THE BLESSING OF THE SON AND BRIDEGROOM.
Jehovah, the Son, make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto Thee.
The first clause of the three-fold blessing told of the going out of the heart of the invisible Father; now, when we come to the blessing of the Son, we read, "The Lord make his face shine upon thee," or, in other words, make visibly manifest His favour towards thee. The Son of God is the Kinsman who has the right to redeem, the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother, the One who has come, not only to be the Light of the world, but in an especial sense to be the Light of His own redeemed ones.
There was no need in Israel of a kinsman-redeemer in times of prosperity; but when bereavement and poverty afforded opportunity to the creditors to seize the possession, then a kind and wealthy kinsman-redeemer was a blessing indeed. We are reminded of the beautiful history of Ruth: how sweetly the gracious words of Boaz fell on the ear of the young stranger, and what blessing that kinsman brought into her heart and life! The Friend that sticketh closer than a brother is precious at all times, but never so valued as in times of adversity; and the very expression, "The Light of the world," tells us of the darkness that sin has brought in—a darkness, alas! not only around, but also within. The shining of the face of Jehovah, the Son, dispels the darkness and the gloom, manifests the presence of the Friend in need, and shows us the Redeemer, who not only delivers, but becomes the Bridegroom of the soul.
"Make His face shine upon thee." The face is perhaps the most wonderful part of the wonderful human body. Of all the faces that God has made no two are exactly alike, even when quiescent; and though we do occasionally meet with those that bear a very close resemblance, intimate friends, who know the play of the countenance, never mistake. And why is this? Because God has so ordered it, that the face shall reveal the character and feelings of the individual. And it is the purpose of God that the heart of Christ shall be revealed to His people. That heart might have been full of love, and we might never have known it; but it is the will of God that "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God" should be revealed to us "in the face of Jesus Christ."
How well we know in actual life what the light of the countenance means! How the mother's smile brings light and gladness into the heart of the child! How the welcoming look of a friend is at once understood! In Daniel ix. 16, 17, the prophet prays, "O Lord ... I beseech Thee, let Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away from Thy city, Jerusalem; ... and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate." Where there is the shining of the face we know there is more than forgiveness; there is favour and complacence. In the thrice-offered prayer of Psalm lxxx, "Cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved," the salvation of Israel is counted upon as the result; and in Psalm lxvii, we find that the shining of God's face upon His people is further to issue in His way being "known upon earth, His saving health among all nations."
It is, however, when we consider Him in the relationship of Bridegroom and King that the tenderness and preciousness of this blessing are most fully seen. A truly royal Bridegroom: "in His favour is life," and to Him we can approach at all times, without any fear that He will hide His countenance, or that He will not hold out to us the golden sceptre. Queen Esther might tremble for the result of her boldness, but our King ever welcomes the approach of His Bride.
When her heart cries out, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth," He is ever ready to bring her into His chambers; indeed it is often the Bridegroom who has to allure the Bride,[C] rather than the Bride who has to seek the favour of the Bridegroom. It is only when she has treated him with neglect or disobedience that she finds herself in darkness. And what is not His favour to a loyal and true-hearted Bride! To a subject, the favour of the King is "as dew upon the grass," but to a bride is it not everything? "JEHOVAH, the Bridegroom, make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee!"
What a wonderful view of the light of His countenance the favoured disciples must have had, who were witnesses of His transfiguration: we are told that His face did shine as the sun. To the proto-martyr Stephen the heavens were opened, and the face of the Lord shone upon him: and when he saw Him he became so like Him, that his dying utterances corresponded with those of his Lord on the Cross. When Saul, likewise, saw the glory of his risen Saviour, on the way to Damascus, the vision at midday was of a light above the brightness of the sun shining round about him; and the effect of that heavenly vision changed the whole current of his life, making him a follower of the Christ, who pleased not Himself, and making the spirit manifested in his first cry, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" the spirit of his life ever after. And so when the Lord makes the light of His countenance to shine upon any of His people, in the measure in which with unveiled face they discern the beauty of the Lord, there is a moral and progressive change into His likeness, the work of the Lord, the Spirit.