IN YAHUSHA'S ERA VARIOUS KINDS OF JEWISH HOLY MEN AND REVERED TEACHERS HAD FOLLOWINGS. THE FOLLOWERS OF THESE VARIOUS LEADERS WERE CALLED (IN HEBREW) TALMIDIM. THE MORE FOLLOWERS ONE OF THESE RELIGIOUS LEADERS COULD COBBLE TOGETHER, THE MORE CLOUT AND INFLUENCE WITHIN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY HE HAD. SO THERE WAS, QUITE LITERALLY, COMPETITION AMONG THESE LEADERS TO ACQUIRE FOLLOWERS….. DISCIPLES. MANY OF THE STANDARD ENGLISH WORDS USED IN OUR SCRIPTURES TO TRANSLATE BROAD HEBREW CONCEPTS DON'T FULLY CAPTURE THE MEANING.
IN OUR DAY A DISCIPLE OF A CERTAIN MASTER….. WHETHER IT IS FROM A RELIGIOUS ASPECT, OR A SECULAR ASPECT, EVEN AS IT PERTAINS TO SPORTS…. MOST OFTEN MEANS THAT THESE FOLLOWERS HAVE ADOPTED A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES A PARTICULAR MASTER IN A FIELD OF ENDEAVOUR TEACHES. ALTHOUGH USUALLY THEY FEEL FREE TO ALSO ADOPT OTHER IDEAS FROM OTHER MASTERS, OR EVEN AT SOME POINT SWITCH TO A DIFFERENT MASTER ALTOGETHER.
THESE IDEAS ARE USUALLY COMPARTMENTALISED SUCH THAT THE DISCIPLE ONLY APPLIES WHAT THEIR MASTER TAUGHT THEM TO A CERTAIN AREA OF THEIR LIFE. BUT FOR A TALMID/DISCIPLE IN YAHUSHA'S ERA THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISCIPLE AND MASTER WAS FAR DEEPER AND FULLY ENCOMPASSING THEIR ENTIRE LIFE. THERE WAS A LEVEL OF UNDYING TRUST INVOLVED IN WHICH THE GOAL OF THE DISCIPLE WAS TO BECOME AS CLOSE TO A CLONE OF HIS MASTER AS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE; IN MANNER, IN ETHICS, LIFESTYLE AND BEHAVIOUR.
THUS THESE POTENTIAL DISCIPLES WOULD MAKE A CONSCIOUS, CONSIDERED DECISION ABOUT BECOMING A DISCIPLE OF A CERTAIN MASTER BECAUSE IT WOULD BE A LIFE-CHANGING MOMENT FOR THEM, WHICH WOULD GUIDE THE REMAINDER OF THEIR DAYS ON EARTH. HOWEVER WE FIND THAT ...
YAHUSHA DIDN'T COMPETE WITH OTHER MASTERS FOR HIS DISCIPLES; HE SIMPLY COMMANDED THEM TO FOLLOW HIM. THIS WAS RARE, IF NOT UNHEARD OF.
BUT NEITHER WERE THE 12 MEN THAT YAHUSHA COMMANDED TO JOIN HIM CHARACTERISED AS MINDLESS ROBOTS WHO HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER. THEY WERE NOT PUT IN A TRANCE OR CONTROLLED. THEY HEARD YAHUSHA'S COMMAND TO THEM, BUT ANY AND ALL COULD HAVE SAID NO!!
FURTHER, THOSE WHO BECAME THE DISCIPLES OF VARIOUS MASTERS IN THE 1ST CENTURY WERE SEARCHING FOR SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY AND TENDED TO ORGANISE THEIR LIVES ACCORDINGLY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE. PAUL IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THIS. HE WAS A DIASPORA (OUTSIDE THE LAND OF ISRAEL) JEW WHO CAME FROM A WELL TO DO FAMILY. HE WAS EDUCATED, ESPECIALLY SHARP, AND HAD ADOPTED THE RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES OF THE PHARISEES; BUT HE WANTED MORE. SO HE CHOSE TO GO TO THE ACADEMY OF GAMALIEL IN JERUSALEM, PROBABLY SO THAT ONE DAY HE MIGHT HAVE THE CREDENTIALS TO ATTRACT HIS OWN FLOCK OF FOLLOWERS. SOMETIME LATER, ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS, HE WAS INTRODUCED TO ANOTHER AND GREATER MASTER, YAHUSHA, WHO SPOKE TO PAUL FROM HEAVEN AND TOLD HIM TO BE HIS DISCIPLE. PAUL WAS CERTAINLY NOT SEEKING TO BE A DISCIPLE OF ANOTHER, AND ESPECIALLY NOT OF YAHUSHA. NONETHELESS, HE SWITCHED LOYALTIES. THUS WHEN WE ADD IN THE HISTORICAL JEWISH BACKDROP, WE SEE THE UNIQUENESS OF YAHUSHA CHOOSING HIS DISCIPLES FROM AMONG THOSE NOT SEEKING A MASTER (OR AT LEAST NOT A NEW ONE), AS OPPOSED TO DISCIPLES CHOOSING FROM A VARIETY OF POTENTIAL MASTERS WHO WERE SEEKING TO ADD TO THEIR FLOCKS.
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT WILL BE OUR TOPIC FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS AS IT TAKES UP MATTHEW CHAPTERS 5, 6, AND 7, AND REPRESENTS THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL AND PANORAMIC EXPRESSION OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A BELIEVER AND A FOLLOWER OF YAHUSHA MESSIAH, SINCE THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE RECORDED AS HAVING COME DIRECTLY FROM OUR ALAHIM YAHUSHA’S MOUTH. CLEARLY MATTHEW MUST HAVE SEEN IT IN THAT LIGHT BECAUSE HE DEVOTED SO MUCH TIME TO IT IN HIS GOSPEL. AND CONSIDERING THE MOMENTOUS NATURE OF YAHUSHA'S SPEECH, IT IS CURIOUS THAT MATTHEW IS THE ONLY GOSPEL OF THE 4 THAT CONTAINS THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT!!
THERE IS SIGNIFICANCE IN THE SETTING AND THE GEOGRAPHY WHERE YAHUSHA GAVE THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT; SOMETHING THAT WOULD INDEED HAVE MATTERED MORE TO MATTHEW, THE LEARNED BELIEVING JEW, THAN TO LUKE, THE LEARNED BELIEVING GENTILE.
IT INVOLVES THE REPORTING OF MATTHEW (WHICH APPEARS IN THE FABRIC OF THE BACKDROP FOR HIS ENTIRE GOSPEL ACCOUNT) THAT YAHUSHA OF NAZARETH WAS A KIND OF SECOND MOSES. SO FOR MATTHEW’S ACCOUNT, JUST AS MOSES WENT UP TO THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN (SINAI) TO OBTAIN ALAHIM'S TORAH AND THEN CAME DOWN TO THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN TO INSTRUCT ISRAEL IN IT, SO IN THE SERMON ON THE MT
YAHUSHA WENT UP A MOUNTAIN (A HILL) TO ADDRESS ISRAEL AND INSTRUCT THEM IN THE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE LAW AND THE TORAH IN GENERAL. MANY DO NOT ACCEPT THIS CONNECTION BETWEEN MOSES AND MESSIAH, BECAUSE THEY ALSO DON’T ACCEPT THAT YAHUSHA (IN HIS SERMON ON THE MOUNT) WAS ACTUALLY INSTRUCTING THE PEOPLE IN THE TORAH (OF COURSE IN A NEW REFRESHING BEHAVIOURAL SUMMARY)… BUT RATHER MANY SEE HIM AS ERASING AND ABOLISHING THE TORAH OF MOSES COMPLETELY, AND REPLACING IT WITH HIS OWN DIFFERENT COMMANDS FOR A GENTILE CHRISTIANITY FORMED BY CONSTANTINE IN THE 4TH CENTURY A.D AND STILL REMAINS IN PRACTICE TODAY. IN REALITY (AND HIS OWN WORDS) YAHUSHA NEVER ABOLISHED ANYTHING, BUT REVEALED THE SPIRITUAL MEANING BEHIND ALL THE SHADOW-TEACHINGS, WHICH OF COURSE IS NEW, TRANSFORMED BEHAVIOUR FROM HIS FOLLOWERS. YAHUSHA BREATHED LIFE INTO THE WHOLE HISTORIC DOCUMENT, MAKING IT ALL BEHAVIOURAL FROM NEW LIVING BODILY TEMPLES, JUST LIKE HE WAS.
SO YAHUSHA DID NOT ABOLISH THE TORAH AND THE PROPHETS, AND ALSO WARNED AGAINST THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE TO THE LAWS AND COMMANDS CONTAINED WITHIN THEM, IN THE SLIGHTEST. YAHUSHA ACTUALLY LIVED AND UPHOLDED THE LAW, SO THAT BETWEEN HIM AND MOSES THERE COULD BE NO REAL CONFLICT.
HOWEVER WHAT YAHUSHA REQUIRES OF HIS FOLLOWERS SURPASSES WHAT HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN REGARDED (BY THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES) AS THE BEHAVIOURAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE TORAH-LAW. SO ALTHOUGH THERE IS CONTINUITY WITH THE PAST, YAHUSHA ALSO BRINGS SOMETHING NEW TO THE INSTRUCTIONS, MAKING THEM EVEN MORE CHALLENGING, REQUIRING EVEN MORE DISCIPLINE AND MORE DEVOTION FOR US (AS HIS WISE BRIDE) TO OBEY … NOT LESS. INFACT HE MAKES THEM SO IMPOSSIBLE THAT WITHOUT HIS SPIRIT, OBEDIENCE CANNOT BE ACHIEVED.
THE COMMON STATEMENT OF THE CHURCH IS THAT THE LAW GIVEN TO MOSES WAS AN OUTDATED BURDEN, A YOKE TOO HEAVY, AND MUCH TOO HARD AND UNREASONABLE TO FOLLOW. THEREFORE MESSIAH CAME TO ABOLISH IT ALL AND WITH HIS NEW COMMANDMENTS, MAKE LIFE AND A PEACEFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CREATOR MUCH EASIER FOR HIS FOLLOWERS. A PLAIN AND HONEST READING OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT TAKES THAT FALSE NOTION AND ABSOLUTELY DESTROYS IT.
THE OPENING FEW SENTENCES OF YAHUSHA’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT ARE SORT OF BUNDLED TOGETHER AND GIVEN A SPECIAL TITLE CALLED THE BEATITUDES. DEPENDING ON WHO YOU BELIEVE, AND WHAT THE CHOSEN CRITERIA IS TO QUALIFY AS A BEATITUDE, THERE ARE FROM 8 TO 10 OF THESE SAYINGS OF YAHUSHA.
THE BEATITUDES (WHAT’S THAT WORD ABOUT?)
WE’VE GOT THIS STRANGE ENGLISH WORD FROM THE LATIN VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURE, WHERE THE WORD ‘BEATUS’ IS USED TO TRANSLATE THE GREEK WORD ‘MAKARIOS’. NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HEBREW UNDERSTANDING, YET EVERYONE KNOWS THIS WORD, SO WE’LL KEEP IT THE VOCAB FOR NOW.
MATT 5:1 When YAHUSHA saw the crowds of people there, He went up on a hill and sat down and His followers came and sat next to Him. 2 Then YAHUSHA began teaching the people, saying, 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for people just like them ('theirs is the Kingdom').
MATTHEW SAYS THAT MESSIAH WENT UP A HILL IN ORDER TO MAKE A SPEECH TO THRONGS OF ISRAELITES, WHICH CONSISTED MOSTLY OF JEWS. NO DOUBT SOME REMNANTS OF OTHER TRIBES OF ISRAEL (AND SOME WHO HAD ENGAGED IN INTERMARRIAGE WITH GENTILES) WERE ALSO PRESENT. WE LEARN THAT THE PRIMARY REASON THIS ENORMOUS GROUP OF PEOPLE CAME FROM MANY SCORES OF MILES AWAY (AND MORE) WAS FOR HEALING OF ALL KINDS OF MALADIES. THEY CAME BECAUSE OF YAHUSHA'S GROWING REPUTATION AS A TZADIK, A HOLY/SET-APART MAN, A MIRACLE WORKER WHO, UNDER THE POWER OF ALAHIM, COULD HEAL.
