The Meek

   Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. You wouldn’t have known this by the political situation in the first century. Rome had conquered the world not by meekness but my might of arms. The Herodians in Judaea were not characterized by meekness but by meanness; they didn’t govern by love but by ruthless pride and hate. But Jesus said it was the meek who would inherit the earth, and in saying so, He quoted from the Psalms and their ancient adulations of meekness.

Moses’s life teaches a great deal about meekness. Moses had a strong personality, and his meekness was an achievement, for it was not something he came by naturally. In his early life, his anger got the best of him, and he murdered an Egyptian. In the prime of his life, in utter exasperation, he threw down the tables of the law and broke them. But in time, he gained control of himself to where Numbers 12.3 declares he was the meekest man on the face of the earth. He was the meekest, because he was the most harassed, stressed, criticized, second-guessed man of his age. The Israelites always had something they wanted him to do,or some criticism for something they thought he didn’t handle correctly. But Moses got to where he could take it and keep his composure; his meekness was a conquest of character.

What is meekness? It is not sluggishness or apathy. It is not mildness or timidity. It is not tameness, lack of energy, docilty. It is not the disposition that shrinks from conflict. Meekness is what was seen in Jesus; namely, the meekness that demands strength and courage in a high degree. Meekness is self-conquest; it is the ability to keep one’s emotions under control. It is the ability to manifest the gentleness and kindness of Christ despite severe

provocation. The meek will suffer wrongs without resorting to retaliation.

They will follow Paul’s advice and take wrong rather than do wrong. There will be occasions in which they realize it is better to yield than to resist. Meekness is strong enough not strike back. It will forgive and endure. It will make allowances for another’s anger or things said to them in anger. Meekness doesn’t believe in an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. Meekness disarms our enemies and makes us like our Lord. The meek may not own the earth, but they will inherit it they will enjoy the riches and treasures of the earth not by right of legal ownership but by the right of the Creator of all things who made the earth and gave us all things to enjoy (1 Tim. 6.17).                                                        Kenny Chumbley