The Blessing

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,  “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,  The Lord bless you and keep you;  the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;  the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.  “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:22-27). 

These words have been heard by millions of people in the last months as they listened to the popular song “The Blessing.” The song, originally performed by Elevation Worship (the worship ministry of a church in the United States), viewed now over 22 million times on youtube has rapidly become an international hymn adopted by Christians around the world. From the Arab world, to Europe, to Brazil, to Australia, to Indonesia, to Singapore, to South Africa, to India, to China, this song has literally swept through the nations! It is exciting to see the global church singing her prayers and praying her songs!  I think my favorite one is the kids from different nations singing the blessing! 

The specific words of Aaron’s High Priestly Blessing came from the Lord Himself and were to be spoken over His people Israel, by which He would place His name upon them. The effect of His blessing would display His character, His nature, His very being in and through His people. He would bless them to ‘be’ a blessing to the nations because that is his nature! Our God is a ‘Blessing’ orientated God! He set his affection upon them, loved them as his own, even calling Israel his ‘own son,’ redeeming them out of the land of slavery. God was saying to the Hebrews, “I will bless you and keep you, smile on you, be gracious to you, and give you peace!’  His promise was to love, to protect, to bless and to be with them!

God is intensely concerned to bless his people. Blessing is God’s idea, it is not something we have to beg for, it is something that he desires to give.

In this prayer we see 6 promises of God’s blessing. The verbs are in the singular although he is speaking to the whole community of Israel. His blessing is his ‘name.’ As he said to Moses,

“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

God reveals his name Yahweh 3 times in the prayer, revealing his Trinitarian nature, the three-in-one God.

His name Yahweh is his covenant name, literally ‘I am who I am.’ He is the self-sufficient, self-sustaining, all knowing, unstoppable God who always keeps his promises!  He promises, ‘I will be your God, you will be my people.’  In the relational sense, he means, ‘I am the one who is there with you and for you.  All that I am I place at your disposal.’ In his wisdom God knows what’s best for us, in his love he wants what’s best for us, and in his power he delivers what is best for us!

Six promises of Blessing

1. The Lord BLESS you.

Blessing is the act of declaring God’s favor and goodness upon others. It is asking the Lord to wrap up His people in His protective and loving care. After God created Adam and Eve, he ‘blessed’ them to be fruitful and to multiply! He choose Abram and said to him,

“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3).

Blessed to be a blessing to the nations. The word ‘blessing’ and ‘to bless’ is used 330x throughout the Old Testament. Jesus opens up his teaching on the sermon on the mount with 8 blessings. When Jesus was about to depart from His disciples 10 days before Pentecost, the Scriptures records that He lifted His hands and blessed them (Luke 24:50).

This is significant because the High Priestly Blessing is also called “The Lifting of the Hands.” Jesus was blessing His disciples with the same blessing that His Father had commanded Aaron, through Moses, to speak over the house of Israel and thus place His name on them.

Paul speaks to the church at Ephesus, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” (Eph. 1:3). Peter shares, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).  

The greatest blessing of all is the blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Scripture shows that blessing is anything God gives that makes us fully satisfied in him. Anything that draws us closer to Jesus. Anything that helps us relinquish the temporal and hold on more tightly to the eternal.

2. KEEP you. 

As Israel journeyed through the wilderness, God was faithful to keep them under the shadow of his wings, providing their needs, guiding them with his presence and delivering them from harm. The Lord promises to keep us, to protect us against all harm this world could offer. In the midst of dangerous places and things, he is our refuge, a bulwark and mountain fortress. He is never failing.  Even in the midst of our trials and suffering, he will keep us!  This gives us courage to follow Jesus wherever he would lead us! As Scripture says,

“No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us!’ (Rom. 8:37).

Not just a conqueror, but more than a conqueror.  The Greek phrase means to be super abundant in conquering through Christ, to triumph, or prevail completely! To be more than a conqueror means that before you ever get a problem, you already know that whatever problem comes your way, you can overcome it through Christ. You live with confidence that God loves you no matter what and He will never leave you nor forsake you. He protects us in Him! 