SOME HOLY/SET-APART MEN WERE ALSO KNOWN FOR THEIR WISDOM, AND THEY TAUGHT IN ADDITION TO HEALING. SO IT WASN'T OUT OF CHARACTER FOR YAHUSHA THE TZADIK TO DRAW HUGE CROWDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF MIRACLE HEALING, BUT ALSO TO SPEAK PROFOUND TRUTHS TO THEM. AS OF THIS POINT IN TIME THE JEWS DIDN'T YET SUSPECT THAT YAHUSHA WAS THEIR MESSIAH AND ISRAEL’S DELIVERER, AND YAHUSHA HAD NOT YET PUBLICLY PROCLAIMED THAT HE WAS EITHER.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for people just like them ('theirs is the Kingdom').
WHAT, EXACTLY, CHARACTERISES A PERSON WHO IS "POOR IN SPIRIT"? SINCE IT SAYS THAT SUCH AS PERSON IS "BLESSED", THEN OBVIOUSLY IT MEANS THAT A PERSON WHO IS "POOR IN SPIRIT" IS BENEFITING FROM IT (AT LEAST IN THE SPIRITUAL SENSE) AND YAHUSHA APPROVES OF IT. TO TRY AND DECIPHER THIS LET'S FIRST UNDERSTAND WHAT "BLESSED" MEANS. MATTHEW ORIGINALLY WROTE HIS GOSPEL IN HEBREW, AND THE WORD IS "BARUCH", MEANING TO BE FAVOURED, FORTUNATE, OR HAPPY.
SECOND IS THE ISSUE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE "POOR IN SPIRIT". IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A POSITIVE AND DESIRABLE TRAIT, SO WHAT ABOUT BEING "POOR IN SPIRIT" MAKES A PERSON HAPPY OR FORTUNATE? BECAUSE OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE PHRASE 'THE POOR IN SPIRIT' NOW. IT WAS A TITLE OF HONOUR AMOUNG THE ESSENES, AN ANCIENT JEWISH SECT/ BROTHERHOOD THAT FLOURISHED IN PALESTINE FROM AROUND THE 2ND CENTURY BC TO THE END OF THE 1ST CENTURY AD. FOLLOWING THE DISCOVERY OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS (LATE 1940’s AND 1950’s) IN THE VICINITY OF KHIRBAT QUMRĀN, MOST SCHOLARS HAVE AGREED THAT THE QUMRĀN COMMUNITY WAS ESSENIAN, AS WAS JOHN THE BAPTIST.
SO THESE ARE THE POOR TO WHOM ALAHIM’S SPIRIT IS GIVEN? AMONG THE ESSENES, THIS TERM REFERRED TO A PERSON WHO WAS LIVING IN A SPIRIT OF POVERTY, HUMILITY, PURITY AND SIMPLICITY.
JUST AS TODAY A GOOD SPEAKER WILL ACKNOWLEDGE THOSE WHO MAKE UP HIS AUDIENCE, SO IT WAS IN YAHUSHA'S DAY. SO IT WAS THE ESSENES (AND PERHAPS THOSE WHO LIVED ON THE FRINGES OF THE ESSENE PURITY MOVEMENT) THAT YAHUSHA WAS ACKNOWLEDGING. SINCE WE'RE TOLD THAT MANY OF HIS AUDIENCE CAME FROM JUDAH, IN THE SOUTH (WHERE THE ESSENES HAD THEIR DESERT ENCLAVE NEXT TO THE DEAD SEA, AND FROM SYRIA IN THE NORTH, WHERE IT IS KNOWN THAT A SUBSTANTIAL ESSENE COMMUNITY LIVED IN THE CITY OF DAMASCUS) THEN IT MAKES SENSE THAT MANY MEMBERS OF THIS PIOUS AND SCRIPTURALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE ESSENE COMMUNITY MIGHT ATTEND YAHUSHA'S SERMON.
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BUT WHAT IS THE INTENT OF INCLUDING THE STATEMENT
THAT FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE ESSENES
"THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THEIRS"?
REMEMBER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NOT JUST A PLACE, BUT A SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF DELIVERANCE MANIFESTED THROUGH HUMAN BEHAVIOUR. WHEN ONE REPENTS OF SINNING AND TRUSTS IN YAHUSHA ALAHIM, THEN THEY ENTER THE NARROW GATE AND RECEIVE THE BAPTISM OF HIS SPIRIT. AND AS A RESULT THE INCORRUPTIBLE SEED OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN NOW LIVES WITHIN THEM.
NOTICE THE GRAMMAR - IT IS NOT SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WILL BE THEIRS, BUT RATHER IT IS THAT WHEN THEY RECEIVE YAHUSHA’S SPIRIT, THE KINGDOM BECAME THEIRS (IN SEED FORM & ACCESS OF COURSE) .
THUS IN THE 1ST BEATITUDE, WHEN YAHUSHA SPEAKS OF "THE POOR, IN SPIRIT", THE INITIAL CULTURAL REFERENCE IS TO THE PEOPLE IN THE CROWD WHO HOLD THIS HONORARY TITLE AMONG THE SECT OF
THE ESSENES - PEOPLE WHO WERE STANDING AND SITTING DIRECTLY BEFORE HIM DURING HIS SERMON. YET, WHEN WE LOOK AT YAHUSHA’S WORDS A BIT DEEPER AND SPIRITUALLY WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE WAY ONE BECAME "POOR, IN SPIRIT" AMONG THE ESSENES WAS (BY THEIR DEFINITION) RECEIVING THE SPIRIT.
THEREFORE IN A LARGER SENSE ALL WHO TRULY RECEIVE YAHUSHA’S BAPTISM OF SPIRIT THROUGH REPENTANCE AND TRUST IN YAHUSHA AS ALAHIM (BOTH ISRAELITES AND GENTILES) CAN BE CONSIDERED AS INCLUDED AMONG "THE POOR, IN SPIRIT" AND THUS BE MADE HAPPY AND JOYFUL (BLESSED) IMMEDIATELY AND ETERNALLY AS THEY EXERCISE YAHUSHA’S SPIRIT WITHIN THEM, ARE CLEANSED BY HIS FIRE (BAPTISM) AND OVERCOME THE SPIRIT IN THEIR FLESH TO PUT ON THE PREPARATORY GARMENTS OF MATURITY, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JOY …
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for people just like them". ('theirs is the Kingdom').
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted".
BECAUSE THE PREMISE IS THAT THOSE WHO MOURN WILL EXPERIENCE SOME KIND OF JOY (BE BLESSED), THEN WE MUST ASK WHAT THIS MOURNING HAS TO DO WITH? DOES IT MEAN THOSE WHO MOURN THE DEAD, SUCH AS A DEAR DEPARTED FAMILY MEMBER? SINCE YAHUSHA IS SPEAKING IN A RATHER GENERAL WAY TO MANY PEOPLE IN HIS LARGE AUDIENCE, COULD DEATH REALLY BE THE SUBJECT OF THE MOURNERS? NO!
YAHUSHA'S STATEMENT IS A DIRECT REFERENCE TO THE PROPHET ISAIAH:
ISAIAH 61
“THE SPIRIT OF YAHUAH ALAHIM IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO ANNOUNCE GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKEN-HEARTED, TO PROCLAIM FREEDOM TO THE CAPTIVES, TO BRING INTO LIGHT THOSE BOUND IN THE DARK, TO PROCLAIM THE YEAR OF THE FAVOUR OF YAHUAH AND THE DAY OF HIS VENGEANCE, TO COMFORT ALL WHO MOURN, YES, PROVIDE FOR THOSE IN ZION WHO MOURN, GIVING THEM BEAUTY FOR OF ASHES, THE OIL OF JOY FOR MOURNING, A GARMENT OF PRAISE FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS, SO THAT THEY WILL BE CALLED TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS PLANTED BY YAHUAH, IN WHICH HE TAKES PRIDE. THEY WILL REBUILD THE ANCIENT RUINS, RESTORE SITES LONG DESTROYED, THEY WILL BUILD ANEW THE RUINED CITIES, DESTROYED MANY GENERATIONS AGO”.
YAHUSHA IS REFERENCING THIS MESSIANIC PROPHECY GIVEN TO ISAIAH MORE THAN 500 YEARS PRIOR. SO THE GENERAL CONDITION OF MOURNING THAT YAHUSHA IS SPEAKING ABOUT ISN'T ABOUT SAD EMOTIONS FOR LOST LOVED ONES, BUT ABOUT MOURNING OVER THE DESTROYED CITIES OF ISRAEL THAT IS THE RESULT OF ISRAEL'S UNFAITHFULNESS, ADULTERY, WHORING ALAHIM'S DIVORCE AND EXPULSION OF THEM. IT IS ALSO MOURNING OVER THEIR OPPRESSION, SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF FOREIGN CONQUERORS (BABYLON, GREECE AND NOW ROME), WHICH IS YAHUAH ALAHIM'S JUDGMENT AGAINST THEM FOR THEIR IDOLATRY IN TURNING THEIR BACK ON HIM IN REBELLION (AS THE SIN OF WITCHCRAFT).
BUT ALSO IN ISAIAH 61 SOMETHING CHANGES, WHERE OUR MASTER WILL CALL HIS FORMERLY UNFAITHFUL (BUT NOW REPENTANT) PEOPLE "TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS" AS OPPOSED TO CAPTIVES AND BROKENHEARTED. THE MOURNERS WILL BECOME COMFORTED BECAUSE THEY WILL SEE THAT (WHILE ISRAEL AS A NATION WILL NEVER BE DELIVERED), YAHUAH HAS LEFT HIS THRONE TO BECOME YAHUSHA, IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A WAY (THROUGH HIMSELF) FOR HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE TO FIND DELIVERANCE AND BE RESTORED FROM THE CORRUPT CONDITION OF SIN, IN ORDER TO FULFIL THE PURPOSES TO WHICH ISRAEL WAS ORIGINALLY CALLED (BUT FAILED AND WAS DIVORCED).
SO THOSE AMONG THE CROWD THAT YAHUSHA IS ADDRESSING IN THIS 2ND BEATITUDE ARE CALLED "MOURNERS" BECAUSE THEY ARE SORRY THAT THEIR SIN, AND THE SINS OF THEIR ANCESTORS, HAS LED TO THEIR LAND BEING UNDER THE CONTROL OF HEATHENS AND THEIR SUFFERING UNDER THE HAND OF ROMAN SUBJUGATION.
YAHUSHA IS REVEALING A NEW LAND OF PROMISE AND SPIRITUAL KINGDOM TO ENTER, WHICH JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL WAS MERELY A BLUEPRINT/SHADOW OF.
IN THIS 2ND BEATITUDE, THOSE WHO MOURN WILL BE COMFORTED, AND FROM THE SURFACE, CULTURAL SENSE, THE MOURNERS ARE MOURNING OVER THE RUINATION OF THE HOLY/SET-APART LAND OF ISRAEL AND THE SUBSEQUENT OPPRESSIONS OF ASSYRIA, BABYLON, AND GREECE IN THE PAST, AND PRESENTLY ROME. BUT IN THE SPIRITUAL SENSE, THE MOURNERS ARE THOSE WORSHIPPERS OF ALAHIM WHO ARE MOURNING OVER THE RUINATION OF THE ENTIRE EARTH BECAUSE DUE TO MANKIND'S UNFAITHFULNESS, CORRUPT WICKEDNESS AND EVIL RULES UNIVERSALLY IN EVERY HUMAN BEING (THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION SET UP IN THE HEARTS).
