“Speak to Aharon and his sons,
and tell them that this is how you
are to bless the people of Isra’el:
you are to say to them,
‘Y’varekh’kha Adonai v’yishmerekha.
[May Adonai bless you and keep you.]
Ya’er Adonai panav eleikha vichunekka.
[May Adonai make his face shine on you
and show you his favor.]
Yissa Adonai panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom.
[May Adonai lift up his face toward you
and give you peace.]’
-Numbers 6:23-26
Today we’re going to take a look at what has been named the Aaronic Blessing.
If any of you has ever attended a synagogue for even a brief period of time, I’m sure you’re quite familiar with this important and ancient blessing.
One thing about this blessing that has puzzled scholars is why in the world does it immediately follow after the laws of the Nazarite?
The laws of the Nazarite obviously only apply to the Nazarite but the Aaronic Blessing applies to ALL the people of Israel.
In ancient Israel, this early Hebrew poem was recited daily after the morning sacrificial offerings.
Although it was one of the priests’ main duties to bless Israel, the Aaronic blessing makes it clear that the priests themselves were NOT the source of the blessing.
They were merely mediators between God and man.
And the same could be said of the Messiah:
“For God is one;
and there is but one Mediator
between God and man,
Yeshua the Messiah,
himself human.”
The priests didn’t in and of themselves have the power to bless or curse.
They were merely to serve as God’s mouthpiece and proclaim God’s promises to the people.
I’d also like to remind you that in this Benediction where in most English Bibles it says “Lord“, “God” or “Adonai“, the original Hebrew is YHVH or YAHWEH.
It is YAHWEH who will bless you.
It is YAHWEH who will shine His Face upon you.
It is YAHWEH who will give you shalom.
Let’s talk a little bit about the true Biblical meaning of the word “blessing”.
There’s actually a big difference between how Christianity and Judaism understand blessing.
The Christians understand the word “blessing” as a very broad and nebulous term that doesn’t refer to anything specific in particular.
However, Scripture is VERY SPECIFIC when it comes to defining what blessings from the Lord are.
In Scripture, blessings are residing in the Land (ERETZ ISRAEL) in safety, good health, having abundant food, and a family.
This is the true Scriptural definition of blessing.
Another very important distinction between Christianity and true Biblical Judaism with regards to the meaning of “blessing” is that Biblically speaking “blessing” is a verb, it’s about YHVH proactively acting on our behalf.
It’s not just about HASHEM having warm, fuzzy and maple syrupy loving feelings towards us minus Him not taking any action on behalf of us.
It is NOT some subjective notion completely devoid of any action.
It’s about ACTION!
This actually brings me to another of the most misunderstood concepts in all of Scripture.
I’m talking about “love“.
Here’s the thing.
According to the Hebrew mindset, “love” is NOT an emotion.
In the Hebrew mindset “love” is an ACTION.
It’s not just having warm buttery feelings towards your wife for example.
It means getting off of your butt and helping her with the mountain of dishes piling up in the sink after dinner.
Love involves sweat, blood, and tears man!
Love can be painful and expensive.
It’s only in the Western gentile church where love has become some abstract concept consisting of only fuzzy warm feelings completely devoid of any action.
Let me ask you this?
Would you be satisfied with God just having “love” towards you without taking any actions on your behalf?
What good would that do you?
Well, fortunately for us, the true Biblical definition of “blessing” equals the act of God proactively giving us what we NEED!
And what does He give us?
The Scriptures tell us He gives us PROTECTION from our enemies.
He also gives us GRACE when we mess up due to our imperfections.
And He gives us His SHALOM which surpass any kind of earthly understanding.
SHALOM is another one of those words whose meaning is not fully grasped.
SHALOM entails much more than just peace.
It includes having all the material things we need and living a life free of conflict.
SHALOM refers to both bodily and mental health.
In a nutshell, SHALOM refers to a perfectly balanced sense of well-being that only the true God of the Universe can give us.
One final point.
Do you notice who the Aaronic Blessing is directed towards?
“Speak to Aharon and his sons,
and tell them that this is how you
are to bless the people of Israel:
you are to say to them…“
That’s right folks.
This ain’t some universal blessing for the whole world.
This blessing is specifically targeting only ONE group of people and that group is the People of Israel.
This blessing is only for that group of people HASHEM calls “My People” or “Israel“.
So if you’re of the GOYIM (gentiles), how can you get in on this blessing?
Well, what did the Apostle to the gentiles say?
“‘Men, what must I do to be saved?’
They said, ‘Trust in the Lord Yeshua,
and you will be saved
— you and your household!’
Whereupon they told him and
everyone in his household
the message about the Lord.”
-Acts 16:31-32
I don’t have time to go into some deep theological treatise about this yet but understand that when the Apostle Paul says “Trust in the Lord Yeshua, and you will be saved“, he is specifically referring to the process of being grafted into the commonwealth of Israel and NOT the other way around.
One has to be grafted into Israel to be saved.
That’s the way it has been, that’s the way it is now, and that’s the way it will always be!
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN NUMBERS CHAPTER SEVEN
Leave a Reply