With the Lord helping me this
morning, I would direct you for our text to Numbers chapter 26,
so to Numbers chapter 6, to verses 24 to 26. Numbers chapter 6,
verses 24 to 26. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee and give thee peace. We have here in the words of
our text that which is commonly called the Aaronic Blessing. The Lord bless thee and keep
thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious
unto thee. the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give
thee peace. These are the words which Aaron
and his sons were to use in blessing the children of Israel. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this
wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
and so on. It was a part of the work of
the priests, to bless the people as you see in Deuteronomy 21
verse 5 and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near for them
the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him and to bless
in the name of the Lord now in this pronouncement of blessing There
is both prayer and promise. There is both prayer and promise.
The priests interceded for the children of Israel as the mouthpiece
of the congregation. They prayed on behalf of the
people to God. And as the mouthpiece of God,
as it were, they made promises to the people on God's behalf.
And so, in verse 27, after the words of this benediction, we
read, And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel,
and I will bless them. and I will bless them." The priests
then were intercessors, they were as mediators between God
and the people under the Old Testament dispensation, that
legal dispensation, the dispensation of the law. And in this they
pointed to the Christ who was to come, who is the true mediator. The Aaronic priesthood was but
a shadow. Christ is the substance. For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There is now no longer any need
for priests in the Church. Why? Because Christ has come. The true priest has come and
Jesus is that priest. He is our High Priest. But this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. wherefore he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. The priests then were a
type of Christ, and all the blessings which the people of God enjoy
come to them through Him, who is the mediator of the New Covenant. The apostle says, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. You know, the very last work
that the Lord Jesus Christ performed here on earth, before He ascended
up into heaven. Why? It was to bless His people. We see it in Luke's Gospel, in
Luke 24, verse 50. And He led them out as far as
to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he
blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. This was the very last thing
that Jesus did here upon earth. It was to bless his people. Peter,
preaching to the Jews in the book of Acts, said, Unto you
first, God having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless
you. in turning away every one of
you from his iniquities. Well, these things I say by way
of introduction. But before we come to consider
more particularly the words of our text, let us just examine
for a few moments the grammatical construction of this passage,
because there is so much here, even in the grammar that's used. Now I'm no Hebrew scholar, so
I have to rely on commentaries in order to get to the underlying
Hebrew text. There are some people who say
well you shouldn't use commentaries you should just pray and ask
for the Holy Spirit to help you and I rather think that we should
not despise the use of commentaries indeed I think it is most unwise
not to consult with the writings of godly men who have gone before
us and who have perhaps a greater or a more specialized knowledge
than ourselves. I believe it would be the utmost
folly, it would be negligent not to use good commentaries
when studying the Word of God. And if we think there is a beauty
and a majesty in our English translation, as we have it in
the authorised version, which undoubtedly there is, well, there
is an even greater majesty and beauty in the Hebrew. As we examine
the grammatical structure of this passage, we see something,
I believe, of the perfection of the Word of God. The law of
the Lord is perfect. converting the soul or may we
be brought then to the place that the psalmist was brought
to as he meditated in the word of god thy word is pure therefore
thy servant loveth it therefore thy servant loveth it or do you
love the word of god may we each one of us be brought to the love
of the word So perfect. In the Hebrew, the first line
of this blessing consists of just three words with 12 syllables. The second line consists of five
words with 14 syllables. And then the third line consists
of seven words with 16 syllables. and the number of Hebrew consonants
increases as well. 15 in the first line, 20 in the
second line, and then 25 in the third line. So what we see here
is a crescendo. Each line becoming fuller and
richer than the previous line. And it all culminates in the
word peace. Peace. The blessing builds up and builds
up and builds up until it reaches its climax in the word peace. And this is the blessing that
the people of God enjoy in time and in eternity. The blessing
of God ultimately leads to peace. This Aaronic blessing here begins
with blessing. The Lord bless thee. It ends
with peace and give thee peace. The psalmist speaks of those
who are trusting in Christ. Mark the perfect man and behold
the upright for the end of that man is peace. Such is the blessing of God to
his people. It's not so with the wicked.
