The Priestly Prayer of the Blessing

WE’VE DISCUSSED THE words Lord, bless, and keep. The next abstract word in the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing is face.

The Hebrew word panim comes from the root panah, which means “to turn.” The word panim is plural. It implies in Hebrew “more than one face.” So, not just a happy face, but also a sad face, an angry face, and the entire being that is revealed in the face.

This means when we behold G-D’s face, we can see Him as He truly is—fully divine, yet a person. When we see Him face-to-face we can observe that He has expressions that connote His emotions, thoughts, and judgments.

Religion tries to keep us from seeing our heavenly Father in these terms, keeping YHWH in a distant relationship. Religion advocates that G-D the Father remains too holy to approach; it is even taught that He is a mystery. We forget that G-D is a person—and the Scriptures are full of illustrations of this fact.

And the LORD was angry with Solomon because he turned his heart away from the LORD [G-D] of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had warned him about this, that he should not follow other gods, but he was disobedient to the LORD’s command.

—1 KINGS 11:9–10

The wrath of [G-D] is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

—ROMANS 1:18

I must say that I am very glad that I am saved and standing in the shadow of the Lord Yeshua (Jesus). G-D has a pure hate, but it is also a complete and just hate. I am so thankful that I do not have to face that hate!

For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the meek with salvation.

—PSALM 149:4

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was continually only evil. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart.

—GENESIS 6:5–6

Compassion: What is compassion? Funk and Wagnall’s tell us, “Pity for the suffering or distress of another, with the desire to help or spare.” ¹ Think of that! He is full of compassion. If you need any, He has it. He, the infinite in size, is full, infinitely full of compassion!

You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I, the LORD your [G-D], am a jealous [G-D], visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and fourth generations of whose who hate Me.

—DEUTERONOMY 5:9

So you see that YHWH (our heavenly Father) is a person. G-D sent His only begotten Son, Yeshua, to demonstrate how much He loves us—to demonstrate His holy character. Yeshua is the fullness of the Godhead—the Elohim—in bodily form for us to see.

Beware lest anyone captivate you through philosophy and vain deceit, in the tradition of men and the elementary principles of the world, and not after [the Messiah]. For in [Yeshua, Jesus] lives all the fullness of the [Elohim] bodily. And you are [being made] complete in Him, who is the head of all authority and power [He has authority and power over all principalities].

—COLOSSIANS 2:8–10

Everything Yeshua did is what G-D the Father told Him to do. When Yeshua came, it was G-D the Father in the form of a man—to show forth His character to us. He had given us His Word, but mankind didn’t comprehend and implement G-D’s instruction and precepts. G-D wanted us to know what He was truly like. The compassion to heal and deliver us is what G-D desired to demonstrate to us all along!

G-D the Father is a person, and He desires a relationship with us! He desires to fellowship and commune and exchange intimacy. That’s why He went to such lengths pursuing us and sending Yeshua (His only begotten Son) to open the way for us to obtain intimacy! G-D desires a two-way relationship! The precepts and commandments He has given us in His Law (Torah) are perfect. Through His instruction and the commandments Yeshua shared and clarified, our heavenly Father gives us the way to have an intimate relationship with Him.

There are many scriptures in the Tanakh (Old Testament) where we are encouraged to seek the face of YHWH. It is our heavenly Father’s desire to have communion with us. The very first commandment is, “Love the LORD your [G-D] with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being]” (Deut. 6:5, AMP; see also Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27).

The encouragement to seek the face of YHWH (our heavenly Father) alludes to the importance of getting to know the G-D of Israel in the most intimate way.

When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

—PSALM 27:8

Yet, concerning this portion of the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing, though we are encouraged to seek His face, it is YHWH, our heavenly Father, who is making Himself available by showing His face to us.

Remember the first portion of the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing? This dealt with the fact that YHWH wants to bless you.

The simple picture of what YHWH is doing through that first portion of this prayer is, He is kneeling before you as a good parent who would do anything for you His child, desiring to demonstrate His availability to you. As a child seeing your Daddy kneeling in front of you with His arms extended inviting you, you are moved to respond and humble yourself, and you fall to your knees so you can receive His invitation.

I also shared with you about the second portion of the prayer. Once you are kneeling down (humbled) facing YHWH, He now enfolds you in His arms with His divine embrace.

He embraces you in His arms that are likened to a “thorny hedge of protection.” Satan and his demons can never penetrate the security of the arms of YHWH. You are protected from all things. When your heavenly Father places His arms around you with His divine embrace, nothing can hurt you or separate you from Him.