3. The Lord will make his face to SMILE upon you.

A smile sends a message. It’s like new parents when they look into the crib and see their little one, a smile always ensues!  There is something in that smile on the face of a parent that communicates connection, pleasure and delight. God says, “my face shines upon you with a smile, a look of love. I see you. I am interested in you, I take great delight in you. I notice you, you are not forgotten!”  You are his treasured possession,  the very delight of his heart.

He has his eyes on his prize! He sings over you with rejoicing. As the psalmist says,

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). 

It’s his perfect love that cast out all fear! May Yahweh smile on you, and may he grant you well-being!

4. I will be GRACIOUS to you.

God deals with the reality of sin. Everyone of the 2 million Hebrews in the desert were sinners condemned to death and hell without God.  Because of sin, God had to distance himself from his people. To deal with this problem he provided for them the sacrificial system to atone for their sins. In essence God says, ‘when the blood is shed, then you can come into my presence, then and only then can your sin be dealt with.’ This pointed to the ultimate fulfillment in the New Covenant and the blood of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb! 

Grace is God’s love in action.  Grace is when God freely gives us what we need even though we don’t deserve it and we can never repay him. Grace is when God solves our greatest problem even before we knew it was a problem. Grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. It is the face of God when he looks at our faults, failures and fears.. Jesus knows us the best, and loves us the MOST.

“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” (Exo. 34:4-6).

5. I will turn my face TOWARDS you.

His first promise was to look upon us with a smile, and now he promises to turn his face towards us. He promises not turn his back on us even in the midst of our sin and weakness and come towards us with his Presence! This promise deals with his desire to come near us, to step in and walk with us day by day, moment by moment.   Jesus promises to be our Emmanuel, God-With-Us forever! He promised that as we go to make disciples of all nations, that he would be with us even to the end of the age! At Pentecost, God came by his Spirit, not just to come ’to us’ but literally to dwell ‘in us.’ He promises to never leave us or forsake us! 

6. I will give you PEACE. 

This word peace is not so much the absence of war, or of conflict, but speaks of well-being. Of all the innumerable blessings of the Christian life, peace is one of the most precious. Our God is the God of peace, Jesus is called the ‘prince of peace,’ we preach a gospel of peace, and the Spirit of God releases peace to us.

Peace here speaks of well-being in all aspects of our life. It is all inclusive, complete, and comprehensive. Peace means life as good as it gets! He gives us abundant life, life to the full, more than enough, and in great supply. It is his life by his Spirit in us and through us that brings peace that transcends all understanding, above the ceiling and beyond imagination.

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” (Col. 3:15).

He promises to Bless us, to Keep Us, to Smile upon us, to be Gracious to us, to Turn towards us, and to give us Peace. Wow!

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,  that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations” (Psalm 67:1-2). 

As an IPC family let’s continue to receive his blessing in our lives and pray and sing God’s blessing over others! We are blessed to be a blessing! He wants to bless us so much that every person that gets in proximity to us will get blessed. Amen!

Much love,

Dr. Jason Hubbard – Executive Coordinator, IPC

A prayer report looking at Covid-19 Hot Spots, Flattening the Curve, and Hopes for a Vaccine with links to resources

As of 30^th July, the total global figure for people infected by Covid-19 stands at 16.8 million according to the World Health Organisation. In addition, the current death continues to rise above 660,000.

Covid-19 hot spots

The US remains the worst affected country globally in terms of total numbers of cases and deaths with nearly 4.6 million cases and over 150,000 deaths. A record 78,000 cases were reported in just one day on 24^th July with 21 states labelled as ‘red zones’ categorised as by their case rate of more than 100 per 100,000 people in the past week.

Brazil has opened its air borders to tourists despite no sign of new cases decreasing and registering new record case and death numbers in recent days. One particular high-profile case in the country was that of the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a long-term sceptic of the severity of the virus. He has since recovered from illness.

