Sermonette: The High Priest's Blessing
#FT26-08PMs
David C. Grabbe
Given 03-Oct-26; 19 minutes
description: Rooted in Old Testament tradition and fulfilled in the New Testament, priestly blessing serves as a fundamental expression of divine grace, protection, and relationship. Leviticus 9 depicts Aaron's initial priestly act of raising his hands to bless Israel on the eighth day of consecration, establishing a pattern of priestly blessing that echoes Melchizedek's invocation over Abram and finds its textual blueprint in the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6. This sacred pronouncement—promising God's covenantal abundance, protective guardianship, unmerited favor, perpetual presence, and perfect shalom—reaches its ultimate fulfillment in Luke 24, where Jesus Christ, acting as the true High Priest after His resurrection, raises His hands to pronounce an enduring, superabundant blessing upon all believers as He ascends to heaven.
transcript:
The sermonette is somewhat of a continuation. Of my sermon on the 3rd day, and I know that that was a long time ago. According to Peter, that was like 5000 years ago. That sermon went through the consecration of Aaron and his sons, which took place for 7 days. Their 8th day then was the divine result of what those 7 days of being set apart produced. Biblically, the number 8 is associated with new beginnings as well as superabundance. The 8th day was a new beginning for the priests. Today, we are going to look at one of the events on the priest's 8th day, which I believe you will find fitting for this day and also very uplifting. So we will begin in Leviticus chapter 9, if you would please turn there. Leviticus 9, if you glance at verse 1, it gives us the time marker. This is the 8th day, and most of the chapter is about the sacrifices and the offerings. Aaron and his sons made offerings for themselves and for the congregation because the whole nation was assembled and involved within this. This was a pivotal event for Israel as Aaron and his sons officially began their service. Our focus today is in verses 22 through 24, which we actually read last time. Leviticus 9:22. So then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces in worship. Verse 22 is somewhat easy to read over. But it's important to note what Aaron did after he completed his 7 days of consecration. It says Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and he bluffed them. He made the sacrifices that were required, and then he blessed God's people. This was his first act as high priest, raising his hand and blessing. And just hold on to that thought. Incidentally, this is also what Melchizedek did to Abram as well in Genesis 14 as the priest of the Most High God. When Melchizedek brought out the bread and wine, it says he blessed Abram. This is what priests do. Now aside from Aaron raising his hands, this doesn't tell us much about the blessing. However, God also recorded how the high priest was supposed to bless the nation. Which is found in Numbers chapter 6, if you would please turn there. Number 6 Starting in verse 22. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons saying, this is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them, Verse 24 The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you. And be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you. And give you peace This should sound familiar because these are the words of the Benediction that the festival choir sings to us each year on the 8th day. And this was the blessing that the high priest made on the 8th day of his consecration as he began his service. We'll briefly go through the words. And as we do, I want you to put yourself into this as a recipient, and we will see why at the end. First, the blessing says, the Lord bless you. That almost sounds redundant, but it's a fitting opening that demonstrates the purpose. Beginning the blessing with a blessing is an echo of what God said to Abraham after he passed his great test. He said, Blessing, I will bless you. And that's what this is. In blessing, the high priest was blessing Israel. You might remember that 8 symbolizes super abundance, which is how this blessing starts out. For the nation, the blessing was primarily physical. Numerous children, abundant flocks and harvests and things like that. For us, God is doing something far more significant. His blessings for us are geared much more toward his spiritual work, beginning with his calling and including his indwelling and the abundance, the spiritual abundance that comes from this relationship that he's opened up to us. Martin gave a whole sermon on blessing on the first day, which means that I do not need to. So thank you, Martin. And second, it says the Lord keep you, or it could be the Lord guards you or protects you. It's a promise of safekeeping. Because the Most High is watching over and defending his people. He is dedicated to preserving those who are his so his purpose can be worked out. God is the keeper is the theme of Psalm 121. You can flip over there if you want. I'm just going to read most of it. This is from Psalm 121. Says my help Comes from the Lord Who made heaven and earth He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve your soul, your life. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore. So we can be filled with tremendous confidence. When we trust that our lives are within His hands and He will not allow anything to befall us that is outside of His purpose for us. In Christ's Passover prayer, he says, Holy Father, keep through your name, those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are. God has a vested and personal interest in us, and so he keeps us. Third, the blessing says the Lord make His face shine upon you. God's face in Scripture typically indicates His presence and the good that comes with it. The fact that it shines means that God favors and takes pleasure in His people. In the Psalms, God's face shining is used in the in the context of restoration and even salvation. It means God brightens or enlightens the life of a person or a whole nation. Proverbs 16:15 explains the symbolic use of the face. It says in the light of the King's face is life. And his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain. The light of the face is equated to favor, and that proverb likens it to life and the blessing