Blessing

In short

This same word is used in VERY different ways in Scripture. People speak of being #BLESSED by God, but Scripture says WE can bless God, too, and we even see people in the Bible bless each other.

Why it is important

We don’t really use this word today – especially in conversation – the way it’s used in the Bible. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but we do need to understand what it means when we read the Bible, or when we hear phrases like “God bless America.”

Different kinds of blessing

On Wednesday we talked about Jacob blessing his sons in Genesis 49. I double-checked my use of that word and that is right. Gen 49:28 summarizes Jacob’s predictions by saying, “This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.” This word is Hebrew “barak” and it is by far the most common word translated as “blessing,” and even more so if you add in variants of the word.

Now think back to Gen 49. Those “blessings” are sometimes really awful! “Reuben… Unstable as water” (v. 3-4); “Raiders shall raid Gad” (v. 19); “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf” (v. 27). This is NOT what I think of when someone says #BLESSED!

Let’s dig into what I see as four main kinds.

When God blesses people

• A prediction about the future – Gen 12:1-3, promises to Abraham
• A command to do something – Gen 1:28, “be fruitful and multiply”
• Prosperity and success – Deut 2:7, “the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands”

When people bless God

• Praise for His deeds – Gen 14:20, “blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
• Praise for His goodness – Psa 28:6, “Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy”
• Just because – Psa 89:52, “Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen”
• A by-proxy blessing of a person – Gen 9:26, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.” (2Ch 6:3-4 does this in the reverse.)

When people bless other people

• Isaac and Jacob each at the end of their lives bless their sons, and as we noted, it’s a mix of good and scary predictions
• Women will call each other blessed (Song 6:9; Lk 1:45, 11:27) Or their children do (Pro 31:28).
• Similarly, the Psalms and Proverbs are filled with these “Blessed is he who does this” sort of passive-aggressive commandments

Blessing of food

• And yes, food being eaten is blessed in the Bible (compare Matt 14:19 and 15:36)
• As is the Sabbath (Gen 2:3; Ex 20:11) and other things

What about “God bless America”?

I wrestle with that all the time.

On the one hand, I think what most people mean is “I love this country and we are better than everyone else because we are more special to God than all other nations.” I love this country, too, but it’s that last bit that scares me. Yes, God loves us, but we are not the new Israel. God loves other people, too.

On the other hand, if what is meant is a plea to God asking Him to bless our country (“May God bless America”), I don’t know, maybe that’s OK. I have to say, I’m encouraged if a president says this phrase. He’s tasked with leading us anyway, so isn’t it a blessing to us if he understands who is really in control? (Both Republicans and Democrats routinely say it, so don’t even get started, people.)

Footnote

The “Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon” was a great resource for this study of the different uses of the same word. First time I have ever used that. The page on “barak” is here:  https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1288.htm.