To Bless and Be Blessed
The first time that the Bible records God blessing someone or something is on the fifth day of Creation. After God spoke that the waters were to teem with living creatures and that birds were to fly above the earth:
God blessed them, saying,
“Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the waters in the seas,
and let birds multiply on the earth.”
Genesis 1:22
Ocean Life,
a watercolor by Christian Schussele,
courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Erving Wolf,
in memory of Diane R. Wolf, 1977
Japanese woven silk textile, late 1800s,
courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Gift of Kihei Hattori, in memory of his father,
Kihei Hattori, 1920
The next day, God made people, and:
God blessed them;
and God said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth, and subdue it;
and rule over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the sky
and over every living thing
that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28
God blesses groups, and He blesses individuals.
And God blessed Noah
and his sons and said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth.
Genesis 9:1
People also bless. We bless the Lord.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits . . .
Psalm 103:1-2|
People bless people, too. In Numbers God gave beautiful words that he wanted the high priest Aaron to use to bless the Israelites:
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying,
‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel.
You shall say to them:
‘The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’”
Numbers 6:22-26
Perhaps the sweetest blessing the Bible describes is when Jesus blessed the children:
And He took them in His arms
and began blessing them,
laying His hands on them.
Mark 10:16
Christ blessing little children,
by Henry Howe, 1869,
courtesy of the Library of Congress
Ray and I visited with my brother and niece over the weekend. On one trip downstairs at our hotel, we shared the elevator with a family and their loaded luggage cart. Ray complimented the man’s Christian T-shirt. Riding with the luggage on the cart was their adorable, curly-haired toddler son. When his daddy pushed the cart through the elevator door to leave, the little boy said to us, “God bless you.” Obviously, his mama and daddy were doing the same things parents did in Jesus’ day–introducing their little one to Jesus so He could bless him.
And they were bringing
even their babies to Him
so that He would touch them . . .
Luke 18:15a