Greetings and Salutations

 

Greetings, Saints of the Most High. This Rod coming to you from the DFW, thanking you for taking the time from your busy schedules to fellowship with me on this glorious Shabbat. As always, I hope, trust, and pray that this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.

 

As I am recording and posting this installment of TMTO, we are just 5-days into the 8th month of Yah’s biblical calendar year: Shabbat, 10/21/2023. And you would agree that we live in ever-increasing perilous times. So much is going on around us in terms of the horrific crisis in Israel, violent protests erupting throughout the world, our U.S. government in seeming chaos, the cost of living here in the U.S. adversely impacting our pocketbooks, crime, and wickedness abounding throughout every nook and cranny of this nation and the world.

 

But despite the somberness that is hovering over this generation today, we who are of the redeemed of Yehovah Elohim know that He is firmly seated upon the throne. He has everything under control. And all He requires of us, His chosen ones, is that we walk in our beloved Faith. You see, when facing similar times of unrest and wickedness and impending death and destruction of his nation, the prophet Habakkuk queried Yah as to what it was that He had planned for His remnant people and what His remnant people must do in light of the tragedies that were coming upon them. Yah instructed Habakkuk, “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith” (2:4).

 

We have been called to image Yah in all the earth for such a time as this beloved, and it is our purpose and duty to walk in our Faith despite the craziness that is going on about us. So, we continue to walk in Yah’s ways and do those things that our Master Yeshua tasked us with doing such as the Great Commission and bearing good fruit in the midst of a corrupt and evil world. This means we keep Yah’s weekly Sabbath with all the gusto, joy, and fervor we can muster. If we say that Yah is still on the throne and the weekly Sabbaths belong to Him, He expects us to show up and be in His presence. It doesn’t mean that we completely forget all of the woes that are going on around the world. It just means for the next 24 hours, Yah owns our person and attention. Therefore, let us keep Shabbat. At the very least, let us keep Shabbat for those in harm’s way who cannot keep a proper Shabbat.

 

Amein.

 

The Aaronic Blessing Introduced

 

In last week’s post, I mentioned that at least until Yah says otherwise, we would not be discussing the weekly Torah Readings as we’ve done on this program for the past few years. Well, I am about to break my word by discussing the content of this week’s Torah Reading Number 104 of the 3-year Torah Reading Cycle.

 

As I was studying this coming Sabbath’s Reading, I came upon the portion where Yah instructed Aharon and Sons to confer upon His people the following blessing:

 

(24) Yehovah bless you and guard or keep you;

(25) Yehovah make His face shine upon you and show favor (or be gracious) to you;

(26) Yehovah lift up His face or countenance upon you, and give you peace (i.e., shalom) (Num. 6; ISR).

 

And Yah concluded this blessing instruction by clarifying that this is how Aharon and sons were to place His matchless Name upon the children of Yisra’el, which, in effect, Yah would bless them (6:27).

 

I was so blessed by my study of this portion of the Reading that I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts and reflections on what is famously referred to as the Aaronic Blessing or the Aaronic Benediction.

 

Given the time constraints, I will not go too deep into the woods on the Aaronic Blessing in this discussion. But I do want to highlight what I suggest are the essential mysteries of this beautiful and significant pronouncement.

 

What is a Blessing in the First Place?

 

To begin with, let’s discuss what the term or the act of blessing means from a Hebraic perspective.

 

Most of us have been conditioned or taught that the term bless means to bring or confer happiness or some physical or spiritual benefit upon an individual. And from a religious standpoint, happiness comes from something that the receiving individual is doing that is favorable to Yehovah. In other words, one is put into a state of happiness or improved state of being due to some good that they are or have been engaged in.

 

So, when we talk about the act of being blessed or blessing someone, the fundamental concepts of “favor,” “happiness,” “worship,” and or “praise” come to mind, depending on the context in which the blessing is rendered. And certainly, all of these concepts are valid to a greater or lesser degree.

 

But let’s look at the term “bless” at a higher level.

