The LORD Bless You

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 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.

(Numbers 6:24-26 ESV)

"So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."

(Numbers 6:27)

The scholars tell us that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet carried numerical values, similar to how the Roman numerals are both numerical values and letters. And the Hebrew letters of the Name of the LORD, YHWH, add up to the number 26. So, too, the six lines of the blessing also ironically add up to 26 words in Hebrew. The Name of God is thus imprinted upon the blessing which is to be put upon God's people. The Name of the LORD is who God is by nature, character, and attribute.

Going further, the structure of the blessing has been noted by scholars: the name of the LORD used 3 times in the blessing; three main clauses describing God's activities; extended parallelism & repetition. "Yahweh bless you" (3 words in Hebrew) "and keep you" (2 words). "Yahweh make his face shine upon you" (5 words) "and be gracious to you" (2 words). "Yahweh lift up his face" (5 words) "and set on you peace" (2 words). These are not just good wishes or aspirations, but the LORD speaking and telling his people who he is, what he is like, and what he will do. For God is the speaker and the doer of the blessing. God has tied his name to the blessing. By contrast, when we put our name on something, it's a mark of ownership. When God puts his Name on us, it is a mark of adoption. We are his.

This blessing also tells us many other things. It tells us that God is the source of goodness and life, all that we need. It tells us that God is our keeper: he is our guard, protecting us from all evil and keeping us from departing from him and his ways. It tells us that God's face shines like the warming rays of the sun upon the cold earth. It tells us that God is gracious, that he is inclined to us and for us, that he delights to do us good. It tells us that God lifts his face to us, not turning away, but turning his attention to us. It tells us that God gives us peace, his shalom, his universal wholeness and flourishing. All of this is guaranteed. All of this is certain because Yahweh is the God of all comfort who has spoken to us in his Son, Jesus Christ, that we may rest in him.

These words of blessing are deliberately crafted so that every hearer can know the LORD is near and good to us, and active in us. "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them." This is the charter of blessing, God's divine mission statement to us, to bless us. And God blesses us so that we will turn and bless others. What are we waiting for? Go bless someone today.

- Jake and the elders