promise is emphatic in the Hebrew text: “I myself will bless them.” Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”