It's not so for those who are without Christ. There is no peace,
saith the Lord unto the wicked. Another thing we notice from
the grammatical structure of the text in the Hebrew is that
if we exclude the name of God, which is written here three times,
There remain 12 words, precisely 12 words in the Hebrew. Now surely
this intimates that the blessing of the Lord is confined exclusively
to the people of God, represented here by the number 12. Remember
there were 12 tribes of Israel. Again the psalmist says, Salvation
belongeth unto the Lord, thy blessing is upon thy people. And concerning the name of God,
which, as I say, we have here written three times, apparently
there's no grammatical reason why the divine name should be
recorded here three times. Grammatically, it would have
been quite sufficient just to have the name written once. But
of course there is a reason why the Divine Name is recorded here
three times. There is no vain repetition in
the Word of God. Every Word of God is pure. And surely here we discern the
doctrine of the Trinity. Many of the commentators, such
as Matthew Henry and Dr Gill, observed that the word Jehovah
is used three times, and each time there is a different accent
upon the word in the original Hebrew. Now, surely this denotes
the three distinct persons of the eternal triune Jehovah. There is one Lord, one God, subsisting
in three distinct co-eternal and co-equal persons. And that is what the original
Hebrew here indicates. The doctrine of the Trinity is
there in the Old Testament, is not just in the New Testament. We see it clearly enough in our
English authorised version, in that the Divine Name is used
three times here, but it shines even more clearly in the original
Hebrew. And I like John Trapp's comment
on these verses. It's very short, just two sentences. He says, here some observe the
mystery of the Holy Trinity. See it explained in 2 Corinthians
13 verse 14. That's his comment. In other
words, if you want to comment on these Three verses in numbers? See 2 Corinthians 13, 14. What
better commentary on Holy Scripture than Scripture itself? What does 2 Corinthians 13, verse
14 say? The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen. This is, as it were, the spirit-inspired
commentary on the words of our text this morning. It is from
a Trinitarian standpoint, then, that I would expound this text
this morning to you. I trust with the Lord's help,
and I trust his blessing, because that is surely what the Holy
Spirit, who has inspired these words, is directing us to. The
Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee and give thee peace. We could say that the first part
of the priestly blessing, the Lord bless thee and keep thee,
has to do with the Father. The Father is Lord, or Jehovah,
and He is the fountain of all good, the source of every blessing. He is, as Paul says, the Father
of mercies. We see that the Father is the
source of all blessing in such places as Ephesians chapter 1. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us. Paul says there in Ephesians
1 verse 3, Now how has the Father blessed his people? Of what does
this blessing consist? What is this blessing? Well,
Paul tells us there in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as he has chosen us in him. before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the Beloved. There is the blessing. There
is the blessing. It's the blessing of an eternal
salvation from eternity and to eternity. It is the blessing
of unconditional election. Verse 4, "...according as He
hath chosen us in Him from before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." The
blessing of an unconditional election. There is the blessing
of adoption, verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good
pleasure of his will. Not man's so-called free will,
his will. A blessing of adoption. There
is the blessing of acceptance, acceptance with God. What a wonderful
thing that is, to be accepted with God. to the praise of the glory of
his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. And we note that it is all in
Christ. The Father hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. He hath chosen us in him. He has predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself and He has
made us accepted in the Beloved that is in Christ the Beloved
of the Father the blessing is all in and by the Lord Jesus
Christ but it is the Father Himself who has so blessed us if we are
in Christ and if we are believers in Him Jesus said to his disciples,
for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me
and have believed that I came out from God. And as it is Jehovah the Father
who has blessed us from the beginning, so it is Jehovah the Father who
will keep us to the end. The Lord bless thee and keep
thee. Peter speaks of those who are
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to
be revealed in the last time. Those who know the blessing of
this salvation, the blessing of the Lord, are brought off
from all confidence in themselves or their own ability. They are
brought to depend only and entirely upon the power of God to save
them and to keep them. The scripture says a nun can
keep alive his own soul. The blessed elect are brought
to trust in the Lord alone to keep them. And it is seen in
the prayers that they pray. For example, in Psalm 17. Verse 5. Hold up my goings in thy paths,
that my footsteps slip not. I have called upon thee, for
thou wilt hear me, O God. Incline thine ear unto me, and
hear my speech. Show thy marvellous lovingkindness,
O thou that savest by thy right hand them that put their trust
in thee from those that rise up against them. Keep me, As
the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies who
compass me about. All the believer feels his own
weakness. And he feels the strength of
the opposition. The world, the flesh, the devil,
are his deadly enemies. And he prays that he might be
kept. Keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. Perhaps the most deadly of all
his enemies is indwelling sin. And so the psalmist prays, keep
back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion
over me. Then shall I be upright and I
shall be innocent from the great transgression. Keep back thy servant. It is
the Lord alone who keeps his people. The Lord is thy keeper. Psalm 121. The Lord is thy keeper. In John 17 we read, we see the
incarnate Son in prayer to the Father. Holy Father, he says. Holy Father, keep through thine
own name those whom thou hast given me. He continues there in that prayer
in John 17. I pray not that thou shouldest
keep, that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that
thou shouldest keep them from the evil. We see Jehovah the
Father then in the first part of this priestly blessing. The
Lord bless thee and keep thee. And if we see Jehovah the Father
in the first part of the blessing then surely we see Jehovah the
Son in the second part. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee and be gracious unto thee. What is the face of Jehovah?
