Keep

“The LORD bless you, and keep you.”  Numbers 6:24

Keep – Numbers is God’s accounting ledger.  The name in English comes from the fact that this document numbers the tribes of Israel.  It is a mix of historical records and laws.  In this general ledger is one of the most often used blessings of Scripture.  If you read the context, you will find that God Himself tells Moses to use this blessing for the people of Israel.  God gives Moses the exact words that He wants Aaron to use because God wants His children to know Who is watching over them.

We have seen that this Hebrew word (shamar) means, “to guard, to watch over, to carefully observe”.  We know that it is associated with God’s covenant promise (July 31).  But now we need to take a look at the grammar.  The tense of this verb tells us something else that’s very important.

Here shamar is an imperfect tense.  That means a continuous action in the present.  This is not a blessing for God’s one-time interaction with you.  It is a blessing to have God constantly watch over you, every moment of every day.   Even more interesting is the fact that this blessing is almost like a command.  God tells Aaron, “Use precisely these words.  Don’t give a sort of general paraphrase of what I mean.  Tell the people that this is exactly what I will do.”

Think about it.  God says, “The Lord bless you and keep you.”  God commands Himself to look after us in everything we do.  If you thought you just had a guardian angel, you’re wrong.  You’ve got someone a lot more important than an angel looking over you. 

It might help to think of the other meanings of shamar.  Picture a fortress wall protecting you.  Think of a guard tower fully manned.  Think of the perfect rose garden, every flower carefully tended or a great art treasure, carefully stored.  Then remember that this word is also used in another famous passage:  “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  We have guard duty too.

God watches over you so that you can fulfill your guard duty to those He puts under you.