The Priestly Prayer of the Blessing

ON A FRIDAY morning in the spring of 2013 I was working in my office and my cell phone rang with a call from an unknown number. I was reluctant to answer it. But something deep inside me telegraphed the importance of the call. It was from Rick Amato, one of my closest brothers in Messiah (Christ)—a mentor and the main person responsible for my ordination as a “Messianic Jewish Southern Baptist evangelist”! (That’s a story for another book!) Rick has personally met with Russian presidents Gorbachev and Yeltsin and conducted the first—and one of the only—gospel preaching crusades in the Kremlin. In my estimation, and that of a host of others, Rick is one of greatest preachers of our time. More than one million souls can be credited to coming into the kingdom of G-D through his ministry! In addition, long before the opiate crisis, he founded WaronAddiction.com in 1993 and has reached one million children in the United States of America. More important to me, Rick has always held a deep love for the one true G-D of Israel and His holy Word.

Rick was calling from Jerusalem, Israel, and he was quite emotional. He was deeply overcome by something that had just happened to him. He had been with an agnostic Jewish archaeologist, Gabriel Barkay, on the site where two silver amulets (pendants) were discovered in 1979 and 1981. The archaeological site was located in the City of David in Jerusalem near the Temple Mount in what was believed to be the tomb of a Jewish high priest. (I’ve included photos of the amulets and the site in the photo section of this book.) The two amulets have been certifiably dated as being from the late seventh century BC.¹

These amulets were found in the fourth of several burial caves. Each amulet was a rolled-up sheet of silver, which when carefully unrolled over a three-year period, revealed a passage of Scripture found in the Torah and referred to as the “Priestly Benediction” or the “Priestly Prayer of the Blessing.” The inscription, etched into the silver, is four hundred years older than the Hebrew writings found on the sacred Dead Sea Scrolls. In other words, it is the oldest evidence of Scripture in existence!²

Rick shared, “Warren, do you know how significant this discovery is? It’s the oldest evidence of an intact Holy Bible scripture.”

When he said that, it startled me. I began to wonder, “Why did G-D preserve this particular portion of the Scriptures? Why have these amulets been discovered in this period of history if it wasn’t significant for this dispensation of time we are living in?”

Rick continued, “This Prayer of the Blessing is one that was given directly by G-D to Moses. Moses was instructed that when the high priest of Israel, Aaron, would proclaim it over the children of Israel every day, it would result in G-D placing His very name upon them.”

I tried to fully grasp what Rick was communicating. He was so overcome with emotion.

With a trembling voice Rick continued, “The writing etched on the silver amulets is in the ancient Paleo-Hebrew.” He reminded me that in our English Bibles, this Priestly Prayer of the Blessing is found in Numbers 6:24–26:

“But,” Rick explained, “the name of the one true G-D of Israel etched into the silver amulet was not the Hebrew word Adonai, which is translated as Lord in English. It is the tetragrammaton—the Hebrew consonants: Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey (YHWH). The vowels of G-D’s sacred Hebrew name are missing. The exact pronunciation is a mystery. The tetragrammaton refers to the sacred name of G-D that only the high priest of Israel could pronounce because it has been considered too holy for anyone else to utter.” (I’ll discuss this more in a later chapter.)

Rick was now unashamedly weeping as he continued, “I was so overcome by the historical significance of this discovery, I fell to my knees on the ground by the cave where the amulets were discovered, and I began to pray. Gabriel Barkay placed the first replica of the real amulet upon my neck.” He shared that the original amulets were in a museum in Israel.

Rick continued, “Warren, I started shaking as Gabriel placed the amulet on me. And then he pronounced the words of the blessing over me in Hebrew. It was then that I could feel the power of the name come upon me like hot oil being poured over my head and flowing down my entire body. I will never be the same again!”

I was having trouble fully connecting to Rick’s passionate and emotion-laden communication. I thought, “I am a Jew, and Rick is a Gentile, yet it was he who was in Israel being immersed in this supernatural encounter with the Most High G-D.”

So I say, have they {Israel} stumbled so as to fall [to spiritual ruin]? Certainly not! But by their transgression [their rejection of the Messiah] salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous [when they realize what they have forfeited].

—ROMANS 11:11, AMP

Rick, a Gentile believer, was doing his job by making me, the Jew, jealous! When I hung up, I immediately turned in my Bible to read the text of Numbers 6:24–26 for myself. I even spoke it out loud over myself with all the passion I could muster. Frankly I didn’t sense anything unusual. As a matter of fact, I have heard this prayer proclaimed over me in various Messianic and even Gentile church services. Though I felt it was a beautiful prayer, it didn’t impact me like it appeared to do for Rick Amato.

