Num 6:23 Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the children of Israel; you shall say to them, (24) Jehovah bless you and keep you; (25) Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; (26) Jehovah lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
The blessing here is not onefold or twofold; it is threefold. This involves the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The first aspect of the blessing in Numbers 6 is related to God the Father's blessing and keeping power. The second aspect is related to the shining face of God the Son and His grace. The word "gracious" in Numbers 6:25 means more in Hebrew than the English word gracious conveys. The Hebrew meaning is to stoop in kindness to those who are inferior. This indicates that by becoming a man the second of the Trinity stooped in kindness to us, the inferior ones. When He became man, He surely stooped down from the heavens. This is grace. The third aspect of the blessing is related to God the Spirit's countenance and His peace. The lifting up of the Lord's countenance upon us and the giving of peace is certainly the gracious work of the third of the Trinity, the Spirit. Today the Spirit is constantly lifting up God's countenance over us and giving us peace. He gives peace not only in our environment, but also in our being-in our heart, in our spirit, and even in our mind. In summary we may say that blessing is the bringing of people into the presence of God, into the very enjoyment of God. The threefold blessing in Numbers 6 is the pattern of blessing by the priests in the Old Testament.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Genesis, 1987, pp. 1218-1219. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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