Blessed are those who mourn. Matthew 5:4 through ?

 Look intently at this.

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him.
(Matthew 5:1 NKJV)

Jesus did not retreat in fear, nor did He retreat, but it was a strategic move because the voice travels better as it moves downhill. Aside from that, there was the need to teach His own disciples what the heart of God is.

Having gathered His followers and all the others, He opened His mouth and taught. In the previous post, I covered Matthew 5:3, where the God's Word translation conveys this:

“Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” (GW)

Though I did not elaborate on the idea that understanding that you are spiritually helpless it is much like an alcoholic who realizes that they are not in control and will never be.

Does God leave you helpless?

Absolutely not. God's life in you makes you a son or daughter of the King and entitled, within reason, to all the authority of the King. Think about the children of diplomats and how protected they are.

“Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.”
(Matthew 5:4 NKJV)

Blessed?

It seems so odd to consider telling someone who just had their family blown up as they attended church in Nigeria that they are blessed.

The NLT unpacks Matthew 5:4 with “God blesses those who...” I think this way of perceiving what Jesus/God is about to say is more appropriate as, in most cases, it would be difficult at best to see this thing or event as a blessing.

Mourn is the Gk word penthéō and means to mourn, lament, or grieve over people or situations, and they do not have to be your own.

My takeaway on this is that in time, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, God will turn this thing that has brought your mourning into a blessing. This turn may be in heaven, before the Father, but occasionally, it happens quickly within the current time frame.

"How blessed are those who are humble, because it is they who will inherit the earth!” (Matthew 5:5 ISV)

The other common word option is meek. Both meek and humble have an aroma of weakness in my mind for a long time. What changed my mind came about when I read the narrative about Moses. Allow me to elaborate.

(Now, the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.) Numbers 12:3 NKJV

Being placed in the river by his mother, you could certainly see Moses' future as one that could be oppressed or dead. But that was not to be his fate. He was rescued by the Pharaoh's daughter and raised to be nobility in the Egyptian court. The scriptures do not define how Moses came to understand what his true heritage was, but we have evidence that confirms our suspicions.

“And it came to pass in that length of time, that Moses having grown, went out to his brethren the sons of Israel: and having noticed their distress, he sees an Egyptian smiting a certain Hebrew of his brethren the children of Israel.” (Exodus 2:11 Brenton)

Based upon Exodus 2:11, it is hard to perceive the humility in Moses as yet. Perhaps we don't understand the meaning of the word. I can tell you that it is not what my dear mother defined it as.

Humble, according to the Word Study Dictionary, is the Hebrew word ‛ānāw. It is an adjective meaning poor, oppressed, afflicted, humble. It is used for persons who put themselves after others in importance; it is also used for persons who are not proud, haughty, supercilious, self-assertive, or low in rank or position.

We always build our arguments on at least two witnesses, so here is another.

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:24-27 NKJV)

Let's apply some logic to what we read here.

• Moses, at his sister's prompting, was given back to his mother to breastfeed until he was weaned.

• There have been mothers who have allowed their children to stay on the breast beyond seven years. I suspect that most attempt to wean the child when their teeth show up around 18 months.

• If Moses was given back to Bithia at 18 months, then there is "NO" way this child could have been taught about his heritage as a son of Jacob, a follower of Yahweh. (Keep in mind that these people, who kept to themselves, were sheepherders and followers of this unknown God, Yahweh. They were not known as Jews as yet.)

• This puts the driving force on Bithia, the daughter of Pharaoh, who rescued Moses from the river, to have Moses placed in the intermittent care of Jochebed (which, according to the Midrash, was the birth mother of Moses.) And, as far as we know, she used these opportunities to teach Moses about his heritage as a Jew.

  This puts the motivation on Bithia, Pharaoh's daughter who rescued Moses from the river, to have Moses placed in the care of Jochebed (who, according to the Midrash) was the birth mother of Moses. 

  Does that make sense?

  Not unless you believe in a God that works through people, often without their understanding, and does what seems to be improbable and impossible.

So, can we define humility based on what we see in Moses?

Absolutely. In Numbers 12, we find someone making a defining statement about Moses. Since God had Moses write all these early books, we might assume that it was Moses writing, as the Holy Spirit instructed, about himself. The Apostle Paul and the Disciple John seemed to find writing about themselves a bit uncomfortable. The following passage is a definition of Moses for a reason. We know this because, in most translations, it is set apart by parentheses. The Berean Study Bible did not do so.

“Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.”
Numbers 12:3 BSB

Why bring up the word humble and apply it to Moses?

Because there was a jealous hostility arising in the camp, and it centered on the brother and sister of Moses.

“Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife. “Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this.”
Numbers 12:1-2 BSB

When I read this, I find myself saying, really, all this because he married another woman.

By the way, what became of Zipporah, the first wife?

Oh, she is still around. If you remember, she threw the foreskins of their sons at Moses, yelling that he was a bloody husband to her, after he insisted that his sons, who might have been young men at this point, were to be circumcised. This is just a guess, but it seems some distance was suddenly put between Moses and his wife. Later, we see Jethro, Zipporah's father, come to Moses, and he brought Moses' two sons with him. Those two sons became priests in the desert temple.

We have several examples that might define Aaron and why he acts as a spokesman for God, but what about Miriam?

One of the first places we see Miriam is in Exodus 15.

“Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”
Exodus 15:20-21 BSB

Seriously, that is all I could find. Perhaps she got the job because she was family.

Earlier in this post, I defined humility from the Word Study Dictionary. It is an adjective meaning poor, oppressed, afflicted, humble. It is used for persons who put themselves after others in importance; it is also used for persons who are not proud, haughty, or self-assertive.

This may have played a role in Moses' and his resistance to going to Pharaoh.

Did you notice how Numbers 12:3 pointed out how both Miriam and Aaron were saying, “Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” and “Does He not also speak through us?”

Well, they got a generalized answer.

“And suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out, and the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them had stepped forward,”
Numbers 12:4-5 BSB

The answer was this.

“He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.”
Numbers 12:6 BSB

Did Aaron and Miriam meet these qualifications?

We are never told what their qualifications were aside from Miriam leading the worship choir.

I can tell you that Jesus spoke to me in a dream, but maybe it was a vision; all I know is that it felt very real. He related my entire life to me, and I was only about 25 at the time. I am now coming up on 70, and I can tell you that I saw the end, and it was filled with joy. Sadly, when I woke up, the only thing I could remember was that He had been there and the joy I felt. Truth be told, it has been a rough 45 years, and I am living through a rough time now. Maybe the joy has more to do with the joy we all will experience when He comes back soon for His bride, in the moment we call the rapture.

But when it comes to Moses, it's different.

“But this is not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
Numbers 12:7-8 BSB

Face to face?

Several translations use the terminology mouth to mouth. It is the Hebrew word peh and infers the mouth as the instrument of speech. You might say, we talk face to face. So this makes the relationship that Moses has different from anybody else's up to this point.

It goes on to say,

• I speak clearly,

• face to face,

• not in riddles,

• and he sees the form of the Lord.

Not even Moses was able to look at the face of God, or he would die, so this is all symbolic but serious. To elaborate on the serious nature of this conversation, God says, “Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

Make no mistake, God was angry.

“So the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed.”
Numbers 12:9 NKJV

Oh, He didn't go away without acting.

“And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. So Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb!"
Numbers 12:10-12 NKJV

You should know by now that Leprosy is a fungal disease that is treatable nowadays.

Aaron pleads with Moses for help.

“So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "Please heal her, O God, I pray!" Then the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward, she may be received again." So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again.”
Numbers 12:13-15 NKJV

Verse 13 is one of the most dramatic verses that help to define why Moses was deemed so humble because he put God first in decision-making.

Was Moses always so humble?

I don't think so, and here is why. Remember how I asked the question, where is Zipporah, Moses' first wife? Well, Jethro, her father, brought her back to Moses, along with the sons. As you well know, there are two sides to every story. In a region that still supports a culture where a woman can be treated as a farm animal, I can't imagine what could have become of Zipporah. Perhaps humility played a large role in this marital affair.

“And Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land") and the name of the other was Eliezer (for he said, "The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh"); and Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. Now, he had said to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her." So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent. And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them."
Exodus 18:1-11 NKJV

In contrast to Moses, the humble man – because he trusted and followed God, “the people,” including Aaron and Miriam, “behaved proudly,” according to Jethro.

Proudly is the Hebrew word zûḏ and means to treat someone insolently, proudly, or arrogantly. The people acted in opposition to Moses and showed their indifference to God.

The next day, Moses went back to work.

“And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, "What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?" And Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another, and I make known the statutes of God and His laws." So Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you, you are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you. Stand before God for the people so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will also go to their place in peace." So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”
Exodus 18:13-25 NKJV

And then Moses let his father-in-law depart, but the wife and sons stayed, as though Moses demanded they stay. If there was an impetus to stay it came through Jethro.

“Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.”
Exodus 18:27 NKJV

Moses took his father-in-law's advice.

He opened His mouth and taught them. Matthew 5:1-4.

 We ended Matthew chapter four with this.

