75. Bless and Keep
Numbers 24:6 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee.
At the end of the Divine Service of ritual sacrifices at the Tabernacle Aaron is instructed to bless the assembled worshipers with this blessing. We still use the Aaronic Benediction at the close of our worship services today. During the Divine Service God has been doing something for the worshiper, giving forgiveness of sins, granting eternal life, and saving us from our Enemies for Himself in heaven. The Lord has blessed us, and now He sends us on our way home with His blessing to stay with us while we are away from the sanctuary.
Assumed within this Blessing, or Benediction, is a Promise. It is assumed and believed, that the Blessing of God has really been put upon us as something real and tangible. In the spiritual world and to the human spirit within something really did happen. God came with His Presence to bless us. God may bless us in physical and emotional ways, but that is not a guaranteed promise. However, what is guaranteed is that God does definitely bless us in a spiritual way in our human spirit, where the Holy Spirit dwells and rules. From that spirit deep within He will affect and influence the soul (mind, will and emotions), which in turn affects and influences the body to produce healing and wellbeing. The Lord does not always bless us materially the way we want, but He does always bless us spiritually the way He wants.
This is one of the things that happens to us when we leave the Divine Service: we go home with God’s Blessing in us. We may not feel like it lasts, so He gives us the second blessing; “Keep!” The Lord promises to go with us and guard us in our hearts and minds with His eternal peace. He will keep the blessing with us and He will guard and protect from all evil with the power of His Word and His Life living within. Don’t miss the Benediction. Believe that great things are happening when God is present with us to bless.