PT 3 Blessed Are The meek
Introduction
Matthew 5:5
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Summary Definition of Meekness
“Meekness is a spiritual attribute characterized by humility towards God and gentleness towards others, stemming from a conscious choice rather than weakness
. It involves accepting one’s place in life without complaint, receiving discipline without resentment, and yielding in non-essential matters to prevent strife
. Meekness is not a weakness of character, but rather a strength under control
. It is a fruit of the Spirit, possessed only by spiritual Christians who are yielded to the Spirit”
Blessed Are The Meek
Matthew 5:5
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Who Are The Meek? (God’s people)
It is not truly challenging to identify WHO the meek are within the scriptures. From its first mention, to the description of the character of the individuals, to that which they shall all inherit, it is clear that the people identified as “Meek”, are God’s own people, or at least, those whom God has peculiarly dealt with and called.
This we see in the first appearance of the word in the Bible, turn to
Numbers 12:1–3
1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
Two items we immediately recognise respecting Moses and the identifying characteristic the Lord has placed in the parenthesis of verse 3;
Firstly that he is particularly favoured and called by God.7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold:…
In this passage we see first of all that God sees fit to precede the text parenthetically with the descriptive characteristic of “Meekness” in verse 3, to then follow it up with the distinction respecting how God appears to him compared to others.
Secondly, is that characteristic NATURE that meekness is identified with.
The Psalms are the next appearance of the word and this is where the characteristic nature of meekness is witnessed.
In reaching the Psalms, we have now read the entirety of the historical portion of the Old Testament, and the word appears only once, that which is related to Moses.
(There is an almost perfectly even distribution between the Old and New testaments for this word, 15 occurrences in the Old and 16 occurrences in the New Testament.)
More than half of the 15 occurrences in the Old Testament are found in the Psalms, which provide both the knowledge of who the meek are, together with what meekness is.
As to WHO they are;
They are they who seek him;
Psalm 22:26
26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
They are they whom he guides and teaches;
Psalm 25:9
9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
They are they whom God saves;
Psalm 76:9
9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.
In that same line of salvation, they are they to whom the gospel is preached.
Isaiah 61:1
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Therefore, what is represented in these passages, (which is also reflected in the New testament), is that those who are identified as “Meek” are the peculiar people of God.
Meekness is not NATURAL in man as we will see moving forward, it is a GIFT of the Spirit of God that those who belong to God are called to “Put ON”.
Colossians 3:12
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Nevertheless, we find something fascinating within the scriptures in both the New and the Old Testaments, and those who are studious among you can draw this out where you like;
There are ONLY two men in the Bible particularly identified as “Meek”.
In all other places the characteristic is to be emulated, as in attitude and character, “shewing meekness” (Tit 3:2), being in “the spirit of meekness” (Gal 6:1, 1 Cor 4:21etc), but only two men; one in the Old and one in the New Testaments, are described AS MEEK.
Any guess?
Moses and Jesus Christ
One to free God’s people from bondage to Egypt, the other to free the world from its bondage to sin.
Both men to set apart a people for God.
Who are the Meek?, The are they who BELONG TO GOD.
What Are The Meek? (Nature and Character)
Numbers 12:1–9
1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
4 And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. 5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. 6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? 9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.
In this first appearance of the word “Meek” within the scriptures we also find an aspect of the character consistent to other passages within the scriptures.
Note the placement of that parenthetical verse that contains the word “meek”.
It is seen after the criticism of those closest to Moses, his sister and his brother. AFTER their judgement and condemnation of Moses and BEFORE they were rebuked by God;
1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?
Unfortunately for them, the verse concludes, And the LORD heard it.
The Lord goes on to rebuke them both but chastise Miriam with Leprosy and have her “shut out from the camp seven days” (Num 12:14)
Why is this a hint as to the character of meekness?
Meekness must endure trials!
Turn to Amos (past middle of your bibles turn right, Daniel, Hosea & Joel….before Obedia jonah micah)
Amos 2:6–7
6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; 7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
Now in Amos 2:6-7 we see the “Meek” in verse 7 linked in together with “the righteous” of verse 6, can you see it?
What we also see is the “meek” are those being “persecuted for righteousness sake”, an interesting link back to Matthew 5:10: so both Matthew 5:5 and Matthew 5:10 are joined by Amos 2:6-7, fascinating. Again;
they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; 7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek:
The meek, criticised and judged as Moses was, persecuted for righteousness sake, as here in Amos.