 

Blessing or being blessed is primarily centered within the paradigm or perspective of Yah conferring His favor upon His set-apart ones. And this act of Yah conferring upon Yisra’elites favor can take the form of (1) physical prosperity, including affluence and power; and or (2) wholeness or well-being (both physical and spiritual), which translates into a healthy, well-lived life (e.g., Gen. 39:5).

 

Our English term “bless” is “barak” in Hebrew. It’s a 3-letter verb spelled bet-resh-kaph.

 

Anciently, when we spell out barak for deeper meaning, we come up with the following:

 

• B or bet is depicted as a tent floor plan.
• R or resh is depicted as the head of a man.
• K or kaph denotes an open palm.

 

Barak derives from the idea of “bending one’s knee” in homage, adoration, or favor to another. And when we factor in our ancient pictograph spelling of barak, we are presented with this picture of one offering a gift or giving honor or homage to someone.

 

The act of blessing is not restricted to Yehovah, although the Aharonic Blessing must be treated as Yehovah being the source of all good and perfect gifts. People can undoubtedly bless one another and also bless Yehovah. In obedience to Yah’s Torah that commands us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves and love Yehovah with our whole being, we are obliged to do so.

 

But the Aharonic Blessing is focused solely upon Yah blessing His chosen ones. It embodies Yah conferring His favor (his gifts, his love) upon His obedient children, which we will get a little deeper into in just a few. And those of us who have been in the Nazarene Yisra’el Faith any length of time no doubt have experienced a Torah teacher or assembly leader pronounce the Aharonic Blessing over us. But apart from the warmth of the pronouncement over us as we prepare to depart the gathering, did you ever consider what exactly was being pronounced over you?

 

Misconceptions About Blessings

 

Most of us have been conditioned to think that blessings come from the individual verbalizing the blessing upon us, whether it be a Catholic Priest, a Rabbi, a Messianic leader or teacher, or even a denominationalist preacher or minister. And no doubt most of the congregants having the pronouncement declared over them believe that the one delivering the pronouncement or blessing or benediction, because of their honored status as a leader of that assembly, possesses the spiritual goods to deliver on the blessings being declared upon them. That somehow, that assembly leader is the one blessing them.

 

But truth be told when delivered within the context of the worship of the God of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov, the one pronouncing the blessing is simply a conduit who verbalizes Yah’s favor upon the worshipers, for only Yah can deliver upon the goods of His favor towards His set-apart people.

 

As humans, we can undoubtedly bless or enrich others through the limited means of providing the object of our affection material, economic, logistical, and loving-kindness blessings. We can also bless Yehovah through our obedience and trusting Faith, as well as our sacrifices (i.e., our sacrifices of praise, worship, and adoration). However, as beautifully illustrated in the Aharonic Blessing, Yah’s blessings surpass any conceivable efforts of grace and blessings that we, in our limited human capacity, could ever hope to deliver.

 

The Ahaonic Blessing, some have classified as a liturgical benediction, affords the one with eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds and hearts willing to receive and walk out a glimpse into the extent of the love and favor that Yah so desperately wants to confer upon those who are His.

 

Through the Prophet Jeremiah, Yah explained to an exasperated Judah who doubted His love for her:

 

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Yehovah. Thoughts of peace, and not of evil. To give you an expected end” (29:11; KJV).

 

Beloved, this is the essence of the Aharonic Blessing: That being Yah’s righteous and loving thoughts and desires He has for His chosen ones. Yah desperately wants to see to the wholeness and well-being of His chosen ones, and He promises to deliver on those set-apart thoughts and desires.

 

Unpacking the Aaronic Blessing

 

The Aaronic Blessing is contained in just three verses of Numbers/Bemidbar 6. But despite this blessing being contained in just 15 Hebrew words, volumes of books have, and no doubt will continue, to be written about its profound implications for the child of Yehovah.

 

The framework of the blessing is as follows:

 

1. Physical blessings speak to the receiver of the blessing belonging or being a possession of Yehovah (6:24).
2. Spiritual blessings which speak to the grace of Yehovah (6:25).
3. The blessing of shalom (6:26).