“... His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.”
(Matthew 4:24-25 NKJV)

Syria?

I have not heard that saga about Jesus was spread throughout all of Syria.

Can we attest to the fact that Jesus went throughout Syria?

No, I cannot prove any of that.

You know what we do know?

“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.”
(Acts 10:1-2 NKJV)

Cornelius became convinced of who Jesus was – God’s Son- and obviously shared his faith. G ing off this ESV map, I assumed that Cornelius lived on the Southern border of Syria. 

Again, there is no way to validate this.

Look at where Caesarea is located.  This map is from ESV Maps and provided through e-Sword Graphics.  Caesarea Philippi is inland, South of Mt. Hermon, and close to Syria. Other maps show Caesarea at the lowest point in which that nation touches Israel along the coast. So, I am not clear which one is true. The Southernmost version is about halfway between Jerusalem and Syria.

The Pulpit Commentary says this about the cohort. “Jose hus, in the passage above quoted, speaks of five such auxiliary cohorts coming from Caesarea to join Vespasian’s army, and he tells us in another place (’ Bell. Jud.,’ 2.18, 7) that the principal portion of the Roman army at Caesarea were Syrians.”

Why is the information about the Italian Regiment important?

Because it feeds into the traditional response, we apply to those troops destroying the temple as though they were Italians answering to Titus when, as we learned from Josephus, those troops who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD were primarily Syrians. Yes, they fought under the Roman banner, but they did this only because they were conscripted troops with no other option but to participate and had a bitter hostility for the Jews.

“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” (Daniel 9:26 KJV)

Matthew 5 is entitled The Beatitudes by most translations.

“One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him,”
(Matthew 5:1 NLT)

Where did we leave off?

“News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all. Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.”
(Matthew 4:24-25 NLT)

So what did He do?

“and he began to teach them.”
(Matthew 5:2 NLT)

Teach? It is the Gk word didaskō and means to know, teach, or instruct by word of mouth. Didaskō has inherent in it the intent to influence the understanding of the person who is taught.

I find myself chuckling because many of those surging upon Jesus did not come to be taught; they wanted the free stuff, like healing and food.

As He taught, He said,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 5:3 KJV)

A more simplistic translation tells us,

“Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom  f heaven belongs to them.”
(Matthew 5:3 GW)

Look at what Dr. J. Vernon McGee had to say. “Blessed ar the poor in spirit.” It doesn’t tell you how to become poor in spirit; it just says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Having had the self-esteem beaten out of me as a child, being poor in spirit takes on a whole new meaning for me. Sure, there are those who think their feces doesn’t stink, and many of whom have wrangled their way into the pulpits of some massive churches. One that comes to mind averaged over 3000 in every service. The pastor would brag about his earned Doctorate, the high price of his suits, and how he could eat better food at the restaurants in Beverly Hills. He turned the church over to his arrogant son shortly before the Covid lockdowns of 2020 and 21; just the other day, I heard that this mega-church had locked its doors. To be honest, I felt some sadness about this rumor because there were many good people there.

Poor is the Gk word ptōchós; according to the Word Study Dictionary, it means to cower like a beggar, poor and helpless, completely destitute.

Perhaps the phrase from the GW translation, “... those who recognize they are spiritually helpless,” is more appropriate.

Before I move on, sometimes the simplest of words, like destitute, can take on a grander meaning. Destitute and a so convey the idea of being

• impoverished

• indigent

• poverty-stricken

• needy

• and downright poor

Now try to associate these mental images with your spirit.

Just this morning, one of the devotionals that a group of us read by Max Lucado. I responded to the question Max put forth that went something like this: will you be prepared to reply when the time comes for you to respond about your faith that could mean your death, as it did for Queen Esther and Mordechai?

I am barely comfortable when I have to respond, and it has nothing to do with life. Put in a situation where   can see a need to “witness” for Jesus, I can hear the Holy Spirit telling me to “go for it.” When I finally make the decision to just jump in (this entire process only lasts a couple of seconds,) the fear goes away, and an amazing courage takes over; I, too, am in tears because I can see how God, not only, blesses the person listening to me, but those words coming out of my mouth are speaking to me as well.

So what caused this perpetual internal struggle in me?

Much has to do with the way I was raised. Maybe this will help you understand. When I got married for the first time, I was a co-dependent disaster, so when the first marriage was coming to an end due to her infidelities, among other things, I was put in a psych hospital for threatening to kill her; there, they asked me how long my religious parents had been alcoholics. Considering that they never drank, I was hard-pressed to figure out how to deal with all these issues.

