Blessings

Introducing Profound Prayers
Today we begin a new series in which we will investigate some of the Profound Prayers in the Bible. By “profound,” I don’t mean wordy and fancy. Some of the most profound statements are short and to the point. What makes something profound is that it is weighty. It packs a punch. It isn’t just religious nuance or over-the-top rhetoric. Even if the words are simple, the meaning is deep. The Bible is full of people calling out to God with Profound Prayers – powerful, life-changing words spoken to God.

My hope is that as we delve into this series, it will give you some new ideas on how to talk to God. You don’t need to stir up some special incantation to make sure He does exactly what you ask; God is no genie. But perhaps there are prayers and requests you have never thought to present to God. I want each of us to have rich conversations with God as a result of what we are able to learn from those who modeled the significant and weighty prayers recorded for us in scripture.

Blessings

Today we look at a prayer of blessing. As I thought about this message, I realized that although the word “bless” is a religious word, it is also very common in our culture. When you sneeze, someone probably says, “God bless you” – or simply “Bless you.” Have you ever wondered why? Why are you blessed for sneezing? And is the person who says “Bless you” without even thinking really praying a blessing over your life?

At mealtime, many people ask who is going to “bless the meal.” Does that mean the food gets the same blessing as the sneezer?

In the South, there a million reasons and ways to say, “Bless your heart.” Some are sincere, and many are insulting; but rarely is there an actual heartfelt desire for you to receive favor when those words are spoken.

We can’t talk about blessings without considering the phrase “God Bless America.” It has become the official sign-off of every President after an important speech, even though not all Presidents have much faith in God.

Here’s the point of all this: we use the word “bless” to convey a LOT of different meanings! Merriam-Webster Dictionary lists several definitions for “bless”:

• To consecrate by religious rite or word;
• To invoke divine care for;
• To praise or glorify;
• To confer prosperity or happiness upon;
• To endow or show favor.

As you look through the various uses of “bless” or “blessed” in the Bible, nearly all the above-listed uses show up. The NIV translation of the Bible includes some form of the word “bless” 427 times! This is why the language of blessing others is so popular in Christianity – because we see that word all through scripture.

With all this said, and to help you when you come across it in the Bible in the future, I want to try to simplify what this word “bless” means and give us some more definite meaning before we tackle the prayer we haven’t gotten to yet.

• When the object is God, “bless” carries the sense of “to worship or praise.”
• When humanity or the earth is in view, “bless” is a word that typically refers to receiving favor or benefits, physical or spiritual, often from God, but often from other people.

The Lord Bless You and Keep You

Now that the English lesson is finished, let’s jump in. I encourage you to pick up a Bible and open it to Numbers chapter 6. Numbers, the fourth book of the Bible, describes what happens as the Israelites wander in the wilderness after leaving Egypt at the Exodus. The book is called “Numbers” because the beginning portion of the book includes a census of all the Israelite men who entered the wilderness; and the end of the book includes a second census of all the men left after forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The second census is totally different from the first because all the men over twenty years old in the first census had died during the wilderness years.

Numbers 6:22-27 – ²²The Lord said to Moses, ²³”Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: ^24’The Lord bless you and keep you; ²⁵the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; ²⁶the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ ²⁷So they will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them.”

Cool Archeological Fact: In 1979, a digging expedition in the Old City of Jerusalem unearthed a burial complex from the late sixth or seventh century B.C. Among the remains recovered was a small leather box containing two silver scrolls (each the size of a small cigarette) upon which were written two versions of the priestly blessing. The text on the larger one is nearly identical to that of the Hebrew version of the Bible we have. An abbreviated version of the second and third blessings – Grace and Peace – was written on the smaller scroll. This important discovery proves the significance of this blessing for the Israelite people hundreds of years after God gave it to Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons.

Now let’s step through our passage for today. Remember: this is a prayer God gave to Moses to be passed on to Aaron and his sons. God told Moses, “Have them pray like this.”  Moses didn’t make up this prayer; it came from God. It’s a lot like how Jesus teaches His disciples to pray. (More about this next week.)

Think about this for a moment. God Himself is telling the Israelites, “These are the ways I want to bless you. This is what I want to do for you. I want to keep you, to be gracious to you, and to give you peace. This is my whole plan for your nation.”

The Lord bless you . . . The prayer begins with clarity about who will do the blessing – The Lord. The word used is “Yahweh” – the name for God. When the Bible says He will “bless you,” it points to God granting the Israelites divine favor. Throughout the book of Numbers, we see this favor extending to having many children and having a fruitful land, good health, long life, protection from enemies, and God’s abiding presence. That’s what God always wanted to provide for them.

. . . and keep you. The words “keep you” point to the strong arm of God, who would protect them even as they traveled through the wilderness and into other nations’ lands as they moved into the land promised to Abraham.

The Lord make His face SHINE on You and be GRACIOUS to you.

The language regarding God’s face shining appears in many Bible passages and is also a common element in the writings of other near-eastern religions. This imagery is the equivalent of a smile – the majestic smile of God upon the community of faith as He demonstrates His approval and pleasure in this, His people.

The result of this shining face of pleasure is that God would be gracious to them. (Being gracious means to give or provide someone something they didn’t earn, but something given out of the kindness of your heart.)

Perhaps you can relate to this concept when you think about proud parents watching their child walk across the graduation stage. We say the parents are “beaming with pride” as they radiate joy and approval for their child’s accomplishments. In the same way, in this prayer of blessing the priests are to pray that God’s face would shine on them, beaming with pride, and delivering to them all His gracious, undeserved gifts.

