The NINE BEATITUDES (Matthew 5:3-12) bear a STRIKING RESEMBLANCE to the NINE-FOLD description of the "FRUIT
OF THE SPIRIT" (Galatians 5:22-23) exhibited by those who "WALK IN THE SPIRIT" (Galatians 5:16)
under the GENTILE "DISPENSATION OF GRACE" (Ephesians 3:1-2)
The SPIRIT IS ABLE TO DO that which the LAW COULD NOT
DO (Romans 8:3-4)
PRIDE will reach its ZENITH during the REIGN of the "SON
OF PERDITION" (II Thessalonians 2:3-4), i.e. during the REIGN of the WILLFUL KING (Daniel 11:36-37)
GENERALLY, the Lord will ONLY COMFORT His ERRING people
AFTER their MOURNFUL REPENTANCE as was the case with the Corinthian Church (I Corinthians 5:1-2 cf.II Corinthians 7:8-12)
SPECIFICALLY, the Lord refers to those that MOURN (Matthew 5:4)
as being REPENTANT ISRAEL for having REJECTED and CRUCIFIED their MESSIAH (Acts 3:12-21 cf.Zechariah 12:8-14)
This FUTURE GREAT MOURNING of Israel for the DEATH of
their MESSIAH is likened to their PAST MOURNING for the DEATH of KING JOSIAH (Zechariah 12:11 cf.II Chronicles 35:25)
Just as KING JOSIAH was used of the Lord in the PAST to
PURGE Israel of IDOLATRY (I Kings 13:1-2 cf. II Kings 13:19-20), so will MESSIAH FOREVER PURGE Israel of IDOLATRY (Zechariah 13:1-2)
Under the LAW, Israel was APPOINTED a DAY to AFFLICT their
SOULS (Isaiah 58:5
cf. Leviticus 16:29)
"ONCE A YEAR" in ATONEMENT "for ALL their SINS" (Leviticus 16:34)
Christ in His FIRST COMING was "MEEK and LOWLY"
(Matthew 11:28-29) and "having SALVATION" is seen "RIDING ON AN ASS (COLT)"
(Matthew 21:6-9 cf. Zechariah 9:9), but in His SECOND COMING He will be revealed as "the LION of
the tribe of Judah" (Revelation 5:5)) to "JUDGE and MAKE WAR" having EYES "as a FLAME of
FIRE" (Revelation 19:11-12)
Moses was described as "VERY MEEK, ABOVE ALL the
men which are upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3), but yet was also Israel's GREATEST PROPHET who wrought "SIGNS
AND WONDERS" with "that MIGHTY HAND" and showed "GREAT TERROR ... in the sight of all Israel"
(Deuteronomy 34:10-12)
THE DAY OF THE LORD will see THE PROUD BROUGHT LOW (Isaiah 2:12)
IN THAT DAY, "THE PROUD ... shall be STUBBLE"
and they that "FEAR MY NAME ... shall GO FORTH, and GROW UP" (Malachi 4:1-2)
IN THAT DAY, "EVIL DOERS shall be CUT OFF, but those
that WAIT UPON THE LORD ... shall INHERIT THE EARTH" (Psalms 37:9)
Blessed - Hunger &
Thirst after Righteousness(Matthew 5:6)
By way of APPLICATION (Matthew 5:6)
- the Lord does promise a "CROWN of RIGHTEOUSNESS" to believers who are FAITHFUL to "the gospel
of the GRACE of God" (II Timothy 4:6-8 cf.Acts 20:24),
i.e. believers whose LIVES reflect the TEACHING of the GRACE of God (Titus 2:11-13)
Under the GENTILE "dispensation of the GRACE of God"
(Ephesians 3:1-2), ALL believers shall LIVE with Him (II Timothy 2:11) by virtue of their IDENTIFICATION with Him (II Timothy 2:13)
in His DEATH, BURIAL, and RESURRECTION (Romans 6:3-5)
However, NOT ALL believers shall REIGN with Him "FAR
ABOVE ALL" and "OVER ALL" (Ephesians 1:21-22) - that right is reserved for ONLY those WHO ALSO SUFFER with Him (II Timothy 2:12),
i.e. those like Paul WHO "ENDURE ALL THINGS for the ELECT'S SAKES" (II Timothy 2:10) - for all those who "LIVE GODLY in Christ Jesus shall SUFFER
PERSECUTION" (II Timothy 3:12)
By way of INTERPRETATION (Matthew 5:6)