South America as a whole now has more confirmed cases than the US and Canada put together. With poor levels of testing taking place, these case numbers are likely far from the truth. A study in Lima, Peru estimated that a quarter of people in the city may be infected, leading to the suggestion that a similar trend may be taking place in other South American cities. Brazil and Peru, along with Colombia, Argentina, and Mexico, are among the top ten countries in the world for new cases each day.

India has become the third most infected country with 1.6 million confirmed cases. However, the true number is likely much higher since testing is not easily available for all; especially for those living in slums where the likelihood of transmission is increased due to close-quarters living conditions and shared sanitation facilities.

Large areas of Europe have managed to dramatically reduce the prevalence of coronavirus, although they have not managed to completely eradicate it. Russia still has the most new cases and deaths daily by far, followed by Spain and France where there have been recent regional outbreaks. Romania and Ukraine have seen continued increases in case numbers after failing to significantly minimise the virus after its first peak.

It is not well known how severe the situation is in Africa since there is a major lack in testing. The International Rescue Committee have said that they fear the continent is “fighting the epidemic in the dark” with limited data to work from hampering their response to the pandemic. Other countries around the world struggling to contain the virus include Indonesia, South Africa, and Israel, where the numbers of new cases and deaths are rising.

Has the curve flattened?

In some countries around the world where good social distancing has been practised, masks worn where necessary, efficient testing and quarantining has taken place, and test-and-trace systems have been implemented, the rate of infection has been shown to fall and in some places be reduced to 0. This has been fully enacted by small countries and island nations and has seen positive results from larger countries such as New Zealand, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Iceland where the virus was once prominent.

In other countries, there has been impatience during lockdown, not waiting long enough for case rates to fall before reopening. This prevents a reduced rate of transmission, which doesn’t work towards the eradication of the virus. Through further restlessness and more easing of lockdown restrictions, the rate of transmission has increased again producing a so-called ‘second spike’ as shown by the recent dramatic increase in cases in the US or Israel.

The efforts that have been put in place by countries all over the world have reduced the impacts of the virus, though. Without the measures such as social distancing designed to reduce transmission, the new numbers of cases would likely not have dropped, and the death toll would have been much higher by now.

Vaccine update

Over 165 vaccines are currently being developed by teams all over the world in the race to find a solution to the pandemic. 27 of these are currently in human trials to prove that they work as intended and are safe for wide-spread use.

A vaccine produced by the University of Oxford has been shown to trigger an immune response creating neutralising antibodies and T-cells in the recipient after a single dose in 90% of participants, although not without possible side-effects such as fever and headaches. Larger trials will take place across several countries to ensure the vaccine is safe and then “challenge trials” will be performed where willing participants are deliberately infected with coronavirus to observe the vaccine’s response.

Let us continue to declare that the novel coronavirus is defeated by the blood of Jesus.

We pray for divine intervention and for God's name to be glorified even as each nation and government tries its best to flatten the curve and finally arrest this epidemic. 

We release wisdom, skill, and integrity upon our leaders. 

We pray for protection, wisdom and strength, for those working to bring treatment and comfort to the sick and their families.

We pray special grace and help for the vulnerable population and nations. We pray for refugees and displaced peoples. We pray against domestic violence and other crimes that have become rampant during lockdowns.

We pray for a safe, effective, and affordable vaccine to be released soonest but without including aborted baby cells in its creation, neglecting proper testing protocols, and without including any digital ID tracing (“health passport”) which could bring about totalitarian control.

We continue to release faith, hope, and love over the peoples of the world. May the Church seize this opportune time to manifest Jesus our Lord and Savior to those who are seeking answers and peace.

Pray: Lord God, the One who has Almighty power, we agree according to your promise in Matthew 18:18-20 that this virus will be stopped in its tracks. That the medical researchers will get a download from Heaven on how to quickly develop a vaccine to counteract COVID-19 and a cure for those who have become infected.

We also agree in prayer, asking that the Body of Christ worldwide will rise up in love and boldness, trusting in your blood to cover and protect us and throwing off fear, so that we can be available to serve, bless, and bear witness to those around us who are terrified and depressed at being infected.

