SERMON: FOLLOWING WISELY

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to 1 Kings 12:1-15

 

1 Kings 12:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from[a] Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

 

5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

 

6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

 

7 They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”

 

8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

 

10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

 

12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” 13 The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

 

            -- during this past week, there were two stories in the news that caused me to stop and ask myself the question, “Who are you following?”

 

            -- the first story was about Atlanta’s Peachtree Road Race -- the annual 10K race that is held in downtown Atlanta every year on the fourth of July -- as you may have seen on TV, last year’s winner in the women’s division, Senbere Teferi, had a commanding lead over her two closest competitors going into the final stretch of the race -- it was obvious from the footage that this Olympian gold medalist was going to win her second straight race

            -- a cadre of police motorcycles escorted the three women down Peachtree Street towards the finish line -- suddenly, one of the motorcycles turned right down a side street -- Teferi saw the motorcycle turn and immediately followed it, assuming that the motorcycle was leading her on to victory -- but this was not the case

            -- the motorcycle caused Teferi to leave the course, opening the way for her two competitors to take first and second place -- by the time Teferi realized her mistake and turned around to get back onto the main course, she had already lost the race and finished third

 

            -- the second major story this week that asked the question, “Who are you following?”, concerned the release of Meta’s new app, Threads -- Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and developed and released Threads as a competitor to Twitter, which has been in serious decline since being purchased by Elon Musk last year

            -- lots of Twitter users jumped over to the new Threads app, which offered them the unique ability to reinvent their feeds -- Threads began with a blank slate, and the 30 million plus people who signed up for Threads this past week had to decide who they were going to follow on this new platform

            -- the question that was being asked multiple times on my Twitter and Reddit feeds this weekend was “Who are you following on Threads?”

 

            -- Who are you following? -- that’s a good question -- that’s a question that we all need to ask ourselves from time-to-time

            -- Who are we following?  And why? -- to put it another way, “Who are you allowing to speak into your life? -- and this goes way beyond social media apps -- we need to ask this question for all aspects of our lives -- entertainment -- culture -- society -- politics -- news -- education -- and spiritual issues

            -- who are the people and organizations that we are allowing to speak to our minds and our hearts every day?

            -- in our day and age, it’s not a good idea to just let any voice or any message come into our lives -- there’s a lot of trash out there -- there’s a lot of misinformation floating around -- there’s a lot of political and social and spiritual agendas and people wanting to push their particular message, whether it’s right or not

            -- so, we have to be careful and discerning in who we follow and who we listen to in our lives -- as Proverbs 12:26 says, “A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray”

            -- and, as the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:1, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world”

            -- with those cautions in mind, let us turn over to the Old Testament book of 1 Kings 12 and let's look at the story of Rehoboam -- a young man who is the poster child for what happens when you follow the wrong people

 

II.  Scripture Lesson (1 Kings 12:1-15)

            -- before we look at this passage in depth, let me give you the context and background for this passage -- as you remember, God had anointed the shepherd boy David, the man after God’s own heart, to be king over all of Israel instead of Saul -- under David’s leadership and God’s guidance, the twelve tribes descending from Israel had united into one mighty and powerful nation called Israel

            -- David passed on the kingdom to his and Bathsheba’s son, Solomon -- Solomon started well -- he was gifted by God with wisdom and knowledge above any who had ever lived or who ever will live -- and Solomon parlayed that wisdom and knowledge into leading the nation of Israel to become bigger and stronger and wealthier than ever before

            -- but Solomon’s success eventually led to his downfall, as he continual quest for more money and more power and more, more, more in his life led him to marry foreign wives in disobedience to God’s commands -- and, as Solomon followed the advice and the practices of these foreign wives, he strayed away from God and began to chase after foreign gods

            -- at the same time, to keep his many wives happy and to satisfy his lust for wealth, Solomon conscripted the men of Israel to serve as his slaves and servants -- and he placed heavy tax burden on them, especially the people of Israel who were not part of Judah, Solomon’s family tribe

            -- Solomon’s actions resulted in conflict with the ten northern tribes of Israel -- and a deep-seated resentment of Solomon began that continued right up to his death -- 1 Kings 11 closes with the death of Solomon and the appointment of Solomon's son Rehoboam as the new king of Israel

            -- look with me now at 1 Kings 12:1 and we'll start looking at the story of Rehoboam and how his choice to follow the wrong people and listen to their advice resulted in catastrophe for the nation of Israel

