18. Numbers 6:22-27
You are all familiar with the Aaronic blessing. I give it to you every Sunday. But I probably should say, “Yehowah bless you” instead of “The Lord bless you and keep you.” Let me read Numbers 6:22-27, and give a baptism homily.
And Yehowah spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: 24 “Yehowah bless you and keep you; 25 Yehowah make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 Yehowah lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” 27 So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.’”
What does it mean to put your name on someone? Commentators say that it means to take ownership of that person. And God took ownership of the entire covenant community — man, woman, and child. In the book of Ezekiel, God calls babies, “sons whom you bore to Me” (Ezek. 23:37) and in another place He calls those babies, “My children” (Ezek. 16:21). They don’t belong to us. That’s why Galatians says that parents are simply stewards of the children. Our children belong to God. And that’s why the children were circumcised in the Old Testament and baptized in the New. They were sanctified or set apart to God or dedicated to God. That’s why Malachi 2:15 says that the babies of believers are sanctified. That’s why 1 Corinthians 7:14 says the same thing. If there is one believing parent, that child is outwardly holy or set apart to God.
Second, just as God associated His name with the entire covenant community in the Old Testament, so too, we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. God puts His name upon us initially in baptism. The New Testament makes clear that apart from baptism, no one can wear God’s name. And so it is significant that Jesus would say of our babies, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great” (Luke 9:48). He was willing to set His name upon our children. And Matthew 18:5; Mark 9:37, and 1 John 2:12 all say that we must treat these little ones well for His name’s sake. Why? Because God has put His name upon them. He claims ownership of them.
And of course, the Old Testament prophesied that it wouldn’t just be Jewish children who would have God’s name put upon them. It prophesied this of believing Gentiles. Isaiah 60:9 says, “the coastlands shall wait for Me… to bring your sons … to the name of the LORD your God.” This morning [parents] are bringing [child] to the name of the Lord. Let me clarify that Scripture is quite clear that water does not save a child. Some children (like John the Baptist and David’s son) were saved long before the sign of the covenant came and others are regenerate later. God is sovereign, and the timing of that is in his hands. But though this baptism doesn’t save the child, it dedicates the child to God and from the moment I baptize this child and on, this child will receive the Aaronic blessing and will not miss out. When I say, “Yehowah bless you and keep you; Yehowah make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; Yehowah lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace” — then the next verse will be true of [child] and every other baptized child. God says, “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
The third thing that I see in this blessing is that God is jealous to guard His name and thus He is jealous to guard His people who bear His name. This is such a cool blessing as well. This is why Isaiah 40:10 says that God will guard us with His strong arm and the next verse says, “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.” Matthew 18:10 says, “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” These little ones have angels assigned to them. Isn’t that cool? And in one place they are called guardian angels. God protects that which He chooses to bless.
The last verse that I read speaks of “the face of My Father who is in heaven” in connection with our little ones. Our text says the same - “The Lord make His face shine upon you.” Jesus is explicitly saying that the face of the Father is connected with covenant children.
Likewise, the peace pronounced in Numbers 6 is pronounced upon our children. In John 6:45 Jesus quotes Isaiah 54:13, which promises, “All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.” God showers great shalom upon our children when they are in the covenant. Psalm 128:6 says, “Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel.” And Paul applies that passage to the church when he says, “peace be upon them, even upon the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16).
And I’ll end with the generic mention of all kinds of blessings in Numbers 6. Do our children get blessed by Jesus? Yes they do. In Mark 10:16 it says of Jesus, “He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.” Matthew 19 says, “Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’” This is why the New Testament calls us to apply the sign of the covenant to our children. So I am going to ask [parents] to bring [child] to the front so that we can baptize her into the name of the Triune God.
[Parents] — in Galatians 4:1-2, after saying that believers become heirs of the Abrahamic promises and that heirs may be baptized, he goes on to say, “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards…” Since you are the guardians of this stewardship trust, you must answer on behalf of your daughter with a commitment to God. [Vows]