«　WEEK 7　DAY 2　»

　　Num. 6:23-24 Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the children of Israel; you shall say to them, Jehovah bless you and keep you.

　　John 17:15 I do not ask that You would take them out of the world, but that You would keep them out of the hands of the evil one.

　　The blessing in Numbers 6 is neither an Old Testament blessing nor a New Testament blessing. Rather, it is the eternal blessing of the Triune God, which is the Triune God dispensing Himself in His Divine Trinity into us for our enjoyment. This is God's eternal blessing.

　　"Jehovah bless you" means that Jehovah gives Himself to you. However, God does not give Himself to us merely in an objective way like one brother giving a gift to another. God gives Himself to us in His Trinity, step by step and little by little. If you were to ask me what blessing I have received from the Lord, I would answer, "The only blessing I have received from the Lord is my Triune God. My Triune God is my blessing." (Life-study of Numbers, p. 80)

　　Referring to the Father, Numbers 6:24 says, "Jehovah bless you and keep you." The Father blesses us in every way and in every aspect in His love (cf. Eph. 1:3), and He keeps us in every way and in every aspect in His power (cf. John 17:11, 15).

　　The blessing One keeps us. In Numbers 6:24 the word keep is of crucial importance. In John 17:11 the Lord Jesus prayed that the Father would keep us in His name. This is to keep us in the dispensing Triune God. While the Triune God is dispensing Himself into us, we are kept in the dispensing One. In John 17:15 the Lord Jesus went on to pray that the Father would keep us from the evil one. When we are kept in the dispensing Triune God, there is nothing left for the hand of the enemy. We should pray for the blessing of being kept absolutely in the dispensing Triune God and altogether outside of the evil one. What a blessing this is! (Life-study of Numbers, p. 80)

　　The Son's believers are still in the world. They need to be kept that they may be one even as the Divine Trinity is one, that is, that they may be one in the Divine Trinity. The Son prayed that the holy Father would so keep them. (John 17:11, footnote 1)

　　To be kept in the Father's name is to be kept by His life, because only those who are born of the Father and have the Father's life can participate in the Father's name. The Son has given the Father's life to those whom the Father has given Him (John 17:2); hence, they share the Father's name by being kept in it, and they are one in it. The first aspect of this oneness, that is, the first aspect of the building up of the believers, is the oneness in the Father's name and by His divine life. In this aspect of oneness the believers, born of the Father's life, enjoy the Father's name, that is, the Father Himself, as the factor of their oneness. (John 17:11, footnote 2)

　　The whole world lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19). Hence, the believers need to be kept out of the hands of the evil one, and they need always to be watchful in prayer that they may be delivered from the evil one (Matt. 6:13). (John 17:15, footnote 2)

　　John 17:11 says, "I am no longer in the world; yet they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given to Me, that they may be one even as We are." The oneness...here...is something of the divine name. In the Bible, especially in the Gospel of John, the name denotes a person. Thus, the Father's name is actually the Father Himself....In 17:11 to be kept in the Father's name is to be kept in the person of the Father through His action. Today the Father is...actively building His house, the church.

　　[We should not live and act] in [our] own person...[but] live, act, and work in the person of the Father. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, "The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John," pp. 494-495)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, "The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John," ch. 54