Blessed Are the Meek…
4 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:4, NKJV).
Blessed are the meek, who say, “Not my will, but Your will be done, O Lord,” for they shall inherit the earth.
Meekness is a virtue. Rightly understood, meekness is submission to legitimate authority. There is One to whom we owe absolute meekness of obedience, to whom we are obliged to say, “Not my will, but Your will be done, Lord.” Meekness is about lordship.
Jesus said, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). This is Jesus calling us to meekness. This is where we must lay down the traditions of men, or leave our father’s house and come into our own house, as God had instructed Abram (Gen 12:1).
At the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place, we lay down our agenda. Our prayer goes up to God, “Not my will, but Your will be done.”
We are reminded of Jesus’ model prayer, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, in which He prays,
“Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
In the world, we too quickly resort to our own thoughts, our own strength. This is why the Sanctuary required a daily sacrifice. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily…” (Luke 9:23). Paul affirms this, saying, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31).
Meekness in relation to our fellow men and women means that we do not judge. We love them and help them along their way as they are to love and help us, but we are not to be complicit when they are in error. The unity to which we are called is with God first.
Our Lord makes clear that we are not entitled to judgment of our neighbor as to whether this other person is in relationship with God. The parable of the Good Samaritan shows that we are to be a good neighbor to all (Luke 10:25-37). This does not mean our spirituality must be on the same level as theirs. We use our gifts “till we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Eph. 4:13).
We will find unity with all who make a similar choice. Achieving unity without God is to revert to life outside the courtyard, the secular world where truth and relationship are variable. This is the chaos of the world in which “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).
One of the many beautiful aspects of the collection of books in the Bible is that we see through stories how to live as God would have us to live, how to be rather than simply how to do.
Moses is described as the “meekest of men” (KJV) or “very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3, NKJV). In the story of the Exodus, we do not have the impression that Moses is weak in relation to the people, but we see him practice humility toward God.
The circumstances in Numbers Chapter 12 may well have added to Moses’ sense of brokenness. The people had again complained of hunger for the food of Egypt and, at this point, his brother and sister now speak against Moses as the Israelites make their way from Sinai to Canaan. Moses is still God’s chosen one, even to the point of praying to God for the healing of the sister who has betrayed him.
Jesus declares Himself to be “meek and lowly in heart,” (KJV) or “gentle and lowly in heart” (NKJV, Matt. 11:29). Jesus is free of the traditions of men and does not impose the burden of human tradition on mankind. Jesus calls us into proper relationship with God as He models this relationship for us.
There are three reversals in this third Beatitude.
First, the meek are not normally thought to be blessed or happy, but rather we tend to think those who exhibit control and force are the fortunate ones. The temptation in this physical world is to see the happy as those who could say, as Frank Sinatra sang, “I did it my way.”
The second reversal is that the meek will receive the earth. We normally think of heaven as the goal for all mankind, but the meek, who do not try to lay claim to the world, are those who actually will receive it in the end.
The fact that Jesus says the earth is the inheritance of the meek shows us but one understanding of the tremendous third reversal that takes place here: the inheritance of the earth is a reversal of the curse, the loss of dominion over earth in Genesis 3.
At Creation, mankind was made from earth combined with the breath of God. That breath of God, the oneness with Him, gave mankind dominion over the earth. With the Fall, we lost dominion because we were no longer in the line of authority under God. By choosing disobedience, we no longer were reigning under God’s authority. The earth that had sustained us effortlessly and bounteously could no longer submit to mankind as lord because we were no longer in the line of authority under God. People must toil in sweat to take their food from the earth (Gen. 3:17-19).
This world vision of what happens as we cross from the Courtyard into the Holy Place must not keep us from recognizing the tremendous implication here for the individual. We were made of the dust of the earth (Strong’s #127, adamah: earth, ground).
Ironically, in meekness - not my will, but Thy will be done - we regain the ultimate inheritance: ourselves. No longer are we someone we were not intended to be, but we are as we were created in the beginning. We inherit the earth, the substance from which we are made. We again have dominion.
Except for the period when the Israelites had been fed by the manna from heaven, man had lived only in the promise of Genesis 3. One of Christ’s reversals was to move back the clock on mankind’s dispensation, reminding us that the everlasting story begins in Genesis 1 with God’s Creation and God’s vision for His Creation.
Seeing ourselves from the perspective of Creation and Eden allows us to see the possibilities for a return to the people we were created to be. Until this point, we have seen Eden as a set of external conditions – a Garden ever fruitful, a climate without discomfort, a place without fear, and so on.