We see and introduction to retribution for the sake of the meek in Isaiah, it begins in Isaiah 11:4 and ends in Isaiah 61 which Jesus quoted from.
Isaiah 11:4
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isaiah 61:1–2
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
The wicked are continually seen as being separated from th emeek. WHO ARE THE WICKED? They are all them who do not belong to God. They are you and I before we were wonderfully saved when we trusted Jesus died for us.
We see this distinction again and again;
Psalm 76:9
9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.
Psalm 147:6
6 The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
- So we see from the beginning that the meek are those described as being persecuted.
- They are God’s people and they are righteous.
- We see also that God avenges them, that while they are the persecuted in the earth they shall inherit it.
This is a wonderful encouragement, but it remains that we have not yet answered the question, “WHAT ARE THE MEEK?”
What we find in the scriptures is what is done to the meek, but we also find an understanding of the character of the meek that identifies them ‘as meek’ related to their sufferings;
Ephesians 4:2
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Colossians 3:12
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Beloved the meek are they which endure persecution patiently.
They are ‘long suffering’ and humble, they do not strive nor do they strike out. They trust that GOD IS THEIR RECORD, and they rest in HIS timing to either draw all men to himself or avenge those who are his.
Moses is seen as the example in the Old Testament, criticised by family members, despised by several heads of tribes, and even indicated in Numbers 14:1-10 that the people desired to stone him with Joshua, Caleb and Aaron. But he fell on his face before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel (Num 14:5).
Jesus, is our example in the New Testament, and yet perfectly described in the Old Testament as if to link the entire Bible back to him.
Isaiah 53:7–9
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
How Are The Meek? (A Supernatural State)
Meekness is not natural in man, it is a supernatural work.
There is a reason why only the righteous are declared as “meek” within the scriptures, and only they who are God’s people are identified as “meek” within the scriptures, it is because meekness is not a natural quality in man, but disposed to man through the spirit of God.
We all know the charge and command to “love your enemies” and to “turn the other cheek”, and that if a man takes your cloke you are to “forbid not to take thy coat also” (Lk 6:29).
In fact, Jesus goes on to say;
Luke 6:32–35
32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Do you think this is a natural response?
It is SUPERNATURAL. The only way for such a characteristic to develop in you is when you have ALL YOUR HOPE IN CHRIST, thereby ALL OFFENCE against you is received knowing also of YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN.
Matthew 5:11–12
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Every vile comment against you, every distortion of your love toward others are eternally rewarded to you especially when received in MEEKNESS!
GOD IS MY RECORD ought to be all you care for. He knows your heart, he knows how unjustly you are treated….because Jesus Christ his Son, God the Son, was the least deserving all us all for that which came upon him.
It is a supernatural response, not a natural response. No man can love their enemies in a natural state.
STORY OF BORILLA FROM Richard Wurmbrand “In God’s Underground” respecting his wife Sabinas response.
Let me give to you some of the definitions that are given and then we shall turn to the scriptures that we might better understand the quality of ‘meekness’.
MEEKNESS — an attitude of humility toward God and gentleness toward people, springing from a recognition that God is in control. Although weakness and meekness may look similar, they are not the same. Weakness is due to negative circumstances, such as lack of strength or lack of courage. But meekness is due to a person’s conscious choice. It is strength and courage under control, coupled with kindness.[1]
Another quote
A. THE DEFINITION OF MEEKNESS
Meekness is the quality of accepting our place in life with no complaint, of receiving discipline with no resentment, of accepting injustice with no retaliation, of yielding in non-essential things to prevent strife and division, and of giving up our Christian liberties to win sinners and edify saints.[2]
Beloved, this characteristic is not “natural”, therefore to answer the question, “HOW ARE THE MEEK?”, the Bible teaches us that it is a fruit of the Spirit of God.
Galatians 5:22–26
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Beloved, the meekness we are commanded to “Put on” in Colossians 3:12, is a conscious choice and strength of character that knows you stand on the truth in spite of all you may face.
It is NOT “weekness” as many people think. We endure suffering and persecution because we know God is on the throne and we trust in the outcome he ordains.
But beloved, it also does not mean that we do NOTHING when we are clearly called to address a matter. Moses addressed matters that needed to be addressed, so too did Jesus, even when the ‘zeal of thine house hath eaten me up”, in his cleansing of the temple by those who made it “a den of thieves”.
