How blessed are the pure in heart! For they will see God.
Matthew 5:8 CJB
I read a great quote on the Beatitudes by Skip Moen, PhD. He says, “[A Beatitude] is not a “blessing” that implies one party granting a favor to another party. A Beatitude is really a macarism, an announcement of an existing state, a status of happiness. https://skipmoen.com/2018/02/character-1/
Today, we will explore the sixth Beatitude of Matthew 5. As said above, these are not blessings over you or me, but a state of happiness when understanding that we are nothing more than beggars in need of the Lord, when we mourn over our sin when we look inward to see what keeps us from God when we are desperate to be righteous like Jesus, and when we are merciful and compassionate to others.
However, this is not the happiness the world teaches, but the happiness of a child of the Father.
I remember reading an article about the “sinfulness” of the seven deadly sins. The majority of the people polled did not regard pride as a sin. But yet, according to the Bible, God hates pride.
We cannot look at the Bible through the lens of the world or even with our American knowledge. We must look at it through the eyes of our Father. As we dig a little deeper while depending on the help of the Holy Spirit we will understand as much as He allows.
In my research of this Beatitude, the Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels puts it this way:
O the gladness of the pure in heart! For they will behold God.
Matthew 5:8
I don’t know about you, but I struggle daily to have a pure heart. If it were pure, I wouldn’t have to seek forgiveness when I have the wrong attitude, or when I feel envy, jealousy, or anger.
The word Jesus would have used is the Hebrew word tahor, which means clean. This word has the connotation of cleansing. To be clean, someone must do the cleaning.
We can see this in John 15 as well.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:1-2 ESV
In John 15:2, we see the word prunes. This is the Greek word kathairó, meaning clean or cleansed–the same Greek word used for pure in this Beatitude. God is the gardener who prunes the Vine of the extra weight of dead or overgrown branches (us).
A pure heart is a pruned heart. It is a heart that has allowed God to make it clean. No heart becomes clean on its own; we have a part in the process of cleansing as well.
A pure heart is a pruned heart. It is a heart that has allowed God to make it clean. No heart becomes clean on its own; we have a part in the process of cleansing as well. The Bible tells us:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9
What is our part in the process of having a clean heart? We must surrender it to God so He can prune it. Google’s dictionary describes pruning as, “Trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth.
How does our heart become dead and overgrown?
By the cares of this world, hurts, wounds, and the desires of our flesh. The Lord prunes us because He loves us–He wants our hearts to be fruitful and our lives to look like Jesus as we walk with Him.
So what is the promise to those willing to have their hearts pruned?
To see or behold God. This is not future tense.
This is now.
The pure in heart will see God EVERYWHERE. They will see Him at work around us. They will not have to wait until Heaven, they will see Him moving here on earth.
Think about that. Why do some see God at work around them, and others don’t? Why do some ask where is God? Could it be related to the condition of our heart?
I was in a meeting about the Church and the current culture of disunity and division. At the end of the meeting someone asked,
Do we have a clear picture of what a healthy follower of Jesus looks like?
The answer was so clear to me…Yes!
The healthy follower of Jesus is the one who is in a state of happiness because they are living as Jesus told us to within the Beatitudes.
Remember, Jesus blesses you because He loves you, but you are a Blessed onebecause you do what He says.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Matthew 5:6
We are continuing our series on the Beatitudes. Today, we will examine the fourth Beatitude found in Matthew 5:6. You can go back and read the last three posts if you haven’t already.
We didn’t have much growing up. My father had a stroke that paralyzed him on his right side. With a fairly young family, he could now, no longer work. My mom had five girls to care for at that time, so it was difficult for her to work outside the home.
We had a farm, so we helped plant, water, and weed our large garden and played outside all day in the nice weather.
By the time Mom made dinner, we were all ready to eat. We always seemed to have enough food, though. My dad would never take seconds until he was sure the rest of us were full. I’m sure there were days when he went to bed a bit hungry for our sake.
