“The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” (Number 6:23-26).
Some people will insist that
Matthew 28:19 is not the actual baptismal formula, because in the book of Acts we read that people were baptised in Jesus’ name. A closer inspection however, reveals that the word name (onoma), must imply the authority for baptism in Acts, on account of the constantly changing renderings. In
Acts 2:38 the 3,000 were commanded to be baptised in (epi) the name “Jesus Christ”, at
Acts 8 and 19 they were commanded to be baptised in (eis) the name of the “Lord Jesus,” and in
Acts 10 they were baptised in (en) the name of “the Lord.” Also none of these four passages records the words of an actual baptism. At
Acts 2 the water baptisms don’t take place until verse 41, where the Holy Spirit here considered the actual baptismal formula of such little importance that he did not see fit to record the actual words, if indeed any were said. So it’s wrong to make passages which only command people to go and get baptised upon the authority of Christ, as the precise wordings of a supposed baptismal ceremony, when they are not.
A direct parallel to
Matthew 28:19, and to these four passages in Acts, are found in the book of Numbers. Where we read of the Aaronic blessing which Aaron, as well as the priests and their descendants were to use in perpetuity to bless the people: “On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them. “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” (Number 6:23-26). What is interesting about this Aaronic blessing, is that we never find this exact wording of this formula repeated again in the Scriptures.
So whenever the Aaronic blessing is used by the priests in Scripture, as it must have been, for verse 23 commands its use in perpetuity, it is simply referred to in a shortened form. This is why we read of Levi blessing the people “in his name” (
Deut 10:8), and the priests being commanded “to bless in the name of the LORD,” (
Deut 21:5) or “to give a blessing in his name forever.” (
1st Chronicles 23:13). God does not need to slavishly repeat the Aaronic blessing word for word, every time that it was used, and so the shortened form refers back to the
Numbers 6 formula, just as the four Acts passages, also refer back to the specific baptismal formula of
Matthew 28:19.
One final point, would be the further example of the Apostles coming together to “break bread” (
Acts 20:7). The Lord’s supper contains two elements; the bread and the wine, however this reference to breaking bread alone, does not mean that they did not partake of the cup as well, for the one naturally implies the other to the Jewish mind. The Jews you see, did not need to slavishly repeat long formulas be they baptismal or Aaronic blessing formulas. For just as “breaking bread” also implies the wine, so too the reference to blessing in his name, or the name of the Lord, also refers specifically to the full
Numbers 6:23-26 Aaronic blessing formula. And so likewise, the use of the name “Jesus Christ” or “Lord” or “Lord Jesus” in the book of Acts, also implies the full
Matthew 28:19 baptismal formula. I have never found a single Oneness believer, who has been prepared to explain the similarities between these two formulas.
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