Wandering in the Wilderness with God's Blessing :: Numbers 6:22-27

[Introduction]

There are times in life when we want everyone to know that we mean what we say. 

When you were confirmed, I’m sure you meant what you said before God and man when you rejected the devil, his works, and all his ways. When you were married, I’m sure you meant what you said before God and man when you vowed to be faithful [to your spouse] ... until death do you part. When we make vows ... we really do intend to mean what we say.

But ... let’s be honest ... we are sinful human beings. We are like the father of a boy in Mark 9[:22], who ... though he said he believed in Jesus ... actually doubted if Jesus could help his son who had been seized by a demon. We are like King David, who vowed over and over throughout his life to be faithful, but he still became an adulterer multiple times, and a murderer, and a liar. And all too often we are just like the prophet Jonah, who should not have meant what he said as he complained that God would save “those” people in Nineveh. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is always faithful to his word. He always means what he says. So it is good that today we ... 

HEAR ONCE AGAIN GOD’S BLESSING AS WE WANDER THROUGH THE WILDERNESS

We read ... Then YHWH spoke to Moses saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: You will bless the sons of Israel in this way, saying to them: 

YHWH blesses you and keeps you. 

YHWH causes his face to shine toward you and is gracious to you. 

YHWH lifts his countenance toward you and gives you peace.

Thus, they will set my name upon the sons of Israel, and I will bless them (vv 22-27).

I. What a blessing it is to hear this over and over again that God means what he says even as we are wandering through the wilderness. 

Today’s blessing comes from Numbers ... a book that might be more properly titled “In the Wilderness.” This is a noteworthy blessing because it comes to us immediately after the Lord gave the sons of Israel new instructions, new regulations, new laws for holiness and, therefore, blessedness. 

How many times have you heard this blessing in your life? If you are 60 years old like me ... and if you were able to come to every Sunday service throughout your life ... then you’ve heard this particular blessing at least 3,120 times. Since we have heard it so often, possibly all of our lives as Christians, chances are good that we no longer think of what these words mean, if we ever gave thought to them in the first place. 

This blessing is called the Aaronic Benediction. We call it that because God gave these words to Aaron and his sons to speak every day at the close of the Divine Service. God longs to remind us every day of how he blesses us with the bread of heaven ... of how God keeps us and nurtures every day. Only the priests of Israel were permitted to speak this blessing. This is why it is still reserved for the pastoral office. At the end of every Divine Service, your pastor walks up to the center of the chancel, lifts his hands with the shape of Peace, and announces this blessing, given by God, for the encouragement and assurance. The promise here is that God longs to remind you that you have the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation ... every day ... that God will give you the gifts of heaven every day. 

We need to hear this blessing every day because let’s face it: We are in the wilderness.

II. You don’t want to be left wandering in the wilderness, following your own tradition.

All but two of the sons of Israel died in the wilderness because they did that. Only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun survived those 40 years of trial and tribulation (Nm 14:30). That’s because all the other Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron. They questioned whether God meant what he told them to do. They complained that God fed them every day with the bread of heaven. They complained that God gave them living water from the rock. They complained they could not have their own role in salvation. They complained that they weren't in Egypt where they could eat fish and cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 

Even when Joshua and Caleb reported that the Promised Land was exceedingly good ... that the Lord will delight to bless them with this land, a land flowing with milk and honey ... the whole congregation threatened to stone them (Nm 14:6-10).

Why do we resist receiving the blessings of God?

Why do we turn away from the Divine Service? 

God uses his means in his Divine Service to bless us with his promise of life. He keeps us with food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land and animals, and all that we have. He causes his face to shine upon us through the proclamation of his Good Word, the Gospel that announces that Jesus was born for you, to live you and die for you ... and then rise from the grave and ascend into heaven for you so that he will always be with you, blessing you. He provides us with his eternal Word so that we can hear blessed absolution. And he reminds us that he is always with us in body and blood.

Though we cannot see him in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day, in the sight of all the house of Israel through all their journeys (Ex 40:38), we don’t need to. We are always reminded that he passes us through the waters of Holy Baptism that save us right now. That he drowns our sin and death and destroys the enemy that is always seeking to devour us. That he multiplies grace and peace, which comes from the forgiveness of sins on account of the blood that Jesus shed and the life that Jesus gave. As Peter preaches so well, His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence (2 Pt 2:3). 

III. Therefore, as we wander in the wilderness, make it your aim to always listen for the blessed grace of God. 

God the Father blesses us in all aspects of our lives. God the Son has blessed us with his redemption. And God the Holy Spirit blesses us by repeating the Gospel that enlightens us with his gifts, sanctifies and keeps us in the one true faith. 

This is the purpose for the Divine Service. He called us here, as Jesus says in our Gospel reading, so that he can anoint your head and wash you clean. He called us here to feed us and nourish us in the wilderness. And he called us here so that every time you hear the Aaronic blessing spoken over you ... just like the Invocation of the Triune Name ... you will know that God meant what he said by making you his very own. 

So claim that name and receive his blessing, as Peter teaches us. Become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love (2 Pt 1:4b-7). 

I cannot imagine a better way to begin a new season of Lent. God himself gives us a place from which to start and a place to end. 

YHWH will bless you and keep you. 

YHWH will cause his face to shine toward you and be gracious to you. 

YHWH will lift his countenance toward you and give you peace. 

... in Jesus’ name.