The hunger mentioned in Matthew 5:6 is not this kind of hunger but means a poor person who works to fend off starvation. The Hebrew word for this kind of hunger is reab and it means famine, dearth (the scarcity of something), and hunger.
I can only hope I seek out God like a person starving for Him. I believe many who are persecuted in their countries probably could teach us about that…but I’m not sure that is the norm here in the U.S.
The word thirst, in Hebrew, is an interesting word. It, as well as the word for righteousness, begins with the Hebrew letter tsade.
צ
It has the sound of the letters Ts, like the end of the word pots. The ancient Hebrew letter looked like this:
In the Hebrew language, the letters have names as you can see, and the names have meanings. So, the meaning of the word tsade is “to hunt, catch, or capture.” However, the letter in ancient Hebrew looks like a man bent in a position as a servant with his hands lifted up to the Lord in humility. https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Tsade/tsade.html
Another scholar describes the tsade as a servant carrying a burden and suggests this letter is most like Christ as we see Him in the scriptures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG7RIw9IJsc
See how this and all the Beatitudes come back to Christ-likeness?
Many years ago, my church had a Bible study that suggested we practice brokenness. I asked the Lord how I could practice something I wasn’t feeling. He spoke to my heart and said, “Get on your knees.” Since that day, I prayed on my knees alone in my room.
How would you practice brokenness?
The word for thirst consists of the letter tsade and the letter mem, meaning water. So, this kind of thirst means to hunt for water, in the pictorial Hebrew.
Within this Beatitude, we have a picture of a person who is desperate for food and water, not just hungry and thirsty. Remember I told you there is a reason the Beatitudes begin with “Blessed are the poor in spirit…”
Within this Beatitude, we have a picture of a person who is desperate for food and water, not just hungry and thirsty. #ThisSideofHeaven #Beatitudes #HungerandThirst
Now, for the word righteousness. This was where I started my research, actually.
It is the word, tsedeq. As I said above, it begins with the same Hebrew letter as thirst. And, just like that word, the first letter oftsedeq means, “to hunt, catch, or capture.”
Tsedeq means righteous, but it can also mean justice.
We find this word also used in many Old Testament verses. The bold word is tsedeq.
Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 20:16
You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19:36
I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
Psalm 7:17
So, tsedeq has the idea that desperate people like those starving or dying of thirst will hunt for God’s righteousness or justice as a person would for food and water.
But, unlike many who are starving for food and water in this world, the promise from God for those who are truly seeking Him is “They will be satisfied.”
God wants us to seek Him as our lives depend on it…because they do. We need Him more than He needs us.
But, He. Does. Want. Us. The Creator of all things wants to have a relationship with you and me. The Beatitudes tell us how to do that.
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By the way, you may wonder where I got Hebrew words when the Gospel of Matthew was written in Greek. Well, the Gospels were first written in Hebrew. After many years, these manuscripts have finally been published, so you can now purchase the New Testament Gospels written in Hebrew on one page with the English translation on the page facing it. It’s pretty cool, but I like that sort of thing.
I realize I have changed the days I am publishing my blog posts. I am going to stay with Wednesdays since another blog I contribute to (called VineWords, Devotions and More at http://www.VineWords.net) has my posts coming out on Thursdays, so I don’t want both coming out on the same day of the week. Thank you!
We are continuing our series on the Beatitudes. You can go here and read about the first Beatitude called ThePoor in Spirit and here to read about the second called Joy Comes in the Mourning.
Now, we will look at the third Beatitude found in Matthew 5:5.
O the blessedness of the meek! For they will inherit the earth.
Matt. 5:5
Let me start off by saying, Wow! I found some cool meanings of these words in my research of ancient Hebrew, and I am really excited to show and tell you what God led me to.
I just bought a really cool book called Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible by Jeff A. Benner (Yes, I am a total geek). It doesn’t just explain the Hebrew of the Bible but goes back even further to the early Hebrew when their language looked pictorial or like hieroglyphics.