 

            -- verse 1

 

1 Kings 12:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.

 

            -- Shechem was a town north of Judea and Jerusalem -- it was at Shechem that God spoke to Abram and told him that He would give this land to Abram’s descendants -- it was here that Abram built an altar to the Lord -- and it is the location of Jacob’s well and Joseph’s tomb

-- rather than taking the crown in Jerusalem, Rehoboam decided to go to Shechem for his coronation -- possibly as a gesture of good will and a way to help relieve the tension that existed between the northern tribes of Israel and those in the south -- his decision to be crowned in Shechem could be taken as a step in the right direction -- the new king reaching out to the people in the north, telling them that he was not going to follow the same pattern as his father Solomon -- but that he would consider everyone in the nation of Israel to be equal in his kingdom

 

            -- verse 2

 

2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from[a] Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

 

5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

 

            -- Jeroboam was the de facto leader of the people in the north -- in 1 Kings 11, we read that God was going to punish Solomon for his sins by splitting the nation of Israel into two separate countries -- with ten tribes to the north forming one country and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin forming another country in the south

-- the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh was sent to Jeroboam, a servant of King Solomon, to proclaim God’s decision to him and to anoint him as the leader of the northern nation

-- word of this prophecy and the anointing by Ahijah spread throughout the nation of Israel, and Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam -- he fled to Egypt, and remained there until Solomon’s death

-- now that Solomon has died and Rehoboam has taken his place, Jeroboam returns to address the grievances of the northern tribes to the new king -- he asks Rehoboam to give them a break -- to lessen the taxes -- to take away the demand for harsh labor -- and promises they will serve him and support his kingdom in exchange

            -- Rehoboam does a wise thing -- he doesn't make a decision on the spot, but instead takes three days to make a decision

            -- this is good advice for us to follow in our own lives -- when we have a decision to make, it's always wise to take a moment to think it through before acting -- to just pause and consider all the options and the potential consequences of our actions before we act

            -- so far, Rehoboam has started well -- his first two decisions as king were very wise and very smart -- first, he reached out to the northern tribes in a show of reconciliation by being crowned in Shechem, rather than Jerusalem -- and second, he waited to make a decision that could impact his kingdom until he had time to think about it

            -- but things start turning when he begins to listen to the advice of others

 

            -- verse 6

 

6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

 

7 They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”

 

8a But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him

 

-- Rehoboam does another smart thing -- when faced with this petition from the people of the northern tribes, he doesn’t try to make the decision on his own -- instead, he turns to someone else for counsel -- it's never a bad idea to ask others for their advice -- the question is:  who do we ask? -- who do we follow?

            -- in this case, Rehoboam turned to the elders who had advised King Solomon during his reign -- these were men of experience who had served in the kingdom and who were well aware of the issues with the northern tribes

-- they understood the situation -- and they were able to speak from a place of wisdom and knowledge and experience -- they had seen the way Solomon handled the north -- and they knew what would work and what wouldn't work and they understood the concerns the northern tribes brought

            -- these elders advised Rehoboam to heed the request of the northern kingdom -- to repair the damage his father Solomon had caused by taking the position of a servant -- by doing the opposite of what Solomon had done -- instead of serving self and seeking power and wealth by oppressing the very people he ruled as Solomon had, they advised Rehoboam to instead serve those under him -- to put the people's needs and concerns first -- and to lessen their taxes and their burden of servitude, as they asked

            -- but apparently, Rehoboam didn't like their advice, because he didn’t listen to them and move forward in their advice

 

-- isn't that the case with us? -- a lot of times we ask for advice, but what we're really asking for is affirmation of what we already want to do -- we don't want to hear someone tell us something that doesn't agree with what we already think, so we go off and try to find someone who will tell us that

            -- that’s pretty common in our day and our divided nation -- we gravitate towards news channels that support our political positions -- we follow people and leaders who proclaim the same cultural and social positions we think are right -- we only listen to those people who are saying the same thing we are saying -- and our computers and our smart phones recognize that and show us only those same messages -- we never hear what the other side is saying except as quoted from those on our side -- we’re only getting the message that we want to hear and that supports our position

            -- that’s something we need to be aware of and guard against -- I was given the advice one time to try to read or listen to at least one writer or speaker whose position I disagreed with on a regular basis -- they said, “For every four books or articles you read or messages that you listen to where the author or speaker supports your position, read or listen to one person who speaks or writes for the other side”

