1.
The Blessings of God in the Old Testament
Let us first look at the blessings in the old
testament.
"Deuteronomy 28:1
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the
voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments
which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on
high above all nations of the earth: 2
And all these blessings shall come on
thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God." The blessings are to his people Israel, and
their blessing begins with their obedience. "3
Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed
shalt thou be in the field. 4
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body
(it is children), and the
fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest
in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out." If they
obey his commandments, God will bless them in the world and their
kingdom will flourish. If we look at the blessings, all of them will
be here on earth, none of the blessings are eternal. Further, if they
do not obey God, instead of blessings, they will be cursed, and they
will be destroyed. The same chapter, 15-68, 53 verses
explains that with all details. God destroy their kingdom as well as
individual people. Blessings are free, but always conditional.
2.
Teaching
to Disciples, Healings to Multitudes.
Any
teacher or preacher will try their best for the people to understand
their teaching. But do you know one teacher, who taught people with an intent that
they must
not understand what
he said? It was the Lord Jesus Christ.
His disciples came and asked him
about this. It is in Matthew 13:9-12.
In 11 Jesus says, "... it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it is not given." He wants his
disciples to know the mysteries, and he does not want others to know.
In
Matthew 4:18-20, Jesus called Peter
and Andrew his brother to follow him; and they straightway left their nets and
followed him. In 21-22, he called James and John his brother,
and they immediately left the ship
and their father, and followed him. 23-24 say
that Jesus was healing all manner of sickness and disease among the
people, with divers diseases and torments, possessed
with devils, lunatics, of the palsy; and he healed
them all. 25 says, that great multitudes
of people followed him from all places.
So, Jesus called just a few people to follow him as disciples. But
multitudes of people followed him because of his miracles and various
kinds of healings. So, there were disciples and multitudes.
"Matthew 5:1 seeing the multitudes, he went up into a
mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:"
Please notice what Jesus has done. He separated
his disciples from the multitudes. He climbed up into the mountain, and multitude
could not
climb with him, but only his disciples climbed with him. "2 And he opened his mouth, and taught
them, saying,." So, he taught only to his disciples.
Chapter 5 to 7 is known as the sermon of the mount.
This sermon was preached only to his disciples, but not to the
multitude. "Matthew 8:1
When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him."
See, after the sermon was done, he came down from the mountain, and
then the multitudes came to him.
The very important fact here to notice is, that his teachings
are to his disciples to understand, and his miracles and healings are
done to the
multitudes. This is how Jesus did his ministry. So, if you like to
understand his mysteries, we must become his disciples to follow him.
3. Beatitudes are Blessings, and It has
Conditions.
Every blessing has condition to receive. So, whoever meet
the conditions are blessed. Matthew 5:3-11 and Luke 6:20-26 say
who are the blessed, they are the beatitude. Matthew 5:3,
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 6:20 And he
lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye
poor: for yours
is the kingdom of God." The blessing is the kingdom of heaven and of God.
So, it is neither the kingdom of Israel, nor of
the world, but it is of heaven, that is of God.
In Luke,
it is said as blessed are
the poor; but it is not materially poor, but as it is explained
in Matthew,
it is poor in spirit, that is the
holy spirit. So, those who are born again are blessed and they will
inherit the kingdom of
heaven. "Matthew 5:4 Blessed are
they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Luke 6:21
Blessed are ye that
weep now: for ye
shall laugh." The reason for mourning is not given here, but
it says that they will be comforted, probably later in life or in
eternal life. So, it is better to face sorrow early in life, that we may rejoice
latter. "Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit
the earth." Meek is the character that
is attributed to Jesus Christ and to Moses in the scriptures. It is
very humble, and at the same time very bold. It says that
they will inherit earth. It is not to
inherit a large area of land to become a landlord, but they
will rule the earth with Jesus Christ in the Millennium. "Matthew
5:6 Blessed are they which do
hunger and
thirst after
righteousness: for they shall be filled. Luke
6:21 also says,
Blessed are ye that hunger
now: for ye shall be filled." As Matthew says,
the blessing should come if we
hunger and thirst after righteousness, and the hunger and thirst is the intense
desire to obey God. "Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful:
for they shall obtain mercy.
Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your
Father also is merciful." If we are merciful
to others, then God will be merciful to us, even in the final judgment.
4. Beatitudes that are Blessings for Children of God
"Matthew
5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they
shall see God." This is especially important.
If we are pure, we can see God. But scripture says that nobody can
see God as long as we are in this flesh body. Only time we will see him,
if we are
raised as the Sons of God, in the resurrection. So, if we are pure, we
will inherit the kingdom of God, as the sons of God. "Matthew
5:9 Blessed are the
peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God." It is to bring
sinners to repentance, and so, they may have peace with God. Then you
are the child of God, and what a privilege that is.
"Matthew
5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness' sake: for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven." What is this righteousness? If we do
what God tells us to do, that will be counted
as our righteousness; it is according to scripture. But, if you do righteousness,
people will persecute you, but God will give the
kingdom of heaven to you. "Matthew
5:11
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute
you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."
You are blessed if they persecute you and say evil things about you. Let us look at Luke.
"Luke 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate
you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall
reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's
sake. 23
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is
great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the
prophets." Please notice that these verses say
that if you obey God, even church people will revile at you and
persecute you. But in real life, if we are a part of a church, people
will welcome you, but they will not persecute you. Again, the verse
did not say that if you join a church, but it says that if you obey
what Jesus Christ says, then even the church people will persecute
you. The church people will rally around to name of Jesus Christ, play
religion, following rituals and ceremonies, but they will not obey
Jesus Christ. So, if you obey Jesus, you are a different breed. So,
they will persecute you. If you suffer now
for the name of Jesus Christ, you will
rejoice in heaven. You will be either son of God or the
bride of Christ.
"Matthew 5:12
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is
your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were
before you." If
you are persecuted for obeying the word of God, God will give you a great reward in heaven.
Note: If any
point needs explanation, OR, if you find an error according to
scripture,
Please write to me in the
'Mail Box' below. I will reply promptly.
Thanks.
God Bless
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