In the third portion of the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing, your heavenly Father now loosens His embrace. While still keeping His holy hands upon your shoulders, He pulls away so you can now see Him face-to-face.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you . . .

—NUMBERS 6:24–25

I have already shared with you in chapter 4 that the Shekinah glory cloud hid the actual face of YHWH from Moses’s view. In the Book of Exodus we read that Moses stopped going up onto Mount Sinai to meet with YHWH. Before the actual tabernacle was erected where YHWH would take up residence in the holy of holies in the form of the Shekinah glory, Moses fashioned a temporary dwelling place where he could meet with YHWH. (See Exodus 33:7–11.)

It was in that tent of meeting that YHWH came to dwell in the form of the Shekinah glory until the tabernacle in the wilderness was built. I must stress this point. Remember that the Shekinah glory is not just a thing, but a person, the person of YHWH (our heavenly Father) Himself.

I can’t imagine what it felt like when Moses stood in the midst of the cloud of the Shekinah glory, which was the manifestation of the actual presence of the Father Himself. Moses could clearly hear YHWH’s voice and spoke to Him as a man speaks to another man. Moses saw inside the cloud the bright light—the glory light—but the cloud obscured the source of the light.

I also already shared with you in an earlier chapter that Moses wanted to see beyond the glory cloud (vv. 18–20). Moses wanted to see the source of the light that was hidden by the cloud, which Moses referred to as the glory of G-D. But YHWH let Moses know that the glory light in the cloud was actually His very face (panim). It wasn’t possible for Moses to see the panim of G-D clearly without the surrounding cloud that hid the full view. Anyone who beheld His face in that day would surely die.

Moses was still a man stained with the original sin of Adam. Moses had killed an Egyptian guard while in Egypt, and there wasn’t yet established the sacrificial system under the Torah where sin and trespasses could be forgiven through the shedding of the blood of kosher (biblically cleaned or sanctioned) animals. The sacrificial system, which expounds about the way we can obtain grace and forgiveness, would soon be revealed by YHWH once He gave Moses the Torah and His plans on how to build the tabernacle in the wilderness.

Talking to someone without seeing their face is good, but it is still distant communication. True intimacy comes when we can see another person face-to-face. When we look into the eyes of another, we can see their expression.

When we talk to another on the telephone, we are able to communicate, but we really can’t discern fully what the other person truly feels about the things being discussed. Many say communication through emails or text messages is imperfect because people can’t discern tone of voice or facial expressions to properly interpret the intricacies of what is truly being conveyed. When we can look upon the face of another person, their expression helps us better discern how they truly feel.

The statement that the eyes are the window of the soul has been attributed to everyone from Shakespeare to Da Vinci. The Bible says it this way.

The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is unclear, your whole body will be full of darkness. Therefore, if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

—MATTHEW 6:22–23

So far we have been talking about G-D’s face spiritually being made available to us when we have become sons and daughters of the Most High G-D of Israel. This next verse of scripture communicates what it will be like when we can physically (not just spiritually) look into the face of YHWH (our heavenly Father).

For now we see as through a glass, dimly, but then, face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as I also am known.

—1 CORINTHIANS 13:12

YHWH communicated in the Tanakh (Old Testament) that we are to seek His face. This means if we truly love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, spirit, and strength, we would want to have the highest level of intimacy possible. King David valued this type of intimacy with YHWH.

Do not hide Your face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline Your ear to me; in the day when I call answer me quickly.

—PSALM 102:2

Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord, desiring that YHWH would bless him. When he received the blessing of having his name changed from Jacob to Israel (the father of the twelve sons who led the twelve tribes of Israel), he recognized that he had seen the very face (panim) of YHWH in the person of the angel of the Lord.

Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “I have seen [G-D] face to face, and my life has been preserved.”

—GENESIS 32:30

Yeshua was the face of the Father when He was on earth. Even when we were still in our sinful state, to look at Jesus was to behold the very face of YHWH (our heavenly Father). Yet instead of bringing death, peering into the face of Yeshua brought us salvation and life everlasting! There is a powerful of example from the Scriptures concerning this truth.

One of the Pharisees asked [Yeshua, Jesus] to eat with him. So He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down for supper. There, a woman of the city who was a sinner, when she learned that [Yeshua] was sitting for supper in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment, and stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

—LUKE 7:36–38

The inference here is that the woman was one of ill repute. Concerning the Jewish traditions of the time, a woman would never be allowed to touch a rabbi, let alone sit at his feet displaying such affection, especially a “woman of the city.”