- the Lord's promise of being FILLED to those who HUNGER and THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS will find its FULFILLMENT
in the RIGHTEOUS EARTHLY REIGN of ISRAEL'S MESSIAH (Jeremiah 23:5-6 cf.Jeremiah 9:23-24)
Those Jews whose souls PANT and THIRST AFTER "the
LIVING GOD" (Psalms 42:1-2) and cling to the LIGHT of the "SURE WORD of PROPHECY" in
the "DARK PLACE" of the TRIBULATION NIGHT (II Peter 1:19), i.e. the TRIBULATION OVERCOMERS (Revelation 12:11;Revelation 15:2)
are those to whom the Lord promised a share in His RIGHTEOUS RULE "OVER THE NATIONS" (Revelation 2:26-27;Revelation 20:4,6)
Those Jews who "DESIRE THEE IN THE NIGHT" will
"SEEK THEE EARLY" ("in their AFFLICTION", Hosea 5:15)
and they will look for "the INHABITANTS of the WORLD" to "LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS" via "THY
JUDGMENTS" (Isaiah 26:9),
i.e. via the SEVEN "VIALS of the WRATH of God" POURED "out UPON the EARTH" (Revelation 16:1)
of which are said - "TRUE and RIGHTEOUS are THY JUDGMENTS (Revelation 16:7)
When GOD, Who is RIGHTEOUS and "MIGHTY TO SAVE",
will act on behalf of His REDEEMED (ISRAEL) in "the DAY of VENGEANCE" - He will TREAD "the WINEPRESS
(of JUDGMENT) ALONE" (Isaiah 63:1-4), i.e. GOD is ALONE in His THRONE ROOM (Revelation 15:5-8) during the POURING OUT of the "SEVEN LAST PLAGUES" in which
is "FILLED UP the WRATH of God" (Revelation 15:1)
This KINGDOM principle of RECIPROCITY applies to JUDGMENT
as well (Matthew 7:1-2)
When Israel was about to enter the Land - the Lord prophesied
that Israel would forsake the Lord and that He would scatter her among the heathen and that He ultimately would
be MERCIFUL to her "in the LATTER DAYS" WHEN in her TRIBULATION she would TURN BACK "and shall be
OBEDIENT unto His voice", because of "the COVENANT of THY FATHERS which He sware unto them" (Deuteronomy 4:26-31)
GOD PROMISED to execute VENGEANCE upon HIS ENEMIES and
to be "MERCIFUL unto HIS LAND, and to HIS PEOPLE" (Deuteronomy 32:39-43)
GOD'S COVENANT to ISRAEL'S FATHERS concerned THEIR SEED
and THEIR LAND
The FULFILLMENT of this COVENANT to ISRAEL'S FATHERS will
also be the FULFILLMENT of "the SURE MERCIES of DAVID" (Acts 13:34
cf.Isaiah 55:3),
which was the PROMISE concerning an ETERNAL EARTHLY THRONE to DAVID'S SON (Acts 2:29-30 cf.II Samuel 7:12-13)
DAVID'S SON will be known by ISRAEL as "THE LORD
OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah 23:6) WHEN "He shall REIGN and prosper, and shall execute JUDGMENT
and JUSTICE in the EARTH" (Jeremiah 23:5)
The Lord decreed concerning DAVID'S SON an EARTHLY INHERITANCE
(Psalms 2:6-8) and to "RULE THOU in the midst of THINE ENEMIES" (Psalms 110:1-2),
WHEN "THY PEOPLE shall be WILLING in the Day of THY POWER" (Psalms 110:3)
God promised ISRAEL that she would be a NATION OF PRIESTS
- IF she would "KEEP MY COVENNT" (Exodus 19:5-6)
ISRAEL "TRANSGRESSED THE COVENANT" by NOT SHOWING
MERCY (Hosea 6:6-7)
- she OPPRESSED THOSE IN NEED and REFUSED HIS WORD and, thus, SUFFERED HIS WRATH (Zechariah 7:9-12)
God promised ISRAEL that she would yet be that ROYAL PRIESTLY
NATION (I Peter 2:9),
because of GOD'S MERCY (I Peter 2:10 cf.Hosea 2:23)
FAITHFUL ISRAEL will "be PATIENT unto the COMING
OF THE LORD" (James 5:7)
and will SEE the MERCIFUL END OF THE LORD (James 5:11)
for having BY FAITH SHOWN MERCY to their BRETHREN IN NEED (James 2:12-17)
