The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, “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 6:22-27 ESV)
Face Shining
This is an odd blessing for God to bestow. Exodus 33:20 declares that no one can see God’s face and live. His Holiness is so incongruent with human sinfulness that being that close to God, that intimate with God, that present in God’s present would cause destruction of our sinful selves.
Yet God blesses His people (us) by saying that His face actually shines on us!
This blessing means that we will have God present in our lives. He is not only far off in heaven, He is here, too. He is not distant, He is at hand. He is not separated from us, He has shown us who He is.
It happens through Christ Jesus.
This blessing is brought elastically into our time through Christ’s words: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6,7 ESV)
That means God chooses to bless us unnaturally by being present. That means that we are never alone. That means that we are never on our own. That means that we are never abandoned, forsaken, deserted, isolated, or lost. As long as we know Christ Jesus.
What a blessing His shining face is.