Others have told me that their priest in a Catholic, Anglican, or Episcopal church pronounced this prayer over them. Still others experienced this prayer being proclaimed over them in their Protestant churches.

Growing up as a Jewish boy, I cannot recall the rabbi in our conservative synagogue ever pronouncing this blessing over us. If he did, it wasn’t a high point of the Shabbat service. I don’t believe my rabbi understood the powerful significance of this priestly prayer and how to proclaim it over his congregation in the manner G-D Himself intended.

I have known Jewish people and even some Christians who have pronounced this prayer over their children. But I sensed from Rick that something far more powerful occurred with him concerning this divine prayer—something that shook him to his core!

Then I remembered what Rick said, “When the high priest of Israel, Aaron, proclaimed it over the people, G-D said it would result in the placing of His very name upon them.” I looked in my Bible again and the words immediately following the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing in the next verse popped out. This verse declares that as a result of this divine prayer being proclaimed over the children of Israel, “they [the high priest of Israel and his successors] will put [actually be placing] My name upon the children of Israel, and I [G-D] will bless them” (Num. 6:27).

It is apparent that this had larger implications than I comprehended. I thought, “If this is as significant as Rick Amato was trying to communicate, then what happened to the children of Israel when it was proclaimed over them by the high priest Aaron?”

When I researched the facts, I was stunned! As a result of this being proclaimed over them by the high priest every day for forty years in the wilderness, the following took place:

• They received daily provision—manna from heaven—and when they got tired of eating manna, G-D sent them quail!

• They had supernatural wealth—their flocks increased. Even in the desert the animals had plenty to eat!

• The Shekinah glory of G-D (His actual awesome presence) would come into the holy of holies in the midst of the camp!

• Whenever there was a problem, Moses would go into the cloud of the Shekinah glory to meet with G-D and ask for His wisdom—His solution to problems—and every time G-D would answer his prayers!

• They had “supernatural air conditioning”—a supernatural cloud by day would cover the entire camp (the entire population of Israel), and it would bring the temperature down during the hot desert days!

• They had “supernatural heating” too—a supernatural pillar of fire would extend over the entire camp, giving them heat to keep them warm from the cold desert nights!

These miracles happened for the entire forty years in the desert as a result of the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing being proclaimed over them every day. This was astounding! Again I wondered why it didn’t appear to have the same supernatural power when declared over me by a rabbi or a minister from a church or when I pronounced it over myself.

I then realized something quite profound about this passage in the Bible. The children of Israel had just begged Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship since they feared that Moses had disappeared during his forty days and nights on Mount Sinai.

While Moses was meeting with the one true G-D of Israel to receive the Ten Commandments written by G-D’s own finger, the children of Israel began worshipping the golden calf. They did not deserve to have G-D’s very name placed upon them. For G-D to not abandon them and instead choose to bless the children of Israel means that this has to be the greatest prayer of grace contained in the Bible. Again, the thought came to mind that this is the only prayer in the entire Bible authored by the G-D of Israel Himself.

I thought, “Of all the scriptures in the Bible, why would the one true G-D of Israel preserve this ancient prayer as being the oldest intact scripture (found on those amulets), predating the sacred Dead Sea scrolls by four hundred years, if it didn’t have a deeper implication for us today?”

Until now I had never considered its significance. The two amulets are collecting dust in a museum, and yet this is the most significant biblical and archaeological discovery ever! Through the pronouncement of this divine prayer every day over the children of Israel they obtained an impartation of G-D’s presence and benefited from the supernatural power of the greatest prayer of grace contained in the Holy Scriptures.

I wondered, “Could it be that the one true G-D of Israel wanted us to have this rediscovered today because we are living in the end times? Could it be that now is the time in history that He wants the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing revealed to bless those who believe in Him?”

It still puzzled me that Rick was so overwhelmed by this Priestly Prayer of the Blessing as it was proclaimed over him, but when I read the prayer and tried to proclaim it over myself, it didn’t have any effect on me. I beseeched the Lord, “Please tell me, Lord, what is the truth about Your Priestly Prayer of the Blessing?”

Then something Rick said came to my remembrance. “I knelt on the ground in front of Gabriel Barkay. I started shaking as Gabriel placed that amulet on me and then he pronounced the words of the blessing over me in Hebrew.”