The Hebrew word for meek/humble is anah and we write it like this: (Remember you read right to left.)
ענה
Ayin (ע) is the first letter in the word anah, but in the early Hebrew language it looked like an eye:
So, the word anah has to do with our eyes and careful watching. In this case, it has to do both with where we place our eyes (on God, not ourselves), but also what we are watching.
What are we to watch?
Our heart.
What are we to watch…our heart. #ThisSideofHeaven #TheBlessednessoftheMeek
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
Numbers 12:3 ESV
What made Moses so meek? Jennifer Ross explains on The Torah Class website.
G-d requires cleanliness… thus Moses strove to remain clean. In his heart, he knew that he must be clean in order to approach or to be approached by G-d. Simply put, Moses didn’t want to be called by G-d and be found in an unclean state and therefore unable to answer the call. Imagine that for a moment.
Moses watched his heart. He kept guard over his heart and his thoughts and obeyed the Torah or Law in order to prevent anything (uncleanness) from coming between him and the Father.
Consider this, Deuteronomy 18:15 says,
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among you, from your fellow Israelites.
Deut. 18:5
According to John 5:46, Jesus told the people accusing Him that Moses wrote about Him. He was/is the Prophet like Moses. He came in humility.
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Hebrew4Christians.com is another great website for information on the Hebrew language. In their explanation of this Beatitude, it says,
This word [meek] does not suggest weakness, but rather one’s recognition of one’s proper place in the universe before God. It is not self-effacing, but reality-focused. The meek inherit the earth because they are grounded in the truth of reality…
That answer goes back to my post called The Poor in Spirit based on the first Beatitude in Matthew 5:3.
O the Blessedness of the poor in spirit! For theirs is the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 5:3 ESV
I explained the poor in spirit recognize their position as beggars who are in absolute dependence on the Father. We need humility to be willing to look at our hearts in comparison to a Holy and Perfect God and see we are nothing more than beggars in need of a compassionate God to take care of us.
This verse tells us the meek will inherit the Earth. What does this mean?
In the Midrash below, one rabbi said:
For it is said: Now the man Moses was very meek (Num. 12:3). Scripture states that whoever is meek ends by having the Shekhinah dwell with him ( the man) on earth…
Midrash Mekhilta
The Hebrew word for inherit is yaresh and it means, to occupy (by driving out previous tenants and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel… http://classic.net.bible.org/strong.php?id=03423
I believe this is suggesting that God gives the meek power in the spiritual realm to drive out and take possession of the things satan has stolen.
This world is under satan’s control right now. Revelation tells us of the war between Jesus and satan while God is sorting it all out. (very simplified).
God desires us to be humble.
There are many verses about humility and what the Lord thinks about those who are proud and those who are humble. But, not only that, many verses include what the humble receive from God.
A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
I hope you’re beginning to see the progression of the Beatitudes: When we know that we are nothing more than beggars who are dependent on our Lord (Matt. 5:3), we will mourn over our sins (Matt. 5:4), and keep our hearts clean so nothing can come between us and God (Matt. 5:5). Then the Kingdom of Heaven (or The Lord) is in us, the Lord will comfort us, and we will inherit (or take possession of) the earth.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4
When was the last time you mourned over someone or something?
There are days my heart is heavy over the things I see in this world–in politics, in the church, or in our country. I have mourned over the death of family members and pets, and the loss of relationships.
Sometimes as I mourned, I felt Jesus mourning with me, and other times I felt alone and unable to find peace or comfort. That didn’t mean Jesus wasn’t there. In the case of a few friendships, Jesus just let me cry it out until no more tears fell; then told me to let them go.
If you look at this verse from the standpoint of mourning or grieving over loss, you may always expect to be comforted. After all, Jesus promised comfort to the mourners.