 

Tradition contends that this blessing was pronounced upon Temple visitors by the Cohen haGadol and the Levitical Priests after the daily Temple sacrifices (i.e., the “duchan”), pronounced both in the morning and the evening. A derivative of this has become part of the Jewish synagogues’ Amidah (i.e., the authorized Jewish Prayer Book, pg. 53). But the rabbis have restricted its use, whereby it is pronounced on synagogue attendees only on Feast Days that do not fall on the weekly Shabbat. Contrast this with what we see in many of our Messianic Congregations and Assemblies today. The popularity of the Aharonic Blessing holds a premiere place in every Sabbath gathering and is usually pronounced over the attendees at the end of the gathering or miqra.

 

Further Rabbinic restrictions placed on the Aharonic Blessing include:

 

• It can only be declared upon a Jewish congregation.
• It can only be pronounced by a certified Rabbi from a standing position.
• It has to be delivered with the Rabbi extending His hands towards the attendees. Some may even form the Tetragrammaton with their fingers extended outward towards the congregants.
• The Rabbi must be sober when declaring it.
• It must be delivered only in Hebrew.

 

Although such rabbinic restrictions may seem annoying and overreaching to some of us in the Messianic Faith, they cause us to stop and reflect upon the deep, abiding, spiritual implications of this blessing.

 

We must remember, beloved, that this blessing came from the very mouth of Yehovah. It is not about, or rather, it goes deeper than the rote recitation many Messianic Congregations and modern-day psalmists engage in. The rabbinic sages insist: (1) that the one pronouncing the blessing have “knowledge and loving understanding of the person or cause to be blessed (J.H. Hertz; Torah Haftarah; pg. 594). (2) The one delivering the blessing must be right with Yehovah. The reasoning should be apparent: How can one pronounce Yah’s blessing upon another who, when they themselves, are not in right standing with Yehovah? (3) The pronouncement given only in Hebrew seems all the more preferable, although this appears more idealistic than Yah-inspired and Yah-required. What I mean is, if either party to this blessing equation is ignorant of the Hebrew tongue, should the Aharonic blessing be forfeited? Probably not. Yah’s love for His people transcends the spoken language, and that is why, because of His eternal grace, He has made available to the world His Word in just about every known language on the planet with few exceptions. (4) The one pronouncing the blessing must be in a ritually pure or clean state that would qualify him to conduct the daily animal sacrifices and then be heard by Yehovah. This includes the pronouncer of the blessing being sobber, free from intoxicants, which includes being free from malice, prejudices, and hatred that would serve to cloud the pronouncer’s suitability to declare the blessing upon anyone.

 

So we find in 6:24 the first blessing: “YHVH bless thee and keep thee.”

 

As I touched upon previously, the blessings that flow from Yehovah always carry with them a tone of “wholeness” for the Yisra’elite that encompasses the focus of the blessing, such as life, health, strength, prosperity, which includes food, clothing, and shelter.

 

When this blessing leaves the mouth of the priest and becomes an established reality in the life of the Yisra’elite, it is meant to enact Yah’s divine protection and provision over that Yisra’elite. Thus, this panoply of divine protection and provision safeguards the receiver of the blessing against “evil, sickness, poverty, and calamity” (Hertz, pg. 595). Yehovah is the only entity in the universe that can truly deliver this blessing.

 

We find in 6:25 the second blessing: “YHVH make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee.”

 

Relationship is the very foundation of this second blessing. This blessing expresses the hope that YHVH will be a friend to the Yisra’elite, whereby Yah shows or expresses His abiding love for them. This love for the Yisra’elite, by necessity, leads to the Yisra’elite’s yeshua–their salvation. There is no purer, more powerful love in existence. So powerful and existential is this shining grace, or Yah’s face being turned toward the Yisra’elite, that David feared having Yah’s face hidden from him due to his transgressions.

