Matthew 5:5 - The Meek will Inherit the Earth

 

5:3 - the "poor" were not the physically poor, but those who realized they needed help spiritually.

5:4 - those who "mourn" were not those who cried or who had a miserable life, but those who grieved for the effect that sin had on their      lives and in the world.

5:5 - the "meek" are not the weak and timid, but those who harness the power and authority they have in this life to serve God's plan and    wait for his return.

 

"Meek" is "praus" and means:

  • gentleness in Matthew 11:29
  • grace and tenderness in Matthew 12:15-21
  • an inner quality of honesty, dignity and respect in 1 Peter 3:4, 14-15

 

Meekness is self-control of power

Meekness is the quality of having strength accompanied with humility

Meekness is service with out advancing your own purposes

 

The opposite of meek is strong willed, aggressive, harsh, tyrannical

Meek does not mean weak, fearful or conquered

Meekness refers to behavior and attitude not to social status

 

"Inherit" refers to something that is given to a person as their possession.

Inherit does not necessarily mean something gained through another person's death.

 

Old Testament references to inheriting the land:

  • Dt. 4:1
  • Dt. 16:20
  • Isaiah 57:13
  • Isaiah 60:21

This Beatitude, Matthew 5:5, is from Psalm 37 which was a Messianic Psalm predicting the coming Messiah.

Specifically, Matthew 5:5 comes from Psalm 37:11, 9 and 29.

 

In the end it will be the meek, not the self-asserting who receive the kingdom (inherit the earth)

 

Palm Sunday is a classic example of this meekness and inheriting the kingdom

  • Matthew 21:5 - Gentle and riding on a donkey
  • Matthew 26:53 - Jesus had access to 12 legions of angels
  • Daniel 9:26
  • Daniel 2:34-35 and 44-45 - the kingdom will be on the same earth as the kingdom's of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome that the kingdom of God replaced.
  • Zechariah 9:1-8 is the movement of Alexander the Great
  • Zechariah 9:9 is the true Messiah, coming in meekness
  • Notice Zechariah 12:10; 13:1; 13:7; 14:1-21