Numbers 6: 22--27

• The LORD bless [you], and keep [you]:
  The LORD make his face shine upon [you], and be gracious unto [you]:
  The LORD lift up his countenance upon [you], and give [you] peace. (24--26, KJV)
  The LORD spoke to Moses: Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them:
  The LORD bless you and protect you!
  The LORD deal kindly and graciously with you!
  The LORD bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!
  Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.

Having often sung (and loved) the KJV text, I found the Tanakh rendition disappointing at first reading. "What does this have to do with the Name of Jesus?" I wondered. So I read it again, and the "scales" began to "fall from my eyes", because the choral text omits the opening and closing verses, which are full of meaning.

God told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons: "This is how you are to bless your congregations. Use these words." This is God's message to the priests and pastors of the people. So we sit in our pews looking up at you, waiting expectantly to hear you pronounce God's blessing upon us. So we sit and wait, until the Spirit of Truth reminds us: We are all priests, a priesthood of believers⁽¹⁾. These instructions are meant for us! "Say these words to My children." Quite different from some of the words we frequently think and use about people.

Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel. There are two possible antecedents to "they", but the end of the phrase effectually eliminates one. So it is not up to God's children to link YHWH's name to themselves; this is the job, the duty of the priests and pastors-- and, uh-- oh, yeah-- of us, too, right?

And so we encounter God's circular reasoning: God blesses us so that by our blessing the people, YHWH's name will be linked to them so that God will bless them....

This helps us understand what one commentator wrote about Jesus' beatitudes: the pronouncement of the blessing conveys the blessing. As Fred Craddock puts it: In our [Lukan] text, Jesus is pronouncing that condition which is in fact the case. .... As pronouncements on the lips of Jesus, these statements are performative; that is to say, the words have power and perform or make true the kinds of life presented in the statements.⁽²⁾

• The Word of God is alive and active. (Heb. 4: 12)
  The Name of God is....
  Jesus....

Psalm 67 [2--8, TNK]

The Psalmist echoes the blessings from Numbers:

• May God be gracious to us and bless us;
  may He show us favor, [2]

and adds a salient purpose:

• that Your way be known on earth,
  Your deliverance among all nations. [3]

The blessings of YHWH are not simply for us to revel in; they are ours to share, to pass on because God has a purpose in mind: to reconcile the world with the Holy One, so that

• Peoples will praise You, O God;
  all peoples will praise You. [4].

Remember, all nations, all peoples, meant everyone who is not Israel; for us it means everyone outside the Church.

Galatians 4: 4--7

God has done (at least) two things in order to effect reconciliation with us: God sent his son... to buy freedom... (4..5) and God has sent into our hearts the Spirit... [thereby making each one of us] an heir by God's own act. (6..7) Why?

Philippians 2: 9--13

Is it any wonder, when we consider all that Jesus has accomplished on our behalf, that God raised him to the heights and bestowed on him the name above all names (9)? And we-- the recipients of all this grace, so much mercy, such abundant blessing-- should we not therefore bow... and... acclaim, "Jesus Christ is Lord," to the glory of God (10..11)?

So you too, my friends, must be obedient (12). We must pronounce God's blessing on all nations so that God may bless them. This is, in part, what it means to work out your own salvation in fear and trembling (12). Paul does not say it will be easy or that we will not meet with cynicism, rejection and hostility. But he does promise us strength and sustenance: for it is God who works in you (13). Like Aaron and his sons, all we need be is the willing mouthpiece. And say the right words.

Luke 2: 15--21

Do you ever think of yourself as an angel? Like me, you are probably too modest, if not too humble. Well, guess what? God does! So place yourself in the company of the angels who sing, 'Glory to God in highest heaven, and on earth peace to all in whom he delights.' (14) Then the shepherds-- the "nations"-- hurried off and... When they saw the child, they related what had been told [by the angels] about him; and all who heard were astonished.... (16..18)

• "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
  there is something about that name...."⁽³⁾

• '[A]nd you shall give him the name Jesus,
  for he will save his people from their sins.' (Mat. 1: 21)

[The words] written here have been recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this faith you may have life by his name. (Jn. 20: 31)

Christian, don't you know how greatly and abundantly you have been blessed? Then look around. Who stands there whom you may bless?

1. ¹ Rev. 1: 6; 1Pe. 2: 5, 9.

2. ² Luke; Interpretation Series, John Knox Press; p.87.

3. ³ The Gaithers.

(Comments to Phil at ENAPXH@aol.com )