Roy Gingrich sums it up well;
C. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEAKNESS AND MEEKNESS
Many untaught persons confuse meekness with weakness, but these traits should not be confused, for one is a praiseworthy virtue while the other is a blameworthy vice.
Meekness is a willingness not to contend for amoral things but to contend for moral things; weakness is an unwillingness to contend for either.
Meekness is a willingness not to fight for our own rights but to fight for the rights of others; weakness is an unwillingness to fight for either.
Meekness is a willingness not to defend our own opinions but to defend the revealed truths of God; weakness is an unwillingness to defend either.
In summary, meekness will fight when it should, but weakness refuses to fight when it should.[3]
Blessed Are The Meek (Future Recompense)
Matthew 5:5
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
The beatitudes repeat this joyful and happy state of those herein described. They are “blessed”.
They have the wonderful confidence of God knowing that all trials and all persecutions are given to us to strengthen us that we may grow.
Turn to 1 Peter 3
1 Peter 3:12–15
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
The natural state of the lost man is to complain of all their trials and all their tribulations, and to retain that victim mentality that all things need to be recommenced now.
They do not wish to wait for their inheritance of the Earth, but to be repaid while they stand and immediately after they suffer.
The meek are not so. They know God is gratious and long suffering and expects us to be as he is,
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:12–15
Afflictions help us to grow. If there are no trials of faith, no trials in life, we remain brittle, afflictions tempers us, strengthens us.
The meek endure the trials and afflictions, even welcoming them, for they know that in such patience we possess our souls.
But the meek also STAND when it is time to stand.
They do not deny Christ when persecution comes, they confess him freely and openly.
When the world calls us to silence respecting the gospel, we preach it anyway.
When the world PUTS us to silence through physical trials or imprisonments, we pray to the Lord through our hearts and trust that he works all things after the council of his own will (Eph 1:11).
Paul wrote of his confidence in the Lord in his testimony of all that he and those like him were willing to endure for the sake of Christ.
Turn to:
2 Corinthians 6:1–10
1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
Beloved consider that in such a state as this what can come against you?
They threaten to take your possessions, you respond that you have nothing you possess nothing.
They bribe you with riches, you respond that you possess all things.
They threaten to take your life, you respond that you are already dead in Christ.
They promise to give you liberty if…, you respond that you are already free in him who died to make you so.
Beloved there are no weapons of this world that can harm you or take from you that which God has given.
You inherit the earth!
Quote ‘J Hudson Taylor, A Man In Christ’ by Roger Steer.
Travelling with Taylor on a train to Montréal Henry Frost read a critical magazine article headed Hudson Taylor in Toronto. Angry about the articles contents, and anxious that Taylor shouldn’t read it, he tried to hide it under a pile of papers. But Taylor had heard about the article and picked it up to read.
“Hudson Taylor is rather disappointing”, he read. “I had in my mind an idea of what great missionaries should look like he being professedly one of the great missionaries of modern times must be such as they. But he is not… a stranger would never notice him on the street… except, perhaps, to say that he is a good nature looking gentle Englishman. No is his voice in the least degree majestic…. He displays little oratorical power…. He elicit a little applause… launches no thunder.. even our Jonathan Goforth (Canadian Missionary) used to plead more eloquently for China’s millions, and apparently with more effect… it is quite possible. That were Mr. Taylor, under another name, to preach as a candidate in our Ontario vacancies. There are those who would be grudge him his probationer’s his pay.”
Taylor put the magazine down and didn’t say anything for a few moments. Then he smiled at frost. “This is a very just criticism, for it is all true. I have often thought that God made me Little in order that he might show what a great god he is.”
The two men got into their sleeping births, frost above Taylor. Frost lay there in the darkness as the train rattled on towards Montréal, thinking about the remarkable man who live beneath him. It is not hard for a little man to try to be gre but it is very hard for a great man to try to be Little. Mr. Taylor, however,… has entered into that humility which alone is found in the spirit of the lowly Nazarene.[4]
[1] Ronald F. Youngblood, F. F. Bruce, and R. K. Harrison, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Eds., Nelson’s new illustrated Bible dictionary, 1995.
[2] Roy E. Gingrich, The Fruits of the Spirit, (Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing, 2004), 17.
[3] Roy E. Gingrich, The Fruits of the Spirit, (Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing, 2004), 17.
[4] ‘J Hudson Taylor, A Man In Christ’ by Roger Steer. pg 310.
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