Aaron’s Blessing
Third Sunday in Lent
The Lord Make His “Face Shine On You.”
12th March 2023
The Priestly Blessing Numbers 6:22-27
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.”
This morning in our Third Lent talk we are considering what it means for The Lord to, “Make His Face Shine on You.” How it is understood in the Bible and how it applies to us today.
But first, let us recap on last week. We explored what it means for ‘The Lord’ to, “Bless You.” We considered the hymn from, ‘Amazing Grace’ by John Newton.
“Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”
John Newton clearly knew something of God “Keeping Him.” It inspired him to write this hymn. We talked about ‘preservation’ for Christians. That Christians are kept by God through Jesus Christ. For eternity!
To “Keep” means to watch over, guard, protect and preserve us. We highlighted the promise of commitment from God upon Jacob in his dream.
“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen 28:15)
Through our understanding of this verse, we noted three things:
- God will watch over us wherever we go.
- He will bring us back to this land! (Heaven).
- He will not leave us until he has done what He has promised.
We listened to what Paul had to say about spiritual warfare and how he described it in Ephesians 6:10-18. He clearly understood that there were anti-Christ forces working against us and against The Lord.
We ended the talk through referencing what Jesus meant in his address to the disciples in John 14:1-6. He was preparing for them and keeping for them a home in heaven. That same promise is made to a Christians who put their faith, hope, and trust in Him.
We concluded by saying that there was no clearer definition of The Lord “Keeping” us as described in this beautiful promise to His disciples and the promise of heaven.
SO, WHAT ABOUT TODAY’S TALK?
“THE LORD MAKING HIS FACE SHINE ON YOU.”
I think that it is very important for us. We need to understand what the Bible means when it talks about the face of God.
In Scripture the “Face of God” is a term used to refer to God’s character, especially His favour towards His people. For God to turn His face towards His people is to offer to them His grace and help.
For God to turn His face against His people is to withhold His Favour and His blessing. To seek the face of God is to seek His favour.
We all love to walk with the sun on our face in the summer. It is good for us as many have discovered and re-discovered since the lockdown.
The sun brings warmth and joy and indeed life. No sun, no life. That’s the truth. But an even greater blessing than sunshine is to have God’s face shinning on each one of us.
A SMILEY FACE:
A repeated request in the Old Testament, by God’s people is for the light of God’s face to shine on them.
Psalm 31:16 NIV
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.
Psalm 67[a]
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—[b]
Psalm 80:3;7;19 NIV
3 Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
There seems to be a very clear understanding and a depth of faith and trust in God. People can make these requests to Him. It speaks of experience and historical awareness of the past. There is a knowledge and understanding of God in this context of faith, expectation, and belief in God.
The truth is this! This is what we desperately need – to enjoy the light of God’s favour. Even if it’s a grey, rainy day outside, if the light of “God’s Face” is shining on us, it’s a sunny day in the sense that matters most.
People are blessed if they are in a “Covenant Relationship” with Him in and through Jesus. As Christians we would readily accept that. We rejoice in it. Experience it. Live out our lives because of it.
But it isn’t always like this. The sunshine of God’s face is not something we can take for granted.
1 Peter 3:12 NIV
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”[a]
What does this verse tell us about God’s face?
For those who trust and believe in Him then His eyes are upon them, and His ears are attentive to their prayers. But His face is against those who do evil.
Does this really matter? We are, ok? Blow what other people think!
Well, that’s not how God sees it. Jesus gave His disciples very clear instructions as to what they would be tasked to do. Something that would bless God’s people for the whole of eternity.
Matthew 28:16-20 NIV
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus gave this instruction for a purpose. It would be His Church that would be tasked to help people understand that God judges us, and that people need to have the opportunity to turn from their wicked ways and face Him.
I remember very clearly when I was a prison Chaplain for eight years we were encouraged to get out into the community and share what ‘The Lord’ was doing in prisons. Many a time I would talk about the death penalty and whether it was right to hang people for taking someone’s life.
In every woman’s fellowship the answer was hang the so and so’s. I would counter argue it by saying that the death penalty denied a person from seeking The Lord’s forgiveness and grace. Exactly what each of us has received.
I worked with lifers for 8 full years, and I can honestly tell you that living each day remembering what they had done was something they could not escape from. Life-sentencing in my opinion is more effective than state hanging.
In a situation of heightened violence from being attacked you never consider about the outcomes of death penalty of life sentence. You are carried with the situation that can conclude in a millisecond.
This is the very purpose as to why Jesus came into the world, so that, EVERYONE COULD EXPERIENCE GOD’S FACE SHINNING UPON THEM.
Revelation 6:15-17 NIV
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[a] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[b] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
This clearly shows us how people will react to” God’s Face” at the final judgement. God’s angry face in judgment is his response as a holy God to sin. It is utterly terrifying but is what we deserve.
WHAT ARE WE DOING AS A CHURCH TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS OF GOD’S JUDGMENT HERE IN KIRKDALE?
CHRIST’S FACE:
But the sunshine of God’s face has now been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.
At His transfiguration we read that……
Matthew 17:2 NIV
2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
The light of Jesus Christ came into the world to outshine the world’s darkness. Darkness can never outshine light. Especially Jesus’ light.
John had a vision of the ‘Risen and exalted Christ.’
Revelation 1:16 NIV
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
This is what it means for God’s face to shine upon us in the world that we live in today. If you look into each other’s eyes, we should clearly see the face of God revealed in Jesus.
People often say that the eyes are the windows to our souls.
Listen to what Paul says.
2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
This is what happens when God shines His light in our hearts through the gospel of Jesus Christ. This truly is the face of God “Shinning upon us.”
This is what we read in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 22:2-4 NIV
2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
Undeniably the face of God “Shinning upon us” is a major theme in the Bible. One day we will die. But for Christians that shouldn’t fill us with fear! Why? Because we trust in Jesus, we can look forward to seeing the face of God as revealed in Him shining upon us in heaven.
CONLCLUSION:
Fanny Crosby wrote over 8000 hymns. She was blind for most of her life, after being given the wrong treatment as a 6-week-old baby by a fake doctor. But she said later, “When I get to heaven, the first face ever to gladden my sight will be that of my Saviour.”
The desire of God’s heart is to shine His Face upon His people. The evidence for this is huge in the Old Testament. Supported by many Scripture references. We have only highlighted a few. I am sure that if you look further then you will find more.
Perhaps the most beautiful understanding of God’s “Face Shining on Us” is best understood in the ‘Face of Jesus Christ.’ To look into Jesus’ face is to look into the “Face of God.” When God’s “Face Shines on us” through Jesus we know we are truly blessed. Eternally so!
So let us give thanks for:
- That through faith in Jesus we enjoy the light of God’s face shinning on us.
- For the sure hope that one day we will see His face.
Let us pray for those we know who are currently heading for a terrifying encounter with God’s angry face in judgment. That through Christ they would come to experience ‘Spiritual Godly Sunshine’ instead. To God be the glory. Amen.
THE FACE OF GOD IS A SIGN OF HIS BLESSING UPON US.
Revd Mike Griffin 7th March 2023