Abba's Blessing

One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament or Torah is the Aaronic Blessing. This blessing, as far as I know of, is the only blessing directly from God. This blessing was given by God to Moses. Moses was to instruct Aaron the High Priest to sing this blessing over the Israeli people often. The passage is in Numbers 6:22-27.

This passage is so beautiful and has always been very calming to me, but I never knew exactly what it meant until I began to study it from a Hebrew perceptive. The English translation from the King James Version was what I was taught all my life until all the new translations of the Bible began to come on the scene and shine a new light on the old version.

 The King James version of Numbers 6:22-27 states, “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, 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. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (KJV). This left me a bit confused. The words bless, keep, shine upon, and countenance did not help me to believe that God was giving me His blessings. Newer translations began to make it a bit clearer.

The Message Bible is one version that began to help me wrap my head around the meaning, Numbers 6:22-27 from the Message Bible stated, “God spoke to Moses: Tell Aaron and his sons, this is how you are to bless the People of Israel. Say to them, God bless you and keep you, God smile on you and gift you, God look you full in the face and make you prosper. In so doing, they will place my name on the People of Israel—I will confirm it by blessing them” (MSG). In this version, I see God is smiling at me and giving me a gift. God is looking at me in my face and blessing me. I was starting to feel that God “The Father really loved me and wanted to bless me. But when I started to read the Amplified version I became more aware of the Fathers love

The Amplified Version of Numbers 6:22-27 states, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: The Lord bless you, and keep you [protect you, sustain you, and guard you]; The Lord make His face shine upon you [with favor], And be gracious to you [surrounding you with loving kindness]; The Lord lift up His countenance (face) upon you [with divine approval], And give you peace [a tranquil heart and life]. ’So Aaron and his sons shall put My upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” (AMP). As you can see the meaning is beginning to come together.

As I began to understand more about the Aaronic Blessing I began to want to understand the Hebraic perspective of these verses. I knew enough to understand that the Hebrew language could be complicated so I found a website that helped me understand it better.

To understand the meaning of the Blessing one needs to understand the keywords of the verses. Words like bless, keep, face, shine, gracious, grant, and peace. These keywords have such deeper meanings in the Hebraic language (Benner, 2018).  

In Hebrew, the word for bless is barakh which means to take a knee or kneel. The word also means to show respect to another person. (Benner, 2018). When God blesses, us He is kneeling in respect to us with open arms. Just like an Earthly father might do as he is waiting for his child to run to him.

The word keep in Hebrew is shamiyr, which means thorn. In the ancient days, sheepherders would use thorn bushes to construct fences around their sheep to protect them. In these verses, the Father is embracing us in His strong protective arms. No harm can come to us in his embrace (Benner, 2018).

The next keyword is face or paniym in Hebrew. In these verses the Father is giving us His full attention, not taking His eyes off us (Benner, 2018).  

Shine has the meaning of light in Hebrew. In these verses, the word shine would reference bringing light to darkness. God is looking directly into your face and showing you, He is there for you (Benner, 2018).

The word for gracious in Hebrew is hhanan. Hhanan means to protect and lift up. God is letting us know that He will protect us and keep us from harm (Benner, 2018). His blessings will never end.

Grant in Hebrew is siym, which means to be brought to a place that has been prepared for you in advance. Our God will bring us to a place that He has already prepared and made ready for us (Benner, 2018).  

And lastly is the word peace or shalom in Hebrew refers to making complete again after a time of trouble (Benner, 2018).

Here is the Aaronic Blessing translated from Hebrew to English it states, “YHWH will kneel before you presenting gifts and will guard you with a hedge of protection. YHWH will illuminate the wholeness of his being toward you bringing order and he will give you comfort and sustenance. YHWH will lift up his wholeness of being and look upon you and he will set in place all you need to be whole and complete” (Benner, 2018). As you can see the interpretation is a bit different from the English version. It makes me want to study more of the Bible with the Hebrew meaning.

The way I see the Aaronic Blessing after reading this is God kneeling down and waiting for me to run into His protective arms. After He hugs me tight for a while he pulls me back and looks lovingly into my face and reassures me He is there and will never leave me. As He hugs me again He lets me know that I have a place with Him and that I will have peace and His name forever.

The Hebrew version of the Aaronic Blessing has helped me to really understand and feel the love that Father God, Abba, has for me. As His child, I am blessed and kept with more peace that can be explained. Numbers 6:22-27 has always been special to me, but now I take it as a special gift from my Father Abba.

Your Sister in Christ,

Jacque Barnes

Reference:

Benner, J. A. (2018, August 29). The Aaronic Blessing, from a Hebraic Perspective. Retrieved from   

http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/language_aaronic.html

Expect the Unexpected

I have been surprised many times during my life, some good, some not so good, but most surprises have gotten my full attention. The unexpected is never expected! Getting to know Jesus and the love He has for you can change your life in ways you never expected. He will catch you by surprise and set a fire in your soul that will never die. I would like to discuss a few of the things Jesus has done, while on Earth, that has caused people, then as well as now, to expect the unexpected.

From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus did many amazing things. He changed water into wine at the request of His mother Mary. As His ministry grew Jesus caused the blind to see, and the crippled to walk. He raised the dead and feed thousands with a handful. Jesus became known as one who produced the unexpected. All the miracles Jesus did during His Earthly ministry where life-changing, but the most significant unexpected miracles came at His death and resurrection.

Jesus was arrested and convicted of crimes that He had not committed. He did not fight these charges and was beaten beyond recognition and crucified on a Roman cross as punishment. He died and was laid in a tomb, as was the custom in Israel. His friends and family were devastated and began the mourning process. Many things happened before and after the death and resurrection of Jesus but these happenings are insignificant when compared to the unexpected truth that was about to unfold.

To the average person in Jerusalem that Passover week, crucifixions had become a part of life. But the crucifixion of Jesus was not at all expected. Many people thought Jesus was the one who would save them and defeat Rome but as He died on the cross they lost all hope. Little did they know that Jesus was doing exactly what His Father, God, had sent Him to do. Jesus was to give Himself up as a Passover sacrifice for the sins of people. His resurrection was a sign that anyone who would believe in Him would be set free from their sins and could have a relationship with Father God. Jesus was and has always been the bridge that spanned the distance, created during the fall of Adam, between God and his precious children.

You see Jesus is our Savior and He is my all!! Without Him, all hope and joy would be lost. Jesus has already paid the price for our true freedom. Just accept this free gift and let Him do the unexpected in your life. You will never be disappointed!! Thank you, Jesus!!

Have a Wonderful week Expecting the Unexpected from our Lord!!

Your Sister in Christ,

Jacque Barnes