In this installment of the beatitude series we delve into the third beatitude in Matthew 5:5. “Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the whole earth”. This beatitudes follow a logical flow as mentioned in the previous articles of this series. It was established, in the first beatitude, that the the journey of a believer begins with the realization of the need for God in one’s life.
This leads us to seek Him and when we find Him, His light exposes our sinfulness such that we are left in a state of mourning, guilt and shame over our sinfulness. As we mourn our sinful nature, Jesus comforts us and forgives us so that we can follow him. As we repent of our ways and follow Jesus as Lord and savior, he calls us into his divine mission in which he is the leader and, master and teacher over our mission here on earth. The next step, is to be humble.
1. What Does It Mean To Be Humble?
Humbleness in this context simply means to allow the uninterrupted God’s will of God to be manifested through one’s life. God has several things He wants to achieve in this earth, one being that all men should glorify God. Humbleness is to entirely repress one’s will, wisdom and strength to the will, wisdom and strength of God.
1.1 Examples Of Humbleness
When one allows God to use them to do do His will, He provides us with divine strength to carry out His will. When Jesus prayed to God for His will to be done and not his, he received strength from heaven (Luke 22:42-43). He further demonstrated humbleness when he did not use his own power to call upon a legion of angels to deliver him from being persecuted (Matthew 26:53), but relied on God’s strength to do God’s will of dying on the cross
Another case of humbleness is demonstrated in Numbers 13, when Moses sent out the twelve men to to explore Canaan – the land God had given the children of Israel. Two reports returned, one from 10 men who said they could not conquer the land because the people living there were are stronger than they were.
Another report came from Jacob and Caleb their report, as recorded in Numbers 14:7, was, “The land we have travelled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord’s with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
Jacob and Caleb were humble in that they did not look into their own strength to achieve the will of God to conquer the land, but trusted in the strength of God to do his will.
2. How Does A Humble Person Look Like?
A humble person is always led by the Spirit to do the will of God, they follow God’s instruction and never impose their own will in all facets of their lives.
John when referring to Jesus said, “He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:30). This underscores that the will of God must become greater and our will must become lesser and lesser.
John also showed humbleness when he gave in to Jesus request to be baptized. He felt it inappropriate to baptize Jesus because his ranking in the kingdom is lesser compared to Jesus, the Son of God, who is greater. But when Jesus insisted that he baptizes him, John yielded to the will of God and carried out the baptism (Matthew 3:15).
Paul made a bold humble statement in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through Christ who gives me the strength”. In other words, it is through Christ that we a strengthened and empowered to do his will and fulfill his purpose on earth.
A humble person is aware of their inadequacies and lack, but draws inner strength from God to do His will.
3. What does It mean To Inherit The Earth?
The beatitude assures that the humble will inherit the land. In the case of the 12 spies, only Joshua and Caleb were able to enter the promised land. The others, because they relied on their own strength died without entering Canaan.
The land in this verse could mean anything that can be quantified physically or spiritually, it could be, wealth, a child, wisdom, honor, and more.
The result of being humble is always tied with the will of God. It was God’s will for the children of Israel to enter the land, and what they received is the land. Likewise if it is God’s will for you to grow in wisdom, all you have to do is to yield to God’s wisdom in order to grow in that domain.
Dear reader, understand that God want’s people who are willing to die to the self and live by His strength so that he elevates them on a global stage where all men can see them, and thus give God the glory. Jesus inherited the earth based on his humbleness, his Name is known all over and continues to reach new territories because his name glorifies God.
The way to rise is to be humble – seek strength from God to do His will, and he will lift you up to be a carrier of His glory for all man to witness and ultimately give Him honor and praise.
3.1 Example Of Inheriting The Earth Through Humbleness
Solomon, when faced with an insurmountable task of leading the nation of Israel ask God for wisdom. God granted him wisdom including honor, wealth and riches. This is because what he asked for was tied to the will of God – for Solomon to reign as king of Israel in a way that glorifies God. What Solomon asked for was not tied to selfish ambition, he put God’s will first, and asked to be empowered by God through wisdom to be able to be an effective king.
Solomon would influence men and women from far away nations in the earth, as he manifested the wealth and wisdom of God. As men and women encountered Solomon, they were all in awe of God, and praised Him for it was God being glorified through the wisdom and wealth of Solomon.
4. How Are We Blessed By Being Humble
Modern philosophies advocate for people to rely on themselves, to be independent and to use their own power to rise to the top. But this beatitude offers a rather opposite approach: the way to rise up is lower yourself, not before men, but before God and rely solely on His strength and wisdom.
James 4:10 reads, “Humble yourselves before the lord and he will lift you up in honor.” When we are humble, it allows for God’s power and blessings to flow through us. God is never going to share His glory with men, so for Him to do any mighty work requires us to take a humble stance and allow God power to move in our lives. And his power is capable to do great things,
We are blessed in the sense that when we become humble, we become channels that reveal the glory of God here on earth. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to tell her she will give birth to Jesus, she responded: “I am the Lord’s servant, May everything you have said about me come true.” Mary is deemed to be blessed because she humbled herself and allowed God to use her to birth the Son of God on earth.
Being humble allow us to be agents and servants who allow the heavenly agenda and will of God to occur here on earth.
5. Concluding Remarks
James 4:7-10 reads, “Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Wash your hands you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”
These four verses summarizes the first three beatitudes. Being humble stems from realizing we need God, thereafter we seek Him and when we find Him we mourn our sinfulness as we get to know how pure and righteous God is. This realization gives us the conviction that we do not need to rely on ourselves. Rather we can rely, submit and humble ourselves before God who is righteous, powerful, all-knowing, and more.
As we become humble, and see the power of God begin to work so mightily through us, we are led to desire more of His will to be done on earth through us. This takes us to the next beatitude in Matthew 5:6.
Add a Comment