Through the Beatitudes, Jesus reminds us that Eden is the state of being in relationship with God. The relationship with God is Eden, and we can experience that relationship regardless of circumstances. This relationship is available to us now.
With the attitude of meekness, we are now in a state where the Lord’s will may be done on earth (i.e., in us) as it is in heaven. We are willing to submit ourselves to His authority. We are ready to be remolded into His image.
At this point, we are spent – emptied of spirit, emptied of emotion, and emptied of mind. Having surrendered all, we are in need of being refilled, replenished with identity and purpose.
This is a very vulnerable position. We are open to being molded by whatever force presents itself, whether of the world or of God. At this point, the evangelist molds us into the form of a religion, the world molds us into the form of a secular being, or God molds us into the likeness of a child, His child.
Here we need the wisdom to see beyond our physical surroundings. That which presses its urgency upon us distracts us from the enduring principles that shape our lives and the world. We must leave our country (i.e., our culture), our family, and our father’s house. The spirit of fear, the tool of false religion and of the physical world, presents us with a false choice.
Our choice of who we will follow and obey is not limited to those in the physical world only. Our choice must not be to claim the physical world, but rather the spirit of adoption that allows us to cry out, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). We are to follow the Spirit’s leading as He leads us from within.
And this is our blessedness, our happiness, in this state of meekness: in this surrender, “not my will, but Your will be done, O Lord:” we have surrendered control. Control was never ours to have, and to try to maintain it is a never ending struggle. To surrender this burden is an immense relief, a reason for the experience of feeling blessed, happy.
One final illustration on meekness is necessary, because this picture shows most clearly the concept of “not my will be done, but your will be done.”
God models meekness for us. He says, “Not My will be done, but your will be done, O man.” He does not force His decision on us. He allows us to work out our own will, even though it causes Him pain when we choose self-destruction. He has given us His instruction, even modeled this through His Son, but He will not force obedience.
Character is the ultimate issue, not obedience. Because He has created us as autonomous beings endowed with the capacity to choose our path and our relationship, He will not take back from us the freedom He has given. He honors the Law of freedom and maintains both the Law and His character.
Looking ahead from the center of the Holy Place, we are able to see the possibility of a higher level in our relationship with God. We are ready to accept instruction from Him. The narrow way beckons us forward.
Next article
4 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:4, NKJV).
Blessed are the meek, who say, “Not my will, but Your will be done, O Lord,” for they shall inherit the earth.
Meekness is a virtue. Rightly understood, meekness is submission to legitimate authority. There is One to whom we owe absolute meekness of obedience, to whom we are obliged to say, “Not my will, but Your will be done, Lord.” Meekness is about lordship.
Jesus said, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). This is Jesus calling us to meekness. This is where we must lay down the traditions of men, or leave our father’s house and come into our own house, as God had instructed Abram (Gen 12:1).
At the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place, we lay down our agenda. Our prayer goes up to God, “Not my will, but Your will be done.”
We are reminded of Jesus’ model prayer, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, in which He prays,
“Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
In the world, we too quickly resort to our own thoughts, our own strength. This is why the Sanctuary required a daily sacrifice. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily…” (Luke 9:23). Paul affirms this, saying, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31).
Meekness in relation to our fellow men and women means that we do not judge. We love them and help them along their way as they are to love and help us, but we are not to be complicit when they are in error. The unity to which we are called is with God first.
Our Lord makes clear that we are not entitled to judgment of our neighbor as to whether this other person is in relationship with God. The parable of the Good Samaritan shows that we are to be a good neighbor to all (Luke 10:25-37). This does not mean our spirituality must be on the same level as theirs. We use our gifts “till we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Eph. 4:13).
We will find unity with all who make a similar choice. Achieving unity without God is to revert to life outside the courtyard, the secular world where truth and relationship are variable. This is the chaos of the world in which “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).
One of the many beautiful aspects of the collection of books in the Bible is that we see through stories how to live as God would have us to live, how to be rather than simply how to do.
Moses is described as the “meekest of men” (KJV) or “very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3, NKJV). In the story of the Exodus, we do not have the impression that Moses is weak in relation to the people, but we see him practice humility toward God.
The circumstances in Numbers Chapter 12 may well have added to Moses’ sense of brokenness. The people had again complained of hunger for the food of Egypt and, at this point, his brother and sister now speak against Moses as the Israelites make their way from Sinai to Canaan. Moses is still God’s chosen one, even to the point of praying to God for the healing of the sister who has betrayed him.
