The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
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."
(Numbers 6:22–26)
As Christians, we understand why there is a phenomenon of interplay among our various modalities. We understand why the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind and why prayer lowers your heart rate and why an anxious neighbor can increase your blood pressure. It is because God made us “living souls” or “body-spirits.” God designed our mind, soul, and body to operate as an integrated system. Holistically we bear the image of God.1 The western church has unconsciously adopted a sub-biblical reductionism that views the purest worship activity to be unseen, un-affective, unphysical, intellectual, internal; that is, “spiritual.” Not only is such a view unbiblical, it is impoverished.
Scripture is replete with physical acts of worship. Worshipers raise hands in prayer and praise (Ps. 28:1-2; 88:8-10; 134:1). God’s people kneel, bow and fall down when they are humbled by the Lord (Rev. 4:9-11; 5:8-14; Ezra 9:5-6; 2 Chron. 6:12-14; Ps. 35:13-14; Neh. 8:5-6). In joy, worshipers dance or leap (Ps. 149:3-4; Ex. 15:20-21; 2 Sam. 6:14-17) and clap and shout (Ps. 47:1-2; 66:1).2
Here are just two examples of practical ways we worship physically:
Invocation
The invocation is a prayer that we make in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, asking him to come and enable us to worship him in a manner that is worthy of him. We do it with uplifted hands.
One reason we pray with lifted hands is because it is biblical. We look at the Bible and ask how worshipers in the Bible respond to God's grace. From one end of the Bible to the other, we find the posture of uplifted hands, especially in the Psalms (Ps. 28:2; 63:4; 134:2; 141:2). Lest we think that it's something that is restrictive to middle-eastern culture, Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:8 that he wants “men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands.”
Another reason we pray with lifted hands is that we're called to be childlike. We're to come to the Lord as children. “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew says (Matthew 18:1-4). A child doesn't fold their arms and call for their parents; a child reaches up to be lifted.
John Calvin told the Genevans that he wanted them to lift their hands up in the air so that their hearts would be forced to follow. "Nobody lifting his hands up to Heaven can leave his heart on the ground," he said. We want to lift our hands up to our father in response to his grace and force our hearts to follow as the father is reaching down to us.
Benediction
In Hebrews 9:27-28 the author uses the word "appear." It has to do with the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). The priest would bring two goats and a bull. The bull was for his own sins. He would kill one goat and spread the blood on the mercy seat. Then, he would symbolically place the sins of Israel on the head of the other goat and then shoo him away. That was the "scapegoat." The priest would then go into the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest could go once a year. The people were gathered waiting to see what would happen. Numbers 6 indicates how the priest conveyed that the sacrifice had been accepted.3
When the priest raised his hands and said, "May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord turn his countenance toward you and give you his peace. Amen," it meant victory! Your sins have been forgiven! When the priest did that, they raised their hands to receive it! All they could do was receive it. Jesus did something similar in Luke 24. Right before he ascended back to Heaven, he raised his hands and blessed them.4 He was also conveying victory. It is finished.
This week, when you lift your hands for the benediction, remember that you stand in a long line of God's people lifting their hands to receive the immeasurable gift of Jesus.
- For a detailed biblical and theological treatment of the subject, see John W. Cooper, Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting. Biblical Anthropology and the Monism-Dualism Debate (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989).
- Gregg R. Allison, “Toward a Theology of Human Embodiment,” SBJT 13.2 (2009) 4-17.
- Vernon Kleinig, “Providence and Worship: The Aaronic Blessing: Numbers 6:22-27,” Lutheran Theological Journal 19 (Dec. 1985): 122.
- Cf. Kelly M. Kapic, “Receiving Christ’s Priestly Benediction: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Exploration of Luke 24:50-53,” Westminster Theological Journal 67 (2005): 247-60.