THE MOURNERS ARE THE RIGHTEOUS ONES, THE POOR IN SPIRIT, WHO HAVE REPENTED AND PUT THEIR TRUST IN YAHUSHA ALAHIM (BOTH JEW AND GENTILE) AND ALL OF THESE (US) CAN BE COMFORTED, NOT ONLY WHEN OUR MASTER RETURNS IN POWER AND GLORY TO DESTROY EVIL AND RULE IN JUSTICE AND MERCY OVER A NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH, BUT WE CAN ALSO EXPERIENCE HIS COMFORT AND PEACE IMMEDIATELY AS WE CONNECT WITH HIM INSIDE DAILY THROUGH HIS DELIVERANCE VEIN.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for people just like them". ('theirs is the Kingdom').
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted".
“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth".
MANY PEOPLE SUBSTITUTED THE WORD "EARTH" FOR "LAND" IN ORDER TO CARRY ON WITH THEIR OLD TRIBAL ROOTS AND OUTDATED ERRONEOUS PROPHECIES THAT THE JEWS (HEBREWS) WILL REGAIN THE HOLY LAND OF ISRAEL AGAIN IN ORDER TO USHER IN A NEW ERA OF `SOLOMONIAN-LIKE' TEMPLE WORSHIP, FULL OF POMP, GLORY AND RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY (AS THE VOICE OF `GOD' ON THIS EARTH ... ALL THIS STEEPED IN THE OLD SHADOW-TEACHINGS OF ANCIENT SCRIPTURE & JEWISH TRADITION. THEN ALL THE 12 TRIBES WILL BE RE-UNITED TO PARTAKE OF THE PROMISES GIVEN TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB AND DAVID (EXCLUDING YAHUSHA OF COURSE) TO REIGN ON A THE EARTH FOR A MILLENIA !!!
SO LET'S NOT ENTERTAIN SUCH FREAKISH INSANITY, BUT KEEP THE TEXT JUST AS YAHUSHA SAID IT AND LOOK AT WHO OR WHAT "THE MEEK" ARE & PS.37 IS THE BACKDROP.
PSALM 37:1 – 13 ( A PSALM OF DAVID )
“DO NOT FRET BECAUSE OF EVILDOERS, OR BE ENVIOUS OF THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY. FOR THEY WILL SOON BE CUT DOWN LIKE THE GRASS, AND WITHER AS THE GREEN HERB. TRUST IN YAHUAH, AND DO GOOD, DWELL IN THE LAND, AND FEED ON HIS FAITHFULNESS. DELIGHT YOURSELF ALSO IN YAHUAH, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART. COMMIT YOUR WAY TO YAHUAH, TRUST ALSO IN HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. HE WILL BRING FORTH YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE LIGHT, AND YOUR JUSTICE AS THE NOONDAY SUN. REST IN YAHUAH, AND WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM - DO NOT FRET BECAUSE OF HIM WHO PROSPERS IN HIS WAY, BECAUSE OF THE MAN WHO BRINGS WICKED SCHEMES TO PASS. CEASE FROM ANGER, AND FORSAKE WRATH, DO NOT FRET—IT ONLY CAUSES HARM. FOR EVILDOERS SHALL BE CUT OFF, BUT THOSE WHO WAIT ON YAHUAH, THEY WILL INHERIT THE EARTH. FOR YET A LITTLE WHILE AND THE WICKED WILL BE NO MORE - INDEED, YOU WILL LOOK CAREFULLY FOR HIS PLACE, BUT IT WILL BE NO MORE. BUT THE MEEK WILL INHERIT THE EARTH, AND WILL DELIGHT THEMSELVES IN THE ABUNDANCE OF PEACE. THE WICKED PLOTS AGAINST THE JUST, AND GNASHES AT HIM WITH HIS TEETH. YAHUAH LAUGHS AT HIM, FOR HE SEES THAT HIS DAY IS COMING” …
WHO IS COMING BACK IN VENGEANCE:
YAHUAH OR YAHUSHA ??
IN THE FLESH, MANY SEE THIS AS A MESSIANIC PSALM OF DAVID THAT SPEAKS OF A FUTURE TIME WHEN THE "MEEK" (THE SO-CALLED DOWN-TRODDEN, INNOCENT JEWISH VICTIMS) INHERIT THE LAND (THE LAND REFERRING TO ISRAEL).
'MEEK' IS WORD IN THE SCRIPTURE WHOSE DEFINITION IS NOT ALWAYS AGREED AND SEEMS TO BE USED DIFFERENTLY IN DIFFERENT SETTINGS. OFTEN IT CARRIES THE OBVIOUS MEANING OF HUMILITY, DEPRESSED (FIGURATIVELY), IN MIND (GENTLE) OR CIRCUMSTANCES (NEEDY), HUMBLE, LOWLY, MEEK, POOR, GENTLENESS AND MILDNESS, BUT HERE IN PSALM 37:11 THE WORD IS BETTER UNDERSTOOD AS "THE POWERLESS" BECAUSE THE RIGHTEOUS ARE BEING OPPRESSED BY THE WICKED!
SINCE IT SEEMS VERY LIKELY THAT YAHUSHA IS MAKING REFERENCE TO PSALM 37 IN THIS BEATITUDE, THEN HIS USE OF THE TERM "THE MEEK" MEANS THE SAME: "THE POWERLESS"
FURTHER IN PSALM 37 THE HEBREW WORD FOR WHAT IT IS THAT THE MEEK WILL INHERIT IS 'ARETS', WHICH CAN MEAN BOTH LAND OR EARTH. HOWEVER (UNLIKE ALMOST EVERY SINGLE SCRIPTURE READER WITHOUT YAHUSHA'S SPIRIT) WE MUST NOT THINK OF OUR INHERITANCE AS ANYTHING PHYSICAL OR GEOGRAPHIC, FOR (AS WITH ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB) WE LOOK TO THE ROYAL CITY AND NEW EARTH 'WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS ALAHIM YAHUSHA'. EARTH IS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING THE UNDEFINED EXPANSE OF DRY LAND THAT LIES UNDER THE SKY. BUT WE KNOW THAT 'ALL THE ELEMENTS WILL MELT WITH INTENSE HEAT' AT YAHUSHA’S RETURN, SO HE CAN ONLY BE REFERRING TO HIS NEW SPIRITUAL REIGN THAT HE'S CALLING PEOPLE TO IN REPENTANCE ... A REIGN WHO'S DOOR IS ABOUT TO BE OPENED THROUGH HIS SHED BLOOD, CONNECTING THE DIMENSIONS AGAIN TO ALLOW ACCESS FOR A CHOSEN MANKIND ONCE AGAIN.
SO IN THIS 3RD BEATITUDE, 'THE MEEK WILL INHERIT THE EARTH'. IN AN OBVIOUS, CULTURAL CONTEXT, THOSE ISRAELITES IN THE AUDIENCE WHO ARE POWERLESS (BEFORE THE OCCUPATION OF ROME) ARE PROBABLY THINKING THAT THEY WILL RECEIVE THE INHERITANCE ALAHIM PROMISED TO THEM (THE LAND OF CANAAN) BEFORE THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT EGYPT. BUT IN THE DEEPER, ABSTRACT, SPIRITUAL SENSE 'THE MEEK' FOLLOWERS OF YAHUSHA MESSIAH (JEW AND GENTILE) ARE THE HUMBLE, DEPRESSED IN MIND, GENTLE, NEEDY, LOWLY, POOR AND MILD IE ... THOSE WHO RESIST THE FUTILE POWER AND RIGHTS OF THE WORLD AND ITS WAYS, AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE WITH ITS LUSTS, ARROGANCE AND AGGRESSION, FUELED BY A CORRUPT SPIRIT IN THEIR FLESH ... IN ORDER TO ENTER A TRANSFORMATION AND A `BEING CLOTHED' WITH THE RIGHTEOUS BEHAVIOUR (FRUITS) OF LOVE.
AND THESE (A WISE, MEEK BRIDAL ELECT) WILL TOGETHER RECEIVE THE EVEN LARGER INHERITANCE PROMISED BY ALAHIM TO BE CO-RULERS, KINGS AND PRIESTS ALONG WITH YAHUSHA MESSIAH … AS HIS CHERISHED BRIDE IN A NEW ETERNAL CITY THAT WILL DESCEND FROM THE CLOUDS ONTO A NEW EARTH AT HIS ARRIVAL. THIS CO-RULERSHIP IS THE FULLEST FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE OF THE 1ST BEATITUDE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THEIRS.
CAN YOU SEE THAT EVERYTHING YAHUSHA SPEAKS ABOUT IN HIS SERMON THUS FAR IS REGARDING A CHANGED BEHAVIOUR OF MEEKNESS, MOURNING AND POORNESS IN SPIRIT ... A BRIDE DESPERATE FOR THE EYES AND VOICE OF HER BRIDEGROOM, FOR WITHOUT HIM SHE FEELS NOTHING BUT EMPTINESS AND DESPAIR ... SHE IS RUNNING AFTER YAHUSHA AS HER ONLY ALAHIM OF TRUTH, IMPALING HER FLESH AND THE SPIRIT THAT CONTROLS HER IN ORDER TO BE CLOTHED WITH THE OIL OF JOY FOR GLADNESS AND THE FRUITS OF LOVING-KINDNESS !
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for people just like them". ('theirs is the Kingdom').
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted".
“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth".
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled".
THE IDEA OF HUNGER AND THIRSTING AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT ABOUT FOOD AND DRINK BUT RATHER IT IS A SPIRITUAL LONGING AND DESPERATION (THINK HUNGER AFTER DAYS WITHOUT FOOD). SO THIS DEEP LONGING IS NOT ONE OF PASSIVITY, OR ACCEPTING YOUR CURRENT CONDITION WITH LITTLE TO NO RESPONSE OR CHANGE ... NO!! IT SPEAKS OF AN ACTIVE SEARCH AND WORK TO FIND IT. BUT THE REAL QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED ABOUT THIS BEATITUDE IS:
'WHOSE RIGHTEOUSNESS IS BEING SOUGHT? WHAT KIND OF BEHAVIOUR IS BEING HUNGERED AND THIRSTED FOR?' IS IT A HUMAN SORT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS? IE SOMETHING ACCOMPLISHED BY MEANS OF OUR OWN GOOD WORKS AND DEEDS THAT FOCUS ON OUR ACTIVITY AND SELF, GIVING GLORY TO OUR MOST HONOURED FAN ... OURSELF?
THE ANSWER IS THAT IT IS ALAHIM'S OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT’S BEING REFERRING TO. YAHUSHA IS BORROWING AGAIN FROM A PSALM OF DAVID :
PSALM 107:2-9
"LET THOSE REDEEMED BY YAHUAH SAY IT, THOSE HE REDEEMED FROM THE POWER OF THE FOE. HE GATHERED THEM FROM THE LANDS, FROM THE EAST AND FROM THE WEST, FROM THE NORTH AND FROM THE SEA. THEY WANDERED IN THE DESERT, ON PATHS THROUGH THE WASTES, WITHOUT FINDING ANY INHABITED CITY. THEY WERE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY, THEIR LIFE WAS FADING AWAY. IN THEIR TROUBLE THEY CRIED TO YAHUAH, AND HE RESCUED THEM FROM THEIR DISTRESS. HE LED THEM BY A DIRECT PATH TO A CITY WHERE THEY COULD LIVE. LET THEM GIVE THANKS TO YAHUAH FOR HIS FAVOUR, FOR HIS WONDERS BESTOWED ON HUMANITY! FOR HE HAS SATISFIED THE HUNGRY, FILLED THE STARVING WITH GOOD".