So, let’s take a moment to examine some of the defining issues associated with co-dependency.

• A lack of self-esteem and self-love.

• Inability to set functional boundaries with other people and protect oneself.

A website called priorygroup.com tells us that the red flags of codependency are: A mood that reflects how others feel rather than your own emotions. Guilt or anxiety when doing something for yourself. Doing things you don’t really want to do simply to make others happy. Idealizing partners or other loved ones, often to the point of maintaining relationships that leave you unfulfilled.

These are the things that escorted me into adulthood with little to no self-esteem.

Having grown up in “faith” churches that idolized strength and bravery, I can tell you that there is a tremendous amount of bullying and judgment that happens there. It may be a lack of understanding, but for the most part, they, too, are submitting to peer pressure while ignoring what the Word of God says.

What does the Word of God say?

How about this verse?

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6 KJV)

Offend is the Gk word skandalizō. This is the root of our word to scandalize, and I imagine it brings up a tremendous amount of negative imagery in most, but it also means to entrap, trip up (figuratively to cause to stumble [transitively] or entice to sin, To fall away from the gospel of Jesus Christ, or to offend.

And now you know the heart of the Father when it comes to children, and may I say it, abortion; and why Jesus said whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for him that a millstone was hanged about his neck, and that person was drowned in the sea.

Get real; if someone tied a two-hundred-pound millstone to your neck and tossed you into the ocean, there is only one thing that can happen to you, you die. Don’t get me wrong, this does not equate to the fiery hell that comes after the great white throne, but there is certainly judgment that comes while you are here on earth; some people think of this as karma.

“Therefore you are without excuse, O man—every one of you who is judging. For by whatever you judge an ther, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice t e same things. We know that God’s judgment  n those who practice such things is based on truth. But you, O man—judging those practicing such things yet doing the same—do you suppose that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:1-3 TLV)

Yeah, I get it, you don’t see your cruelty as a judgment, but it is, and you can expect cruelty in return, both now in your lifetime on earth and at the judgment seat of Christ.

“... for when you judge someone else, you are passing judgment against yourself; since you who are judging do the same things he does.” CJB

Okay, wait a minute. You said we, as Christians, will not receive God’s wrath and judgment because that all went on Christ at the Cross.

Yes, I did, but it does not give you the right to be a jerk down here on earth, and we will all stand before Christ’s bema seat, where we will account for the stupid stuff that we did in the flesh. I have this tendency to think we will be thankful that all this broken, earthly mentality and our actions will be burned away, and we will be clean and free before Him.

The NASB uses the word stumble instead of offend.

“Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that of enses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!”
(Matthew 18:7 KJV edited for readability)

What do they call it?

Oh yes, the formative years are when your self-esteem is supposedly being established. It probably occurs among females as well, but like a pack of wolves, the pecking order within the pack is established. This pecking order wasn’t just at school, it was a way of life at church, and I typically felt like I was at the back of the pack, and you wonder why religion disgusts me.

When I was around 12 years old, I was told by my mother that I would be beaten (and yes, that is the term mom used) if they found out I had defended myself. Now think about that; how would they find out that I defended myself unless I, or someone else, told them? They wouldn’t. The only other way would be physical marks on my face, arms, or hands.

On that note, I have been a stepdad twice. In the case of the first one, he came home from school with some horrible marks on his arms (these marks indicated that my son had been struck at least three times). I asked him what had happened, and he said that he had blocked a shot on goal in physical education class (with a teacher somewhere present). The kid who tried to score became enraged and began trying to hit my son on the head by striking downward with an overhand swing with the field hockey stick he was using. I said, what did you do? He responded with, I blocked his swings and then hit him back (I venture a guess that blocking those blows hurt a lot). My son said, I happened to hit him in the head, and he went down. He continued saying, I stood there for a moment in case his friends thought they might take a few shots at me, and then the teacher got involved and started tending to the boy on the ground. Having seen all the action, he told my son to go on to his next class, and nothing more was said. You see, even in the short time I was with that boy, I knew his heart, and he was not prone to violence. Now, imagine the injustice if I had beaten my son for defending himself.

I see that public education facilities will punish and suspend you for doing the right thing. Jesus did the right thing and sustained all the blows that were meant for us. Another way of describing this is to say that He redeemed us from sin – it didn’t matter how many or the manner of the sins; they were all taken upon Him through the cross.

Now, the question is, what will you do with the man upon the cross. His name is Jesus, and He is the only way to the Father. The thief on the cross next to Jesus merely asked, will you remember me and Jesus said yes. To some, this equates to asking Jesus into your life. Time is so short. Perhaps you should do that.