2025 10/19 Numbers 6:22-27; YHWH’s Name, YHWH’s Blessing; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20251019_numbers-6_22-27.mp3

Today we are looking at YHWH’s blessing on his people, in Numbers 6:22-27. This is probably the most well known and often quoted part of the book of Numbers. God has set his people free from slavery by mighty acts of deliverance. He brought them to the foot of a mountain where he would meet with them, instruct them what it meant to be a people in relation with a holy God. God’s holy presence in thunder and lightning and smoke and cloud and thick darkness was so terrifying that the people requested Moses to go between them and God as a mediator (Ex.20:18-21). But while Moses was on the mountain receiving God’s instructions, the people were down with Aaron breaking the commandments, making gods of gold and worshiping them (Ex.32). The Lord’s anger was kindled, but Moses prayed for the people, and God extended grace and mercy, and promised to go with them and be their God and take them to be his people, and allow them to make a tent for him to dwell among them.

By the end of Exodus, the tent is complete and the glory of YHWH filled the tabernacle. In Numbers, the military age men are counted (1), the tribes are organized around God’s tent (2), the families of the tribe of Levi arranged immediately around God’s tent (3-4), guarding God’s tabernacle, guarding the people from God’s holy wrath (1:53). In Numbers 5 and 6, the camp is cleansed, the unclean are put out, reconciliation is to be made when one sins against another, covenant faithfulness is to be jealously guarded, those who take voluntary vows are to fulfill what they speak.

At the end of chapter 6 we find this blessing;

Numbers 6:22 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

God’s Desire to Bless

A few things to notice about this blessing; it is initiated by God himself. It is not in response to any thing the people have done. It is not in response to a request for blessing. YHWH spoke to Moses, gave him words to put in the mouth of Aaron with which to bless his people. YHWH God desires to bless; his heart is to bless. When he created mankind, God blessed them; ‘be fruitful and multiply, fill, subdue, have dominion’ (Gen.1:28). After the flood, the Lord blessed Noah and his family (Gen.9:1). In Genesis 12,

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God desires to bless his people. He initiates the blessing, and his blessing is not earned or deserved. He does promise blessing to the righteous and curses on the wicked (Prov.3:33); there are blessings promised for obedience and curses for disobedience (Deut.11:26-28); but often his blessings are what we might call random, spontaneous, unsolicited, unwarranted.

All Of Grace

God’s blessings are all of grace. We don’t deserve his blessings. When the Lord gave this blessing to his people in Numbers 6, they had already experienced an outpouring of God’s amazing grace. As we saw in Exodus 32, no sooner had the people agreed to the terms of the covenant and promised obedience to God’s commands, they prostituted themselves to other gods. Moses prayed, and God in his amazing grace, forgave them and came to live among them. Now, after the golden calf, after Nadab and Abihu disobeyed and were destroyed, God did not leave them or forsake them. He made his presence known among them, and in amazing grace he blessed them. The story of Numbers, is a story of repeated disobedience, repeated failure, repeated rebellion, and still God continued to bless them far beyond what they deserved. God’s blessing is all of grace. We don’t deserve it, we could never earn it, we do plenty to warrant his withdrawal, yet still he blesses us.

Blessed

Let’s look at this blessing. There’s an introductory command to bless the people, a concluding confirmation of his blessing on his people, and in the middle a three part blessing.

YHWH bless you and keep you. To be blessed means to be what you were created to be, to successfully realize your purpose, to find fulfillment, to be fruitful. The Lord who created us knows best how we will be most fulfilled, most satisfied, most filled with joy.

Jesus gave some unexpected teaching on true fulfillment.

Matthew 5:2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 ​“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 ​“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 ​“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 ​Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

God’s blessing may come to us in some unexpected ways.

Kept

The Lord bless you and keep you.

Psalm 121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 ​My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6 ​The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

The Lord is our keeper, the one who watches over, guards, protects, preserves. He is able to keep us from threats without and within. Jude ends his short letter with this doxology:

Jude 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

His Face Shine Upon You

YHWH make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. What does it mean to make his face shine upon you?

Imagine walking through a crowded place, maybe the airport. Some people in conversation, some just blankly looking down or looking ahead, waiting in line. You see an old friend, someone you were close to, someone you haven’t seen in quite a while. You wave to get his attention, and say ‘hi, Jack!’ Jack looks around, makes eye contact, and squints his eyes a bit straining to recognize you. Imagine his blank expression doesn’t change, and he turns away and goes back to whatever he was doing. How do you feel? But imagine instead that as he squints, his face lights up with recognition, he breaks into a broad smile, says your name, ‘it is so good to see you, how ya doing my friend?’

I think it’s something like this. The Lord’s face lights up with recognition, he knows you, and he delights in you. His face illumines our darkness.

Even Moses, after the Lord answered his prayer and promised his presence with his people, when he asked ‘Please show me your glory’ (Ex.33:18), the Lord answered that he would make his goodness pass before him and proclaim his name, but ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live’ (Ex.33:20)

Isaiah prophesied:

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 ​And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

John says this of the one who was with God and who was God:

John 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. …9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. … 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. … 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Be Gracious

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. God’s grace is a kindness we don’t deserve. We don’t want what we deserve; what we deserve is God’s anger, God’s wrath. The greatest gift we could never deserve is the gift of his presence, his face shining on us in kindness.

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

God’s grace is not our own doing, not a result of works, not what we deserve; it is a gift. This gift, the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness toward us, comes to us in Christ Jesus.

Lift Up His Countenance Upon You

YHWH lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. In judgment the Lord says he will set his face against a person or a city to cut off, for harm and not for good. To lift up his face or his countenance upon you is the opposite of that, his face is not set against in the judgment we deserve, but lifted up in favor toward us.

Psalm 4:6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!” 7 You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. 8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Give You Peace

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Shalom. Wholeness, completeness, fullness, fulfilled, satisfied, safe, rest.

Matthew 11:28 ​Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

John 14:27 ​Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

If God is For Us

God’s blessing, God’s face shining on us, God’s face lifted toward us preserves us, gives us grace and peace.

Romans 1:7 …Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Put My Name on the People

Numbers 6:27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

It is through this threefold blessing that YHWH’s name is put on his people. Israel bore the name of YHWH, enjoyed his blessing, received his grace and experienced his peace. His name, his character and reputation were connected with his people. When they misrepresented him by living inconsistent with his character,

Ezekiel 36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.

Israel bore the name of YHWH in this threefold blessing. Jesus commissioned his followers:

Matthew 28:19 ​Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Today we bear the name of YHWH.

24 The LORD bless you

and keep you;

25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you

and be gracious to you;

26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you

and give you peace.

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org