NOTICE THAT IT IS YAHUAH ALAHIM’S REDEEMED FIRSTBORN (WIFE) THAT IS BEING ADDRESSED IN THIS PSALM. FROM THE SURFACE INTERPRETATION THE REDEEMED REPRESENT ALL ISRAELITES (BECAUSE 1400 YEARS EARLIER ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL WERE REDEEMED FROM EGYPT). THE WANDERING IN THE DESERT RECALLS THE WILDERNESS JOURNEY OF THE EXODUS. ALAHIM RESCUED THEM AND WHEN THEY WERE FINALLY PROPERLY PREPARED, HE TOOK THEM TO A LAND WHERE THEY COULD LIVE AND A CITY TO WORSHIP IN: JERUSALEM.
ALAHIM ALSO SATISFIED THE HUNGRY ISRAELITES BY GIVING THEM MANNA TO EAT … DIVINELY PROVIDED SUSTENANCE FOR THE ENTIRE TIME THEY WERE WANDERING, WITHOUT A HOME OF THEIR OWN. HE PROVIDED THEM WITH WATER AS NEEDED, OFTEN IN UNDENIABLY MIRACULOUS WAYS.
THEN IN THE DEEPER SPIRITUAL SENSE THE REDEEMED ARE ALL PEOPLE, (JEW AND GENTILE) WHO HAVE BEEN DELIVERED FROM THEIR SINS BY PLACING THEIR TRUST IN YAHUSHA AS ALAHIM, AND ENTERING HIS PROCESS OF DELIVERANCE (A NARROW GATE) TO BE CLEANSED AND MATURED BY SPIRIT AND FIRE BAPTISM.
FOR BEFORE WE ENTERED YAHUSHA ALAHIM'S VEIN AND BECAME SPIRITUAL, WE WERE WANDERING AIMLESSLY IN A DESERT OF CORRUPT BEHAVIOUR, SIN AND PURPOSELESSNESS. WE WERE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY FOR DELIVERANCE FROM OUR EMPTINESS AND FROM ETERNAL DEATH. BUT SINCE THE MOLTEN CORE OF YAHUSHA’S RIGHTEOUSNESS (AND NAME) IS HIS DESIRE TO DELIVER (EVEN THOUGH AT THE TIME WE WEREN'T AWARE OF IT) BY HIS FAVOUR HE HAS POURED HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS INTO US IN SEED-FORM, IN ORDER TO SATIATE THE THIRST AND SATISFY THE HUNGER OF OUR BEINGS, AND THROUGH OUR OVERCOMING THE SPIRIT IN OUR FLESH, THROUGH THE POWER OF HIS SPIRIT, WE ARE GIVEN LIFE-ETERNAL WITH HIM. WE NO LONGER FEEL THE NEED TO WORSHIP OURSELF, TRYING TO SATIATE OUR DESIRES, FOR WE TASTE THE REAL SATISFACTION THAT ONLY COMES BY PUTING OUR EYES ON YAHUSHA, COMMUNICATING AND RELATING WITH HIM, FOCUSSING ON PLEASING HIM AND BEHAVING LIKE HIM.
SONG OF SOLOMON 3
"BY NIGHT ON MY BED I SOUGHT THE ONE I LOVE. I SOUGHT HIM, BUT I DID NOT FIND HIM. 'I WILL RISE NOW,' I SAID, 'AND GO ABOUT THE CITY, IN THE STREETS AND IN THE SQUARES I WILL SEEK THE ONE I LOVE'. I SOUGHT HIM, BUT I DID NOT FIND HIM. THE WATCHMEN WHO GO ABOUT THE CITY FOUND ME AND I SAID, 'HAVE YOU SEEN THE ONE I LOVE?' SCARCELY HAD I PASSED BY THEM, WHEN I FOUND THE ONE I LOVE. I HELD HIM AND WOULD NOT LET HIM GO, UNTIL I HAD BROUGHT HIM TO THE HOUSE OF MY MOTHER, AND INTO THE CHAMBER OF HER WHO CONCEIVED ME. I CHARGE YOU, O' DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM, BY THE GAZELLES OR BY THE DOES OF THE FIELD, DO NOT STIR UP NOR AWAKEN LOVE UNTIL IT PLEASES'".
WE SEE IN THIS LOVE LETTER WRITTEN BY SOLOMON, A BRIDE AWAKENING TO FIND HER BRIDEGROOM GONE, AND SHE SEARCHES EVERYWHERE FOR HIM, DESPERATELY RUNNING THROUGH THE TOWN TO FIND HER BELOVED. SHE CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT OR BREATHE WITHOUT HIM. THIS GIVES US INSIGHT INTO THE WAY YAHUSHA WANTS TO BE LOVED AND PURSUED BY HIS BRIDE IN EVERY MOMENT OF THE DAY. HUNGERING AND THIRSTING AFTER HIM - TO FEEL AND KNOW HIM IN EACH HEARTBEAT, INSTEAD OF FILLING OUR TEMPLES WITH OTHER SUBSTITUTES AND FALSE IDOLATRY/WORSHIP, TRYING TO JUST `GET THROUGH' OUR DAY AND COPE WITHOUT HIM!
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled".
“Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will be shown mercy (compassion)".
THE IDEA THAT MERCY IS A RECIPROCAL MATTER BETWEEN ALAHIM AND MAN WAS NOT NEW NOR EXCLUSIVE TO YAHUSHA'S TEACHING. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES THAT EXPRESS THIS CONCEPT THAT WHEN WE SHOW MERCY OR PITY OR COMPASSION UPON OUR FELLOW MAN, IT IS ALAHIM WHO WILL REWARD US.
PROVERBS 14:21
"HE WHO DESPISES HIS NEIGHBOUR, SINS; BUT HE WHO SHOWS COMPASSION TO THE HUMBLE IS HAPPY".
IN THIS PASSAGE THE ONE WHO SHOWS COMPASSION TO HIS FELLOW MAN IS 'HAPPY', AND THE HEBREW WORD TRANSLATED MOST OFTEN AS HAPPY IS 'ASHER'. ANOTHER MEANING FOR THIS WORD IS 'BLESSED'. LIKE THE CONCEPT OF SHALOM, BEING BLESSED IS A GIFT OF FAVOUR FROM ALAHIM.
SHOWING MERCY AND COMPASSION IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE TWO ROYAL LAWS, TO LOVE ALAHIM WHOLE-HEARTEDLY, AND TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOUR AS WE LOVE OURSELVES. THEREFORE TO NOT SHOW MERCY (OR PITY OR COMPASSION……. DIFFERENT WORDS FOR ESSENTIALLY THE SAME THING) IS TO BREAK THE ROYAL LAWS OF YAHUSHA ALAHIM.
MATTHEW BRINGS UP THE ISSUE OF MERCY AND COMPASSION MANY TIMES IN HIS GOSPEL AND HAS YAHUSHA DIRECTLY DEALING WITH IT SEVERAL TIMES. IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST BASIC PRINCIPLES OF LIFE AMONG THE JEWS AND THE EARLIER HEBREWS, EVEN LISTED AS ONE OF THE REASONS THAT SODOM WAS DESTROYED (THEIR INHOSPITABLENESS AND CRUELTY TO STRANGERS AND SOJOURNERS). UNLIKE THE PAGAN NATIONS (WHO'S WORSHIP OF DEITIES WAS SEPARATE FROM THEIR LIFESTYLE/BEHAVIOUR RELATING TO OTHERS) .. THE HEBREW BELIEF GIVEN FROM YAHUAH ALAHIM WAS UNIQUE, AS THEIR WORSHIP AND SERVITUDE OF HIM WAS DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE WAY THEY TREATED EACH OTHER AND THEIR NEIGHBOURS ... LOVE!
HOSEA 6:6
"FOR WHAT I DESIRE IS MERCY, NOT SACRIFICES, KNOWLEDGE OF ALAHIM MORE THAN BURNT OFFERINGS".
YAHUSHA ALSO DEALS WITH MERCY & COMPASSION :
MATTHEW 9:13
"WHEN YAHUSHA HEARD THAT, HE SAID TO THEM, 'THOSE WHO ARE WELL HAVE NO NEED OF A PHYSICIAN, BUT THOSE WHO ARE SICK. SO GO AND LEARN WHAT THIS MEANS: ‘I DESIRE MERCY AND NOT SACRIFICE.’ FOR I DID NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT THE SINNERS, TO REPENTANCE.”
MATTHEW 23:23
"WOE TO YOU HYPOCRITICAL SCRIBES AND PHARISEES! YOU PAY YOUR TITHES OF MINT, DILL AND CUMIN; BUT YOU HAVE NEGLECTED THE WEIGHTIER MATTERS OF THE TORAH ... JUSTICE, MERCY, TRUST. THESE ARE THE THINGS YOU SHOULD HAVE ATTENDED TO, WITHOUT NEGLECTING THE OTHERS!"
THIS IS A VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL THOUGHT TO HOSEA 6:6. WHAT WE OUGHT TO NOTICE IS THAT YAHUSHA CALLS MERCY ONE OF THE WEIGHTIER MATTERS OF THE LAW. THAT IS, WHILE ALL THE LAWS OF THE TORAH WERE TO BE OBEYED, THERE EXISTS A HIERARCHY WHEREBY SOME LAWS CARRY MORE WEIGHT IN ALAHIM'S EYES, THEREBY LEADING TO LARGER CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR ACTIONS IN REGARD TO OUR FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE
(OR DISOBEDIENCE) TOWARDS THEM.
YAHUSHA WANTS OUR ACTIONS DURING OUR LIVES TO REFLECT LOVING OBEDIENCE TO HIS LAWS AND COMMANDS, WHICH HE SUMMARISED INTO TWO ROYAL LAWS. IN FACT HE REMINDS FOLKS THAT PAYING TITHES AND MAKING OFFERINGS AT THE TEMPLE IS A GOOD AND REQUIRED THING, BUT WHEN WE NEGLECT THE MORE LOVING AND FUNDAMENTAL OBLIGATIONS TO OUR FELLOW MAN (OUR NEIGHBOUR) SUCH AS JUSTICE, MERCY AND TRUST, IT REPRESENTS A MORE SERIOUS OFFENCE AGAINST ALAHIM.
MOST THINK THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THESE WEIGHTIER MATTERS WILL OCCUR AT THE FINAL JUDGMENT, WHEN THE MEASURE OF OUR MERCY TOWARDS OUR NEIGHBOUR IS REWARDED WITH THE MEASURE OF YAHUSHA'S MERCY TOWARDS US, AND OUR LACK OF MERCY IS REWARDED WITH HIS LACK OF MERCY TOWARDS US. OF COURSE THOSE IN YAHUSHA ALAHIM'S VEIN, KNOW TOO WELL THAT IF WE DISPLAY UNSAVOURY BEHAVIOUR TO ANOTHER (JUDGING, NASTY, BITCHY, REVENGE, RUDE) THEN THIS IS NOT LOVING OUR NEIGHBOUR AS OURSELF UNDER THE TWO ROYAL LAWS OF LOVE, AND WE WILL FEEL HIS FIRE IMMEDIATELY RIGHT THERE AND THEN, AND THE EFFORT WITH WHICH WE `TOUCH' ANOTHER WITH OUR BAD BEHAVIOUR IS THE EFFORT WE GET FLOGGED BY YAHUSHA ... AND IT IS IMMEDIATE!
WHAT IS MERCY?
THE ENGLISH WORD 'MERCY' IS AN ATTEMPTED TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW WORD 'CHESED'. IN MATTHEW 23:23 (YOU HAVE NEGLECTED THE WEIGHTIER MATTERS OF THE TORAH ... JUSTICE, MERCY, TRUST... WE SEE THE WORD 'MERCY' AS 1 OF THE 3 WEIGHTIER MATTERS, IN FACT THE WEIGHTIER MATTER IS 'CHESED': LOVING-KINDNESS, MERCY, COMPASSION, PITY, BENEVOLENCE AND FAVOUR ALL ROLLED INTO ONE.