of the latter rain. In ancient Israel, the latter rain was critical for a good harvest. Putting this together, God's face shining indicates. His favor, his providence, and his salvation ultimately. With God's face shining, we can be confident that every need will be met. We may need to evaluate the difference between needs and wants. But whatever is needed for God's purpose within our lives will be provided. Fourth in the blessing it says, and be gracious to you. This reinforces God's face shining on us because His graciousness also indicates His favor, His mercy, His kindness, and His pity. Yet it also contains the idea that what he gives is undeserved. It's a gift. It's not a wage. God is under no obligation except faithfulness to His nature, as Martin explains this morning. This is the basis of the New Testament concept of grace, and this blessing beseeches God to bestow this favor even though it is entirely undeserved. And that's interesting to think about. God commanded the high priest to say this blessing. God is the origin of this. And that means that God told the high priest to ask for favor that is completely unmerited. Which in itself shows God's favor toward an undeserving people. This commanded blessing itself is an instance of his grace. 5th, it says, the Lord lift up His countenance upon you. This is the 2nd mention of his countenance or his face. They're the same word in the Hebrew. Earlier in the blessing, his face was merely shining, if I can put it that way. His shining face could benefit many people, even as he sends the rain on the just and on the unjust. Many people might benefit from the shining of his face. But when it says his countenance is lifted up. The wording is more emphatic and it's also more personal. He paid attention. He paid personal attention to Israel that he did not pay to the other nations. And even though he does send rain on the unjust, his real focus is the just, those whom he called and cleansed. We are special to him. Ask him sometime what he paid for you. His countenance has been lifted so that you are front and center in his attention. As the perfect father. He is personally interested in you. And he looks on you with a love that we do not fully understand. His devoted attention toward you is at all times. Because his nature is unchanging. He is not fickle And maybe we do not always feel his loving attention. And if so, We need to ask him for the eyes and the ears and the heart to perceive his overwhelming care for us personally and individually. Finally, it says, the blessing says, and give you peace. Peace here is the well-known Hebrew word shalom. Which has no exact translation and many attempts Very broadly, it means completeness and well-being. For the Israelites, it typically meant material things like good health, safety, or favorable circumstances. But for us, peace is not dependence on our physical circumstances, but on our relationship with God. Because of Christ's work, we have peace with the Almighty. And what's more, we also have access to the peace of God. The peace that God Himself possesses. The peace that surpasses all understanding. Isaiah 26 verse 3 says. You will keep him There is that keeping again. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. The phrase perfect peace in the Hebrew is shalom shalom. It's a superlative like holy of holies or song of songs. It means the highest and the most complete well-being. Again, super abundance. God gives this when the mind is fixed on Him in confidence. He gives us the blessing of peace. It's interesting that the beginnings of Paul's letters include two aspects of this blessing. He begins all his letters with grace and peace to you. He seems to reiterate this priestly blessing. I mentioned that we needed to put ourselves into this blessing, and we've seen some of that. And now we are going to see why. Please jump ahead to the very end of Luke's Gospel. Luke chapter 24. Luke 24. This took place on the 40th day. We'll start in verse 49. Christ says, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. Verse 50 And he led them out as far as Bethany. And he lifted up his hands and bluffed them. Now it came to pass while he blessed them that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven, and they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. During his ministry, Jesus talked about the state of being blessed, and he also blessed little children. But this blessing of his was unique, and not just because of his ascension on that 40th day. Noticed that he used the same gesture as Aaron. He raised his hands and he blessed his people. Aaron, who served the copy and the shadow, raised one hand to bless. Jesus Christ, the true high priest, raised both hands. A more abundant blessing. Nothing was held back. Like Aaron, this was his first act as he finished his time of preparation. Hebrews teaches that he was not a priest, while on earth. But as he was ascending to sit down at the right hand of the Father as the ultimate high priest, he gave a blessing. This fulfillment of the high priest's blessing marked a new beginning. Remember also what Jesus said in his prayer on the night before his crucifixion. He said, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. Even as Christ's prayer applies to all who believe, and Aaron's blessing extended beyond those who were present to later generations, so Christ's blessing as he began His high priesthood was not just for those who were present at His ascension. It's for us And while we do not have a record of the words that he spoke on that day. We do have, what we do have is the pattern, the outline back in 6 that he gave for how he wants his people to be blessed. And the blessing that Aaron gave on his 8th day applies to God's spiritual nation even more abundantly. And the festival choir has been singing the pattern to us for decades. It's a blessing, a blessing. It's a blessing of the Father and the Son keeping us. It's a blessing of God's favor. And his taking pleasure in us to brighten our lives. A blessing of God's graciousness, kindness, and pity, not because we deserve it, but simply because this is who he is. A blessing of his countenance being lifted up upon us, giving us his personal attention. And the blessing of perfect peace, because he is in us and we are in him.
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