She had expensive alabaster oil, and may I point out that she didn’t kneel in front of Him, but instead at first “stood behind Him.” As time went on, she was most likely kneeling, stooping down, kissing Yeshua’s feet, and anointing them with the oil. The fact that she wouldn’t face Yeshua telegraphs that she was ashamed of her past sinful life.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw it, he said to himself, “If this Man were a prophet, He would have known who and what kind of woman she is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

—LUKE 7:39

Though this Pharisee muttered these words under his breath, Yeshua was able to hear his negative comment. Or perhaps, He even read the mind of the Pharisee?

[Yeshua] answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

[The Pharisee] said, “Teacher, say it.”

“A creditor had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they had no money to pay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”

Simon answered, “I suppose he whom he forgave more.”

He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

—LUKE 7:40–43

The point of Yeshua’s parable was that He came to reach the brokenhearted—not the self-righteous—because they truly needed salvation, and as a result of receiving their miracle would begin to love G-D with all their heart, mind, soul, spirit, and strength.

Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little.”

—LUKE 7:44–47

Now the most important point of this account is related to seeing G-D face-to-face. This woman of ill repute was afraid to look up at the face of Yeshua, but truly she had been affected by hearing His words in the past, or possibly was moved by the miracles He had performed. She knew Yeshua was more than just another rabbi. There was something supernatural concerning Yeshua, who was full of compassion for sinners, the hurting, the sick, and even the demon possessed.

Yet the most significant portion of this account is what happened next. Yeshua turned to the woman and addressed her face-to-face. She looked into the eyes of Yeshua as He talked directly to her for the first time.

Remember that Moses was told by YHWH in Exodus that he could never see the face of G-D or he would surely die? Yeshua (the only begotten Son of G-D) represented His Father on earth. When this woman of ill repute looked into the face of Yeshua, she was beholding the very face of G-D the Father, and instead of receiving death, she received life, deliverance, healing, and transformation.

How did she receive it? She received it by gazing into the beatific face (panim) of Yeshua and hearing His comforting words as she watched them being formed from His lips.

In summary, in the Tanakh (old covenant) G-D kept Moses from seeing His face because of the stain of original sin. In the new covenant Yeshua was the face of the living G-D, made flesh and walking among us (John 1:14). When you looked into Yeshua’s eyes, you were looking into the face of G-D!

Today, we who are believers in Messiah are called to be the face of G-D for others to see! For the most part, believers today can accept that we can approach YHWH (our heavenly Father) through His only begotten Son, Yeshua. But we still don’t understand that the main reason Yeshua died on the cross was to make a way for us to access and know YHWH (our heavenly Father) in the most intimate way. Being spiritually face-to-face with Him, being embraced by Him, and then being able to see His visage is something that YHWH is ready to bring about in this age before His return to earth with Yeshua.

I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from [G-D the heavenly Father], prepared as a bride adorned for her husband [Yeshua]. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, “Look! The tabernacle of [G-D, YHWH] is with men, and He will dwell with them. They shall be His people, and [G-D] Himself [the heavenly Father] will be with them and be their [G-D, Father]. ‘[G-D] shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death.’ Neither shall there be any more sorrow nor crying nor pain, for the former things have passed away.”

—REVELATION 21:2–4

I submit to you that YHWH (our heavenly Father), in preparation for His return with Yeshua His only begotten Son, is making Himself known again through the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing in a more tangible way.

One of today’s worship songs, “Show Me Your Face” by Don Potter, shares the desire and yearning of YHWH (our heavenly Father) to show forth His face to us. For more of Don Potter’s music, visit www.potterhausmusic.net.

Moses stood on the mountain waiting for You to pass by You put Your hand over his face so in Your presence he wouldn’t die

But there’s more! YHWH is not only making His face accessible to you. In the next chapter we will dig deep into what it means for Him to make His face shine upon you.

KEYS TO THE BLESSING

Under the Old Covenant Moses was told he could not see the face of YHWH or he would surely die, yet even in the Old Testament scriptures later on we were encouraged to seek His face. Through this Priestly Prayer of the Blessing, G-D our Father is making His face available for us to behold.

STUDY QUESTIONS

What benefits do you receive when you are able to look in the face of another person, rather than communicate from a distance?

What happened when the woman of ill repute looked into the eyes of Yeshua (Jesus) who represented the very face of G-D the Father?

What did Yeshua accomplish by His death on the cross for us concerning our gaining access to our heavenly Father?