SOUND LIKE BEHAVIOUR OF THE VEIN TO ME !
AND AS FOR THE WEIGHTIER MATTER OF TRUST, IT IS NOT ONLY SPEAKING OF A TRUST BETWEEN OURSELVES AND OUR NEIGHBOUR, BUT RATHER ABOUT LIVING OUR LIVES IN WHOLE-HEARTED TRUST OF YAHUSHA AND HIS WORD, BY ARRESTING EVERY THOUGHT AND BRINGING IT INTO SUBJECTION TO THE WORD SO THAT WE DON'T BEHAVE CRUEL LIES FROM THE ENEMY IN OUR FLESH. ANOTHER WORD TO EFFECTIVELY CONVEY ITS MEANING TO OUR MODERN WAY OF THINKING IS 'FAITHFULNESS'. OUR FAITHFULNESS TOWARDS ALAHIM INVOLVES MORE THAN JUST BELIEF, EVEN MORE THAN TRUST - IT ALSO INVOLVES AN UNCOMPROMISING LOYALTY TO HEARING AND DOING!
YAHUSHA TOLD THE PHARISEES THAT HE DESIRED COMPASSION AND MERCY INSTEAD OF SACRIFICE, DIRECTLY REFERRING TO THE OLD COVENANT TEMPLE-WORSHIP PATTERNS AND SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM OF ANIMAL BLOOD, WHICH HE HIMSELF WOULD SOON FULFIL WITH HIS OWN PERFECT BLOOD, ALLOWING NEW BODILY TEMPLES OF 'POOR IN SPIRIT,' CORRUPT PEOPLE, TO BE MADE NEW CREATIONS THROUGH THE CLEANSING OF HIS BLOOD, SO THAT THE TRUE RIGHTEOUS BEHAVIOUR OF COMPASSIONATE LOVE CAN SHINE THROUGH THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF HIS SPIRIT BAPTISM AND PURIFYING OF HIS FIRE BAPTISM, WHICH PURGES US OF OUR CORRUPT FLESHLY SPIRIT AND DESIRES.
CAN YOU SEE THAT IN EVEN THESE FIRST FEW BEATITUDES, YAHUSHA IS SPEAKING PARABLES TO SOW THE FIRST SEEDS OF HIS INVISIBLE REIGN, HIS SPIRITUAL KINGDOM OF ALAHIM, WHEREBY AN INDIVIDUAL CAN CONNECT AND GAIN ACCESS TO LIFE ETERNAL BY FOLLOWING HIM THROUGH HIS VEIN OF DELIVERANCE INTO A NEW PATTERN OF BEHAVIOUR (SHADOWED OF OLD). WHEN WE LOOK AT EACH STATEMENT YAHUSHA MAKES SPIRITUALLY, IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THE BEHAVIOUR HE SPEAKS OF CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED THROUGH HIS SPIRIT AND FIRE TRANSFORMATION FROM DEATH TO LIFE, FROM OLD TO NEW!
BEATITUDES POINT TO VEIN BEHAVIOUR!
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for people just like them". ('theirs is the Kingdom').
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted".
“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth".
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled".
“Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will be shown mercy (compassion)".
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see Alahim!"
AGAIN, WITH THIS STATEMENT YAHUSHA IS NOT INTRODUCING A NEW OR SHOCKING CONCEPT TO THE JEWS, FOR WE FIND VIRTUALLY THE SAME THING WRITTEN BY KING DAVID :
PSALM 24
"THE EARTH IS ALAHIM’S, WITH ALL THAT IS IN IT, THE WORLD AND THOSE WHO LIVE THERE. FOR HE SET ITS FOUNDATIONS ON THE SEAS AND ESTABLISHED IT ON THE RIVERS. WHO MAY GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN OF YAHUAH? WHO CAN STAND IN HIS HOLY PLACE? THOSE WITH CLEAN HANDS AND PURE HEARTS, WHO DON’T MAKE VANITIES (SELF-WORSHIP) THE PURPOSE OF THEIR LIVES, OR SWEAR OATHS JUST TO DECEIVE. THEY WILL RECEIVE A BLESSING FROM ALAHIM AND JUSTICE FROM HIM, WHO DELIVERS THEM. SUCH IS THE CHARACTER OF THOSE WHO SEEK HIM, OF JACOB, WHO SEEKS YOUR FACE. (SELAH) LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, YOU GATES! LIFT THEM UP, EVERLASTING DOORS, SO THAT THE GLORIOUS KING CAN ENTER! WHO IS HE, THIS GLORIOUS KING? YAHUAH, STRONG AND MIGHTY, YAHUAH, MIGHTY IN BATTLE. LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, YOU GATES! LIFT THEM UP, EVERLASTING DOORS, SO THAT THE GLORIOUS KING CAN ENTER! WHO IS HE, THIS GLORIOUS KING? YAHUAH ALL-POWERFUL— HE IS THE GLORIOUS KING. SELAH".
WHEN WE SEE THE WORDS `HANDS’ OR `FEET’ IT SPEAKS ABOUT ABOUT THE WAY WE LIVE THE WORD IN OUR DAY - OUR BEHAVIOUR OR OUR WALK. SO A PERSON WITH CLEAN HANDS BEHAVES IN A CLEAN, PURE, ACCEPTABLE WAY ACCORDING TO YAHUSHA’S FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS … AND A PURE HEART IS SOMEONE WHO HAS GOOD CHARACTER, AND A LIFE THAT HAS HAS BEEN MOLDED AND SHAPED BY ALAHIM THROUGH A PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION.
BUT HOW DO WE GET A "PURE HEART?” WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? IN MODERN TIMES TODAY, THE USE OF THE WORD "HEART" IS MEANT METAPHORICALLY AS A PLACE WHERE LOVE RESIDES (OR IF ONE HAS A WICKED HEART, WHERE HATE RESIDES). IT IS A CONCEPT THAT IS ALSO STEEPED IN EMOTION; IT REFLECTS HOW WE FEEL ABOUT OURSELVES OR SOMEONE ELSE. NONE OF THIS IS INHERENTLY BAD, BUT IT'S ALSO NOT THE SCRIPTURAL CONCEPT OF THE WORD "HEART".
SCRIPTURALLY THE HEART IS MORE OR LESS WHAT WE NOW KNOW THE BRAIN TO BE. THAT IS, SCRIPTURALLY WHEN THE WORD "HEART" IS USED, IT REFERS TO THAT PLACE IN THE HUMAN BODY WHERE THE MIND AND THE INTELLECT RESIDE. IN YAHUSHA'S ERA AND FOR SOME FEW MORE HUNDREDS OF YEARS, THE SEAT OF OUR VARIOUS EMOTIONS WAS NOT THOUGHT TO BE OUR HEART BUT RATHER THEY WERE DIVIDED UP INTO SEVERAL OF OUR ORGANS DEPENDING ON THE NATURE OF THE EMOTION. NEVER WAS THE HEART WHERE THE EMOTION OF WARM FEELINGS TOWARDS OTHERS, OR ALAHIM, LIVED. THE HEART WAS THOUGHT TO BE THE PLACE OF RATIONAL THOUGHT - THE PLACE WHERE WE PERCEIVED THE WORLD AROUND US AND THE PLACE OF MAKING DECISIONS, WEIGHING UP CHOICES AND OPTIONS.
TODAY, EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW THAT NO EMOTIONS OR THINKING WHATSOEVER OCCUR IN OUR LITERAL HEART-PUMPING ORGAN, THE TERM "HEART" HAS BECOME A METAPHOR FOR A PLACE OF WARM, LOVING FEELINGS.
BUT IF WE WERE FORCED TO CHOOSE ONLY ONE ENGLISH WORD TO USE INSTEAD OF "HEART" TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YAHUSHA’S WORD IS GETTING AT WHEN THAT WORD IS USED, THE WORD WOULD BE "MIND". SO A MORE ACCURATE WAY TO SAY THIS 6TH BEATITUDE WOULD BE "BLESSED ARE THE PURE OF MIND FOR THEY WILL SEE ALAHIM".
SO CLEARLY A BATTLE MUST BE FOUGHT IN OUR MINDS, FOR SCRIPTURE TELLS US THAT `AS A MAN THINKS IN HIS HEART (MIND), SO HE WILL BE (BEHAVE)'. OUR MIND HEARS MILLIONS OF THOUGHTS A DAY, WE LISTEN TO THEM, BELIEVE THEM, AND OUR BODY PERFORMS THEM, BEHAVES THEM, FEELS THEM. THE THOUGHTS WE BELIEVE AND LET IN, CREATE MOODS, FEELINGS, CAUSE US TO LOOK, ACT AND TREAT PEOPLE IN CERTAIN WAYS. THE CORRUPT SPIRIT IN OUR FLESH IS FED BY THE LIES OF FALLEN EVIL SPIRITS IN HIGH PLACES, WHO SEEK TO STOP US FROM CONNECTING WITH YAHUSHA, STOP US FROM BECOMING WHAT THEY CAN NEVER, AND ULTIMATELY DESTROY US FROM THE INSIDE OUT AS WELL AS THROUGH OTHERS AND OUTSIDE WORLD!
SO WHAT DOES THE WORD "PURE" MEAN IN THE SCRIPTURAL SENSE AS IT RELATES TO THE CONDITION OF OUR MIND? HAVING A PURE MIND?
WE MUST FIRST CONSULT THE OLD HISTORIC DOCUMENTS OF SCRIPTURE AND RECALL THE PURITY LAWS OF THE TORAH (WHICH ARE OBVIOUSLY EXTERNAL TO THE BODY). OLD COVENANT RITUAL PURITY IS MAINTAINED BY NOT CONTACTING SOMETHING THAT IS IMPURE. HOWEVER SHOULD THE INEVITABLE HAPPEN, A WASH AND A WAIT CURES IT. THAT IS, IF A PERSON HAS BECOME RITUALLY IMPURE (AND ALL DID AT SOME POINT - BLOOD, SPIT, SEMEN, DEAD CARCAS, FORBIDDEN ANIMALS ETC ETC) ONE MUST BE IMMERSED IN LIVING (FLOWING) WATER AND THEN (DEPENDING ON THE NATURE AND CAUSE OF THE IMPURITY) MUST WAIT FOR A SPECIFIED AMOUNT OF TIME TO PASS. THESE SHADOW TEACHINGS WERE EXTERNAL AND POINTED TO THE TRUE HUMAN CONDITION OF CORRUPTION AND THE PURITY YAHUSHA OFFERS US.
OBVIOUSLY OUR MINDS CANNOT BE IMMERSED IN LITERAL H2O (RUNNING) WATER - FOR A MIND IS AN INTANGIBLE THING, MEANING WHAT WE THINK AND WHAT WE BELIEVE IS INVISIBLE EXCEPT FOR THE BEHAVIOURS THAT RESULT FROM THE THINKING IN OUR MIND. THEREFORE WHILE THE MOST PIOUS JEWS (INCLUDING YAHUSHA) WOULD BAPTISE ON A REGULAR BASIS FOR ALL SORTS OF RITUAL PURITY REASONS, IT WAS REGULARLY DONE IN A FASTIDIOUS ADHERENCE TO A TORAH LAW REGARDING RITUAL PURITY AND TOO OFTEN PERFORMED MERELY AS A MECHANICAL CUSTOM.
HOWEVER OUR MINDS MUST INDEED BE `CLEANSED' BY 'THE WASHING OF THE WATER OF THE WORD', IN ORDER FOR US TO BE BLESSED AS ONE OF `PURE HEART' (MIND).
AN INTERNAL WASHING/BAPTISM MUST OCCUR!
HEBREW FOR “PURE”:
1249 - beloved; also pure, clean, clear.
1305 - to clarify (i.e. brighten), examine, select:--make bright, choice, chosen, cleanse (be clean), clearly, polished, pureify, purge (out).
