Chapter Three - “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

In the new thinking of the kingdom, the idea of meekness is a non-imposing and non-demanding attitude. The mentality of Jesus’ time was a mentality of force, demand, military power, either by the Romans who had already taken Judea by force, settling in with military force or by the political branch who constantly preached the idea that the Messiah would come with as a “conquering” military ruler, restoring the kingdom of Israel to the former glory of David. When Jesus came with a message of peace and meekness, it confronted that common thinking. How can we possess something if not by force? The Bible says that is not by power nor by might but by my Spirit, says the Lord! (Zechariah 4:6).
We read in Isaiah 61, a scripture that is fulfilled in the life of Jesus as the messiah, that Jesus came to bring a message of peace, hope and spiritual restoration for Israel. Jesus could not come to establish His physical kingdom if the very fabric of the kingdom had not yet been established. The bible says in Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth (NKJ).
In the same way, Jesus wanted to show us that, as we learn the concept of meekness, the battle is not ours but God’s. The idea of meekness in the kingdom is emptying us of our own independence and desire to take matters into our own hands and allow the Lord to take control. The Bible says in Psalms Ps 24:1”The earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” Why should we then believe that we need to take control in order to receive something? The earth is the Lord’s! Our Blessing is already secured by the Father who has created all things! Jesus was actually quoting Psalms 37 verse 11: “But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” (NKJ)
What a joyous promise! So many times we get so eager and anxious to see things done, questions answered, requests fulfilled, we strive and fight, scream and demand, and eventually we lose our peace! Jesus says that blessed are the meek, already assuring us of that we are fortunate, happy in the moment we decide to take the path of the kingdom, going against the easy road of the flesh, the road of power in our own ability and strength.
The Bible gives us several examples of how blessed we are as we take the path of meekness. In Psalms 22:26 says that the meek shall eat and be satisfied. Greed and dissatisfaction will no longer be the way our lives are driven; rather we have the assurance from God that He will fulfill every need, without us having to impose ourselves, demanding from Him anything that we need.
In Psalms 25:9 we read that the meek shall be guided in justice. Unfairness and frustration are not part of who we are anymore and our attitude towards God changes. We won’t question God’s action, demanding an answer from Him. We will wait on Him, with patience and meekness, knowing that He will do everything according to His justice and will.
Also in Psalms 147 verse 6 says that God upholds the meek! We don’t need to “climb” the ladder of life, stepping on someone else’s shoulder in order to achieve our goals; there’s nothing to be ashamed when we are meek, pride is replaced by the promise of God that He will lift us up, not for our own glory but for His glory and honor, as He works in us and through us.
We as humans were born with a genetic signature, a coding that defines how we are going to look like. In the spiritual sense we have also received in our “spiritual genetic signature” the ability to do what the flesh wants. It doesn’t come naturally to us to be meek, we want to be powerful.
According to Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, there is a difference between meekness and weakness. Even though they might give the same impression but there is a fundamental difference between the two of them. Weakness is the result of lack of strength or courage, but meekness comes from one’s own choice of allowing God to take control and trust Him completely without doubt or hesitation. Meekness is due to a person's conscious choice. It is strength and courage under control, coupled with kindness (From Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary).
The world acts on its own fleshly instincts, totally controlled by whatever they feel in the moment. In the kingdom we allow the Spirit of God to control us, guide us and instruct us in what we should do. Paul in his letter to the Galatians describes as a part of the fruit of the Spirit, self control, temperance, the ability to restrain ones impulses and allow the Holy Spirit to act on our stead. The world will see that we don’t need to act hastily but we show them that we depend on the Spirit of God. Our strength comes from Him, not from ourselves.