Let us seize this unprecedented opportunity to make you known to those without hope in Christ!

Thank you for your promise that surely, you will be with us "always, even to the very end of the age”  so that we can carry on with the mission you have given us for our world (Matthew 28:20).

Report on Nigeria to UK Parliament

“The incessant killing is more dangerous than Coronavirus” …The words of a community leader in central Nigeria – after coronavirus had reached his country – after an April attack in which nine people died, including a pregnant woman and her three year old.

His reaction is one of several testimonies – frequently harrowing to read, let alone to have experienced – that feature in an Inquiry into the scale of death and destruction caused by conflict occurring along the Christian-Muslim faultline running across the ‘Middle Belt’ of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.

The Inquiry is published today, 15 June, by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief of the UK Parliament; it has been taking evidence since autumn 2018.

(However, since the Coronavirus pandemic, violence appears to have grown even as international media have been otherwise occupied).

“APPG members have been alarmed by the dramatic and escalating violence in Nigeria characterised as the farmer-herder conflict. This violence has manifested along ideological lines, as the herders are predominantly ethnic Fulani Muslims and the farmers are predominantly Christians. There has been significant debate about what factors are driving and exacerbating this crisis. Therefore, the APPG launched a parliamentary inquiry to help develop a nuanced understanding of the drivers of violence”.

The resulting report ‘Nigeria: Unfolding Genocide?’ points out that the violence has claimed the lives of thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. It has caused untold human and economic devastation and heightened existing ethno-religious tensions. “The [age old farmer-herder] conflict has evolved from spontaneous reactions to provocations and now to deadlier planned attacks” it quotes the International Crisis Group as saying.

Despite the scale of the violence, the conflict is much less well known internationally than the 10 year long Boko Haram insurgency which has claimed over 30,000 lives (112 Chibok girls are still ‘missing’ after 6 years) and now its offshoot Islamic State West African Province’s (ISWAP) atrocities. These also feature in the APPG report and appear to have escalated in recent weeks and months. (In the latest Boko Haram-linked incidents this past week, over a hundred have died and hundreds more been injured; a UN humanitarian hub and a police station were reported burned down).

However, this APPG report echoes the Global Terrorist Index (GTI) 2019 by the Institute for Economics and Peace, which indicates that the primary driver of the increase in violence in sub-Saharan Africa is a rise in activity in Nigeria attributed, not to Boko Haram, ISWAP or Ansar ul Islam, but to Fulani militant extremists. In 2018, it appears Fulani extremists were responsible for the majority of terror-related deaths in Nigeria.

Its geographical footprint is also larger, with conflict manifesting in more States.[1] According to global NGO, Search for Common Ground (SfCG), “between 1 January 2019 and 1 January 2020, inter-communal violence represented the most severe threat to civilian lives in Nigeria.”[2]

In his report for the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office a year ago, the Bishop of Truro concluded “the religious dimension is a significantly exacerbating factor” in clashes between farmers and herders and “targeted violence against Christian communities in the context of worship suggests that religion plays a key part.”[3]

The Nigerian Government’s attempts to resolve the ethno-religious conflict have been ineffective; there seems to be no end in sight. The long-term consequences of failure to reduce the violence are severe, says the Inquiry: “There is the enormous cost in terms of human lives but there is also the potential for economic collapse, famine, further mass displacement of civilians and even more conflict, as the two major religious groups in the country become increasingly polarised”.

More info: http://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2020/06/incessant-killing-is-more-dangerous-than-coronavirus-report-on-nigeria-to-uk-parliament/

Pray: that the perpetrators of these atrocities will be brought to justice.

Pray: for the victims and families of these terrorist attacks.

Pray: for a breakthrough in the efforts of the Nigerian government to broker lasting peace in the region.

Pray: that the world community will come together to bring about pressure on the Nigerian politicians to deal with the situation at all levels.

Pray: against the powers of darkness that they will be overcome IJN.