Finally, by way of CONTRAST, under the PRESENT GENTILE
"DISPENSATION OF GRACE" (Ephesians 3:1-2), God has "CONCLUDED THEM ALL (JEW & GENTILE) IN UNBELIEF,
that He might have MERCY UPON ALL" (Romans 11:32)
GENTILES, "in TIME PAST have NOT BELIEVED" (Romans 11:30)
BOTH (JEW & GENTILE) can NOW become "THE CHILDREN
OF GOD BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS" (Galatians 3:26,28) and be the RECIPIENTS OF GOD'S MERCY (Ephesians 2:4) and be prepared to "SIT TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES WITH CHRIST
JESUS, according to the RICHES (WEALTH) OF HIS GRACE" (Ephesians 2:6-7)
The TRIBULATION is described as a REFINING FIRE, which
God will use to PURIFY ISRAEL "in the LAST TIME" (I Peter 1:5-7 cf.Zechariah 13:8-9)
ISRAEL'S REFINER is said to be "THE MESSENGER OF
THE COVENANT", i.e. THE MESSIAH - in "THE DAY OF HIS COMING" (Malachi 3:1-3) that shall "BURN AS AN OVEN" (Malachi 4:1-2)
In that DAY, the 144,000 DIVINELY SEALED ISRAELITES (Revelation 7:4)
are described as being UNDEFILED and "WITHOUT FAULT" standing "BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD" (Revelation 14:3-5)
The FAITHLESS PHARISEES presided over ISRAEL'S CORRUPT
TEMPLE WORSHIP at MESSIAH'S FIRST COMING (John 2:13-16)
ANTICHRIST with the help of FAITHLESS ISRAEL will preside
over ISRAEL'S CORRUPT TEMPLE WORSHIP prior to MESSIAH'S SECOND COMING (Daniel 8:11-14)
Only those ISRAELITES who "have NOT DEFILED their
garments" (Revelation 3:4) by having "NOT KNOWN THE DEPTHS OF SATAN" (Revelation 2:24)
are given MESSIAH'S PROMISE to "WALK WITH ME IN WHITE" (Revelation 3:4) when He as "THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY REIGNETH" (Revelation 19:6-8)
The heavenly host that announced Christ's (Messiah's)
birth proclaimed to those on EARTH, "PEACE, good will toward men" (Luke 2:13-14)
One of Messiah's EARTHLY titles is "the Prince of
PEACE" (Isaiah 9:6)
for His EARTHLY government will be founded upon PEACE and justice (Isaiah 9:7
cf.Isaiah 2:4)
At His FIRST COMING - Messiah said He came "NOT to
send PEACE, BUT a SWORD" (Matthew 10:34), i.e. NOT PEACE, BUT DIVISION (Luke 12:51-53)
Indeed, Messiah's OWN PEOPLE "SOUGHT TO KILL HIM"
(John 7:1)
and His OWN BRETHREN DID NOT "BELIEVE IN HIM" (John 7:5)
At His SECOND COMING - "the Lord thy Redeemer"
(Isaiah 54:8)
shall FOREVER establish His "covenant of PEACE" with His EARTHLY peope (Israel) and their CHILDREN (Matthew 5:9 cf.Isaiah 54:10,13)
The Lord promised to make an EVERLASTING "covenant
of PEACE" when He shall FOREVER dwell with HIS PEOPLE (Ezekiel 37:26-27) and then "the heathen shall know that I, the Lord do sanctify
ISRAEL" (Ezekiel 37:28)
HIS DISCIPLES who He sent out to herald PEACE from "the
Son of PEACE" (Luke 10:5-6)
are the ones He pointed to and declared them to be "MY BRETHREN", because He said they do "the will
of My Father" (Matthew 12:48-50 cf.Matthew 5:9)
In "the LAST TIME", i.e. the TIME "when
ANTICHRIST shall come" (I John 2:18):
During this GENTILE "dispensation of GRACE"
(Ephesians 3:1-2), believers are exhorted to be "FOLLOWERS OF GOD, as DEAR CHILDREN"
(Ephesians 5:1) to "walk in LOVE, as Christ also hath LOVED us" (Ephesians 5:2)
"FORBEARING one another in LOVE" is what allows
brethren to "KEEP the UNITY of the Spirit in the BOND of PEACE" (Ephesians 4:2-3) for "LOVE worketh NO ILL to his neighbor" (Romans 13:10)