A number of questions flooded my mind. Was it because Rick was so near the place of discovery of the amulets? Was there a special portal, a doorway, to heaven in that place? Could the power be in the amulet itself? What does it mean that the one true G-D of Israel placed His name on the children of Israel? Why was Moses told to have Aaron the high priest and his successors pronounce this over the children of Israel and not Moses? What about the fact that the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing was said over Rick in Hebrew and not English?

These questions and so many more began to consume me. Thus began my deep search into the truth about this Priestly Prayer of the Blessing. What was revealed to me has literally transformed my own life and the lives of many others. The key was in understanding the full meaning conveyed in the ancient Hebrew and how to proclaim it over oneself and others in the manner that G-D Himself intended. This resulted in unlocking the supernatural power of this Priestly Prayer of the Blessing for us today.

Did the power come from the fact that my friend Rick knelt on the very location where the amulets were discovered?

As I began my search into the secret behind this divine prayer, I quickly discerned that the location of the discovery of the amulets had no special significance concerning what Rick experienced. How do I know this? Because in my studies I found that places deemed holy (set apart) in the Bible are revered because the presence of G-D was once revealed in that location. Thus, from that point of time in history, these locations were held in high esteem as “places of remembrance,” but the actual ground itself had no supernatural value without the presence. When G-D revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush, it became holy ground because His presence was there. The bush itself held no special power.

The Holy Land itself is reverenced because in the Bible G-D states that this land is His land. It’s where He revealed Himself and where Yeshua (Jesus), His only begotten Son, was born. It is the place where someday soon the one true G-D of Israel and the Lamb, Yeshua, will return, literally bringing heaven onto the earth.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from [G-D the heavenly Father] out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of [G-D the heavenly Father] is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and [G-D] himself shall be with them, and be their [G-D the heavenly Father].

—REVELATION 21:2–3, KJV

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord [G-D] Almighty [the heavenly Father] and the Lamb [Yeshua Jesus] are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of [G-D the heavenly Father] did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light [the lampstand] thereof.

—REVELATION 21:22–23, KJV

According to the Word of G-D, Jerusalem is holy (set apart) as the city of G-D. One day soon it shall be truly holy because the one true G-D of Israel Himself (the heavenly Father) along with Yeshua will come down from heaven and abide in New Jerusalem.

Note in the above verses that there is a distinction between G-D the heavenly Father and His Son, Yeshua. They will both be manifested on earth in New Jerusalem.

And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall never be shut by day, for there shall be no night there. They shall bring into it the glory and honor of the nations. No unclean thing shall ever enter it, nor shall anyone who commits abomination or falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

—REVELATION 21:24–27

Where did the power come from that affected my friend Rick? Was it in the amulet?

I am certain the power was not in the amulet when it was placed upon Rick’s neck. So many hold on to items as holy icons. Religion often promotes and cherishes articles they consider sacred. Unfortunately icons are looked upon as idols or magic charms to be cherished, worshipped, and considered to bring good luck, when they should be considered only as reminders of the reality of the one true G-D of Israel.

Every day I wear the authorized silver-plated replica of the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing amulet on my neck. (See photo section.) It’s just like the one placed on Rick Amato that day as he knelt by the cave where it was discovered. Etched on the front of it is the ancient Paleo-Hebrew of this supernatural prayer, a facsimile of how it appears on the original. On the back is the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing inscribed in English. I wear it as a witness and a reminder of the power of this divine prayer. There is nothing holy about the pendant. The power is in the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing.

I believe the greatest significance of the ancient amulet’s discovery lies in the fact that the Paleo-Hebrew writing etched in silver is the oldest evidence of Holy Scripture we have in the world today. Even more important is the fact that the one true G-D of Israel chose to preserve this particular portion of the Holy Scriptures. But why? Perhaps because until now no one considered that this one prayer is the only prayer authored by G-D Himself.

I believe that G-D has preserved this particular portion of the Holy Scripture because He has a special purpose for this prayer for such a time as this. Again, I emphasize that the power is in the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing itself. I truly believe that once you discover the full meaning of the prayer and understand how to pronounce the prayer over yourself and others as G-D intended it to be proclaimed, your life will never be the same!

As slaves in Egypt, what the children of Israel knew concerning the one true G-D was limited to oral histories passed down through the centuries from their forefathers. They didn’t yet have the inspired Word of G-D, the Bible, to teach them who G-D truly was. The Torah had not yet been given by G-D to Moses. They had no real clue as to who the G-D of Israel truly was.

When G-D began to perform the miracles and wonders that led to Israel’s freedom, they must have wondered who this powerful G-D was. They were frightened by this entity who had power to send ten horrible plagues upon Egypt, the One who parted the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army. They weren’t comforted but rather they were frightened because they hadn’t encountered the reality of His power and presence.

