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Focus: The greatest blessing we can receive in this universe is God Himself! All three of the divine Trinity are involved in this blessing and enable God to dispense Himself into us for our enjoyment!  

I. Read Numbers 6:22-27 

“Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the children of Israel; you shall say to them, Jehovah bless you and keep you; Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; Jehovah lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel, that I Myself may bless them.” 

II. In verse 24 “Jehovah bless you and keep you” is related to God the Father.

1. Read Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.”
A. Among the 3 of the Trinity, who is the source of blessing in this verse?
B. What is the blessing that we receive?
C. Note that the first occurrence of the word “blessed” in this verse refers to us, the believers, speaking well of God, i.e. praising Him with adoration. Not only does God bless us, but we should also bless Him in the sense of praising Him! Have you experienced praising Him not just in church meetings but also in your daily life?

2. Read John 17:11 & 15 “And I am no longer in the world; yet they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given to Me, that they may be one even as We are….I do not ask that You would take them out of the world, but that You would keep them out of the hands of the evil one.”

A. These verses are part of a prayer that Jesus is praying to the Father that the Father would keep us. His keeping has a positive aspect and a negative aspect in these verses. Identify these two aspects.

B. To be kept in the Father’s name is to be kept by His life. We can only call Him our Father because we have been born of Him and have His life (1 John 3:1). Being able to call God our Father is so sweet! In fact, Rom. 8:15 tells us that we should cry out, “Abba Father,” to Him!

C. Do you regularly pray for the Lord to keep you from the evil one? This is important, and the Lord included it in what many people call “The Lord’s prayer.” Can you remember which part of the Lord’s prayer (in Matt. 6:9-13) relates to this?

III. In Numbers 6:25 “Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you” is related to the second of the Trinity, the Son.

1. The word face signifies presence. God and His presence are invisible, but when God became incarnate He became visible! Christ the Son is the visible presence of the invisible God. Christ is the face that shines upon us! 

2. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 says, “Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” 
A. What is our treasure in this verse? 
B. Have you experienced times in your life when you felt like nothing more than an earthen vessel, yet with a priceless treasure within? 

3. How can we see Christ’s shining on us in Luke 1:76-79 and what is the result of His shining on us?

"And you also, little child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the merciful compassions of our God, in which the rising sun will visit us from on high, To shine upon those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace".

4. God’s being gracious to us is also related to the Son. 
A. Grace is Christ Himself as our enjoyment. More than 100 verses in the New Testament mention grace, but here are a few. How do we see our enjoyment of grace in these verses?

Romans 5:17 For if, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

B. The very last verse of the whole Bible refers to this grace. It is the way that God will fulfill His purpose according to all that is revealed in the Bible.

Revelation 22:21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

IV. In Numbers 6:26, “Jehovah lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace” refers to God the Spirit.

1. What is the difference between face and countenance? The face denotes the presence of the person, and the countenance denotes the expression of the person. To lift up ones countenance upon a person means to confirm, assure, promise, and give everything to that person. Jesus, the Son, came as the face of God, and the Holy Spirit comes as the countenance of God. 

2. Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.” This verse tells us that if we grieve Him, His countenance will drop. But if we obey Him, He will be happy with us, and He will lift up His countenance to confirm us, assure us, guarantee us, promise us, and give us everything. 

3. Psalm 42:5 shows the experience of His countenance: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? / And why are you disquieted within me? / Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him / For the salvation of His countenance.”

4. If we do grieve the Spirit, how can we restore our sweet fellowship with Him to once again be under His pleasant countenance?