Is it not the Lord Jesus Christ? Paul says in Colossians that
he is the image of the invisible God. He says in Hebrews that
God has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds,
who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of
his person. As the brightness of God's glory
He shines upon his people, and he shines in the hearts of his
people. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. oh he is the face of Jehovah
this is the face of Jehovah the Lord make his face shine upon
thee and be gracious unto thee you know when the uh when the
sun shines It dispels the darkness, doesn't it? Well, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the Son of Righteousness. Spoken of there in Malachi 4,
verse 2, When Christ, the Son of Righteousness, shines in the
heart of a sinner, the darkness is dispelled and the blind begins
to see. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 we
read of those who are lost. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. Now that is the condition of
all of us by nature. That's the state we're in by
nature. But when Christ shines in our hearts with the light
of his glorious gospel, the darkness departs, the blindness is healed,
and we begin to see something of the glory of God, and we see
something, too, of ourselves, what we are, sinners before a
holy God. And as the sun warms the cold
earth, Or so Christ the Son of Righteousness warms the heart
of the elect sinner. Something is felt as the frozen
heart is thawed. Holy desires arise in the soul. There is a mourning for sin.
There is a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. And there will be a looking to
Jesus as the propitiation for sin. there will be a looking
to the blood of his cross for the removal of the stain that
sin has made upon our souls and upon our consciences and there will be a looking to
Jesus for that righteousness that we need that we might stand
before God in the day of judgment when the Son of Righteousness
arises with healing in his wings. The soil that was barren before
now produces new plants, plants such as faith and repentance. For what healing there is for
poor, destitute, barren sinners in him who is the son of righteousness. And so it is written in the 67th
Psalm, God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face
to shine upon us, Selah, that thy way may be known upon earth,
thy saving health among all nations. Oh, it's the saving health of
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only saviour of sinners. Repentance and faith are graces of the new covenant
and they are the gifts of Christ. Him has God exalted with his
right hand to be a prince and a saviour for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Later on in the book of Acts We read in Acts 11, 18. Then hath God also to the Gentiles
granted repentance unto life. I think it's in Romans where
Paul says as well that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. It's the gift of God. And concerning
faith, Paul speaks of looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. A man is not the author of his
own faith. Christ is the author of real saving faith. To the Ephesians, Paul writes
in Ephesians 2 and verse 8. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. It's plainly
written, isn't it? Yet how many there are who would
make it a work of the flesh. They say that it's the operation
of the sinner. The sinner must do it. But no,
Paul speaks of faith as the operation of God. It's God's work in the
soul. These Plants, shall we put it
that way, these plants of faith and repentance, they grow when
the sun of righteousness shines in the heart. It's all of grace,
you see, it's all of grace, and grace is ever linked to our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. We see it in the apostolic benediction,
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. and the love of God and the communion
of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. We see it here in
this Aaronic blessing. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee and be gracious unto thee. We see Jehovah the Son
at the very centre of the Aaronic blessing. And then in the third
place we see Jehovah the Holy Ghost at the conclusion of the
blessing. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give
thee peace. The lifting up of God's countenance
speaks of the smiling of God upon the believer. This is something
that is known and felt in the heart of the child of God. It
is the communion of the Holy Ghost. Paul says in Romans that
the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God. It is the spirit of adoption
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Or this is the smiling of the
parent upon the child because the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Here
is the comforter Jesus said, And I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for
ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him,
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. And it is the
Holy Spirit who ministers peace to the troubled soul. but the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The Spirit of God ministers peace
to the troubled soul by revealing Christ to that soul. For He is
our peace. He is our peace, as the Apostle
says. You see, the Holy Spirit does
not draw attention to Himself. He always draws our attention
to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his ministry. But when
the Comforter is come, whom I will send on to you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he
shall testify of me, Jesus said. And again he said, howbeit when
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth,
for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear
that shall he speak and he will show you things to come he shall
glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto
you there is much to bring the believer down in this evil world
and there is much to disturb the believers peace In the world
you shall have tribulation, Jesus said. The Lord has forewarned
us. In the world ye shall have tribulation. But the Spirit of
God, the Comforter, reveals a precious Jesus to us. He applies the precious blood to our very souls. He shows us
exceeding great and precious promises and he works in our
hearts that precious faith. Why is it precious? Because it's
so rare in this world, real faith. And here is where true and lasting
peace lies. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul, and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God, for
I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. It is
only in the lifting up of God's countenance upon us that we can
enjoy peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin. There be many that say, who will
show us any good Lord, lifter Thou up the light of Thy countenance
upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my
heart more than in the time that their gold and their wine increased.
