But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall
delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Psalm 37:11 KJV
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the
earth. Matthew 5:5
KJV
In His Sermon
on the Mount when Jesus taught all those people on the hillside above the Sea
of Galilee He said… Blessed are the meek:
for they shall inherit the earth. When looking at scripture on meekness I
discovered that this same phrase the meek
shall inherit the earth is found in Psalm 37. It is amazing how much
scripture is repeated in the Bible. When we visited Israel I commented to our
tour guide about that fact that scripture is repeated…God is making sure that
we get this teaching of His because not everyone reads all of the Bible.
Well…his comment back was…everyone should read ALL of the Bible. And he is
Jewish! Our Bible is not the same as his, since we have the New Testament.
Interesting food for thought.
 |
| Site of The Sermon on the Mount Looking at the Sea of Galilee |
So the meek will inherit the earth. What does
it mean to “inherit” something? In the Hebrew and Greek these two translations
of “inherit” are different. The passage from Psalms means to: 1) to take possession of 2) to inherit, 3)
to impoverish, come to poverty, or be poor. The passage from Matthew means to: to receive a lot, receive by
lot, a) especially to receive a
part of an inheritance, receive as an inheritance, obtain by right of
inheritance, or b) to be an
heir, to inherit. No one wants to become “impoverished” so Jesus was really
changing what had been said in Psalm to encourage the Israelites.
The “earth”
is also translated somewhat differently: in Psalms it is referencing the whole
earth, as opposed to heaven. It can also mean the land of Canaan. Earth in
Matthew it is referring to arable ground, or similarly land that is not heaven. So the humble people will get the good earth someday. I think Jesus was giving the people hope by
saying that those who are not proud and haughty will be rewarded with land—land
was a valuable thing during Jesus time—just as it is now. Good real estate is
very valuable. Do you have some good real estate…or hope to inherit some? Stick
with Jesus and we’ll have a little bit of Heaven one day. He has promised that
He will prepare a place for us there. In My Father's
house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I
go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2.
Training Tip – Get a little box or plastic jar and put some dirt
in it from your yard. Tell your kiddos that when you die they will inherit your
land and house. Don’t be morbid…just factual. That’s the way life is. Explain
about inheriting things and land. Maybe you got your grandfather’s old car or
rocking chair like my son and son-in-law did. The earth or land is what we all
want to pass on to our children—just like Jesus said, the meek will inherit the
earth. So give your children a little bit of your inheritance (dirt) now and
tell them that their heavenly Father has an even better inheritance waiting for
them—for you all.
Lord Jesus, help us to be humble before You and
others. Give us Your peace, strength and love that we may share it with others
so that they too will inherit some of Your Kingdom someday.
From
June 27, 2013 – Banquet With The King.
© 2016 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT)
unless otherwise noted.
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