            -- even if it doesn’t change what you think, it’s important to know what other people are saying and what they hold important -- it might help you understand them a little better rather than just dismissing them out-of-hand because they belong to a different tribe, like Rehoboam does here

 

            -- look back at verse 8

 

8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

 

10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

 

 

            -- when Rehoboam didn't get the answer he wanted from the elders, he turned to his own friends and asked them what they thought and they told him exactly what he hoped to hear

            -- you've got to remember -- Rehoboam grew up in the lap of luxury -- he and his friends were accustomed to a wealthy and privileged lifestyle -- they didn't have the experience and the wisdom of the elders -- they didn't understand the plight of the people in the northern tribes -- all they heard was a request that would result in them having less money in their own pockets and fewer servants to serve them -- and not a one of them wanted to do with less than what they currently had

            -- in fact, they said, let's ask for more -- tell them you're going to demand more money and more service and you're going to even be harder on them than Solomon was

            -- and all of this sounded great to Rehoboam

 

            -- it’s kind of like how everyone running for political office always says they support term limits and lower salaries for elected officials and fewer taxes on the people until they get elected -- and then their position changes -- that’s why there’s still no term limits in congress and those folks get paid even if the government shuts down

            -- everybody wants what they can get and they won’t sacrifice anything that might cause them to lose out -- just like Rehoboam

           

            -- verse 12

 

12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” 13 The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

 

            -- so, Rehoboam rejects the counsel of the elders and does what his friends tell him to do and it turns out just like you'd expect -- the people are distraught and they aren't going to stand for it any longer -- and the words of God that came through the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam were fulfilled

            -- in the rest of 1 Kings 12, we read how the northern tribe rebelled against Rehoboam and refused him as their king -- they installed Jeroboam as the king of the north and separated from Israel, forming the northern kingdom, which is known from this point in the Bible as the nation of Israel -- it was also called Samaria, which is the city where its capital was located, and Ephraim -- so if you see any of those names in the Bible, you know it is referring to the northern kingdom

            -- Rehoboam retreated to Jerusalem and became king of Judah, which included the tribes of Judah and Benjamin -- the area that encompassed Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the surrounding region

 

III.  Following Wisely

            -- so, what can we learn about choosing who to follow from this cautionary story of Rehoboam? -- how do we know who the right voices are to listen to?

 

            -- first, we need to consider who it is that we go to for advice -- we need to critically consider who our friends are and the people and the voices that are currently speaking to our minds and our hearts today  

            -- Jim Rohn famously wrote that we are the average of the five people we spend most of our time with -- if we spend time with people who aren't good for us -- if we spend time with people who make questionable choices in their own lives -- then we're going to start acting like them

            -- remember that old adage -- “if you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas”

            -- the same goes true for what we watch on TV and what we follow on our phones and our computers

 

            -- we need to surround ourselves with good and godly people if we want to reflect God’s standards in our lives

            -- Rehoboam's friends were self-serving and self-seeking -- they were immature and they didn't pause to consider the suffering of those around them -- all they were concerned with was their own wealth and their own pleasure -- don't seek advice from people like this -- don’t follow people like this -- don’t let them speak into your life

            -- instead, seek advice from mature and wise people -- from mature and godly individuals -- follow people and seek advice and counsel from those who have experienced similar issues in their lives -- and listen to their words before you act

 

            -- second, we need to recognize that good advice speaks to the truth of the situation, even if we don’t like hearing it -- most people go to others just wanting them to affirm what they already want to do or what they already believe -- and, like I said, our phones and our computers are directing only those voices to our ears

-- a lot of people don't really want to hear the truth -- they just want you to tell them, "Go for it" -- I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve met with people to talk with them about issues in their lives and all they wanted me to do was tell them they were right

            -- I heard about a couple in church one time that went to their pastor and told him that God had spoken to them -- God wanted them to divorce their spouses and to marry each other -- and they went to the pastor to get his blessing -- but they weren't happy when they heard his response, so they went to someone else

            -- know this -- God is never going to tell you to do something that doesn’t line up with His word -- He’s never going to lead you to do something that results in sin

            -- good advice speaks to the truth of a situation, even if that truth is painful -- the thing I’ve come to learn is that a lot of times, when we have problems in our lives, we're the problem -- as the old saying goes, "everywhere you go, there you are" -- and a wise person can be a mirror in your life to show you the truth of a situation as they advise you on what you need to do -- not what you want to do

