The Landauer Altarpiece (1511) by Albrecht Dürer
Finding the Triune God in the Aaronic Benediction By Kimberly Fetz
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 6:24–27)
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A
s Christians, particularly Lutheran Christians, we accept and fervently believe that our God is a triune God and that this is described in Holy Scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments. We always cite Genesis 1:26 (“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’“) and other passages, but until asked to describe how the Aaronic benediction is a testimony to our triune God, I would not have used it as a proof text. I always thought that the tri-repetition of the LORD’s name was to emphasize precisely who was blessing them. After all, the Israelites were moving into a pluralistic, syncretistic, pagan society. They would be tempted and often sin against God by worshipping other gods, believing the gods of the peoples around them were responsible for blessings. The repetition of God’s name certainly does emphasize who is responsible for the blessings given the Israelites and us. But there is more.
