THE LORD JESUS made it clear in John 17:8 that His mission included making THE NAME of The Father known (revealed, “manifested”) to His disciples. Little did we suspect that He connected this in two ways (thus establishing it in the mouths of two witnesses, Himself and the Apostle Paul) to the Aaronic Benediction of Numbers 6:22-27, as it is written in the STONE Edition.
“HASHEM spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: So shall you bless the Children of Israel, saying to them: “May HASHEM bless you and safeguard you. May HASHEM illuminate His countenance for you and be gracious to you. May HASHEM lift His countenance to you and establish peace for you.” Let them place My Name upon the Children of Israel, and I shall bless them.’”
The result of placing THE NAME of God upon the Children of Israel, including all the grafted in Children (Romans 9-11), would be the placement of THE NAME upon each member of the Holy Community. In this manner, Aaron would impart God’s Blessing to them. It would also mark them for God and separate them eternally unto Him in contradistinction to the marking of Satan upon the lost souls of the world system (Book of Revelation, chapters 11 and 13).
The first of the two ways the LORD YESHUA did this was implied in how He blessed the disciples as He was ascending from them into heaven. Immediately after promising to send to them “the promise of my Father upon you,” the Scripture records, “And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.” (emphases mine, Luke 24:49-53).
When it records that “he lifted up his hands, and blessed them” it indicates that He—the GREAT HIGH PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK (Book of Hebrews)— gave the Formal Aaronic Benediction (which included the unique formation of the upraised hands) to them as He was ascending: this was the very last word upon the whole Messianic Community from our LORD Yeshua in His earthly service before taking His eternal seat in heaven where He reigns now and awaits the Father’s command to return to earth and finalize the prophetic schedule of Redemption that is latent in the meaning of the Fall Festivals.
The second way He manifested the Name of the Father as given in the Aaronic Benediction was through the Apostle Paul, whom He had educated in the mysteries of the Kingdom of God during the three years Paul spent in Arabia. As written in Galatians 1:17, and the many passages in Paul’s writing in which he declares that his doctrine was not from man but by revelation of the Lord Jesus to him after his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus in Acts 9 et al.) in which our Lord taught Paul the mysteries of the Kingdom with their particular application to the Gentiles. Surprisingly that revelation of the Aaronic Benediction is found in 2 Corinthians 13:14, the last verse of that book when Paul pronounced this benediction:
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.”
Also, repeatedly, Paul gives two elements of the Aaronic Benediction in his letters, “Grace and Peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Grace and Peace are the second and third elements of the Aaronic Benediction. The first element is “God Blessing and Safeguarding” His children. So then, when Paul states, “From God our Father,” he also includes that element in its unveiled form. Thus, in this manner, the New Testament contains over-and-over again the invoking upon the Messianic Community that which could be called “The Messianic Aaronic-Benediction in its Unveiled Form.”
When we invoke upon the believers in our Fellowship the Aaronic Benediction, keep in mind that we are invoking the Foundational Form of our LORD’S ASCENSION BLESSING upon us!
And know that YOU BELONG TO GOD BY MESSIAH and that as a result, YOU ARE ETERNALLY AND TEMPORALLY BLESSED AND THAT YOU ARE PRESERVED UNTO HIS EVERLASTING KINGDOM!
HALLELUJAH! AMEN. AMEN.
Love and Blessings,
Dr. Bron Barkley
*Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the King James Version (KJV).
