Releasing the Aaronic Blessing – Part 2

At last we get to part 2 (it has been a while) of releasing the Lord’s blessing and we will unpack the next verse. ‘The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you’ (Numbers 6:25).  Refer to Releasing the Aaronic Blessing – part 1 for verse 24.

Here is the mechanical translation of verse 25.

He~will~make~LIGHT(Verb) (יָאֵר / ya’eyr) YHWH (יְהוָה / YHWH) FACE~s~him (פָּנָיו / pa’naw) TO~you(ms) (אֵלֶיךָ / ey’ley’kha) and~he~will~PROVIDE.PROTECTION(Verb)~you(ms) (וִיחֻנֶּךָּ / wi’hhu’ne’ka)

YHWH will make his face shine toward you and he will provide you with protection.

The Hebrew word for face is paniym ( פָּנִים ). The word paniym appears several times in the Old Testament in combination with God or the Lord. In most cases, the face of the Lord is a reference to God’s presence. For instance, when Moses asked God to assure him that he, God, would go with the people to the land of Canaan, God told Moses: ‘My face shall go before thee’ (Exodus 33:14 DRA). Most modern translations use the word ‘presence’ to translate the Hebrew word for face, but face is so much more than just His presence.

The root of  paniym is panah ( פָּנָה ) which means to turn towards or away from.  So we have in this case God turning his face towards us in blessing.  We know in the Old Testament people could not look upon the Lord and live. Under the New Covenant Jesus has made a way where we can behold His paniym (face) and worship in intimacy.

In Exodus 33:15 Moses says (my paraphrase) if your presence (face) does not go with us I’m not going anywhere! This maybe the smartest thing Moses ever uttered.  Moses knew that without the Lord’s favour, blessing, and face towards himself and Israel there was no point to anything.

The word for light/shine is ‘owr ( אוֹר ) meaning to be or become light, to be illuminated.   The same word is used in the following verse.

Psalm 119:130 The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

So we see a connection to his face (presence) shining on us and both His word and us worshipping Him.

It is in the intimacy of worship and meditating on His word we see the Lord’s face turned toward us and we can behold the beauty of His holiness.

The second phrase of verse 25 is ‘and be gracious to you’ which is better translated as ‘and He will provide you with protection‘.  This is such a powerful statement.  As we are in His presence, with His face turned towards us we have protection from all the attacks of the enemy.

This concept ties in with the keys of David and the tabernacle of David which are the ways for us to overcome in praise and worship.  The more time we can spend in praise and worship the stronger we become in Him. We see the manifestation of verses such as  Colossians 1:27 Christ in us the hope of glory.

This blessing which is often used as a benediction at the end of Church services is much more than a way to close a service, it is a direction for our lives!

I close with this verse:

Psalm 21:6 For You have made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.

PS: The photo at the top of this post is the Oasis at Timna in the wilderness of southern Israel.  This is a place of rest in the harsh southern desert.