1865 - to move rapidly, freedom; hence, spontaneity of outflow, and so clear:--liberty, pure.
2135 - to be translucent, to be innocent:--be (make) clean, cleanse, be clear, count pure.
2561 - wine (as fermenting):--pure, red wine.
2715 - white or pure (from the cleansing or shining power of fire.
2891 - to be bright; to be pure (physical sound, clear, unadulterated; Levitically, uncontaminated; morally, innocent or holy):--be (make, make self, pronounce) clean, cleanse self, purge, purify self.
3795 - beaten, i.e. pure (oil): -beaten.
3800 - something carved out, i.e. ore; gold (pure as originally mined):--(most) fine, pure golden wedge.
5462 - to shut up, to surrender:--close up, deliver, give over, inclose, repair, shut in, self, out, up, up together, stop.
6337 - pure gold; hence, gold itself (as refined):--fine (pure) gold.
6884 - to fuse (metal), i.e. refine --cast, refineer, founder, goldsmith, melt, pure, purge away, try.
SO THE TRUE BRIDE OF YAHUSHA UNDERSTANDS THAT THE OUTWARD DISPLAY AND RITUAL WASHING OF H2O WATER IS NO LONGER EFFECTIVE FOR DELIVERANCE, AS IT WAS AN OLD SHADOW OF THE REAL INTERNAL AND SPIRITUAL BAPTISM OF SPIRIT AND FIRE THAT YAHUSHA IS WANTING ACHIEVED. THE GOAL IS A QUIET PRIVATE ENCOUNTER WITH YAHUSHA AS THE NARROW GATE -NOT TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION UPON THE RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES AND WITNESSES IN ORDER TO SATISFY THEIR RIDICULOUS GROUP RULES AND CUSTOMS.
THAT'S WHY IN THESE LAST FEW YEARS OF HUMAN HISTORY, YAHUSHA HAS BROKEN DOWN ALL OF HIS WORD INTO A BITE-SIZED EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND VEIN OF ENTRANCE, WHEREBY A GENUINE CANDIDATE FOR ETERNAL LIFE CAN BE INTRODUCED TO YAHUSHA, UNDERSTAND THAT HE IS ALAHIM AND THE NARROW-GATE (DOOR/PORTAL OF WORLDS) WHERE WE ENTER IN TO `KNOW AND SEE HIM.’
THROUGH REPENTANCE, WE FACE THAT OUR CONDITION IS POOR, CORRUPT AND UNCLEAN, NEEDING A HEALING AND PURIFYING, WHICH YAHUSHA WILL DO BY GIVING US A NEW CLEAN HEART, AND THROUGH THE REAL BAPTISM OF HIS SPIRIT, IMPLANT US WITH A SMALL `DOWN-PAYMENT’ OF HIS KINGDOM IN SEED-FORM.
THIS SEED MUST GROW AS WE WATER IT, FEEDING ON HIS LIVING WORDS AND ACTIVATING IT INTO CLEAN WORSHIP BEHAVIOUR. AS WE PUT ON THE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS UNDER YAHUSHA’S NEW COVENANT ROYAL LAWS OF LOVE, OUR MINDS ARE WASHED CLEAN OF OUR PAST FILTH AND HABITS AND HIS FIRE PURGES, BURNS, PURIFIES AND DELIVERS US FROM THE SPIRIT IN OUR FLESH THAT HAS BEEN INVADING OUR MINDS, CONSTANTLY RUNNING US DOWN WITH DISGUSTING LIES ABOUT OURSELVES AND OTHERS. SO EVEN THOUGH YAHUSHA COMES AND LIVES IN OUR HEARTS, OUR MINDS ARE STILL UNDER MASSIVE ATTACK AND MUST BE DISCIPLINED INTO SELF-CONTROL WHICH IS WHERE OUR CHOICE COMES IN.
WE DO THE CHOOSING! OUR WILL BECOMES ALIGNED WITH YAHUSHA'S THROUGH A TORTUROUS BAPTISM OF FIRE AND TESTING (HEB 12 - FLOGGING). YES! THE SAME SPIRIT AND FIRE THAT SAT ON THE HEADS OF THE DISCIPLES IN THE UPPER ROOM NOW CLEANSES US AND GIVES US DIVINE UTTERANCE AND FLUENCY OF LANGUAGE IN THE SPIRIT (TONGUES) WITH WHICH TO INTERPRET AND UNDERSTAND THE SECRET PARABLES OF SCRIPTURE AND THE POWER TO BEHAVE IN A PURE WAY (IN SPIRIT).
THEN YAHUSHA SAYS THE REWARD FOR HAVING A PURE HEART (MIND) IS THAT WE WILL 'SEE ALAHIM'.
HEBREW FOR “SEE”:
238 - to expand; to broaden out the ear (with the hand), to listen:--give (perceive by the) ear, hearken.
541 - to take the right hand road:--turn to the right.
2370 - to gaze upon; mentally to dream, be usual (i.e. seem):--behold, have a dream, see.
2372 - to gaze at; mentally, to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure); to have a vision of:--behold, look, prophesy.
2534 - heat; anger, poison (from its fever):--anger, bottles, hot displeasure, furious, heat, indignation, poison, rage, wrath.
2734 - to glow or grow warm; to blaze up, of anger, zeal, jealousy:--be angry, burn, be displeased, earnestly, fret self, grieve, be wax hot, be incensed, kindle, very, be wroth.
3070 Yahuah Yirah, Yahuah will see (to it); a symbolical name for Mount Moriah:--Yahuah-Yirah. When instructed to sacrifice his only son of covenant promise, Abraham was told that on the mountain of Yahuah (Moriah) He will be seen (Yahuah Yirah). Everything Yahuah established and promised regarding Abraham, Isaac (and Jacob) on Mt Moriah was completely fulfilled when Yahusha was raised up on a stake for all to see in the final act of blood atonement, sacrifice and deliverance.
SO WE SEE YAHUAH IN HIS FLESHLY TRANSFORMED STATE AS YAHUSHA ALAHIM - FOR YAHUAH MORPHED AND IS NOW GONE !
4758 - a view (the act of seeing); also an appearance (the thing seen), whether (real) a shape (especially if handsome, comeliness; often plural the looks), or (mental) a vision:--apparently, appearance, as soon as beautifully), countenance, fair, favoured, form, goodly, to look up, pattern, to see, seem, sight, visage, vision.
5027 - to scan, i.e. look intently at; to regard with pleasure, favour or care.
5216 - to glisten; a lamp (i.e. the burner) or light:--candle, lamp, light.
6030 - to eye or to heed, i.e. pay attention; to respond; to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce:--give account, afflict, give answer, bring low lift up, give a shout, sing together by course, speak, testify, utter, bear witness.
SO 'SEEING ALAHIM', AT SURFACE GLANCE (IN THAT DAY) MEANT TO KNOW ALAHIM INTIMATELY IN THE HERE AND NOW THROUGH KNOWLEDGE AND OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD, KNOWING HIS WAYS AND HAVING A PROFOUND LOYALTY TO HIM THAT RESULTS IN A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. "SEEING ALAHIM' IS ORIGINALLY A HEBREW EXPRESSION SINCE THE PRINCIPLE FROM EXODUS CHAPTER 33 IS THAT NO ONE MAY SEE ALAHIM AND LIVE.
THEREFORE SEEING AND VIEWING WITH OUR EYES THE PERSON AND SUBSTANCE OF THE ETERNAL YAHUAH MEANS WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE THROUGH PERSONAL REVELATION THAT YAHUAH LEFT HIS THRONE AND TRANSFORMED INTO YAHUSHA, THE VISIBLE, MANIFESTED EXPRESSION, IMAGE AND FULNESS OF ALAHIM BODILY. HE TAKES US, CHOOSES US, PLACES US ON A NARROW PATH OF DELIVERANCE AND FINISHES THE WORK HE STARTED BY EMPOWERING US TO OVERCOME THE SPIRIT IN OUR FLESH WITH ITS LUSTS AND DESIRES.
SO IF A PERSON IS OF PURE HEART (MIND), THEN THEY WILL BEGIN TO EXPERIENCE YAHUSHA’S DELIVERANCE, AND IF ONE IS DELIVERED, THEN THEY HAVE ACCESSED HIS KINGDOM, ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH HIM ALL DAY AND HEAR HIS VOICE. THE RELATIONSHIP MATURES AND GETS DEEPER AND STRONGER SO THAT WHEN HE RETURNS, HE WILL KNOW US, JUST AS WE KNOW HIM AND WILL SEE HIM IN HIS FULNESS, AND DWELL WITH HIM IN THE SAME WAY ADAM AND EVE ORIGINALLY DID, BUT ON A NEW EARTH, IN A NEW EDENIC-LIKE CITY, WHERE WE SEE YAHUSHA ALAHIM FACE TO FACE ANEW FOR ETERNITY.
ARE YOU BEING TAUGHT TO SEE YAHUAH OR YAHUSHA ALAHIM THROUGH AN OLD DEAD COVENANT OR NEW COVENANT ROYAL LAWS OF LOVE ?
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven".
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted".
“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth".
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled".
“Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will be shown mercy (compassion)".
“Blessed are the pure in heart, (mind) for they will see Alahim."
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called 'Sons of Alahim.'"
MANY RATHER AUTOMATICALLY ASSUME BY THE MENTION OF "PEACE" IN THIS 7TH BEATITUDE THAT THIS STATEMENT FROM YAHUSHA IS MEANT TO INVOKE THE ORIGINAL HEBREW CONCEPT OF ‘SHALOM’ IN THIS HUGE CROWD OF JEWS BEFORE HIM. BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT HE'S REFERRING TO, FOR ONE GLARING REASON, ALAHIM ALONE IS THE MAKER AND GIVER OF SHALOM, WHILE YAHUSHA IS SPEAKING HERE TO CERTAIN HUMAN BEINGS WHO ARE "THE MAKERS OF PEACE".
SHALOM IS A SPIRITUAL CONCEPT ABOUT DIVINELY GIVEN WELL-BEING IN ALL OF ITS FACETS; HEALTH, INNER PEACE, JOY, PROSPERITY, CLOSE TO ALAHIM, SPIRITUALLY ALIVE, WELCOME, AND MORE. IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCED WITHIN A HUMAN; FOR IT IS A SPIRITUAL FRUIT THAT MUST BE GROWN AND EXERCISED WITHIN US AFTER OUR BAPTISM IN YAHUSHA ALAHIM’S SPIRIT. SO THIS BEATITUDE CAN ONLY BE ABOUT PEACE IN THE MORE CONVENTIONAL SENSE THAT IS FAMILIAR TO MOST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. THAT IS, PEACE BEING AN ABSENCE OF CONFLICT OR STRIFE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL.
IF WE BACK AWAY FROM THIS PASSAGE AND LOOK AT YAHUSHA'S WORD OVERALL, EVERY MENTION OF PEACE IN THE SCRIPTURE CERTAINLY DOESN'T MEAN THE GIFT OF DIVINE WELL-BEING. A GOOD EXAMPLE IS FROM THE MOUTH OF YAHUSHA HIMSELF :
MATTHEW 10:34 "DON'T THINK THAT I HAVE COME TO BRING PEACE, FOR I HAVE NOT COME TO BRING PEACE, BUT A SWORD!
THERE ARE NUMEROUS OTHER PASSAGES TO HELP EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF "PEACE" IN THIS BEATITUDE, BUT IN THIS ONE ABOVE WE SEE A PLAY-ON-WORDS OCCURRING THAT GIVES US BOTH ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM OF THE SCRIPTURAL MEANING OF "PEACE". THE TYPE OF PEACE THAT OUR ALAHIM ALWAYS BRINGS IS DIVINE AND HEAVENLY SHALOM, SPIRIT-PRODUCED WELL-BEING FOR HUMANS. AND, YAHUSHA SAYS, HE IS NOT BRINGING THAT!!
