Blessing

God is the source of all blessing

1 Chronicles 29:11–12 NKJV

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all.

See also Ps 89:11

At creation he blessed humans with fertility and authority over the earth

Genesis 1:28–30 NKJV

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.

The disobedience of Adam and Eve caused God to remove his blessing

Genesis 3:16–19 NKJV

To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

See also Ge 6:5–7

After the flood God renewed his promise of blessing to Noah

Genesis 9:1–3 NKJV

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.

See also Ge 8:22; Job 5:10; Ps 65:9–13

The blessings promised to Abraham

The blessings included descendants and nationhood

Genesis 12:2–3 NKJV

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

See also Ge 17:1–8; Ge 18:18; Ge 26:4; Ge 35:11; Ex 1:6–7; Dt 1:10–11; Dt 7:13; 1 Ki 3:8; Ne 9:23; Is 51:2

The blessings included land

Genesis 17:8 NKJV

Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

See also Ge 12:7; Ge 26:3; Dt 1:8; Dt 4:40; Dt 11:8–12

The promises of blessing to Abraham were fulfilled in Jesus Christ

Galatians 3:16 NKJV

Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

See also Ac 3:25–26; Ga 3:29

Blessings promised to Israel

Blessings of fruitfulness and prosperity

Deuteronomy 7:13–14 NKJV

And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock.

See also Ge 49:25; Le 26:10; Dt 15:4; Dt 28:8; Dt 28:12

Blessings of good health and long life

Exodus 23:25–26 NKJV

“So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

See also Ex 15:26; Dt 7:15

Blessings of peace and victory over enemies

Deuteronomy 28:7 NKJV

“The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

See also Ex 23:22; Le 26:6–8; Dt 7:24; Ps 29:11

The promise of being blessed by future restoration

Jeremiah 31:23 NKJV

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ‘The Lord bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!’

See also Is 61:9; Is 65:17–25; Eze 34:25–31

The conditions of God’s blessings

Fear of the Lord brings blessing

Jeremiah 32:40 NKJV

And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.

See also Dt 6:1–3; Dt 10:12–20; Ec 12:13; Is 50:10

Obedience to the Lord brings blessing

Deuteronomy 11:26–28 NKJV

“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

See also Dt 28:1–14; Dt 30:15–20

To bless God is to worship and adore him

Nehemiah 9:5 NKJV

And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: “Stand up and bless the Lord your God Forever and ever! “Blessed be Your glorious name, Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!

See also Ge 9:26; Ge 14:20

People may bless one another in the name of the Lord

Nu 6:24–26 There is a close link between blessing and prayer.

See also Ge 27:27–29; Ge 49:1–28; Ru 1:8–9; 1 Sa 2:20; 1 Ch 4:10; Mt 23:39