The Aaronic benediction.
A few days ago , Our prayerful Pastor visited us from his house on the top of the hill. We had been remembering him just a day earlier.
He read the Aaronic benediction from Numbers chapter 6 versus 22 to 27 and prayed the blessing on us and my uncle’s family who has been through their own changes.He graciously remembered our Godly heritage and blessed us that we would continue it forward in the coming days.
Thought I would spend some time just looking at the benediction in the context of the Hebrew meaning of it and Got around to painting a mental picture of it.
I found it beautifully comforting and was awestruck by the picture it painted.
The benediction as it is in Numbers 6 versus 20 to 27 reads,
“The Lord bless thee,
And keep thee,
And be gracious to thee,
The Lord make His face to shine upon thee.
The Lord lift up his countenance on thee
And give thee peace.”
“The word “Bless” in Hebrew is the word “Barakh “ which means to kneel,eg, Genesis 24 vs 11, when the camels kneel down.
One such related word is “berekt” which means ,”knee”.Another related word is Berakkhah which means a gift or a present.
The concrete meaning behind the verb is Barak is to bring a gift to another while kneeling out of respect.”
The word “Keep” Is another verb used and is another one of my favourite words.
“The Hebrews were a nomadic people raising live stock.It was common for shepherds to be out with the flocks away from the camp ,overnight. In order to protect the flock,the shepherd would construct a corral of thorn bushes .The shepherd would then guard over the flock and the corral would be a hedge of protection around them..The word for a thorn is Shamir and is the verb Shamar which means to gaurd and protect.”
“Hebrew word “paniym” for face is always written in plural form reflecting this idea of multiple faces of each person. This word can also mean presence of the wholeness of being of an individual.”
“Shine “as used here is a noun which means light and as a verb it means to give light, or bring order, illuminate or reveal what has been in dark.
“Gracious”, Most theologians will define grace as unmerited favour but notice the abstractness of these words.The Hebrew verb translated as gracious in the Aaronic blessing is the word “hhanan “ and is often paralleled with other Hebrew words meaning healing, help, being lifted up, finding refuge, strength and rescue. From a concrete Hebraic perspective this verb means to provide protection.
“Grant, the Hebrew word “siym” literally means to “set down in a fixed and arranged place.”
To me it gives picture of permanency.
“Peace, when we hear the word we usually associate₩ this to mean an absence of war or strife. However the Hebrew word shalom has a very different meaning .The root of this word is “Shalam” and is usually used in the context of making restitution. When a person has caused another to become deficient in some way, such as a loss of livestock, it is the responsibility of the person who created the deficiency to restore what has been taken, lost or stolen. The word “shalam “ literally means to make whole or complete.”
(The quotes are from ‘The Aaronic blessing from Hebrew perspective ‘by Jeff .A.Benner.)
I am deeply comforted by this triple-fold blessing which did not originate in man but came from the Elohim Himself.
It was a blessing that the Lord instructed Moses to pass on to Aaron and his sons for blessing the Israelites.
It is a beautiful painting of God ,the Father, kneeling down before us in reverance with a gift in His hand.
Can we imagine the Lord of the universe powerful and majestic doing that? It sounds almost blasphemous but I can very well imagine ‘the God ,my father’ doing that for me because He is a relational God and He did exactly that as it says in John 3 vs 16.
It is a picture of God the Son,making His face to shine upon us and lifting up His countenance to us revealing His many faces. What a blessing to get to know our precious Redeemer better and be partakers in the revelation through His Word and Person.
It is a picture of God,the Spirit working in us to restore us ,to fill in the gap ,to give back what is lost, to counsel us ,to comfort us and to complete us and make us whole.
Amen and Amen.
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