May the Lord bless you and keep you; 
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen

( Aaron’s Blessing from Numbers 6:24-26)

I have been blessed to serve as a pastor for 36 years. That means I led worship on approximately 1,728 Sundays. By my estimate, I have delivered the benediction over 3,133 times at the end of the service. As I make my final contribution to these weekly devotions, I thought I would reflect on the words of our beloved final blessings. It has certainly been a privilege to bless you with these words for the past 20 years and I know you have blessed me so many times in return.

This blessing is called the Aaronic Blessing because it is delivered over the Hebrew people by Moses’ brother, Aaron. As he offers these words, the people are acutely aware of how God has blessed, kept, and been gracious to them. Their cries from bondage in Egypt had been heard. God answered by setting them free from slavery. He had cared for them in the desert and given them the commandments to guide them. They had prospered and they had been given the promise of a land that would be “flowing with milk and honey.” Aaron blesses them with the hope that what God has done in the past he will do in the future.