The clear implication is that he, the Lord, will then indeed be favourably disposed to them and bless them. With the name being placed on the people, the covenant God claims them for himself. This means that when the priest lifts up his hands (Lev 9:22) and pronounces God's name over the people that people is then brought into a close association with the Lord. Blessing is putting God's name on his people. When God instructed Aaron and his sons to bless Israel (Num 6:23), then after giving the actual text of the blessing, he said: "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them" (Num 6:27). In Numbers 6 the Lord himself defines what the action of blessing does. It can therefore be interpreted as a prayer. That is like saying "May the Lord bless you," etc. But "The Lord bless you and keep you" etc. It does not say: "The Lord blesses you and keeps you" etc., a statement of fact. The New International Version gives a good translation of this blessing. What exactly is a blessing or benediction? Is it a wish, a prayer, a new reality? What is it? It is certainly not a magical formula which automatically works and changes things simply by being spoken by the right person. After all, the Lord himself commanded that this blessing be given and this is the true God who would in due time reveal himself to be triune.
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Although one could dispute whether this is really correct, it does not appear to be unwarranted to see a reference here to the trinity. The early Christian church considered the first line to refer to God, the Father, the second to God, the Son, and the third to God, the Holy Spirit. While Israel undoubtedly appreciated this beautiful structure and sensed the climax that it engendered, the New Testament church has seen in this threefold blessing an allusion to the holy trinity of God. The cumulative effect of the lengthening of the lines results in a tremendous climax ending with the word "peace." If you take away the name of the Lord, you have twelve words left, which is the number of the tribes of Israel. The entire blessing amounts to fifteen words. The first line consists of three words, the second of five and the third of seven words. In the Hebrew text, the first line consists of fifteen consonants, the second of twenty and the third of twenty-five. However, as a group, the first line is the shortest, the second is longer, and the third is longest.
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The first part is consistently longer than the second part. There are three lines and the covenant name Yahweh (Lord) occurs three times, once on each line. The form of this blessing as we find it in verses 24-26 is beautifully structured. This evening I would like to pause for a few moments at this blessing to help us appreciate anew the gospel that is found in these words. After these words have been spoken we are typically ready to leave the church auditorium and go home. The Lord turn his face toward you and give youīut what exactly does all this mean? It can happen that when we hear the same words often, we do not always take the time or effort to think about what we are hearing. The Lord make his face shine upon you and One of those services typically ends with the priestly blessing taken from Numbers 6.
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Board of Governors, Senate, brothers and sisters, ⤒ ?Īt the end of our Sunday worship services, the minister concludes the service with a blessing. In keeping with the popular character of Clarion, technical footnotes have been omitted. Speech given at the 2011 Convocation, of the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary.