Numbers 6:1-7:89, Mark 12:38-13:13, Psalms 49:1-20, Proverbs 10:27-28
Today is the 6th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you around the Global Campfire today as we gather to take the next step forward together. And our next step forward leads us back into the book of Numbers. And today we will read Numbers chapters 6 and 7.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we spent a generous portion of our time in the book of Numbers today recounting the offerings that were brought before the tabernacle. Once the tabernacle had been set up and furnished and consecrated all of the tribes brought the same gifts and the covenantal and sacrificial work of the tabernacle was begun. But just before that a blessing. And blessings change the atmosphere of things. And, so, the book of Numbers, says, “the Lord spoke to Moses and said, tell Aaron and his sons, the priestly family this is how you are to bless the Israelites. May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace. In this way they will pronounce my name over the Israelites, and I will bless them.” And until this very day in…in…in many different settings a priestly blessing like this, if not this exact same wording is used. We call this a benediction. And when you are speaking words like this of blessing you cannot be simultaneously cursing the person that you are blessing. These are not words of warning. These are not words of cursing. These are words of blessing, and they actually have impact. They can affect the atmosphere of our day. We read it as God gave the instructions to the Israelites now let me just speak it over us. “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace today.” That is a blessing over you, over me, over us, and not a curse and it brings comfort. What if…what if we were about the business of speaking blessings over those that we love and over those that we don’t instead of cursing because we spend a good generous amount of time spewing negativity out of our mouths that can just amount to cursing somebody. What if we bless them and not curse them? What would that change in the atmosphere of the home or of the relationship because we have the power to bless and the power to curse within ourselves, and they both come spewing out of our mouths. So, really some of the work for us to do today as we engage with this is to speak blessing over everybody today, to be a blessing to everyone today. Like today…just today…I’m not saying make this your lifestyle, although I would say that the Bible’s saying that. I’m just saying try a day out where you speak words of blessing and not cursing. If that works out well, do it tomorrow. What if we are agents of blessing revealing God’s love to the world, revealing His kingdom instead of giving voice to every curse, every frustration, every entanglement, everything that makes us feel low. What if we gave each other blessings today?
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into that. We can be extreme people in the same day, and this is…we will address some of these things directly because the Bible will bring them up directly as we continue our journey forward. We can bless and curse out of the same mouth on the same day, but as the Scriptures tell us this shouldn’t be. We shouldn’t be doing this. And, so, we ask forgiveness that we might bless as You have blessed us and cared for us with our words today. May we make it a goal to bless everyone we come into contact with we pray. In the name of Jesus’, we ask. Amen.
Song:
The Blessing – Elevation Worship – With Kari Jobe & Cody Carnes
The Lord bless you
And keep you
Make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you
The Lord turn His
Face toward you
And give you peace
Amen, amen, amen
Amen, amen, amen
The Lord bless you
And keep you
Make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you
The Lord turn His
Face toward you
And give you peace
Amen, amen, amen (we sing, we sing)
Amen, amen, amen
May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children
May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children
May His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you
He is with you, He is with you
In the morning, in the evening
In your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing
He is for you, He is for you
He is for you, He is for you
He is for you, He is for you
He is for you, He is for you (I know, I know)
Amen, amen, amen
Amen, amen, amen
May His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you
He is with you, He is with you
In the morning, in the evening
In your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing
He is for you