Thursday, June 4, 2015
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: THE SON, THE CHANNEL OF BLESSING
The second sentence of the Aaronic Benediction becomes a bit more specific. Instead of just "the LORD," we have "His face" shining upon us. The true God is a spirit being, without flesh and bones. Yet to aid our understanding, at times the Bible uses expressions mindful of the human body in reference to God.
The face often reveals whether a person is happy, joyful, sad, or angry. So we can think of God's "face." Psalm 34:16 says, "The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." What a terrible thing to contemplate. When the face of the Lord is turned away, as it is from all His enemies, fire flashes from His face to consume them.
How different God's face toward His believing children. As a mother with a sick or suffering child hovers over her child, so the kind and reassuring face of a loving Lord shines over His own.
And where does the face of our God shine forth most brightly but in the person and work of God the Son! We can say that Jesus is the One through whom the Father chose to channel His grace. Through the Son's sacrificial death on the cross, which atoned for all our sins, we see and know that God's face is ever kindly toward us.
The line "…And be gracious unto you…" also brings to mind the New Testament's so-called "Apostolic Benediction" (2 Corinthians 13:14) which confers "the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit" on the readers or listeners. The term "grace," we know, refers to God's undeserved love.
Hear Dr. Luther's fine words on this part: "The second part pertains to spiritual things and the soul ... that the Lord God be kind to you, not looking on you bitterly or angrily, not striking terror into your heart, but smiling on you cheerfully like a father. ... This He does when He forgives our sins, not entering into judgment with us but acquitting our sad consciences by His Word and Spirit ... For His Word declares the forgiveness of sins and shows us God as a gracious and merciful Father. But when He takes His Word away He hides His face so that the atmosphere is dark, black, gloomy, and man's conscience is sad, sensing only wrath and no graciousness."
How we then treasure also this second sentence of the Lord's Blessing.
Bless our going out, we pray,
Bless our entrance in like measure;
Bless our bread, O Lord, each day,
Bless our toil, our rest, our pleasure;
Bless us when we reach death's portal,
Bless us then with life immortal.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 45:3)