 

The rabbis have gone out of their way to stifle the profound understanding of this lovely blessing. They’ve equated the light of Yah’s face as being that of philosophical, physical, emotional, and religious enlightenment” (ibid.). Absent any other sound explanation for this blessing, their enlightenment explanation would be better than no explanation. One of the Hebraic perspectives of divine light, particularly the light that flows from Yah, is knowledge, understanding, truth, and enlightenment. But in this particular context, Yehovah’s divine favor, His love for His beloved, transcends that of such enlightments, for I contend that such enlightenments do not require a loving relationship between the Yisra’elite and Yehovah. Through the centuries, Yah’s eternal Words have enlightened many, yet their lives do not reflect a true obedience of Faith. So, I reject the whole enlightenment concept for this blessing.

 

Furthermore, people find themselves enlightened by a great many things other than the things of Yah. Some are enlightened by environmental concerns, others by secular literature, science, philosophies, their own sense of self-worth, and so forth.

 

However, the light of Yah’s face is more about one’s relationship with the Almighty than anything else.

 

Then, the hope that Yah will be gracious to the Yisra’elite is predicated upon their relationship with Yehovah, and because of the Yisra’elite’s loving and intimate relationship with Yah, the priest’s blessing pronouncement expressed hope that Yehovah will “graciously fulfill their petitions” and needs (ibid., pg. 595).

 

From a rabbinic standpoint, however, the hope put forth to the Yisra’elite by the priest is more about the Yisra’elite appearing favorably to their fellow man and to Yehovah than anything else. That graciousness is about the Yisra’elite being blown up or exalted before Yehovah and their brethren. There’s a selfishness that becomes embedded in this understanding that diminishes the solemnity of this set-apart blessing, which is not part of its original purpose.

 

The Yisra’elite has been called, set apart, to image and reflect the Person of Yehovah to an unbelieving world. This portion of the Aharonic Blessing, whereby the hope is for Yah’s face to shine upon the Yisra’elite and for Yah to be gracious to the Yisra’elite, is essential for that one to accomplish their God-given purpose and function in the world. Without Yah’s enlightened presence and grace resting upon the Yisra’elite, he/she cannot accomplish their purpose and calling.

 

Lastly, we find in 6:26: “YHVH lift up His countenance upon thee and give you peace (i.e., shalom). “

 

This last blessing is simply a hope that the Yisra’elite has Yah’s attention. Again, we are talking about a set-apart relationship that must exist between the Yisra’elite and Yehovah if this blessing is to be of any true relevance.

 

The peace or shalom in this portion of the blessing is the hope that the Yisra’elite be made whole in every aspect of their being.

 

You know, shalom has two avenues associated with it: There is personal shalom and community shalom. The true Yisra’elite cannot sit still for long when they see their community embroiled in chaos and turmoil and not do something to address the problem. The automatic response or desire that the true Yisra’elite should possess is one that desperately yearns for a return to peace or wholeness. This is where worldwide peace or shalom starts: It begins with the single Yisra’elite being blessed with shalom or wholeness, and then that one branches out and assists in facilitating shalom in the broader community of Yisra’el. And so, if the hope for shalom is indeed manifested along both lanes of this allegorical highway–that being individual shalom and community shalom–then a broader, more global shalom would conceivably be possible.

 

Thus, it all starts with the Great Commandment to love Yah with one’s being and, from there, love one’s neighbor as one loves oneself.

 

That which falls short of biblical peace or shalom is chaos. And that is why the Gospel of the Kingdom was, and remains, the most extraordinary incident of divine intervention into the affairs of man. The Gospel is about the Coming Kingdom, the Malchut Elohim. And when the Malchut Elohim is finally manifested in the not-too-distant future, I believe that King Yahoshua Messiah will begin restoring the paradise and the shalom lost when Adam fell.

 

Although not a part of the Aharonic Blessing, we find in 6:27 what I would describe as clarification for the whole of the Aharonic Blessing: “So shall they (they being Aharon and sons) put My Name upon the children of Yisra’el, and I will bless them.”

 

The Hebraic conception of Yah placing His matchless Name on a person, place, or thing implies undisputed ownership by Yehovah. This exclusive ownership comes with the benefits of the blessings pronounced in the aforementioned declaration (ref. Isa. 44:5; Rev. 22:4). And it is Yeshua HaMashiach that mediates Yah’s blessings over Nazarene Yisra’el.