O, both lay me down in peace and sleep, for Thou, Lord only,
makest me dwell in safety. Peace is produced in our hearts
and in our minds and in our consciences. with the lifting up of the light
of God's countenance upon us. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, Paul says in
Galatians. Again to the Romans he writes,
now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing
that ye may abound in hope through the power Is this not the same that we
have here written in the words of our text? The Lord lift up
his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. It is Jehovah,
the Holy Ghost that we see here at the conclusion of this Aaronic
or priestly blessing. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee and give thee peace. And as we draw to a conclusion,
it's interesting to note that in pronouncing this blessing
upon the children of Israel, Aaron and his sons put the name
of God upon them. We see that in verse 27 of this
sixth chapter of Numbers. And they shall put my name upon
the children of Israel and I will bless them. In the book of the Revelation
we see the complete ransomed church of Christ with the name
of God upon them. And I looked, and lo, a lamb
stood on the Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty
and four thousand, having his father's name written in their
foreheads. These are the elect of God, redeemed
by the blood of the lamb and regenerated by God the Holy Ghost. being born from above, they bear
something of the image of God. This is what it is to have the
Father's name written in the forehead. There is a family resemblance. And the children of God are exalted
to bear that family image. The Lord Jesus Christ says in
the Sermon on the Mount, But I say unto you, love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, and do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that
ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. For
he maketh his Son to rise on the evil and on the good, and
setteth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love
them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans
the same? And if ye salute your brethren
only, What do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which is in heaven,
is perfect. There is to be that family likeness,
that family resemblance. Then the apostle exhorts us that
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness. To the Ephesians he writes, And
be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers
of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also
hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and
a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. Oh, this is what it is,
you see, to have the Father's name written in our foreheads
and to have the name of the Lord put upon us. It was for this
that the psalmist prayed, and let the beauty of the Lord our
God be upon us. And the peace that the children
of God shall ultimately be brought to shall be an eternal peace,
an everlasting peace, a never-ending peace, a peace that shall never
ever be disturbed again. Again we see it in the Revelation. And there shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and
his service shall serve him, and they shall see his face,
and his name shall be in their forests. And there shall be no
night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the
sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign
forever and ever. This is the blessing. which is
put upon the people of God, the blessing of an eternal salvation. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord, thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. It is a blessing
founded in the eternal covenant of grace, called by Isaiah, the
covenant of peace. Isaiah 54 verse 10. For the mountains
shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall
not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace
be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. All great
indeed shall the peace of the Lord's people be. And that because of the eternal
covenant, the eternal covenant of peace. which shall never be
removed. See how Isaiah continues there. Isaiah 54. Neither shall the covenant of
my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! Behold,
I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations
with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of
agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant
stones. And all thy children shall be
taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children,
great shall be the peace of thy children, all because of the
eternal covenant, the eternal covenant of peace. Well may the
Lord bless us each indeed, may we each one of us knowing our
own soul's experience that blessing that is pronounced and promised
in the words of our text this morning. The Lord bless thee
and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.