Blessed - Persceuted for
Righteousness' Sake(Matthew 5:10)
Messiah PROMISED to take away "THE KINGDOM OF GOD"
from those who rejected Him and give it to a "NATION BRINGING FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF" (Matthew 21:42-43 cf.Psalms 118:22-23)
THIS KINGDOM is the PROPHESIED RULE of HEAVEN'S KING UPON
THE EARTH (Matthew 6:10 cf.Daniel 2:44)
The "NATION BRINGING FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF"
is Messiah's "LITTLE FLOCK" (Luke 12:32),
i.e. HIS DISCIPLES (Luke 12:22)
Messiah PROMISED that they "shall sit upon 12 THRONES,
judging the 12 TRIBES of ISRAEL" (Matthew 19:28) at His SECOND COMING in GLORY (Matthew 25:31)
Messiah was PERFECTED THROUGH SUFFERING BEFORE RECEIVING
THE GLORY TO FOLLOW and, thereby, equipped to be a FAITHFUL CAPTAIN in "BRINGING MANY SONS TO GLORY"
(Hebrews 2:10-12;Hebrews 12:6-8 cf.Psalms 22:22-24)
Messiah PROMISED them PERSECUTION and REJECTION by their
own countrymen and kinsmen and EVEN DEATH (Luke 21:12-16)
Messiah also PROMISED them that they UTIMATELY would NOT
PERISH as a REWARD for their PATIENT SUFFERING (Luke 21:17-19), which will also be true for ISRAEL'S FAITHFUL TRIBULATION REMNANT
(Revelation 13:9-10;Revelation 14:12-13)
The APOSTLE JOHN was LEFT ALIVE to "TARRY" and
be an EYE WITNESS RECORDER of the events associated with Messiah's SECOND COMING in GLORY (Revelation 1:1-3,9-11 cf.John 21:20-23)
Blessed - Reviled and Persecuted
for My Sake(Matthew 5:11-12)
Messiah EQUATES being PERSECUTED for RIGHTEOUSNESS' SAKE
(Matthew 5:10) with being PERSECUTED for MY SAKE (Matthew 5:11) because in Messiah's KINGDOM - ISRAEL will know Him as "the LORD
OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah 23:5-6)
Messiah encourages His disciples to COUNT themselves BLESSED
when being PERSECUTED for His sake (Matthew 5:11)
POSITIVELY, He encourages them to REMEMBER that the world
"HATED ME BEFORE IT HATED YOU" (John 15:18)
By way of EXPLANATION, He tells them that "if ye
were of the world, then the world would love his own, but I HAVE CHOSEN YOU OUT of the world, therefore the world
hateth you" (John 15:19)
The Sacred Record does indeed show His disciples "REJOICING
that they were COUNTED WORTHY to SUFFER SHAME for His Name" (Acts 5:41)
As long as the DEVIL, who is "a MURDERER from the
beginning, and abode NOT in the TRUTH" (John 8:44
cf.I John 3:12;II Corinthians 11:3) and is "the SPIRIT that now worketh in the children of DISOBEDIENCE"
(Ephesians 2:2) - it will be true that "ALL that will LIVE GODLY ... shall SUFFER
PERSECUTION" (II Timothy 3:12)
Messiah encourages His disciples to REJOICE in their PERSECUTION
by looking in FAITH to their "GREAT REWARD in heaven" (Matthew 5:12) for He says that when He returns "MY REWARD is with Me"
(Revelation 22:12)
As the "AUTHOR and FINISHER" of their FAITH,
Messiah "ENDURED the cross, despising the shame" for "the JOY that was set before Him" (Hebrews 12:2)
Messiah's PROMISED REWARD to ISRAEL'S FAITHFUL TRIBULATION
REMNANT is likened to Messiah's reward to be received from His Father (Revelation 2:26-27 cf.Revelation 20:4,6)
and to the REWARD CHIEFLY PROMISED to "the TWELVE" (Matthew 19:28)
The SAME PERSECUTION experienced by Messiah's disciples
at His FIRST COMING (John 9:20-23,35-38) will ALSO be experienced by Messiah's disciples at His SECOND COMING
(Isaiah 66:5)