The Aaronic Blessing

The Aaronic Blessing

"The Lord bless you

And keep you;

The Lord make His face shine on you

And be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you

And give you peace. "

Numbers 6 v 24 - 26

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kzqrWae5lK4

In these troubled times the Aaronic Blessing is everywhere.

As we face Covid 19, we are realising that we are not in control!

An unseen, and yet powerful virus, threatens everything we know and hold dear!

Life, looks so different, our work, our best laid plans, celebrations, birthdays, weddings, are all cancelled!

We cannot even attend a funeral and comfort the bereaved!

Flights are cancelled, holidays are cancelled, and we are in crisis, struggling to make sense of what is going on!

Life has been stripped back, laid bare, we are confined, and isolated, and in the face of this seemingly unstoppable pandemic, we are calling out!

Calling out to our heavenly father, to turn His face towards us!

So many have lost their lives, and lost loved ones.

In the face of disaster and great tragedy, even the confirmed atheist prays!

All over the world, people, from every tribe and tongue are collaborating and producing their own version of the Aaronic blessing.

The Priestly blessing, is one of the oldest prayers in the World, from the oldest known biblical texts.

We are echoing back to God, the blessing that was given to us, by God himself.

With this blessing, God put a name on His people, 

He called them His own special possession, 

His family!

This, prayer, from God to us, shows us, that nothing is possible without Him!

Those, that the unchangeable, everlasting God, blesses are blessed forever!

What a blessed assurance!

 " I have received a command to bless. He has blessed and I cannot change it. "

Numbers 23 v 20

This prayer contains the most beautiful symmetry with 3, 5 and then 7 lines.

The Lord is mentioned 3 times, and it occurs to me as I reflect and meditate on these words that this points to the very nature of our triune God.

 " The Lord bless you and keep you. "

Speaks about safety, the safety and security of being in our loving Fathers arms.

Who can protect and love, like a Father?

The Psalms reflect the heart of the Father, and so many of them speak of our rock, our refuge, our steadfast hope, security and safety in Him.

 " Show me the wonders of your great love,

You who save by your right hand,

Those who take refuge in you from their foes.

Keep me as the apple of your eye,

Hide me in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 17 v 7 - 8

 " The Lord make His face to shine on you, and be gracious to you! "

Whose is the face which lights up heaven?

The face of Jesus. 

Jesus said, " I am the light of the World. " John 8 v 12

In Revelation 1 v 16 " His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. "

Where can grace be found if not in the cross?

Grace

Gods riches at Christs Expense!

" The Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace. "

As a Father lovingly turns His face to His child. The Father lovingly turns His face towards us and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

" We seek gifts, He, the giver longs to give himself and satisfy our souls with His goodness. " 

( Waiting on God, Andrew Murray)

Peace, perfect peace is the precious gift that God longs for us to have.

Some years ago, when I finally stopped running, and trying to do things my own way,

I surrendered my life and my heart to God.

I didn' t want to take another step without Him, and something happened, something beautiful.

The Fathers love swept over me like a tidal wave!

Gods love took hold of my heart, and the feeling was so immense, so overwhelmingly powerful, that I wanted everyone in the World to know that love, to experience the love that flows from our Fathers heart towards us!

The most powerful, unstoppable force in the Universe.

 " We are loved by the One vaster, than the Universe, who, nonetheless, turns His face towards us, as a parent to a beloved child. "

(Rabbi Naftali Silberberg ~ Chabad.org)

 " He is such a blessed being, full to overflowing with goodness and power and life and joy, that we, however wretched, cannot for anytime come into contact with him, without that life and power, secretly, silently entering into us and blessing us.

God is Love!

That is the one, all sufficient reason for your expectation.

Love, seeks out its own.

Gods love, is His delight to impart Himself and His blessedness to His children.

Come and however weak you feel, wait in His presence.

As a weak, sickly invalid is brought out into the sunshine, to let its warmth go through him.

Come, with all that is dark and cold in you, into the sunshine of God's Holy omnipotent love.

Sit and wait there with one thought,

 Here I am in the sunshine of Gods love.

As the sun does its work, in the weak one who seeks its rays, God will do His work in you.

Oh trust Him completely.

Waiting on God, Andrew Murray.

My whole purpose, my heart, in writing this blog is to share with you this beautiful and precious truth,

God is love and God loves you.

If you know Him go deeper......

If you don't know Him, " Seek His face, " 

Find Him, be loved, be blessed and be healed by the intensity of His love.