 

Yeshua, our High Priest, operating in the heavenly Mishkan, pronounces Yah’s blessings over each of us, Nazarene Yisra’el. He possesses Yah’s Name, and He, in turn, invokes Yah’s Name upon the chosen ones, which opens up a storehouse of blessings to the ones Yehovah loves. Does this make null and void any Messianic Leader’s pronouncement of the Aharonic Blessing over their congregants? I don’t believe that it does. It only solidifies the realities of promised blessings that Yah will bring to His chosen, set-apart people who are called by His matchless Name.

 

We find in Exodus/Shemote 20:24 where Yehovah declared or pronounced that He would come and commune and bless the people if they agreed to the terms of the covenant.

 

What are the Realities of Yehovah’s Name Being Placed Upon His People?

 

The conferring of Yah’s matchless Name upon the covenant-keeping Yisra’elite is powerfully indicative of the following:

 

1. Yah’s steadfast love for His children.
2. The blessed Yisra’elite belongs to Yehovah. He is Yah’s child, even His firstborn, possessing all of the benefits and privileges that come with being a child of the King of the Universe. A familial, even a paternal, relationship is strongly implied here in this blessing.
3. The blessed Yisra’elite is in an inextricable covenant relationship with the Almighty, meaning they will conform to Yehovah’s expressed Will.
4. Because the blessed Yisra’elite is a child of Yehovah, King of the Universe, they reflect His image in the earth.
5. There is an at-one-ness between the Yisra’elite and Yehovah.

 

By receiving Yah’s matchless Name upon oneself, the Yisra’elite assumes the identity of the One True Elohim. The Yisra’elite’s humanly given name is no longer relevant in the whole spiritual scheme of things. That name is fraught with countless problems: physical, emotional, and spiritual baggage, transgressions, and so forth. Yah has selected us, from all the nation peoples of the earth, to receive His glorious, matchless Name, His authority, His set-apartness.

 

This linking of His Name to His chosen ones is how every blessing mentioned in this reading is to come to the Nazarene Yisra’elite. There is no other Name by which blessings will come to the true Yisra’elite. Yah’s set apart people.

 

As mentioned previously, tradition suggests that the Cohen Gadol blessed the people daily in connection to the Temple’s daily sacrifices. This has tremendous prophetic significance, pointing the Netzer to the immeasurable blessings to be had by them by the Person and Ministry of Yeshua Messiah.

 

Closing Thoughts on the Aharonic Blessing

 

The Aharonic Blessing also cements the fact that every true blessing comes from Yehovah. Of this reality, James, the half-brother of our Master Yeshua, wrote: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights with Whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (1:17; KJV).

 

When pronouncing this blessing upon the people, the Levitical Priest served as Yah’s sanctioned intermediary through whom each blessing would flow, and Yah’s Name would be conferred upon the Yisra’elite. The blessings came not through the precise recitation of this passage but through the Will and heart of Yehovah to instill these blessings and His matchless Name upon His set-apart people. But for these blessings to be truly enacted, the Yisra’elite in line to receive the blessings had to be in a right relationship with Yehovah. Yah favors those keeping their end of the covenant relationship He shares with them. He gives good gifts to His children as Yeshua taught His disciples (Luk. 11:11-13).

 

So, as we offer unto Yehovah our sacrifices daily, our Cohen haGadol, operating out of the heavenly Mishkan (i.e., Temple where He intercedes for us night and day), confers upon us Yehovah’s blessings and Yehovah’s Name (ref. Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:27, 34).

 

In closing, Shaul wrote that the promises of Yehovah (i.e., His blessings) are “yes and amen” in Yeshua Messiah (2 Cor. 1:20). Therefore, the only means by which the Aharonic Blessing will be of any real significance for the child of Yehovah is through the Yisra’elite maintaining their covenant relationship with the Almighty through the Person and Ministry of Yeshua Messiah. Therefore, let us remain steadfast in our commitment to our Faith so that we may reap the untold blessings that come with being a child of the Most High.

 

Shabbat Shalom.

Shavuatov.

Until next time beloved, may you be blessed fellow saint in training.