The Lord turn His FACE TOWARD you and give you PEACE.

Whereas “shining” refers to the look of approval on God’s face, to “lift up” one’s eyes or face means to pay attention. The final piece of the prayer is for God to put His attention on His people and provide them peace. That’s easier said than done on the front end of what we will see the Israelites enduring over the next several decades as they wander and battle their way into the Promised Land and defeat the nations already settled there.

God’s desire and plan for His people, though, is for them to experience a peace unlike what the world knows. He wants them to experience well-being, healthy relationships, and a worry-free life. That’s why He tells Moses to make this their prayer.

So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

The phrase “I will put my name on them” points to the name “Yahweh,” which showed up earlier in the prayer. That name carries with it the covenantal promise of God’s presence to be with His people, even through the deserts of the wilderness and into the Promised Land. As they enter that land, because of their blessing, the nations all around them will recognize them as Yahweh’s people. His name will mark them as His own, and His blessing will set them apart.

At the end of the day, God wants all the Israelites to know it is because of God’s statement (“I will bless them”) that they are able to experience the fullness of security, prosperity, wholeness and well-being. He doesn’t want them to attribute their good fortune to luck or to the false gods of the land. He wants them to recognize whose hand is providing for them.

Blessing for the Whole World

Isn’t this a beautiful prayer of blessing? God shows the Israelites that His heart is always for them, Even when their journey gets difficult, this prayer of blessing demonstrates His desire for their good.

However, the ultimate promise of complete and eternal prosperity, peace, and wholeness is yet to come. That’s still a promise we expect to see fulfilled when Jesus returns. That is the blessing God promised to Abraham as the way he would be a blessing to all the nations.

Psalm 67:1-2 uses language very similar to the Aaronic blessing and connects it back to what God promised Abraham: ¹May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us – ²so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

God didn’t bless the Israelites simply to give them a life of ease. It was to show the entire world that He was superior to their gods and He would actually bless His people as He promised. In so doing, He is capable of bringing salvation among all nations as we turn our eyes to the God who makes His face shine on His people.

Conditions of the Blessing

We can’t end yet – not until we consider one important condition to this blessing.

Just before the Israelites prepare to enter into the Promised Land, we find in the book of Deuteronomy (the book after Numbers) that God reiterates His promise to bless the people as they enter the land He promised to Abraham over 450 years earlier. AND this time He includes two tiny but important “Ifs.” Take a look:

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 – If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessing will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.

All these incredible blessings are theirs – if they obey. In this covenant God will hold up both sides of the deal and never let them go; but all the favor and blessing He wants to shower on them is for people committed to Him. Remember, God is a jealous God. He isn’t going to shower His people with gifts while they give all their attention and praise to a fake God the Canaanites worship. He is saving that for people who are devoted to Him.

While we are not Old Testament Jews, but instead are New Testament Christians living in the covenant of grace, this principle of receiving God’s blessing when we walk in obedience still applies today. (A quick note on the meaning of “principle”: A principle is no guarantee for easy living if you obey God. However, on the whole, those who follow God’s ways are much more likely to experience peace and wellness than those who disobey or are selfish, angry, uncontrolled people.)

How you perceive God’s blessings in your life is more up to you and your perception than up to God. I’ll explain.

• I think there are some people who, even if God did everything in His power to make their lives amazing, would still find things to complain about and would feel God has not lived up to his end of the deal.
• Meanwhile there are others who have stories of terrible loss and pain and yet are satisfied with the tiny ways God shows up for them in their hardships.
• So – really – how much God blesses us in our obedience depends more on us to SEE than on Him to GRANT.

I encourage you, have eyes to see all the ways God has blessed your life.

Application

Start by believing God wants to bless YOU. It’s not just a trite statement. He doesn’t just want to “bless your heart.” He wants you to experience favor, grace, and peace in your life.

The problem is that we often live contrary to God’s plans for our lives, creating strife, fighting, and sinful consequences that steal the peace God intends for us. His blessings are laid out for us, not as a guarantee, but in principle so long as we follow His ways. He wants us to ask for His favor in our prayers. He wants us to seek His smiling face on our lives.

Here’s the final piece to this puzzle. We have to actually believe these blessings are available to us, and receive them. For some people, their religious experience is all lip service and speaking religious words like “bless me,” but they don’t expect any of it to mean anything. But here’s the honest-to-God truth – God wants to bless all of us who carry His name! Then, as a result of receiving these blessings from God, our response is to turn around and bless God. That means to give Him praise, worship, and thanks for what He has graciously given to us.

We don’t receive God’s favor and then think we earned it, or attribute all the good things to our own abilities. No, God wants us to understand that these blessings come from Him, and an appropriate response to that is to bless Him in return. We can pray, “We bless You, Lord, for your kindness and your gracious gifts in our lives.”

Conclusion

Here’s where I want to end today. Most of you know exactly how I end each service. I always say roughly the same benediction: May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you as you go from here today.

However, preparing this message has given these words new meaning to me, and I hope they will be of greater importance each week.

My benediction comes from the words of Paul in the New Testament, but it is really just shorthand for the words God himself instructed the priests of Israel to pray over his people.

Grace and peace. That’s the blessing God WANTS to give to all of us. Let’s stop seeing these words as just filler religious words. Instead, let’s fully grasp what it means to receive a blessing from God. May we all seek to receive from God fresh grace and peace each and every week after we gather with His people to hear His word for us. Then, may we respond with hearts of thanksgiving as we bless his holy name.