Last week, I explained the meaning of the phrase Blessed are. It means, O the blessednessof or the gladness of…
If you combine O the gladness of with the phrase those who mourn, it doesn’t really make sense. Did Jesus really tell us that it is a blessed or a happy thing to mourn? How can we be happy while we are grieving?
Mourning is not exactly what I find happiness in.
However, the type of mourning Matthew 5:4 refers to is the kind of mourning we do over our sins.
That’s the kind of mourning God wants to hear and see. When we come to Him with remorse and repent for our lost tempers, unkind words, lies, or attitudes, among many others, He forgives us—thenHe comforts us.
He doesn’t hold our sin against us, send us on a guilt trip or condemn us, either.
I believe genuine remorse over our sin is a song in His ears. Why? Because He can now bury that sin in the deepest sea or as far as the east is from the west. He will never have to look at it again.
Genuine remorse over our sin is a song in the Lord’s ears. #ThisSideofHeaven #Blessedarethosewhomourn
Jesus’ blood is the reason He can do that. One precious death for a multitude of sinners.
The Old Testament verse similar to Matthew 5:4 is Psalm 30:5.
Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Psalm 30:5 NLT
I can also see a bit of play on words in this verse…Joy comes with or in the mourning.
You see, repentance is a gift. True repentance starts with understanding our position as beggars (Poor in spirit) in total dependence on God’s grace and mercy.
If you have experienced a burden of sin lifted by God’s forgiveness, then you know the joy that comes next and the amazing gift you have been given.
It’s true – weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.
Revelation 5:10 ESV
Biology was and is my favorite subject. I loved learning about the different plants, animals, cells, and fungi in the world, especially how we as humans fit into it all. This world belongs to our Creator and everything in it He made it with a purpose—except mosquitos….I’m not sure of their purpose other than to feed bats and dragonflies…but that’s another subject.
As a biologist, I have taught many classes on the six different kingdoms of biology. Starting from the smallest single-cell kingdoms like Archaebacteria and Eubacteria up to the largest multi-celled kingdoms of plants and animals—from the mosquito to the Blue whale. These kingdoms represent every life form on this planet.
The largest is the animal kingdom, which includes humans.
Amongst all the kingdoms we learn about, the most important one we will ever know is God’s. He created His Kingdom, and appointed Jesus as King, to represent and usher all humans into it.
Because we can’t see this awesome place God has for us, many people decide to build their own out of their dissatisfaction.
One way the enemy entices us is through our profession. We may be a secular business, a Christian ministry, or even an author—trying to build a personal kingdom of followers to buy our products and embrace our vision. Our kingdom and brand adopt our name.
You are the customer. Everyone we know—from people we worship with to friends and family becomes potential clients and/or purchasers.
We become the king of our kingdom.
This is what others teach us to do.
Now, I’m not saying we are trying to usurp God’s Kingdom and authority. But, it is easy to get caught up in our own kingdom-building.
Even the Pharisees had problems with this. They weren’t all bad either. We see in Luke 17:20:
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.
In Matthew 5, we learn what type of people make up His kingdom.
The Poor in Spirit
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The phrase Blessed are translates from the Hebrew as O the blessednessof or The gladness of. This is not a condition of the person who is poor in spirit, but the reality of the person.
This represents a person in absolute need of God to take care of them. This is humility at its best.
A person who is poor in spirit is the opposite of worldly thinking—independent, proud, with an “I have it all-I need nothing” attitude.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus begins with the poor in spirit in the Beatitudes?
Without the knowledge and understanding that we are nothing more than helpless beggars, we will never be peacemakers, we will never mourn, never be humble, or hunger and thirst for His righteousness….get the picture?
But that is only in this world. In the Heavenly places, God will esteem the humble, poor in spirit, peacemakers, persecuted, and the compassionate. God loves these traits in us.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James 4:10
O the gladness of being poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matt. 5:3
It is a blessing as well as a state of gladness to recognize we are poor in spirit. We will have the Kingdom of Heaven living within us until the day Jesus takes us to Heaven to live with Him forever!