 

            -- third, we need to weigh the words and the messages from the people and groups we follow and any advice we receive from them against the word of God -- we need to base all our decisions on God's moral principles that we see in the Bible -- never accept advice that goes against God's moral principles -- never accept advice that tells you to do something contrary to God's word -- integrity should be the cornerstone of all we do in our lives -- and the people we follow should be people of integrity

 

            -- Proverbs 6:16-19 says:

 

Proverbs 6:16 There are six things the Lord hates,

    seven that are detestable to him:

17         haughty eyes,

        a lying tongue,

        hands that shed innocent blood,

18         a heart that devises wicked schemes,

        feet that are quick to rush into evil,

19         a false witness who pours out lies

        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

 

            -- as one person commented on this proverb, we would do well to remember this passage when deciding to whom we will listen and follow -- don’t just avoid people whose lives exhibit these detestable character traits -- run from them!

            -- don’t follow them -- don’t listen to them -- and, for heaven’s sake, don’t vote for them and make them your leader

 

            -- God's principle for leadership in the Bible is clear -- He calls for servant leadership -- not exalted leadership -- but Rehoboam didn't want to hear that from his father's advisors -- he wanted to be served, rather than serve -- and by not following God's principles, he lost his kingdom

            -- we are as divided as a nation can possibly be at this point -- and there are people who are adamantly for or against positions simply because their political or cultural tribe is for or against it -- as Christians, we shouldn’t be looking to political leaders to tell us what we should be thinking or doing -- that’s the role of the Holy Spirit, and what God’s word says on a situation may not conform to what our favorite political party or politician is saying

            -- be careful that you don’t let the world lead you down ungodly paths because you’re following the wrong people in your life

           

            -- fourth, we need to follow and seek advice from those who have our best interests in mind -- Bob Goff wrote, "if someone I trust tells me something, and I know it's for my benefit, I just trust it." -- he goes on to say, "I've found one of the best filters you can use to trust someone is when there's nothing for them to gain from their advice."

            -- Rehoboam's friends had something to gain from their advice -- they were going to get to keep their extravagant lifestyle -- that should be a warning sign to us when others give us advice

            -- always seek advice that serves your best interests rather than the interests of the person you're asking -- and always seek to follow those who are trying to make you a better person and not just trying to satisfy your ungodly desires

            -- recently, we had to share a similar message with someone in our lives who was headed down a wrong road -- they were making unwise choices -- they were doing things that were harmful to them and to their family -- and so, we told them the truth in love -- we pointed out that they needed to make a change for their own good -- for their own benefit

-- our advice wasn’t received well, and they are continuing on this path -- we pray that they might turn and choose better in the future -- the point is that we may not always know the best direction another person should go, but we should always try to offer counsel and advice that helps the other person and never offer advice that benefits us, instead

-- we should always seek to put others before us -- and, conversely, we need to be careful that we don’t listen to people or follow people who are leading us down paths that will harm us or others simply because they will benefit from that action

 

            -- finally, following the right people and allowing these people to speak into our lives will result in our receiving good advice and counsel in our lives -- such good advice always addresses the problem -- good advice addresses our needs and gives us steps to take to fix it

            -- in this case, the issue was how to repair the break between the northern and southern tribes -- the advice given by the elders would have resolved this issue and mended broken relationships -- but Rehoboam chose to take advice contrary to them and ended up making a bad situation worse

            -- if someone tells you to do something that doesn't help the situation, don't do it -- action for the sake of action is not always the right course

 

            -- the take-home message is this:  as the proverb says, “lean not on your own understanding, but trust in the Lord with all your heart”

            -- it's wise to seek counsel when you don't know what to do, but be careful who you follow and who you go to for advice -- avoid ungodly people -- avoid immature people, even immature Christians

 

            -- all of us have people that we follow in our lives -- people and groups that we let speak into our lives -- people and groups who offer advice and direction as to what we should do and how we should live -- but we need to be careful in who and what we let influence our thoughts, our beliefs, and our actions

-- when you are deciding who to follow -- what voice to listen to -- what advice to take when you are faced with decisions in your live, always put God's positions and principles first -- follow Christ -- read His word -- listen for the counsel of the Holy Spirit

