The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
(Numbers 6:22–27)
Many of the church fathers viewed the three-fold structure of this passage as reflective of the Trinity. Whether intentional or not, we certainly know that each of the persons of the Trinity is invested in and contributes to our complete redemption. God commits care to the body, soul, and spirit of his people. This was certainly Martin Luther’s perspective. Luther was the Reformer who restored the benediction to the corporate worship service since it had been mysteriously excised from corporate worship during the Middle Ages. Luther was convinced that it was the Aaronic benediction Jesus extended to his disciples shortly before his ascension in Luke 24:50-53 in order to signify that his sacrifice had been accepted once and for all by the Father and no atoning work remained.
In other words, when Jesus, like the Old Testament priest, lifted his hands, he declared that God was at peace with his people. This is no mere armistice; he gives us his peace. What is the benefit of God’s peace? In the old classic Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Archer, Waltke and Harris say that shalom (the Hebrew word for peace) is “one of the most important theological words in the Old Testament.” Why? It seems to me it is so not so much because of what it actually promises but because of the direct source of those promises.
Shalom has a range of uses in the Bible. It can mean the “absence of strife” or communicate the idea of completeness (1 Chronicles 22:9,10; Psalm 85:8) or reconciled relationships (1 Kings 5:12). However, in two-thirds of the 250+ occurrences of this word, it describes the experience of God’s presence. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as the “covenant of peace” (Numbers 25:12; Isaiah 54:10; Ezekiel 34:25; Malachi 2:5). Of course, the fulfillment of God’s promised presence was ultimately realized in Christ “who is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14).1
So why is this peace which is the exclusive possession of those indwelt by the Spirit of Jesus so essential? Because this is a dangerous world. Luther said that the first blessing promised protection of the body, the second referred to God’s comfort of the mind by means of his Word, and the third (the promise of peace), assured victory over all spiritual enemies. Here is the way Luther put it:
The third also relates to the spiritual nature and the soul, and is a desire for consolation and final victory over the cross, death, the devil, and all the gates of hell, together with the world and the evil desires of the flesh. The desire of this blessing is that the Lord God will lift up the light of His word upon us, and so keep it over us, that it may shine in our hearts with strength enough to overcome all the opposition of the devil, death, and sin, and all adversity, terror, or despair.2
The peace that God promises us as a result of his keeping grace is a peace in the midst of intense spiritual warfare. Not only is this peace not the personal peace and prosperity of the materialistic American dream, but neither is it merely emotional repose due to the absence of guilt or freedom from worry. This peace references a fortress in the middle of a battlefield. God promises to protect you ultimately from the devil’s ability to destroy you eternally, but you will hear his terrors on the outside, feel the rumble of his engines of war, and at times be wounded. To put it another way, because you are united to Christ you will be united to his sufferings and the humiliation he experienced while on earth. But you will also be united to the strength he provides by his Spirit and resurrected with him at the Great Day. Christ will never leave you or forsake you, but will be with you to the end of the age. Those promises produce true peace.
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