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.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5. An integration with an article by Amir Tsarfati about the fig tree.

This is based on an article in Harbingers Daily, written by Amir Tsarfati on 12/06/22.

One of the loathsome things I perpetually hear is, No one knows the day or the hour. These naysayers espouse this even though the Apostle Paul told us, 

“...you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief.”

“Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you, yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 NASB)

There seems to be a concerted effort among church members and leadership to promote deception.
Note how Paul says that “we,” the “believer,” is NOT in darkness, that the day would overtake us like a thief; this is because those outside the family only acknowledge the rapture. After all, it is a scenario portrayed in scary movies, and they seem to have serious doubts about being left behind.

What is “the day”?

There are two schools of thought.

1. That it is a day of judgment.

   There are two of those “days” that apply to judgment. 

   One would be when He comes back at the end of the seven years and silences all who have come to fight against Him. He does this with the breath of His mouth, and there will be a river of blood. 

   The second day of judgment will come at the end of the thousand-year reign and climax with the white throne judgment. 

   Two things happen in relationship to the white throne, and they are packaged under the heading of the second day or final judgment.

   Satan will be released once again, and he will deceive the nations. Yes, during the millennial reign, people with a free will shall repopulate the earth and continue to live, and some will choose to ignore the ongoing message of God’s goodness, which they can witness firsthand.

   Deceived by Satan, they will attempt to kill God and His people as they surround the Holy City, God, and His people. He kills them with the breath of His mouth and burns them up.

   The next aspect of this judgment is that all the dead, quite possibly from the beginning of time, will be brought before this throne. Here is where Matthew 25 kicks in because Jesus, the judge, and shepherd, separates this crowd into two representative groups - "sheep and goats." To the sheep, He will say, enter into the eternal kingdom. The goats will go to eternal damnation with Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet who are already there.

So much for judgment.

2. The second way people perceive "the day" is through the catching away of the church.

   This event has little to do with judgment, although many many perceive it as judgment because it is associated with the Bema seat pg of Christ.

   The passage that gives much great concern is,

   “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.”
   (Romans 14:10 NASB)

   The Bema seat is more of a time for passing out rewards for a job well done.

Fully aware that we do not have to be deceived because we are NOT in darkness, then what can we know?

To the Pharisees, Jesus said you can read the signs of the weather.

"The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' "And in the morning, 'There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away.” (Matthew 16:1-4 NASB)

Jesus' first response when the disciples implored Him to "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

"...Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you."
(Matthew 24:4 NASB)

See to it G3005 légo – Is to say, affirm over, maintain, teach, point out with words, to speak of, or mention.

This affirmation is what you do to yourselves.

Mislead G4105 planáo - To cause to wander, lead astray.

How many different ways can we be caused to wander?

Let's see: The news, as they would never deceive me.

Are you kidding?

Haven't you noticed how every news station repeats the exact same words, no matter how small or large the station is? Someone is pulling their chains, telling them to feed you what they want you to know.

Another recent event was Elon Musk purchasing Twitter and then revealing that men like

James Addison Baker III is an American attorney, diplomat, and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and the 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan, and the 61st U.S. Secretary of State. He was also a former American government official at the Department of Justice who served as general counsel for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He later served as deputy general counsel at Twitter, Inc. from June 2020 to December 2022 before being fired by Elon Musk. (Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baker)

have been assisting in process of eliminating our civil rights, by blocking our freedom of speech.

Paul in his second letter to the church in Thessaloniki, told them

"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction," (2 Thessalonians 2:3 NASB)

Notice the nondescript word "it." It is fascinating how a simple word can imply or point to so many things. “It” can apply to the beast, antichrist, the New World Order, the methods used to make their evil plans work, or the people who think they can control us. I chuckled as I wrote this, as they are making it happen.  

Are you in denial? How is that working for you?  

Deceive G1818 exapatáo - to seduce, deceive, lead out of the right way into error.

I was not born during the days of the Nazi concentration camps, but I can read and am a piteous history student. But this leading out of the right way into error is precisely what Hitler and the Nazi party did to Germany. If you don’t believe that, try reading about Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as he details how the Nazis led the majority of Pastors, and for a moment, even Bonhoeffer, to the point that they merely played their worship music louder to drown out the screams of the Jews on the trains as they were carted off to their deaths.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, we know that the Greek word apostasia had been  manipulated  in the King James Version of the Bible to read apostasy - or falling away instead of departure (indicating a departure  of the church to be with Jesus.)  This was done to convey the anger of the state church, the Catholic church in the 1500s, over people leaving the church for Protestantism. The previous version of the Bible was the Geneva Bible and existed for almost 100 years, with the word apostasia accurately being translated as departure. 

A three-page introduction. What is the point? 

Since we are not in the dark, we should be able to see what is coming and how close we are to our catching away. 

Jesus addressed just such a condition when He spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

He said, 

“Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky but cannot discern the signs of the times?”

One of those signs was the fig tree, and that is where Amir Tsarfati comes into play. I will add that many are now trying to tell us that the fig tree does not refer to Israel. This is part of the deception!

‘We Are The Generation’: God Has Not Left Us In The Dark About the Generation We Live In."

By Amir Tsarfati, December 6, 2022

Jeremiah 8:13, Hosea 9:10, and Joel 1:7 all refer to Israel as a fig tree, and the content of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25 is concerning events before and during the 70th week of Daniel – also referred to as the Great Tribulation. That means the fig tree Jesus is referring to is the nation of Israel, and when it puts forth leaves and the branch is tender (which indicates new growth) we can know that summer is near. From that example Jesus said that the generation that sees this will not pass away before all things in the Olivet Discourse take place.

What that means to you and me as Christians living at the end of the time of the Gentiles and the church age is that we have been given an entire generation’s notice about the coming of the Lord. He will come first for His church before the Tribulation and then with His church to end the Tribulation. We were given this information by our gracious and loving Lord not so we would be ready for the Rapture – we should always be ready for that event – but so we would tell others not only that they also need to be ready, but more importantly, why and how they can be.

No one knows the day or the hour of the Lord appearing in the air to meet the dead in Christ and the living saints. However, He did tell us to be ready in Matthew 24:

Matthew 24:44 KJV – “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

The phrase “hour you do not expect” could also be translated as “a season never supposed”. That carries with it a couple of potential meanings. Either that Jesus is coming for us at a time when things are unimaginable, like now, or that Jesus is coming at a time when few think He will, also like now. Whichever meaning is the one that God intended, both make clear that the hour is late. The Jews are back in the land, the fig tree has put forth leaves, and the unknown day or hour is likely very near.