RATHER IT IS THAT HIS ACTIONS, BEHAVIOUR AND WORDS WILL NOT BRING ABOUT WELL-BEING BUT WILL ACTUALLY BE THE CATALYST FOR HUMAN CONFLICT. HE SAYS THAT HE IS BRINGING A SWORD! A SWORD IS A MILITARY WEAPON FOR THE PURPOSE OF FIGHTING A CONFLICT !
SO LET'S TAKE THIS UNDERSTANDING BACK TO YAHUSHA'S 7th BEATITUDE, FOR THE PEACEMAKERS ARE NOT, AND CANNOT BE, THE SPIRITUAL SHALOM- MAKERS. RATHER THE PEACEMAKERS ARE THE ONES WHO TRY TO PREVENT, OR BRING AN END, TO HUMAN CONFLICT, WHETHER THAT CONFLICT IS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS OR BETWEEN NATIONS.
AS WITH THE OTHER BEATITUDES, YAHUSHA IS NOT ANNOUNCING A NEW IDEA OR PLAN. RATHER HE IS MERELY SAYING WHAT IS ALREADY IN THE TORAH, AND WAS ALSO PART OF THE JEWISH CULTURE AT THAT TIME. SO THE FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING "PEACE" (A LACK OF CONFLICT) WAS AN ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLE AND VIRTUE AMONG THE JEWISH LEADERSHIP AND THEREFORE ALREADY AMONG THE JEWISH SOCIETY. SO WHAT, THEN, WAS YAHUSHA GETTING AT WHEN HE SAID THOSE WORDS?
LET’S LOOK TO THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR AN ANSWER. DURING THE EARLY 1st CENTURY THE JEWS WERE AN OCCUPIED NATION. SOME JEWS WERE CONTENT TO LIVE WITH THIS UNPLEASANT REALITY, WHILE OTHERS WERE VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED. BECAUSE OF THE ROMAN OCCUPATION MOST JEWS THOUGHT THEY WERE LIVING IN THE END TIMES, AND THE PROPHETS SPEAK OF THOSE TIMES AS TURBULENT AND FULL OF WARS AND CONFLICTS. MANY JEWS WANTED TO RESIST THE ROMANS BUT NOT SO FAR AS TO BRING ABOUT HOSTILE RETRIBUTION OR WAR.
SOME MILITARY TYPES, "" CALLED ZEALOTS "" WANTED AN OUTRIGHT WAR OF REBELLION. THE PROPHETS WHO FORETOLD OF THE ROMAN OCCUPATION SAID IT WAS YAHUAH ALAHIM USING A FOREIGN POWER TO PUNISH ISRAEL FOR THEIR UNFAITHFULNESS TO HIM. THEREFORE WE'LL FIND YAHUSHA URGING THE PEOPLE NOT TO RISE UP AGAINST ROME BUT RATHER FINDING A WAY TO LIVE WITH IT PEACEFULLY, BECAUSE THE OCCUPATION WAS ALAHIM’S DOING. NO DOUBT AMONG THE DIVERSE THOUSANDS AT HIS SERMON ON THE MOUNT THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN FOLKS WHO
ADOPTED EVERY VIEW AND HOPE CONCERNING THE ROMAN OCCUPATION OF THE HOLY/SET-APART LAND. THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN ZEALOTS AND ACTIVE OCCUPATION RESISTERS LISTENING, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO HAD SYMPATHY WITH THEM OR EVEN WERE CONSIDERING JOINING THEM FOR SUCH WAS THE TIMES, AND YAHUSHA WAS PROBABLY SPEAKING TO ALOT OF THEM.
AS FOR THE MATTER OF THESE WHO REMAINED NON-VIOLENT (PEACEMAKERS) BEING CALLED "SONS OF ALAHIM" FOR THEIR EFFORTS, THE REALITY IS THAT THE THE KINGS OF ISRAEL WERE CALLED 'SONS OF ALAHIM' AS WERE ANGELS. SO BEING A ‘SON OF ALAHIM’ WAS, SCRIPTURALLY, APPLIED IN MORE THAN ONE SITUATION THROUGHOUT.
PAUL ALSO ADDRESSES THIS TERM :
ROMANS 8:14 “ALL WHO ARE LED BY ALAHIM'S SPIRIT ARE SONS OF ALAHIM”.
A BELIEVER IS IMPUTED TO BE ALAHIM’S SON BECAUSE ANYONE LED BY ALAHIM’S SPIRIT IS A SON TO HIM. THIS IS A JEWISH EXPRESSION THAT REFLECTS A UNIVERSALLY UNDERSTOOD JEWISH CULTURAL CONCEPT OF THE VALUE OF A SON OVER A SERVANT. ALTHOUGH SEVERAL SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS WILL BE CALLED SERVANTS OF ALAHIM (A HIGH STATUS), THOSE CALLED SONS OF ALAHIM ARE EVEN HIGHER.
SO WHILE PRIESTS WERE CALLED SERVANTS OF ALAHIM (A HIGH STATUS), ISRAEL’S KINGS WERE CALLED SONS OF ALAHIM (AN EVEN HIGHER STATUS). PROPHETS WERE CALLED SERVANTS OF ALAHIM; BUT YAHUSHA IS CALLED THE SON OF ALAHIM. THUS THE TYPICAL LEVITICAL PRIESTS (ALTHOUGH INDEED SERVING ALAHIM) DO NOT HAVE ALAHIM’S SPIRIT IN THEM SO THEY CAN ONLY BE CALLED SERVANTS.
"I do not call you servants, but friends, telling you everything that i'm doing!"
SO EVERY NEW COVENANT BELIEVER IN YAHUSHA ALAHIM (ENTERING HIS DELIVERANCE VEIN) IS ELEVATED IN STATUS WAY ABOVE LEVITICAL PRIESTS BECAUSE WE HAVE ALAHIM’S SPIRIT LIVING IN US THROUGH HIS BAPTISM OF SPIRIT, SO WE ARE SONS OF ALAHIM AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK !
BOTTOM LINE TO BEATITUDE NUMBER 7:
BEING A NON-VIOLENT PEACEMAKER IS AN EXPECTED PART OF THE CHARACTER OF A DISCIPLE OF YAHUSHA. SO FROM THE SURFACE (CULTURAL) INTERPRETATION, THIS BEATITUDE IS YAHUSHA SAYING THAT FOLLOWING HIM MEANS SAYING 'NO!' TO RESISTING ROME AND ESPECIALLY TO FOMENTING TROUBLE ... IE "OBEY THE RULERS WHO HAVE AUTHORITY OVER YOU. ONLY ALAHIM CAN GIVE AUTHORITY TO ANYONE, AND HE PUTS THESE RULERS IN THEIR PLACES OF POWER. SO PEOPLE WHO OPPOSE THE AUTHORITIES AND GOVERNMENT ARE OPPOSING WHAT ALAHIM HAS DONE, AND THEY WILL BE PUNISHED. RULERS ARE A THREAT TO EVIL PEOPLE, NOT TO GOOD PEOPLE". ROMANS 13
SO MAKING PEACE WITH THE OCCUPYING ROMANS (AS MUCH AS WAS WITHIN THEIR CONTROL) WAS THE WISE CHOICE. THIS WOULD HAVE GREATLY DISAPPOINTED MANY OF THE ZEALOTS IN THE CROWD AND CONVINCED MOST JEWS THAT YAHUSHA COULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE MESSIAH BECAUSE THE TRADITIONAL BELIEF WAS THAT ALAHIM'S MESSIAH WOULD BE A GREAT WARRIOR KING (LIKE DAVID) WHO WOULD APPEAR AND LEAD ISRAEL TO DEFEAT THE ROMANS, AND ALSO TO BEGIN A NEW GOLDEN AGE OF ISRAEL'S DOMINANCE IN THE REGION, IF NOT OVER THE ENTIRE KNOWN WORLD. THE JEWS DOING WHAT YAHUSHA IS COMMANDING, THEN, WILL MAKE THEM SONS OF ALAHIM AND GREAT IN ALAHIM'S EYES, BUT NOT NECESSARILY SO IN THE EYES OF OTHER JEWS.
YAHUSHA IS BASICALLY GIVING THESE PEOPLE THE 3 RULES:
SO READING THIS CULTURALLY WE CAN SEE THE GREAT UNREST GOING ON IN ISRAEL AT THAT TIME, HOWEVER FROM A DEEPER SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING, BEING SONS OF ALAHIM (IN THE PRESENT) WILL PROPEL US TO BEING SONS OF ALAHIM IN A GREATER (MORE ULTIMATE) SENSE IN THE ETERNAL FUTURE. ONE SUCH SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLE TO EXPLAIN AND SUPPORT THIS IS FOUND IN REVELATION 21.
REVELATION 21
"I AM THE ALEPH AND THE TAU, THE BEGINNING AND THE END. TO ANYONE WHO IS THIRSTY I MYSELF WILL GIVE WATER FREE OF CHARGE FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. HE WHO OVERCOMES WILL RECEIVE THESE THINGS, AND I WILL BE HIS ALAHIM, AND HE WILL BE MY SON".
SO THE MEANING OF "SONS OF ALAHIM" MEANS THAT IN THE ETERNAL FUTURE, THE BRIDE WILL FINALLY ATTAIN THE STATUS AND FULLEST REALITY OF WHAT ALAHIM ORDAINED AT THE BEGINNING OF CREATION.
GENESIS 1:26 “THEN ALAHIM SAID, 'LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, IN THE LIKENESS OF ALAHIM”.
THAT IS TO SAY THAT WE WILL, UPON THE NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH, ACHIEVE A LIKENESS (AN IMAGE) TO YAHUSHA ALAHIM, AND A CONNECTION AND INTIMACY WITH HIM, THAT WE HAVE YET TO EXPERIENCE AND CANNOT IN OUR CURRENT PHYSICAL FORM AND UNIVERSE ... BUT WE CAN GET VERY CLOSE IF WE GO THROUGH THE NARROW DELIVERANCE VEIN!
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called 'Sons of Alahim.'"
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."
THE WORD "PERSECUTED" IS RATHER STANDARD IN ENGLISH SCRIPTURES AND IT IS USED REGULARLY IN THE NEW COVENANT WRITINGS AND IT ISN'T WRONGLY TRANSLATED. HOWEVER IN MODERN TIMES WE VIEW THE TERM "PERSECUTION" AS NEARLY SYNONYMOUS WITH STRENUOUS TORTURE AND VIOLENT OPPRESSION. THAT IS, PERSECUTION IS SOMETHING QUITE SEVERE IN WHICH ONE'S LIFE IS EITHER GREATLY HINDERED OR EVEN PUT IN DANGER. SO IN OUR TIME A BETTER WORD IS PROBABLY "HARASSED". PERHAPS EVEN "MADE FUN OF, MOCKED AND RIDICULED" ALSO CAPTURES ANOTHER ASPECT OF IT. IT IS NOT THAT THIS TERM PERSECUTION CAN'T AT SOME POINT RISE IN INTENSITY, HOWEVER TRUE, VIOLENT OPPRESSION AND HARM IS THE LATTER END OF THE SCALE OF THE WORD'S INTENTION. AND THAT MEANING IS NOT SOMETHING THAT MOST JEWS IN YAHUSHA'S DAY FACED, NOR DO THE MAJORITY OF BELIEVERS FACE TODAY (THOUGH THERE ARE PARTS OF THE WORLD, IN WHICH DAILY LIFE IS UNDER THREAT).
SO TO HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT YAHUSHA IS TELLING US, LET’S REPEAT THE VERSE USING A WORD THAT HISTORY WOULD SHOW US IS CLOSER TO WHAT HE MEANT TO COMMUNICATE TO THE CROWD. "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE HATED AND HARASSED BECAUSE THEY PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS! FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THEIRS."