-- seek out those people in your lives who know God and listen to His voice in their own lives -- seek out men and women of integrity and character who live their lives in obedience to God’s commands -- follow them and hear the advice they give -- but always be a good Berean -- weigh their counsel and their advice against God’s word, and you'll always come out best

 

-- don’t take every word and message you hear to heart -- don’t blindly follow someone because of their political party or religious status -- but test the spirits and ask God for a discerning heart that you might know the truth and act on the truth and follow the right people and the right message in your life and not make the same mistake that Rehoboam did

-- be discerning with who you let into your life -- and don’t let the wrong people or messages in -- and, with that word of caution, we’ll close

            -- let's pray

SERMON: THE BLESSING OF GOD

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Numbers 6:22-27

 

Numbers 6:22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

 

24 “‘“The Lord bless you

    and keep you;

25 the Lord make his face shine on you

    and be gracious to you;

26 the Lord turn his face toward you

    and give you peace.”’

 

27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

 

-- When Steve Henning was two years old, he contracted spinal meningitis. It was the winter of 1943, and because of World War II, doctors had a shortage of penicillin and could not provide Steve the treatment he needed. Sadly, he lost his hearing.

-- For 57 years, Steve could not hear music, laughter, or human speech. Even though he lived a full life, he still longed to hear the voices of those he loved.

-- In the winter of 2001, he learned of a surgical procedure that would allow sound waves to bypass the non-functioning part of his ear and travel directly to the auditory nerve -- so, on January 30th, Steve underwent an operation to help him hear -- because the implanted device could not be activated until the swelling in the ear decreased, neither the doctors nor Steve knew if the operation was successful of not

-- The day of reckoning came six weeks later on a blustery spring day -- Steve nervously wondered if the procedure had been in vain -- As the audiologist programmed the cochlear implant, he invited Steve's wife to say something to see if Steve could hear her or not

-- Pat Henning leaned toward her husband and gently said, "I love you." -- for the first time in six decades, Steve was able to hear -- his face broke into a smile as the first words he heard was someone telling him they loved him

Source: The Daily Herald (9-29-01)

 

-- that feeling that Steve Henning experienced at that moment is what happens to us when we hear God whisper into our lives, “I love you” -- when we realize that because of Christ, we are loved and blessed and highly favored by God

-- in these modern times, we don’t really take blessings seriously because we don’t realize the inherent power of a true blessing from God -- for most of us, a blessing is what we say before a meal -- or the automatic response to someone when they sneeze -- or maybe just something we casually throw out in our daily prayers, “God bless us -- God bless our family” -- without really thinking about what we are asking when we pray that

-- and, of course, there’s the pejorative use that is so common down here when we’re trying to come up with something to say about someone that we disapprove of or someone that has done something particularly not smart -- we shake our heads and proclaim, “Well, bless their heart”

-- but true biblical blessings are powerful because they invoke the very presence and power of God into our lives or into the lives of someone else -- when someone blesses you and means it, it is an intentional act of calling down God’s favor and grace and peace into your lives -- it is someone whispering into your ear that God loves you

-- we need to recapture the wonder and the power of true biblical blessings -- we need to remember that our words have power -- the Bible tells us that -- Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”

-- so, we need to be careful in what we say -- we need to speak words of life and not words of death -- we need to proclaim blessings on people and not curses -- and we need to learn how to offer blessings through the Spirit that carry God’s grace and power with it -- recognizing that as God’s ambassadors and ministers -- as His holy priests on earth today -- we have the ability and responsibility to proclaim blessings to others in the name of the Lord -- blessings that aren’t mere words, but true blessings that carry with them the very power and presence of God

 

-- here in this passage from Numbers 6, we see the priestly blessing that God gave Moses for Aaron to pray over the people of Israel -- such proclamations of blessing are known as benedictions and usually come at the end of a spiritual service

-- we’re familiar with that practice, because we do that, too -- we begin our time together with an invocation -- invoking the name of the Lord and asking for His presence to be among us as we gather to worship Him -- and then we close with a benediction -- the proclamation of God’s love and blessing to His people as we go forth in His name

-- so, God gave the priests the duty to proclaim this benediction -- this blessing -- to the people of Israel as they gathered together to worship Him

-- So, I wanted to spend some time this morning talking about blessings -- in particular, this priestly blessing from Numbers 6

 

II.  General Thoughts on the Priestly Blessing

            -- there are several things that we need to recognize about blessings as we go through this

