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Nanosermon Script:
Come with me to the book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Bible, and to Chapter six and verse twenty-two. This passage is known as ‘the priestly blessing’ and it’s going to bless and encourage you today.
Numb 6:22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Numb 6:23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, Numb 6:24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: Numb 6:25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Numb 6:26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numb 6:27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
Let’s look at the three verses of the actual blessing. Each verse is in two parts. That’s typical of Hebrew poetry, to sort of rhyme two similar thoughts. So, firstly:
The Lord wants to bless you
Numb 6:24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
What this verse says to me is that the Almighty commands his minister to proclaim his desire to bless his people. If you are one of them, your heavenly Father wants to bless you and keep you.
The Hebrew word for ‘bless’, here, is ‘bârak’. It’s a common word in many Middle East languages. It derives from a root meaning ‘to kneel’.
Men in the Bible would fall to their knees to bless and praise God. But here God is blessing us. How good is that? The Hebrew word for ‘keep’ here is shâmar. But it means more than ‘keep’, it means guard, protect, hedge about as with thorns. If you are his, God is going to protect you from your enemies with a thorn hedge. He is going to guard you, and look out for you.
His face shines on you
Secondly,
Numb 6:25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
You know what it’s like when someone’s face shines upon you. Maybe that happens to you all the time. Or maybe you can’t remember the last time someone looked at you like that.
But the Almighty is going to make his face shine upon each one of his children, and if God is for you, who can be against you?
God is gracious to you
The Hebrew word for ‘be gracious’ is chânan. It means to bend down or stoop in kindness to a subordinate, to bestow favour.
We must agree that the greatest example of God ‘being gracious’ lies in how he became one of us in Jesus and died on the cross to forgive all the sins of each one who puts his trust in him.
But if God grants you favour – and if you walk in his ways he will – then you will have favour with men as well. Doors will open, appointments will be granted, opportunities will arise, apparent co-incidences will spring up, all by the grace of God.
Lift up, not hide, his face
Lastly,
Numb 6:26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
The same Hebrew word is translated firstly as ‘face’ and then here as ‘countenance’. No matter. What does matter is that in the next book in the Bible, in Deuteronomy, God says not that he will ‘lift up his face’ but that he will ‘hide his face’ from his people because of their sin against him.
By being obedient to his word, that will not happen to you. By keeping his commandments the Lord lifting up his face to you will be your constant portion.
Now, if you know any Hebrew at all, you will not be surprised to find out that the word translated ‘peace’ here is the Hebrew ‘Shâlôm’. The word also carries the meaning of safety, well-being, good health, happiness and prosperity.
Your faith plus your walk equals your blessing
Let’s put it all back together. If you have faith in Jesus Christ and walk in his ways, this blessing is for you today:
Numb 6:24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: Numb 6:25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Numb 6:26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
SCRIPT ENDS
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