“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: “The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.”‘ So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them” (Num 6:23-27).

The Aaronic Benediction is a testimony to the importance of carefully weighing and measuring every single word that proceeds from our mouths (Prov 18:21). While not apparent in the translations, this blessing is a beautiful poem in the original Hebrew which ascends one step at a time: it brings us from God's protection into his perfect peace. The first line is three words: The-LORD bless-you, and-keep-you. The second line is five words: The-LORD make-shine His-face on-you, and-be gracious-to-you. The third line is seven words: The-LORD lift-up His-countenance on-you, and-give you peace.”

The Benediction's Purpose

According to verse 27, the purpose of this benediction is to put God's name upon the sons of Israel. The blessing is a total of fifteen words. God's name appears three times in the blessing, as does the word “blessing” (verses 23, 24, 27), and for every appearance of the divine name, there are twice as many divine acts of blessing in our lives: God (1) blesses; (2) protects; (3) shines; (4) is gracious; (5); lifts up; (6) and gives peace.

This blessing is a beautiful poem in the original Hebrew which ascends one step at a time…

Oh the beauty and power of this blessing spoken by the priests over our lives. And like the priests of old, God also commands us to speak words of blessing over the lives of the people in our lives. May we carefully consider the choice of our words and always use them to lift people up to God, rather than to tear them down!

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:29).