 

            -- first, notice that this blessing invokes the name of the Lord three times -- some scholars and commentators believe this may be a foreshadowing of the doctrine of the Trinity that God was revealing to the nation of Israel

-- as you know, this doctrine is not specifically called out for us in Scripture, although we can see the Triune God worshiped and discussed throughout both the Old and the New Testament

-- three times God told Aaron to say, “The Lord,” possibly referring to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

-- and over in the New Testament, in the apostolic benediction from 2 Corinthians 13:14, we see that same pattern given to us: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”

-- so, the first thing we see in this blessing is the pronouncement of the Lord’s name three times

 

            -- next, we see that this blessing follows atonement -- in Numbers Chapters 5 and 6, we read of God’s cleansing of the people -- of their separation from the world -- their repentance of their acts of unrighteousness and sin -- and of their preparation to become holy as the Lord is holy as they prepared themselves to finally enter the Promised Land

            -- this blessing was not given until after the cleansing and atonement of the people -- and the nation of Israel followed this pattern throughout the rest of its history

            -- this same priestly blessing would traditionally be proclaimed to the people by the High Priest once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, after the High Priest had ministered before the Lord in the Holy of Holies and made atonement for the sins of the people -- he would then come out from the Holy of Holies and into the courtyard and proclaim God’s blessings on the people for another year by reciting the words we read here

            -- the spiritual principle for us here is that blessing only follows after atonement -- you cannot expect the blessing of God when you are living in open disobedience to Him and His word -- His blessings come only in response to our faithfulness, righteousness, and holiness

            -- and, finally, as we have already mentioned, blessings stand apart as proclamations from the Lord -- as recognition of promises that have or will come to pass because the Lord has said so

-- as one commentator put it, this blessing is “not a wish or a prayer. It is a declaration of what the LORD imparts. It is as binding and sure as a patriarchal blessing -- once said officially, it cannot be taken back -- The priest here is then pronouncing the word of the LORD, declaring to the congregation the outcome of the atonement.” -- the blessings from God to the people of Israel that were to follow

            -- in other words, in this blessing, the priest is not praying and asking that these things happen -- he is proclaiming the truth of what God is doing and has done in the lives of the people in response to their cleansing and atonement from sin

-- and the response on the part of the people was to stand on that promise of God -- to believe in faith that this blessing was real and active in their lives -- and then to go forth and live out this blessing of God so that others might be blessed through them

 

III.  Scripture Lesson (Numbers 6:24-27)

            -- so, let’s look now at the individual blessings in this benediction -- look back with me at verse 24

 

24 “‘“The Lord bless you

    and keep you;

 

 

            -- so, what does this verse mean when it says, “The Lord bless you?” -- what is a blessing?

            -- we’ve talked in general terms about blessings and about how blessings only follow atonement and cleansing, but we’ve not really defined what a blessing is -- a blessing is an act of God’s grace -- it is God pouring out His favor, kindness, mercy, and goodness on us -- it is God giving us Himself -- His power and His presence made manifest in our lives

            -- so, when we read here the proclamation, “The Lord bless you,” what that means is that God Himself -- the Lord God Almighty -- is pouring out His kindness and mercy into our lives -- He is giving us His grace -- He is letting us know that He loves us

            -- to be blessed by God means to be in a right relationship with Him -- to be happy and joyful in His presence -- to know Him and to love Him as He loves us -- all of that is captured in this proclamation, “The Lord bless you...”

 

            -- but what about “keep you?” -- what does it mean for the Lord to keep you?

            -- to keep implies protection -- protection from danger -- from evil -- from temptation -- from sin

-- for the Lord to keep us means that He is watching over us -- guarding us and protecting us as the Good Shepherd -- keeping us safe from all that would seek to harm us, even ourselves

-- this term reminds us of God’s prevenient grace -- Wesley called it “preventing” grace -- the grace that is active in our lives to keep us from falling -- to keep us from being swayed by the winds of this world and every false teaching that comes our way -- the grace that leads us to Christ and keeps us close to Him after we are saved and our sins have been forgiven

            -- that is the picture here -- the Lord keeping us safe by His very presence -- as it says in Psalm 121, “The Lord watches over you -- the Lord is your shade at your right hand -- the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night”

-- Jesus gave us that same promise of protection in John 10:28-30, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish -- no one can snatch them out of my hand. -- My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all -- no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”

