{"id":2451,"date":"2014-08-16T08:00:40","date_gmt":"2014-08-16T00:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=2451"},"modified":"2021-11-26T15:38:31","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T07:38:31","slug":"107-marriage-and-family-a-biblical-blessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=2451","title":{"rendered":"110. Marriage and Family: A Biblical Blessing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you;<\/strong>
\n the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;<\/strong>
\n the\u00a0Lord\u00a0lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace<\/strong>.<\/span> [Numbers 6:24-26<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

[L] Icon \u2013 Christ blessing children. [M & R] Blessing children before school.<\/span><\/p>\n

At MPH Bookstore in Singapore recently, this title by Rolf Garborg captured our interest – The Family Blessing: One Single Act That Will Dramatically Change Your Family\u2018s Future<\/em>. We knew that it must be a book on the famous blessing in chapter 6 of the Book of Numbers. This is a prayer we use in one of the talks at our seminar for couples.<\/span><\/p>\n

Long before we went to Louvain to study theology, we were already impressed by Archbishop Peter Chung (now emeritus) of Kuching who told Catholic parents to bless their children every evening before bed. That was some thirty years ago. Only priests blessed people then. Today, of course, you have Pope Francis who asked the people to bless<\/em> him<\/em> and pray for him<\/em> the moment he was elected to the papacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those familiar words in the biblical blessing formula bring comfort, reassurance and peace as if covering you with the arms of a loving parent. To invoke the name of the Lord is the same as calling upon the power of God. The person blessing, coupled with the blessing itself, mediate the presence and power of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

To be sure, this blessing is borrowed from the ancient Hebrews from a different context and of a different intent. This blessing text is located in the middle of a major section of Numbers (1:1-10:10) which describes Israel’s preparations for leaving Mt. Sinai (where the people have been camped for almost a year) and the continuation of its journey through the wilderness to the land of promise. And so, originally designed for Israel’s time of departure from Sinai, this Biblical blessing was to be used daily throughout their journey. This is a blessing for a journey!<\/span><\/p>\n