Annual Reading Schedule - Torah Given Through Mosheh - Week 32 - Firstborn Silver & Altar Dedication (Numbers 3:39-8:20)

• Sons of Qehathites – 2,750 (Numbers 4:36)
• Sons of Gereshon – 2,630 (Numbers 4:40)
• Sons of Merari – 3,200 (Numbers 4:44)
• Total of Lewi 30-50 Years of Age – 8,580 (Numbers 4:48)

To "bless" actually means to kneel down. We can see this in the following verse:

• Genesis 24:11 – "And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a fountain of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water."

The word here in the Hebrew which is translated "kneel down" is from Strong's # H1288 which is usually translated as "bless" or "blessed". Literally, it does mean to kneel down or bend the knee. You could say, he made the camels "bend the knee" outside the city. Similarly, to "bless someone" is to "bend the knee" to them. This could have been taken in a figurative sense, of course, and not necessarily always meant that a literal bending of the knee occurred, but a literal bending of the knee cannot necessarily be ruled out either.

Some would say, "Ridiculous! Yahweh doesn't bend His knee to us! We bend our knees to Him!"

Correct, we do bend our knees to Him, we should bless Him! However, take this into consideration:

• John 13:5 – After that He put water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

For him to do wash their feet in a basin, it appears he could have possibly been on his knees. The King of Kings… on his knees washing feet of His OWN disciples?!?!?!?!?!?

• John 13:13-15 – "You call me Teacher and Adon, and you say well, for I am. Then if I, Adon and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example, that you should do as I have done to you."

He led by example….. May Yahweh help us to serve as Yahushua did!!!!

But wait… back to our discussion on Numbers 6:24-26…

• John 5:19 – Therefore Yahushua responded and said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son is able to do none at all by Himself, but only that which He sees the Father doing, because whatever He does, the Son also likewise does."

Ahhhhh… now it all, maybe, makes a bit more sense. Perhaps when Yahushua was on His knees washing the feet of His disciples, this too was something He saw His Father, our Father, Yahweh do… even if figuratively. Something to ponder indeed.

One brother brought up a good point, when I heard him say something like, "Aren't we asking Yahweh to serve us when we ask him for things? He is doing things for us all the time! He is constantly serving us!" Maybe this brother is right. May Yahweh give us all more understanding about Numbers 6:24-26 and how He loves us!

By the way – I am not saying that bending the knee is equivalent to worship. Obviously Yahweh does not worship ANYONE… but all should worship Yahweh. Worship is when we are prostrated down on both knees, bending our face to the ground. Bending the knee is not the same as worship, which means literally to bow down.

Also, I have begun, many times, literally bending the knee when blessing Yahweh for the good land (Deuteronomy 8:10). Usually I do this with one knee bent. As you do this, you may be reminded also of how men commonly, traditionally, bend down on one knee when "proposing" to a woman to marry her. This tradition is not worship in my opinion, but is more similar to the man blessing the woman, in a sense. However, a marriage agreement should be between a man and the woman's Father, not just the man and the woman alone, so I do not recommend men "propose to women", but rather speak to the woman's Father about marriage (if you are both believer's in Yahushua and followers of the Way); but this is getting into a whole separate topic which we will not go into detail about here or cover in these notes.