 

-- verse 25

 

25 the Lord make his face shine on you

    and be gracious to you;

 

            -- the Lord is the source of all light and goodness -- remember a couple of weeks ago when we were studying Revelation 21 and we read that there would be no sun and no moon in the heavens and the earth because the Lord Himself would be our light -- that is the same message that we see here in this verse

-- David picked up on this theme in Psalm 36, when he wrote: “In your light, we see light” -- when the Lord makes His face to shine upon us -- we experience the light of His love -- His goodness and His mercy and His grace -- we finally know what goodness truly is -- and what we think is good here on this earth pales in the light of God’s goodness

-- when I read this verse, I think of the experience of Moses -- the Bible tells us that when Moses would come back to the people of Israel after being in the presence of God, Moses’ face would be shining -- it was so bright that he had to put a veil before his face until the light faded

-- when the Lord makes His face shine upon us, that same light that reflected in Moses’ face is reflected in ours -- others should be able to look at us and see the reflection of God’s presence and goodness in our lives

 -- the Christian group, Newsboys, were at Wild Adventures last night -- and one of my all-time favorite songs from them is called “Shine” -- let me share with you the chorus of that song”

 

Shine.

Make 'em wonder whatcha got.

Make 'em wish that they were not

On the outside looking bored.

Shine.

Let it shine before all men.

Let em see good works and then

Let em glorify the Lord.

 

-- when the Lord shines His face upon us, we experience His grace and reflect His presence to this world -- leading the world to come to know the very grace that we have experienced

-- and what is grace? -- it’s God’s unmerited favor -- God’s gift to us -- some have taken grace as an acronym that stands for “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”

-- God’s grace comes to us as He shines His face upon us -- as we bask in the light of His presence -- as we know Him and experience Him in our lives

-- and while God’s grace comes to us in so many ways, the greatest grace of all -- the amazing grace that we sing of -- is the atonement of the cross -- the forgiveness of our sins -- through the death and the resurrection of our Savior, Christ Jesus

 

-- verse 26

 

26 the Lord turn his face toward you

    and give you peace.”’

 

 

            -- what does it mean for the Lord to turn His face towards you? -- or, as other translations put it, “to lift up His countenance?” -- it literally means that God is looking at us and smiling

-- have you ever thought about God looking down from heaven and seeing you and smiling with pleasure? -- most of us don’t consider that -- we think of God as distant -- as sitting on His throne -- and if He looks at us at all, it is with a stern countenance -- we never think of God as looking at us and smiling

-- years ago, I heard Mark Lowery talking about some difficulties that he was having in school -- he had ADHD and couldn’t sit still and couldn’t quit talking and was constantly in trouble for not staying in his seat and not following the rules

-- he said one teacher took a liking to him and would take him outside when he got too wound up and just couldn’t sit still -- she’d carry him outside and just let him run around for a moment to settle him down

-- one day, the teacher told him, “Mark, do you know that God likes you?” -- he thought that strange -- we always hear that God loves us -- and we know that, even if we don’t always take it personally -- but to hear that God likes us -- that was different

-- his teacher went on to say that God not only loved him, but he liked him -- God enjoyed seeing Mark be himself -- He enjoyed seeing Mark go through life and live life to the full -- He liked seeing Mark and when He saw Mark, that would bring a smile to His face

-- that’s what this verse is telling us -- God not only loves us -- He likes us -- He enjoys us -- He enjoys our presence -- just like parents with little children will turn their face to them and just smile as they see them playing and having fun -- it’s the same thing here

-- that’s the message that God was giving to Moses and Aaron to pass on to us -- when God sees us living in relationship with Him, He loves us and He likes us so much that He just smiles at the sight of it  

-- I really like how Max Lucado captured this in his book, “A Gentle Thunder” -- no one can quite phrase things like Lucado -- he wrote, “There are many reasons God saves you: to bring glory to himself -- to appease his justice -- to demonstrate his sovereignty -- But one of the sweetest reasons God saved you is because he is fond of you -- He likes having you around -- He thinks you are the best thing to come down the pike in quite a while -- If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it -- If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it -- He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning -- Whenever you want to talk, he'll listen -- He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart -- And the Christmas gift he sent you in Bethlehem? Face it, friend. He's crazy about you!”¹ 

-- and, I would add to what Lucado wrote, we bring a smile to His face

 