Jesus declares Himself to be “meek and lowly in heart,” (KJV) or “gentle and lowly in heart” (NKJV, Matt. 11:29). Jesus is free of the traditions of men and does not impose the burden of human tradition on mankind. Jesus calls us into proper relationship with God as He models this relationship for us.
There are three reversals in this third Beatitude.
First, the meek are not normally thought to be blessed or happy, but rather we tend to think those who exhibit control and force are the fortunate ones. The temptation in this physical world is to see the happy as those who could say, as Frank Sinatra sang, “I did it my way.”
The second reversal is that the meek will receive the earth. We normally think of heaven as the goal for all mankind, but the meek, who do not try to lay claim to the world, are those who actually will receive it in the end.
The fact that Jesus says the earth is the inheritance of the meek shows us but one understanding of the tremendous third reversal that takes place here: the inheritance of the earth is a reversal of the curse, the loss of dominion over earth in Genesis 3.
At Creation, mankind was made from earth combined with the breath of God. That breath of God, the oneness with Him, gave mankind dominion over the earth. With the Fall, we lost dominion because we were no longer in the line of authority under God. By choosing disobedience, we no longer were reigning under God’s authority. The earth that had sustained us effortlessly and bounteously could no longer submit to mankind as lord because we were no longer in the line of authority under God. People must toil in sweat to take their food from the earth (Gen. 3:17-19).
This world vision of what happens as we cross from the Courtyard into the Holy Place must not keep us from recognizing the tremendous implication here for the individual. We were made of the dust of the earth (Strong’s #127, adamah: earth, ground).
Ironically, in meekness - not my will, but Thy will be done - we regain the ultimate inheritance: ourselves. No longer are we someone we were not intended to be, but we are as we were created in the beginning. We inherit the earth, the substance from which we are made. We again have dominion.
Except for the period when the Israelites had been fed by the manna from heaven, man had lived only in the promise of Genesis 3. One of Christ’s reversals was to move back the clock on mankind’s dispensation, reminding us that the everlasting story begins in Genesis 1 with God’s Creation and God’s vision for His Creation.
Seeing ourselves from the perspective of Creation and Eden allows us to see the possibilities for a return to the people we were created to be. Until this point, we have seen Eden as a set of external conditions – a Garden ever fruitful, a climate without discomfort, a place without fear, and so on.
Through the Beatitudes, Jesus reminds us that Eden is the state of being in relationship with God. The relationship with God is Eden, and we can experience that relationship regardless of circumstances. This relationship is available to us now.
With the attitude of meekness, we are now in a state where the Lord’s will may be done on earth (i.e., in us) as it is in heaven. We are willing to submit ourselves to His authority. We are ready to be remolded into His image.
At this point, we are spent – emptied of spirit, emptied of emotion, and emptied of mind. Having surrendered all, we are in need of being refilled, replenished with identity and purpose.
This is a very vulnerable position. We are open to being molded by whatever force presents itself, whether of the world or of God. At this point, the evangelist molds us into the form of a religion, the world molds us into the form of a secular being, or God molds us into the likeness of a child, His child.
Here we need the wisdom to see beyond our physical surroundings. That which presses its urgency upon us distracts us from the enduring principles that shape our lives and the world. We must leave our country (i.e., our culture), our family, and our father’s house. The spirit of fear, the tool of false religion and of the physical world, presents us with a false choice.
Our choice of who we will follow and obey is not limited to those in the physical world only. Our choice must not be to claim the physical world, but rather the spirit of adoption that allows us to cry out, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). We are to follow the Spirit’s leading as He leads us from within.
And this is our blessedness, our happiness, in this state of meekness: in this surrender, “not my will, but Your will be done, O Lord:” we have surrendered control. Control was never ours to have, and to try to maintain it is a never ending struggle. To surrender this burden is an immense relief, a reason for the experience of feeling blessed, happy.
One final illustration on meekness is necessary, because this picture shows most clearly the concept of “not my will be done, but your will be done.”
God models meekness for us. He says, “Not My will be done, but your will be done, O man.” He does not force His decision on us. He allows us to work out our own will, even though it causes Him pain when we choose self-destruction. He has given us His instruction, even modeled this through His Son, but He will not force obedience.
Character is the ultimate issue, not obedience. Because He has created us as autonomous beings endowed with the capacity to choose our path and our relationship, He will not take back from us the freedom He has given. He honors the Law of freedom and maintains both the Law and His character.
Looking ahead from the center of the Holy Place, we are able to see the possibility of a higher level in our relationship with God. We are ready to accept instruction from Him. The narrow way beckons us forward.
Next article
