November 28 Daily Discovery
November 28 Daily Discovery - Read Numbers Chapter 6
This passage below is from the King James Version (ekjv.org).
Remarks from the Berean Fellowship follow the passage below.
[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[2] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:
[3] He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.
[4] All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
[5] All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no rasor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
[6] All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body.
[7] He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.
[8] All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.
[9] And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.
[10] And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
[11] And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.
[12] And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.
[13] And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
[14] And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,
[15] And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.
[16] And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:
[17] And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.
[18] And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.
[19] And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:
[20] And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.
[21] This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.
[22] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[23] Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
[24] The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
[25] The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
[26] The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
[27] And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
Pronounce this Divine Blessing
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.
Numbers 6:22-27
God gave this instruction to Aaron and rest of the priests to express to His people this prayer-pronunciation. The first mention of "on this wise ye shall bless" is believed to be the instruction to use the blessings that follow as a benediction.
It is quite commonly cited at the end of current day worship gatherings.
We are New Testament believer-priests and so we may rightly use this benediction ourselves as well to speak over God's people that are blessed.
Jesus is our Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14-16) and we serve under Him. (1 Pet. 2:9)
God's people ARE blessed. (Psa. 144:15)
To BLESS someone is to pronounce GOOD upon them in God's behalf.
Even the false prophet was forced to BLESS God's people when he had been hired to curse them. (Num. 22:21-38, Num. 23:11 & 2 Pet. 2:15-16)
So, we are pronouncing these things upon them from the Lord:
The Lord:
Bless You
To bless is to pronounce good. To curse is to pronounce evil. To bless means literally to bow down to and it signifies that we are worshiping God and praying as we pronounce the blessing.
Keep You
To keep means to build a hedge about. It pictures protection and preservation.
Smile Upon You
To cause His face to shine upon you carries the idea of watching you and casting His light upon you. In so doing, we do not walk in darkness, but in light. Thus God provides light for whatever journey we are on.
Be Gracious to You
This means for God to show His favor upon us. His favor is His delight, approval and acceptance.
Lift up His Countenance Upon You
This means that God will continue to watch over you.
Give You Peace
Peace here means completeness, soundness and welfare (physical and emotional and spiritual health).
Memorize this Blessing
At your next opportunity when you are ready to grant a closing prayer or benediction, especially among a group that is predominantly believers, speak this blessing upon them.
It is one of the very best gifts you can give before you depart.
--------------
Continue Your Search
From this chapter, do you see any: Commands to Obey, Warnings to Heed, Promises to Claim, Examples to Follow, Vices to Avoid, Praises to Emulate, Prayers to Use, Principles by which to Live, Questions to Ask or Actions to Take?
Follow
