God Blesses

Entering Into God’s Presence Knowing God Through His Works and Ways

To Study and Ponder: Teacher Meditation

• Have you ever found yourself people-watching at a busy marketplace, campus, or airport, imagining what is going on in their lives? What do they believe about themselves, what burdens do they carry? If facial expressions or body language is accurate for at least a few, you know they could use a generous dose of God’s blessings. Generation after generation, BLESSING is one of the things God does most often—because it is one of the things He most loves to do.

• Barak, the Hebrew verb meaning “to bless,” is used over 300 times in the Old Testament, most often referring to an endowment of God’s favor.

• Right from the very beginning God blessed, always with language of multiplication:

- His Creation: Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the

seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” Gen. 1:22

- Adam and Eve: Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and

govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals...” Ge.1:28 - Noah: Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill

the earth.” Gen. 9:1

- Abraham: I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like

the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore... And through your descendants all the

nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me. Ge. 22:17,18

- Isaac: ...the Lord appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father,

Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply

your descendants, and they will become a great nation.” Gen. 26:24

- Jacob: Now that Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again at Bethel. God blessed him, saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob

any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.” Gen. 35:9,10

• God’s total desire was to bless his people but it involved choices to walk in his ways: “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. Deu 30:15-16

• The New Testament Greek word translated to “bless” is eullogeo, from logos: something expressed, and eu: good, well done. Put together it implies “to speak well of”, from which we get our term eulogy. Jesus spoke words of blessing in his conversations with people, and New Testament writers were careful to point out that his blessings or “speaking well of” were often addressed to those without voice:

- A widow: He saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.” Luke 21:2,3

- Children:“Let the little children come to me...for the kingdom of God belongs to such as

these.” ..he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them & blessed them. Mark 10:14,16

• Likewise, He commands those who represent him to bless others in his name:

- “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to

you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” Nu. 6:24-26

- it may mean blessing those you dislike or who dislike you: I say, love your enemies! Do good to

thosewhohateyou.Blessthosewhocurseyou.Prayforthosewhohurtyou. Lu.6:27-28 - It is important to understand that negative words spoken over ourselves or others can

become a curse with damaging power.

• We are told that “it pleased the LORD to bless” (Num 24:1 NIV) – he did not do it out of duress or some sense of obligation. He wants to, longs to, bless! For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love. Psalm 5:12

• We, like Abraham, are blessed to be a blessing. (Ge.12:1,2) As God loves to richly bless us, let this unit study help us not only receive God’s blessings by faith, but also look for ways to bless others: to speak well of, to attach high value, to praise, celebrate, to cause to prosper, to make happy, to be favored by God, to esteem....to bless. Who knows, God may use you to be His conduit of blessing to someone in that busy marketplace, campus, or airport, changing the very destiny of their life!

Memory/Meditation:

Lower Grades: He will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and lowly. May the Lord richly bless both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 115:13-15 (NLT)

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Romans 12:14 (NLT) Middle Grades: May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be

gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace. Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT)

But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you. Luke 6:27-31 (NLT)

Upper Grades: May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us. May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. Psalm 67:1-3 (NLT)

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 1Peter 3:8-9 (NLT)