Sabbath Thought – The Eternal Bless You

The book of Numbers is not a book of the Bible we turn to very often – probably because it is a book of numbers (hence the name) to a large degree: census numbers of the tribes; numbering (and how to keep the Holy Days), the setting aside (numbering) of the Levites; and more.

However, at the end of Numbers chapter 6 we have six very interesting verses. These verses record a blessing God gave to Aaron to pronounce upon the children of Israel: 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," (Numbers 6:22-27, NKJV).

While many wrongly believe that God is looking for reasons to punish mankind, His desire is exactly the opposite. God desires to bless us, and to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). This is not just limited to the physical descendants of Israel, but to all of those who become “spiritual Israel” (Galatians 6:16). God never wants us to forget His love for us (John 15:9).

Going back to Numbers 6:24, we see that God declares His blessing on His people. The word “bless” is barak it means to declare something. God is declaring His desire to bless, to be generous. David wrote of this generosity in Psalm 23:1 – we will not lack because we obey and follow God. God also declares in Numbers 6:24 that He will “keep you.” No matter what we experience in life, God is promising to watch over us. In that sense, we are never alone. His desire is to “keep us” so that we can be eventually presented to Him to live with Him in eternity (Jude 1:24)! This does not mean that our life will be without challenges, difficulties, hard times or disappointments. It does mean that God will be involved in our lives (if we let Him) to be perfected in Him.

We see this in Numbers 6:25 – “His face shine(s) upon (us).” Those who see God as onerous fail to see when He is pleased with our thoughts and actions that are consistent with who He is. God looks on a humble heart with pleasure (Isaiah 66:2) because He desires to give us His Kingdom (Luke 12:32).

All of this happens because of God’s grace. He is “gracious to you” (Numbers 6:25) because of His love for us. The grace is shown in the favor He gives us, the gift of His Spirit that He gives us, and because of the character we are developing that reflects Him. Through His grace He puts His “countenance upon you” (Numbers 6:26) – that is, He pays even more attention to us. We are not an afterthought to Him. Do we respond to God’s grace by putting our “countenance” upon Him as well?

To add to all of this, God then gives us peace (Numbers 6:26) – not the fleeting, thin, temporary peace of the world, but His peace (John 14:27). His peace involves the knowledge and acceptance that no matter the circumstances we might find ourselves in, He is in charge, cares for us deeply (1 Peter 5:7), and will work everything out to the best benefit for us (Romans 8:28).

God puts His name on those who accept His calling (John 6:44) to bless them (Numbers 6:27). God calls those things that are not yet as though they already are. We are indeed, of all people, most blessed.

I wish you a spiritually rewarding Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

1 February, 2025