Blessings Of Priests

Numbers 6:22-27

Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing. (Numbers 6:23)

IMAGINE A SCHOOL WHERE, in addition to their teaching responsibilities, instructors were given a secret assignment: to look for students who would be good candidates to receive a scholarship at year’s end. These students would not necessarily have the highest grades or test scores, though they’d likely score very well. The real criteria would be more subjective. Which ones were most eager to learn? Which ones needed things to go their way for once? Which ones had shown signs of honesty, integrity, and sincerity? Any identified by their teachers would be eligible to receive the benefit of a scholarship at the end of the year.

That resembles the picture of God’s assignment to Aaron and the Levitical priests in Numbers 6. God said that if Aaron and his sons blessed the Israelites with the words of a particular prayer—“May the LORD bless you and protect you . . . smile on you and be gracious to you . . . show you his favor and give you his peace” (Numbers 6:24-26)—he would make the blessing manifest. We are given no explanation for why God did not bless his people directly, though it may be because of his agreement to work through human agency in this world (as with prayer, forgiveness, and the promise he gives his followers of binding and loosing things on earth). Regardless of the reason, his deal with Israel’s priests was for them to mediate the words of blessing and for him to honor them.

As royal priests of the Kingdom of God, we carry the same assignment (Romans 12:14; 2 Corinthians 1:11; James 3:10; 1 Peter 3:9). Our assignment is a little different than that of the schoolteachers; God’s blessings are unlimited. Everyone needs one, and we can afford to declare them indiscriminately. Even so, we are sent as scouts into the world to mark the people around us with blessing, which we can fully expect God to honor. Few people take advantage of this enormous opportunity, but we should—whether privately, out loud, or however we choose. God will manifest many of the blessings we speak.

{Lord, I don’t know your specific will for people’s lives, but I do know you want to bless them, to draw them close, to reveal who you are and demonstrate your love. If my words are a catalyst for that ministry, may they be plentiful. Amen.