Who are the meek that will inherit the earth? Why don't they inherit heaven?

[readywriter]

Who are the meek that will inherit the earth (MT 5:5)? Why don't they inherit heaven?

In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[~Anastasia~]

Heaven will be coming down to the restored earth. None of us have a future home "in heaven" in the life of the age to come. God will dwell with men on the earth.

Incidentally .... I would say the meek are those who follow Christ.

 

[Ken Rank]

Who are the meek that will inherit the earth (MT 5:5)? Why don't they inherit heaven?

In Christ Jesus
Chris

Heaven wasn't made for man, it is the abode of God. The earth was made for man and, like man, it was damaged by sin. The plan has always been to redeem not only man but creation (consider Romans 8:22) and ultimately we will live here, on earth, in a more Adam-like state before the sin.

And I agree with Anastasia... the meek are those who are His.

 

[readywriter]

@~Anastasia~
@Ken Rank

Hello there,

Thank you for responding to my post.

Psalm 37:11, uses the same words as Matthew 5:5:-

'But the meek shall inherit the earth;
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.'

There will be a new heaven and a new earth, won't there? (Rev.21:1) Yet there will be 3 spheres of blessing to come too, won't there?

1) An earthly place of blessing, which blessings will be in basket and store, the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, born of the promises made to them - the kingdom upon earth. (Matt.5:5; Matt.6:10; Rev.11:15; Acts 3:21; Acts 1:6 )

2) A heavenly place of blessing, which comes down out of heaven to the earth, the New Jerusalem, for which Abraham and all of like faith looked (Heb.11:8-10; Heb.3:1; Rev.3:12; Rev.21:2 ).

3) A place of blessing also, where all spiritual blessings will be enjoyed, in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is the portion of the Church which is His Body, the fullness of Him that 'filleth all in all'. (Eph.1:3; Eph.1:20; Eph.2:6).

So, it would seem that the meek that will inherit the earth, will be of those People to whom the promises were made, which is Israel. For it is to them that the promises will be fulfilled, in which the kingdom will be restored and the times of refreshing will come from the Lord and they will finally come into their inheritance.

In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[Ken Rank]

@~Anastasia~
@Ken Rank

There will be a new heaven and a new earth, won't there? (Rev.21:1) Yet there will be 3 spheres of blessing to come too, won't there?

My answer would be no. The wording (Greek word) around "new" means renewed... God is going to renew or restore His creation... not scrap something He called good knowing before Adam sinned that he would sin... and start over.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I agree with @Ken Rank on this. I'm not sure what kind of teaching it is that proposes these three realms, but simply enough, we know that Heaven will come down and be upon the restored earth, God will be there, and be among His people.

Possibly we will not have limitations in a cosmic sense. We do not know this either way. But heaven will be on earth, God's home will be t/here, so there is no other special place superior to that.

 

[paul1149]

So, it would seem that the meek that will inherit the earth, will be of those People to whom the promises were made, which is Israel.

This sounds like Dispensationalism, which I do not subscribe to. Jesus said He was going to make both His flocks one. And Paul said the middle wall of separation has been torn down. New Jerusalem descends out of heaven, apparently as a portal joining heaven and earth. It is going to be glorious for everyone.

The first beatitude parallels the one in question here. The poor in spirit have the kingdom of heaven, while the meek will inherit the earth. The first is present tense, the second, future. The reward of the first is an ontological state, available now even in Creation's fallen state; that of the second is a physical reward, primarily to come later. I believe these are essentially describing the same group of people, but look at it from two perspectives - the here and now, and the eventual reward. One can't be poor in spirit without being meek, and vice-versa.

 

[JackRT]

Who are the meek that will inherit the earth (MT 5:5)? Why don't they inherit heaven?

In Christ Jesus
Chris

Fifty days following Passover, the ancient Jewish lectionary called for the Feast of Pentecost. This feast remembered Moses at Mount Sinai and celebrated the wonder and virtues of the Torah. This celebration took the form of a vigil. The day was broken into eight segments of three hours each and, just like a vigil in a modern Christian church, the congregation would divide themselves up in such a way that there was always a group in the synagogue for each of the eight portions of the vigil. The principle reading was Psalm 119.


At 176 verses, this is by far the longest of the psalms. It is broken into 22 stanzas each marked by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first stanza, Aleph, was the meditation for the first segment of the vigil. The entire congregation was probably present at this point and a full worship service was likely held. The remaining 21 stanzas were broken into seven groups of three each, one group for each of the remaining seven portions of the vigil. The second portion of the vigil, for example, would meditate on stanzas Beth, Gimel and Daleth. The remarkable organization of the psalm strongly suggests that it was written specifically for use in the vigil. There are other clues to that as well, for example: verse 62: "At midnight I rise to praise thee." and verse 147: "I rise before dawn and cry for help." and a number of other similar verses as well.

Let us now investigate how the Christian scribe, Matthew, used the midrashic technique to introduce Jesus into this Jewish feast of Pentecost. As mentioned earlier, Pentecost honored Moses and the Law received on Mount Sinai. Matthew portrayed Jesus as the new Moses delivering a new law on a new mountain. I refer of course to the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5).
Fifty days following Passover, the ancient Jewish lectionary called for the Feast of Pentecost. This feast remembered Moses at Mount Sinai and celebrated the wonder and virtues of the Torah. This celebration took the form of a vigil. The day was broken into eight segments of three hours each and, just like a vigil in a modern Christian church, the congregation would divide themselves up in such a way that there was always a group in the synagogue for each of the eight portions of the vigil. The principle reading was Psalm 119.

At 176 verses, this is by far the longest of the psalms. It is broken into 22 stanzas each marked by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first stanza, Aleph, was the meditation for the first segment of the vigil. The entire congregation was probably present at this point and a full worship service was likely held. The remaining 21 stanzas were broken into seven groups of three each, one group for each of the remaining seven portions of the vigil. The second portion of the vigil, for example, would meditate on stanzas Beth, Gimel and Daleth. The remarkable organization of the psalm strongly suggests that it was written specifically for use in the vigil. There are other clues to that as well, for example: verse 62: "At midnight I rise to praise thee." and verse 147: "I rise before dawn and cry for help." and a number of other similar verses as well.

 

[readywriter]

@JackRT
@paul1149
@~Anastasia~
@Ken Rank

Thank you for your responses. Interesting.

In Christ Jesus
Chris