            -- so, God turns His face towards us and smiles, and then He gives us His peace -- what is the peace we receive from God? -- peace with God -- peace from God -- peace that leads to unity among men -- the peace of God that passes all understanding

            -- the word for peace here in this verse is the Hebrew word Shalom -- Shalom means peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility -- the Jewish people would traditionally use Shalom to greet people and say goodbye to them -- it invoked God’s peace, presence, and protection on that person as they entered your home and then again as they left

 

            -- verse 27

 

27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

 

            -- To put God’s Name upon us means to proclaim God’s nature within us -- to put His seal upon us -- to identify us as His own

            -- until modern times, it was known that names had power -- to know the name of someone, meant that you knew them -- you knew their heart -- you knew them as a person -- you knew who they were, inside and out -- knowing the name of a person meant that you had power over them because you knew their intimate secrets

            -- that’s why we read in myths and in fantasy stories that names were not freely given, because if you knew someone’s name, you could invoke it and control them and have them do your bidding

            -- that’s what’s so amazing about this verse -- not only does God share with us His name, He puts His very name on us -- He gives us His name -- He calls us His beloved -- He makes us His sons and daughters -- and He identifies with us

            -- to have the name of God put on us means that we are His and He is ours -- it defines our relationship with God through His grace and His blessing on our lives

 

IV.  Closing

            -- let’s bring this to a close

            -- one of my favorite authors is Henri Nouwen -- he was a Catholic priest and professor that has since passed away -- but he wrote prolifically and his writings remind you of the Psalms because he just poured out his heart into them, sharing his life and his love through them

            -- Writing in his book, “Life of the Beloved”, Henri Nouwen tells of a time when he was working with disabled people -- one of the handicapped women in the community, Janet, asked him for a blessing, but when he started to do the ritual signing of the cross she said, “No. That doesn’t work. I want a real blessing!”.  -- He realized something special was needed, and promised to do something when the community gathered together later that day

            -- when the community met and about 30 people were present, he shared with them that Janet had asked for a special blessing

            -- here is Nouwen in his own words:

 

-- “As I was saying this, I didn’t know what Janet really wanted. But Janet didn’t leave me in doubt for very long. As soon as I (started speaking) Janet stood up and walked toward me.

-- “I was wearing a long white robe with ample sleeves covering my hands as well as my arms. Spontaneously, Janet put her arms around me and put her head against my chest. Without thinking, I covered her with my sleeves so that she almost vanished in the folds of my robe.

-- “As we held each other I said, ‘Janet, I want you to know you are God’s beloved daughter. Your beautiful smile, your kindness to the people in your house and all the good things you do show us what a beautiful human being you are.

-- “I know you feel a little low these days and there is some sadness in your heart, but I want you to remember who you are: a very special person, deeply loved by God and all the people who are here with you.’”

 

-- Nouwen relates how Janet’s smile assured him he’d hit the mark -- before long, many of the other handicapped people had also come forward for a blessing of their own.

-- “The most touching moment, however, came when one of the assistants, a 24-year old student, raised his hand and said, ‘And what about me?’

-- Nouwen responded, ‘Sure, come’. -- He came and, as they stood before each other, Nouwen put his arms around him and said, ‘John, it is so good that you are here. You are God’s beloved son. Your presence is a joy for us all. When things are hard and life is burdensome, always remember that you are loved with an everlasting love.’

-- As I spoke these words,” writes Nouwen, “he looked at me with tears in his eyes and then he said, ‘Thank you, thank you very much’.”

 

            -- and in that story, we see the power of blessing -- we see how proclaiming God’s presence and love and mercy and grace into the life of another person can touch them deeply and transform their very being

            -- people need to hear that God loves them -- and that God likes them -- that He wants to bless them and to pour out His presence into their lives -- that He wants to give them His divine kindness and goodness and grace

            -- as the people of God called to be here in this place, that is our mission and our responsibility -- to bless those around us -- to speak life and not death -- to speak blessings and not curses

            -- may we be people who reflect the light and love of God -- messengers of grace and peace in a divided world who desperately need to know that God loves them and likes them

            -- and with that, let us close with this very same proclamation:

 

“The Lord bless you and keep you;

 

the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

 

the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace.”

 

            -- let us pray

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1 Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder (Word, 1995)

2 “Life of the Beloved” by Henri Nouwen, Hodder & Stoughton 1992, p 57-59