Long before Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes released their song called “The Blessing,” Jeremy used to end our Sunday morning services with the benediction from Numbers 6.
It’s a lovely blessing, but I never fully grasped it’s meaning until long after he proclaimed it over us for the last time. It certainly seemed like a pretty empty blessing in those dark days following the untimely death of our beloved pastor/father/husband/son/brother/friend. To some of us, it even felt like God may have removed His blessing.
Perhaps that’s because we misunderstood the meaning of “blessing.”
We tend to think of blessings as:
Health
Wealth
Popularity
Prosperity
Protection
But Jesus said, blessed are:
The hopeless
The grieving
The humble
The persecuted
The slandered
Those last 5 are not exactly what I would choose. But then I would miss out on the only blessing that really matters. So, what exactly is the blessing that has been spoken over congregations of God-followers for thousands of years?
Perhaps the answer is in the benediction itself.
God ordered Aaron to pronounce His name over His people (v27) with these words:
‘Y’varekh’kha Adonai v’yishmerekha.
[May Adonai bless you and keep you.]
Ya’er Adonai panav eleikha vichunekka.
[May Adonai make his face shine on you and show you his favor.]
Yissa Adonai panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom.
[May Adonai lift up his face toward you and give you peace.]’
B’midbar (Num) 6:24-26 CJB
I’ve read that the word for “bless” here can also mean “to stoop down.” So, in essence, we are saying, “May God stoop down (like a father stoops down to look his child in the face) and keep you from the evil one. May God show you favor (like the face of a Father lights up when his child comes to him) and offer you His grace. May God lift up His face toward you (indicating that He has elevated you) and grant you peace with Himself.”
I believe the fulfillment of this blessing is found at the cross. The blessing God offers to us is a relationship with Himself, through Jesus.
The blessing isn’t found in God’s hands reaching out to fill ours with bounty; it is found in the outstretched, nail-pierced hands of our Savior. It’s not in finding fame or fortune, but in seeking (and finding) the face of God. It’s not in living a perfect life, but in being made into the perfection of Jesus at salvation. It’s not in gaining more of the world, but in losing something of this world to gain more of Christ. It’s not about triumphs or having a good life, it’s about our trials being redeemed to bring about our highest good. The blessing is not as much in the presents He gives as in the gift of His presence.
I don’t know about you, but I love the image of Creator God stooping down next to me, His face, beaming with love, turned upward toward mine while He calls me His. All because He turned His face away from His own Son for my sake. Jesus was rejected so I could be accepted. Cursed, so I could receive the blessing.
No wonder God wanted these words spoken over His people every day! In the midst of the valley, at the beginning of a new journey, or at the end of a long desert experience, it’s good that we are reminded of His goodness and grace. Lest we forget how truly blessed we are…
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”
(Numbers 6:24-26)