Monday, June 23, 2008
Numbers 6:22-27 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: "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."' "So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them."
THE AARONIC BENEDICTION: A BLESSING OF THE TRIUNE GOD (I)
We hear the nature of the Trinity clearly described for us in different places in the New Testament Scriptures, but the Triune nature of God is evidenced and alluded to in the Old Testament Scriptures as well. In fact, the Scriptures tell us about the existence of the Trinity at the very beginning of all things.
The first two verses of the Bible say, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Right away we hear a reference to God the Father and to the Holy Spirit. If we also look to the New Testament Gospel of John, we hear how the Son was present at this time too. He writes in the first chapter of his Gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." (John gives a unique name to the Son, simply calling Him "The Word.") And so, right from the very beginning of creation, the Word of God tells us of the existence of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
There are also other references to the persons of the Trinity in Old Testament times. One such instance is the words of our reading -- the words of the Aaronic Benediction (Aaronic Blessing) which we will look at more closely during our devotions this week.