REGARDLESS OF PRECISELY HOW TO PERSONALLY CONNECT AND TRANSMIT THE IDEA OF PERSECUTION IN MODERN TERMS, THE POINT OF THE VERSE IS THAT THERE IS COST TO PURSUING RIGHTEOUSNESS.
BUT THE NEXT QUESTION IS: WHAT FORM OR DISPLAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THIS REFERRING TO? EVERY JEWISH PERSON IN THAT ERA WOULD TELL YOU THAT THEY WERE ALREADY PURSUING RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR IT WAS BUT PART OF THEIR UNIQUE CULTURE. BY OBSERVING THE TORAH, THE SABBATHS AND THE FEASTS, PRAYING AND (IN THE LAST FEW CENTURIES) THE FOLLOWING OF TRADITIONS AND GOING TO SYNAGOGUE ALONG WITH GENERALLY BEING A GOOD PERSON, THIS WOULD HAVE REPRESENTED THE POPULAR JEWISH BELIEF TO PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS. TO PUT A FINER POINT TO IT - RIGHTEOUSNESS WAS WRAPPED UP IN BEHAVIOUR.
COMPLICATING THE MATTER WAS THAT THERE WERE SEVERAL DISTINCT AND COMPETING SECTS OF JEWS WHO HAD FORMED VARYING INTERPRETATIONS OF THE TORAH AND SO EACH SECT ACTED OUT JEWISH TRADITION AND ALAHIM'S COMMANDMENTS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENTLY FROM ONE ANOTHER. SO THESE DIFFERENCES IN DOCTRINE SOMETIMES LED TO SERIOUS CONFRONTATIONS.
SO IF YAHUSHA'S FINAL FEW WORDS OF THIS BEATITUDE HAD NOT BEEN SPOKEN, NO DOUBT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT FOR THE LISTENERS TO TAKE THE CONCEPT OF THE PURSUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS ANY OTHER WAY THAN PRECISELY HOW ONE BEHAVED IN EVERY DAY LIFE AND IN HOW FASTIDIOUSLY THEY OBSERVED TORAH RITUALS AND COMMANDS ALREADY. BUT WHEN YAHUSHA COMPLETED HIS STATEMENT WITH: "FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THEIRS", IT CHANGED THE FOCUS AND THE SOURCE OF THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN….. THAT IS, FROM HUMANS TO ALAHIM … FROM SELF/FLESHLY (EGO CENTERED RIGHTEOUSNESS) - TO THE TRUE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUS BEHAVIOUR AS GOVERNED BY YAHUSHA ... EVEN IF A GREAT PART OF THE CROWD DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATION.
OUR HUMAN RIGHTEOUSNESS IS INDEED BASED ON COMMANDS/RULES-FOLLOWING AND BEHAVIOUR. BUT THAT IS NOT A KIND OF RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT CAN DELIVER US, EVEN THOUGH GOOD-WORKS AND RIGHTEOUS BEHAVIOUR AND COMMAND-FOLLOWING IS CERTAINLY AN ONGOING EXPECTATION OF YAHUSHA'S WISE BRIDE. HUMAN-BASED RIGHTEOUSNESS IS OF A KIND THAT OUR OWN DEVOTION, FOCUS AND DETERMINATION TRIES TO ACHIEVE; BUT IT REALLY DOESN'T, BECAUSE IT CAN'T JOIN US TO THE INVISIBLE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
WE MUST FIRST BECOME SPIRITUALLY GRAFTED/ADOPTED INTO YAHUSHA’S REIGN THROUGH HIS SPIRIT BAPTISM AND PUT ON THE FRUITS OF ALAHIM'S PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS BEHAVIOUR.
SO FROM THE SURFACE INTERPRETATION, YAHUSHA WAS TELLING HIS 1ST CENTURY LISTENERS THAT THE HARASSMENT THEY WOULD RECEIVE FOR PURSUING ALAHIM'S DELIVERANCE & RIGHTEOUSNESS WOULD BE REWARDED IN THEIR MEMBERSHIP TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. BUT WHAT THOSE LISTENERS DIDN'T YET UNDERSTAND WAS THAT THIS PURSUIT THAT WOULD BEGIN WITH REPENTING OF SINS, WOULD THEN INVOLVE TURNING TO ALAHIM BY MEANS OF TRUSTING IN YAHUSHA AS THEIR MASTER AND DELIVERER.
ALTHOUGH AFTER A COUPLE MORE STATEMENTS YAHUSHA WOULD HEAVILY IMPLY THAT FOLLOWING HIM WAS THE KEY. ONCE THE JEWISH FOLKS DID THAT, IT WAS AUTOMATIC THAT THEY WOULD BE RIDICULED AND HARASSED BY BOTH THE TEMPLE AND THE SYNAGOGUE LEADERSHIP, AND THE BULK OF JEWISH SOCIETY. AFTER SOME YEARS PASSED THE HARASSMENT OF YAHUSHA'S FOLLOWERS WOULD INDEED ESCALATE INTO OPPRESSION AND VIOLENCE AGAINST THEM. IN FACT, YAHUSHA PROPHESIED THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN AND WHO WOULD BE THE FIRST TO THREATEN AND ADVOCATE HARM TO THE MESSIANIC BELIEVERS :
MATTHEW 23:29-34 "WOE TO YOU HYPOCRITICAL TORAH-TEACHERS AND PHARISEES! ... YOU ARE WORTHY DESCENDANTS OF THOSE WHO MURDERED THE PROPHETS. GO AHEAD THEN, FINISH WHAT YOUR FATHERS STARTED! "YOU SERPENTS! SONS OF VIPERS! HOW CAN YOU ESCAPE BEING CONDEMNED TO DESTRUCTION? THEREFORE I AM SENDING YOU PROPHETS AND SAGES AND TORAH-TEACHERS- SOME OF THEM YOU WILL KILL, INDEED, YOU WILL HAVE THEM EXECUTED ON STAKES AS CRIMINALS; SOME YOU WILL FLOG IN YOUR SYNAGOGUES AND PURSUE FROM TOWN TO TOWN”.
YAHUSHA SAYS THAT IT WILL BE THE RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP OF THE SYNAGOGUE THAT WILL LEAD THE WAY IN SLANDERING AND MISTREATING HIS JEWISH FOLLOWERS. NOW IN THE SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING HOWEVER, YAHUSHA'S WORDS IN THIS 8th BEATITUDE ARE REFERRING TO THE END TIMES WHEN BELIEVERS MAY BE HUNTED DOWN AND SEVERELY OPPRESSED, ON A WORLDWIDE BASIS. THAT IS, PERSECUTION FOR PURSUING RIGHTEOUSNESS IN YAHUSHA MOVES FROM MERE HARASSMENT AND RIDICULE (AS IS NOW HAPPENING IN THE WEST) TO PERSECUTION MORE AS WE THINK OF THE TERM; BEING HATED, HARMED AND MURDERED. IN FACT, AS WE KNOW FROM DANIEL, JEREMIAH, ISAIAH AND REVELATION, BEING THE BRIDE COULD EVENTUALLY BE OFFICIALLY CONSIDERED AS MAKING US AN ENEMY OF THE STATE…. OF GLOBAL HUMANITY. BUT FOR NOW, IN THE WEST, THE COST OF PURSUING RIGHTEOUSNESS IS PRIMARILY JUST RIDICULE BEING INCITED BY THE CULTURAL ELITE. LATER THE COST MAY WELL BE OUR JOBS, OUR PERSONAL FREEDOM, AND THEN OUR LIVES.
BUT THERE'S NOT REALLY ENOUGH TIME FOR THINGS TO GET WORSE IS THERE ... WE'RE ALREADY LIVING IN A WORLD THAT'S AT IT'S BRINK OF DESTRUCTION ... APPROX 2 YEARS LEFT!
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called 'Sons of Alahim.'"
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."
“Blessed are you when men hate you, insult you, persecute you and say all kinds of evil lies about you because of Me. Rejoice and be very glad, for great is your reward in Heaven, for they persecuted the prophets who came before you in the exact same way."
FOR THE FIRST TIME, YAHUSHA NOW TIES TOGETHER THESE VARIOUS FORMS AND MEANS OF PERSECUTION AS BEING THE CONSEQUENCE OF FOLLOWING HIM. HE SAYS: "BECAUSE YOU FOLLOW ME". AND SINCE BEATITUDES 4 AND 8 BOTH SPEAK OF SOME FORM OF PERSECUTION (THAT IS THE RESULT OF PURSUING THE KIND OF SAVING RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT YAHUSHA IS SPEAKING ABOUT) THEN CLEARLY HE IS SAYING THAT THE PURSUIT OF HIM (FOLLOWING HIM THROUGH THE VEIN TO YOUR DEATH AND DELIVERANCE) IS THE PURSUIT OF BECOMING TRULY RIGHTEOUS FOR THE ETERNAL KINGDOM. AND THAT, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, IS A BOLD AND ENORMOUS CLAIM THAT NO DOUBT BROUGHT A WIDE RANGE OF EMOTION AND REACTION IN THAT HUGE CROWD. FROM ELATION TO ANGER, AND FROM FEAR TO DISAPPOINTMENT OR EVEN BEFUDDLEMENT, THIS YAHUSHA FELLOW WAS EITHER A LIAR, A MADMAN, OR SOMEONE VERY SPECIAL THAT NEEDED TO BE HEARD AND ACCEPTED, EVEN IF THE FOLKS COULDN'T ABSORB THE FULL MEANING OF ALL HE WAS SAYING.
DOUBLING DOWN ON HIS INCOMPARABLE PROMISE, HE GOES SO FAR AS TO SAY THAT ALL WHO WILL SURELY SUFFER FROM FOLLOWING HIM WILL BE REWARDED IN HEAVEN. AND WHY SHOULD THEY FIND THAT ODD OR SUSPECT? AFTER ALL, SAYS YAHUSHA, THE PROPHETS OF OLD SUFFERED THE SAME AND WORSE FOR HEARING AND BELIEVING THE DIVINE TRUTH (A TRUTH THAT ISRAEL'S LEADERS RARELY WANTED TO HEAR).
SO REJOICING IS THE PROPER RESPONSE FOR THOSE WHO TRUST YAHUSHA AND ACT UPON THAT TRUST. REJOICING IS THE PROPER THOUGHT PROCESS AND MENTAL ATTITUDE TO MAINTAIN WHEN KNOWING AND SPEAKING THE TRUTH, WHICH LIKELY REDUCES OUR POPULARITY AND CAUSES US TO BE EXCLUDED FROM SOME OF OUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND EVEN SOCIETY. IT MAY WELL BE THAT OUR REJOICING WILL BE MUTED SLIGHTLY IN THE HERE AND NOW DUE TO SUFFERING, BUT AT THE SAME TIME THERE IS THE GREATEST HOPE AND A PROMISE FOR A FUTURE IN YAHUSHA'S KINGDOM THAT IS NOTHING BUT JOY. SO THE THOUGHTS OF THE ATTENDEES AT THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT WAS THAT YAHUSHA WAS TALKING ABOUT HEAVEN (ALAHIM IN HEAVEN, REALLY) BLESSING THEM IN SOME UNDEFINED WAY DURING THEIR LIVES AS A REWARD FOR FOLLOWING YAHUSHA….. EVEN IF LIFE LIKELY WOULD INCLUDE BEING RIDICULED AND HARASSED BY THEIR FELLOW JEWS.
"DON'T BE SURPRISED BUT COUNT IT ALL JOY!"
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven".
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted".
“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth".
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled".
“Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will be shown mercy (compassion)".
“Blessed are the pure in heart, (mind) for they will see Alahim."
“Blessed are those who make peace, for they will be called 'Sons of Alahim.'"
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."
“Blessed are you when men hate you, insult you, persecute you and say all kinds of evil lies about you because of Me. Rejoice and be very glad, for great is your reward in Heaven, for they persecuted the prophets who came before you in the exact same way."
