“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. So shall they put My name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” – Numbers 6:24-27
Yahweh
God has commanded the Priests to bless His people. The blessing is three poetic lines. In each of the three lines, it is God Himself who is the subject. When He refers to Himself He uses the name, Yahweh. The great I Am. The eternal I Am. I Am with you. I desire to bless you. Yahweh is active in the three lines on behalf of His people. He wants to bless them and keep them. He wants to make His face shine upon them and be gracious to them. He wants to lift up His face upon them and give them peace. And then he concludes with today’s verse. So. So shall they put My name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.
What’s In a Name
Yahweh is the author of this blessing. The great I Am is no pagan idol. Yahweh is capable of bringing peace and prosperity. He is no scarecrow in a cucumber patch (Jeremiah 10:5) What Yahweh promises He has the power to fulfill. What Yahweh promises He has the wealth to give. What Yahweh promises He has the love to follow through. Only Yahweh can ultimately protect us. Only Yahweh can show us saving Grace. Only Yahweh can give us perfect peace. When He says He wants to put His name on His people He is backing up His words with His attributes. There is a sense in which He is putting His reputation on the line. The name of the Lord is tantamount to the Lord Himself. Think about Proverbs 18:10. “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” Yahweh is putting His name on His children. There is no greater blessing.
Blessed to Bless
By repeating this blessing over the people on a regular basis, the sacred name of Yahweh was “put” into the hearts and minds of the Israelites, and thus they were blessed. Because His name is virtually the same as the Lord Himself, this blessing becomes a petition that God might live among His people and meet all their needs. The prayer is designed to help the people experience the reality of the blessing of the Lord. But the blessing doesn’t end with God’s people. It “begins” with them. God blesses His people so that through them the nations may be blessed. As beautiful and uplifting as these verses are, they are not about us. Ultimately, they are about God and His glory. When we looked at the LORD’s shining face we looked at Psalm 67:1 which says, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us,” to which verse two adds, “that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” When we looked at the LORD’s lifted countenance, we looked at the humility of Christ as recorded in Philippians chapter two. Verses nine through eleven of this chapter continue, “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
A Name Above…
Under the Old Covenant, God’s name was put on His people. Theirs was a privileged relationship. As they stood in the temple, the priests would recite this blessing over them. They delivered it with joy. They delivered it with passion. We have a New Covenant. We have a great High Priest. He was highly exalted. God bestowed on Him a name that is above every name. If you have bowed your knee to Him and confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord, you too have a new name. Christian. You have been blessed. God has not only put His name upon you, He now indwells you in the person of the Holy Spirit. You are God’s temple. Ours is a privileged relationship. Our blessing was delivered with joy. Our blessing was delivered with passion. Your responsibility? Give Him glory. Point others to the One whose name is above all names. The One whose name we bear. The One who made Yahweh known to us. The great I Am incarnate.
God’s name upon us. Three poetic lines fulfilled by a Triune God. What a Blessing. May we continue to make His name known.
“I Am has sent me to you.” – Exodus 3:14
“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.'” – John 8:58
“I made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” – John 8:26