Armed with the hope of a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. Imagine their disappointment when all they found on the other side was endless desert.

The children of Israel had little understanding concerning the G-D who led them out of Egypt. They had little cognizance of the fact that they—the Hebrews enslaved by Egypt who were now free—were the physical descendants of Abraham. The Old Testament had not yet been written—Moses was about to receive the first five books, the Torah, from the one true G-D of Israel on Mount Sinai.

They beheld ten plagues that were unleashed upon Pharaoh and Egypt for not letting them go free. They witnessed G-D parting the Red Sea and holding back the Egyptian army with a pillar of fire from heaven. They walked on dry ground as G-D made a pathway between two walls of raging water. And when they got to the other side, they watched as G-D caused the water to come crashing down upon the Egyptian army who was pursuing them with a vengeance.

Yet, while Moses was meeting with G-D on Mount Sinai receiving His Word—His instructions, the Torah—they had Aaron build a golden calf and began worshipping this idol. Moses was meeting with G-D on the top of Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments written by G-D’s own finger, carved in stone.

G-D was angry with the children of Israel for worshipping the golden calf in the valley below. He told Moses that He was going to “wipe them out”—but Moses interceded, and G-D repented of His anger against them.

It was to this rebellious, imperfect people, the children of Israel, that the one true G-D gave this supernatural prayer, the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing, for them to experience His reality in a personal and powerful way. G-D would soon tell Moses to have this prayer pronounced every day over the children of Israel by the high priest Aaron and Aaron’s descendants.

Do you understand what I am saying here? This wasn’t a man’s prayer to G-D—this was a prayer conceived by the G-D of Israel Himself to be prayed over us. And it is the greatest prayer of grace ever given to mankind. It is a supernatural prayer!

The children of Israel were in the wilderness. How many of you are having a “wilderness experience” in your life? What are your needs? Are they not the same needs that the children of Israel had? For forty years this supernatural prayer was pronounced over the children of Israel, and as a result they walked in supernatural provision, health, protection, and prosperity!

I myself wandered through my own desert, being subject to the influence of the world, my own fleshly desires, and the constant assault by the enemy of my soul, Satan. I must admit that the one true G-D of Israel was consistently pursuing me. G-D sent many witnesses, circumstances, and supernatural occurrences to bring me out of the place where I had come to the end of myself.

In the next chapter I’ll share a dream I had where G-D revealed Himself to me in the form of the Shekinah glory when I was a five-year-old Jewish boy. This dream set me on a journey to want to know the one true G-D of Israel in an intimate way. In October 1974, at twenty-one years of age, I sat in my apartment getting stoned on marijuana. I had come to the intellectual conclusion that Yeshua could be the promised Jewish Messiah because of the many Old Testament prophecies He clearly fulfilled. But I couldn’t understand how the knowledge of that fact could impact me further. It’s one thing to know about G-D; it is another to know Him in a supernatural, experiential, and intimate way. I cried out to the one true G-D of Israel with a simple prayer:

Oh, G-D, whoever You are, if Jesus is what the Christians say He is, the promised Jewish Messiah and the only begotten Son of G-D, then I want Him to come into my heart. If He isn’t what they say He is, then I don’t want anything to do with Him. You will have to let me know what the truth truly is.

I felt a supernatural peace, and as I lifted the joint of marijuana to inhale it, I stopped. I asked myself, “Why am I doing this?” I flushed an entire bag of the drug down the toilet. I had no desire to ever use that drug again. I picked up a King James Version of the Bible I had purchased and began to read passages in the New Testament. Verses I couldn’t understand before were suddenly completely understood. It’s as if G-D Himself was communicating directly to me off the pages of the Bible.

I walked into my apartment office to place the Bible back onto a shelf. As I looked at the other books, I realized many of them were completely contrary to the things of G-D. No one preached to me; the sense of G-D’s holiness permeated the atmosphere. I threw away many books that day, including pornography, radical political writings, and false religious and occult writings. For over a year it was as if I walked in a “honeymoon period” with the reality of G-D in my life, empowered by the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) within to walk in holiness.

Through the years I have known many people who also had a powerful encounter with the one true G-D of Israel. Many were delivered from drug addiction, sinful lifestyles, criminal activities, and more! As time went by, some found themselves sliding backward into their former lifestyles or going through the motions of contending for the faith that once transformed them.

Although I had a powerful supernatural encounter with the one true G-D of Israel when I first recognized Yeshua as my Messiah and Lord (Adonai), as time went on I found myself being conformed to people who claimed to be following G-D, but their lives didn’t always reflect that reality.

