Letters to the Family of God
by Joe Franzone | August 17, 2023 | Pastor's Blog
August 17, 2023
“‘“The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
Dear friends.
In the Old Testament account of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, God gave them the quoted text from Numbers chapter six to bless His people who journeyed to the promised land.
The Context of the Blessing
The people of God camped at Mount Sinai's front for almost a year. (Exodus 19:2) However, the holding pattern was to end. The time to move through the wilderness to the land of promise began.
The blessing for their journey from Sinai to the Promised Land was to be used daily throughout their journey. It was given to Moses by God, and he was told to have it said aloud as a prayer by his brother-in-law Aaron. What would follow was nothing short of spectacular.
The Contents of the Blessing
When the Israelites were hungry, God sent the bread of heaven – Manna. When they were thirsty, God sent water gushing from a stone. There was bread, meat (Exodus 16:13), and drink from God. Whatever God gave, He gave abundantly.
God provided a pillar of cloud that was a visible guide for the Israelites during the day, while the pillar of fire lit their way by night. He gave them a tabernacle – a place to meet with God, deal with their sins, and receive God’s love.
They received everything they would need in their journey to the promised land—provision, protection, and purpose, and it was only by God’s grace that they received this. The people of God were not meriting this care from God, far from it. If you read through Exodus and Numbers, the journey was a place of testing—will they trust God? It was a place of complaining—they murmured quite often against God. It was a place of judgment—many died along the way. But it was also a place of blessing. God met all their needs abundantly, body, mind, and spirit daily. Those who made it to the promised land were ultimately carried there.
The Gospel Foreshadowed in the Blessing
God would deal with His people's sins in the Old Testament by punishing those sins through the cross of Christ 1,400 years later. Dr. Alex Moyer, in a lecture, imagined how an Israelite under Moses would give testimony to God saving them to a person who asked.
We were in a foreign land in bondage under the sentence of death, but our mediator—the One who stands between God and us, came to us with the promise of deliverance. We trusted in the promises of God, took shelter under the blood of the lamb, and He led us out. Now we are on our way to the Promised Land. We are not there yet, of course, but we have His word to guide us, and through blood sacrifice, we also have His presence in our midst. So, He will stay with us until we get to our true country, our everlasting home. Now think about it. A Christian would say the same thing almost word for word.
God's grace saves all of His people through faith in Him. Every undeserved blessing you and I will ever have are only because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“‘“The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
With all my love in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Joe