Christians - concerning Mt 5:5?

[Anthony]

Mt 5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (essentially a copy of a verse from a psalm:3)
From a logical viewpoint I find the Matthean verse to be false, in that in 2,000 years of history we see no evidence that it is primarily the meek who inherit land.

How would you explain this?

[DrDeanCrosby]

When Jesus returns to the earth to establish His 1,000 year kingdom,He will keep out those who have been aggressive in their relationships with others,most especially if their aggressiveness has led to long-lasting anger,hate or even killing in the case of those who haven chosen war as a behavior option.Meekness comes from tolerance which Jesus wants to establish in His new kingdom.

[Sasi]

Who did Jesus say that to?
Jewish people who were listening to his sermon on the mount.
There were no Gentiles present - it was a Jewish audience, who would know the promises of God from Moses' time onwards, that if they kept the covenant, God would bless them with the promised land.

What was the Hebrew word translated into English as 'earth'?
It is a word that is equally translated 'land'.
Psalm 37:3 confirms this: "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture"
"But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace." vs 11
"Those the Lord blesses will inherit the land but those he curses will be cut off." vss 21-22
"Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land for ever." vs 27

Jesus was affirming the promises for the covenant people of God - keep their side of their covenant obligations, and God would keep them in the promised land and prosper them.
The flip side of that was the covenant curses for those who were not humble before their God - he would turf them out of the land. And that's what happened in AD 70, as Jesus warned, prophetically (see Matthew 24).

However, the covenant people of God - Israel - are in an everlasting covenant, and God will yet restore them to the land and bless those who are humble and meek in walking obediently in his ways. That will require divine intervention first, as more prophecies show, but once God has dealt with the wicked, there will be a transformation on earth the likes of which nobody has ever seen.

Just remember the restrictions of Matthew 5:5 - spoken to the Jewish people in the Mosaic covenant. But it's an eternal covenant that will yet be fulfilled - God's timing, though - not our paltry view of time!

[rusty]

Primarily Christs ministry on earth was to his own people -- the Jews of Israel.

Jesus instructed his Jewish disciples to preach to their fellow countryman.


(Mat 10:6 ) But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of ISRAEL.(all caps mine)

Christ clearly stated this to the Samaritan women.

(John 4:22 ) Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the JEWS.

Our Lord was fulfilling O.T promises made to the nation of Israel.

(Rom 15:8 ) Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God , to CONFIRM PROMISES made unto the FATHERS.

God promised his chosen people a LITERAL EARTHLY kingdom which Jesus would rule over as their king.

(Jeremiah 23:5 ) ...I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a KING shall REIGN...and shall execute judgement and justice in the EARTH.

(Dan 7:14 ) And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a KINGDOM, that all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve him.

Obviously the Gentiles were to be included in this earthly kingdom BUT not until the Jews accepted it first.

Ok, (Mat 5:5 ) is a description of this earthly kingdom. Also if read (Mat 6:10 )

Thy kingdom COME. Thy will be done in EARTH, as it is in heaven.

No doubt Christs disciples clearly understood that this was a earthly kingdom they were to preach.

(Luke 9:2) And he sent them to PREACH the KINGDOM of God, and to heal the sick.

The Jews rejected this kingdom and had Jesus crucified instead (Acts 2:36 ) but even then, God gave them another opportunity after Christs death, burial, and resurrection to accept this kingdom offer.

(Acts 1:6 ) Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom of Israel ?

We can read (Rom 11:7-12,25 and Acts 28:28 ) and see that a spiritual blindness is on Israel as a NATION for rejecting Christ as their redeemer and messiah.

Today in the church age (Eph 3:2 ) both individual Jews and Gentiles must believe the salvation gospel by faith and accept Christ as their saviour (Acts 20:24, 1Cor 15:1-4, Rom 1:16,10:9-10, and Eph 2:8-9 )

The christians ONE HOPE is to go to heaven and be with Christ after they die -- not earth ! (Eph 1:3 and 2:6 )

After the body of Christ is raptured off this earth (1Thes 4:16-17 ) Jesus Christ will return again (during the tribualtion period ) to set up this earthly kingdom and reign as king of Israel along with the faithful Gentile nations who serve him (Rom 11:26, Rev 1:7, 19:15, and 21:12 )

Hope I have been some help.

[RobertP]

The Beatitudes refer not to possession of a territory, but to the Kingdom of Heaven. Inherit the earth does not mean to posses land. The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection. They shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life. They are paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations.. They proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples. They have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the Saints.

[aslan]

are you trying to sound smrt by saying "matthean"? why not just verse from matthew like a normal person? and i dont care about your question

[Karl]

Email and I can teach you this and then more. For once one learns one thing of God it leads to another and so on. In this we can always learn and never stop. Knowledge is good and God is good for doing it that way.
Once I teach you this it will lead to something else and that will lead to something else and it never stops til we see God face to face. And the more knowledge one has the more of the big picture one sees and then understands it as well.
bless you.

What you ask of is a prophecy that has not come to pass yet. I can teach you more if you seek knowledge.