At one point in my journey I began to relate to others who once walked in holiness but had backslidden and were now tainted by the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Their belief was that “G-D is love and I am forgiven, so there are no rules. I can do anything because He still loves me.” There is partial theological truth to this way of thinking. G-D’s love for us, even when we are struggling or drifting away from Him, is ever present. But His blessings and favor come through our pursuit of an intimate relationship with Him and our desire to embrace the things He identifies as holy.

The “honeymoon period” often disappears, and in many people’s lives something happens. The enemy begins to steal our joy and confidence in Him. So many people don’t understand what is happening. We often feel we can relate to the children of Israel, and we can empathize with them as we find ourselves in a spiritual “desert place,” a time of testing.

We can remember the hope that we once held on to as we were set free from our spiritual slavery to the devil, when we first repented and accepted by faith that Yeshua is our Messiah and Lord, when the Ruach HaKodesh was given to us to dwell within, and when we found ourselves being guided into G-D’s promised land—a taste of heaven on earth. But now we are in a spiritual desert.

If you can identify with this right now, I pray that it encourages you to realize that while the children of Israel were in this desert climate of fear and discouragement, G-D had the earthly high priest pronounce the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing over them.

There is something special that happens when this divine prayer is either spoken or sung over people in the Hebrew language. That’s because the Hebrew words have layers of meaning that are missing when the prayer is translated into English or any other language. When this prayer was said over the children of Israel, it would cause the sacred name and the person of the G-D of Israel to be placed upon them.

There are keys to how the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing can be proclaimed effectively over us today, and each chapter of this book will reveal a key and will highlight it in a review section at the close of the chapter. The first key is realizing this Priestly Prayer of the Blessing is the only prayer written by the G-D of Israel Himself.

Many cite the Lord’s Prayer in the New Testament scriptures as a prayer authored by G-D Himself. They point to the fact that Yeshua is the only begotten Son of the one true G-D of Israel. The argument is presented that since Yeshua was G-D in the form of the Messiah, when He shared that prayer, it was authored by G-D too. However, the context of the Lord’s Prayer was to teach us a method of how to pray to the one true G-D of Israel.

Therefore pray in this manner: Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

—MATTHEW 6:9–13

The prayer that Yeshua shared starts out by showing to whom we direct our prayers. He directed us to the one true G-D of Israel. Note also that Yeshua says, “Hallowed [or holy] be Your name.” It is important to recognize that there is only one true G-D and Yeshua makes reference to the sacred name of that one true G-D. (More about the sacred name of G-D later in the book.)

My point is that the Lord’s Prayer is Yeshua’s example of how to model our prayers. He said, “Pray in this manner.” It is not the same as the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing, which was authored by the one true G-D of Israel Himself and was given by Him to be proclaimed as it is written for a specific purpose.

I can’t overstate the depth of this truth: G-D actually wrote this divine prayer, and He wants it to be proclaimed over you every day. I trust that as it has done for me and so many others, it will bring you supernatural favor, prosperity, abundance, healing, better relationships, blessings, miracles, and much more.

The prayer isn’t based on how good or how perfect you are. The children of Israel weren’t deserving of this, and neither are we. But this supernatural prayer was so powerful that it caused Israel to experience supernatural favor and blessing from G-D for forty years as they wandered in the wilderness. The supernatural result of this prayer when proclaimed over you will help propel you to be successful in all your endeavors.

Get ready, because I am going to share with you everything I learned about the deeper meaning of this supernatural prayer of grace given to us by G-D Himself.

KEYS TO THE BLESSING

We must realize that this Priestly Prayer of the Blessing is the only prayer written by the G-D of Israel Himself.

STUDY QUESTIONS

Where was Rick Amato when the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing was pronounced over him?

What was placed on Rick Amato’s neck before the prayer was administered?

What supernatural occurrences happened to Israel during their forty years in the wilderness as a result of this divine prayer being pronounced over them every day?

Did the amulets discovered by Gabriel Barkay in 1979–1981 have any supernatural power?

Do the places considered to be holy sites have any supernatural power today?

Who wrote the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing?

[ ] Moses [ ] Aaron [ ] Jesus [ ] G-D

PRAYER

Oh, G-D of Israel, I am hungry to know You in a more intimate way than ever before. If this divine prayer that You wrote can help me experience You in a greater way, then I want You to make this real to me. Give me the ability, by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), to understand the truth and receive an impartation of Your actual presence like never before! I pray this in the name of Yeshua (Jesus).