BEATITUDES

A term that comes from the Latin word beatitudo; it is not used in the English Bible. Technically it means “blessedness” as described in the Old and New Testament. To be “blessed” means that one has been given a gift or a kindness by Elohim. The phrase “happy is,” or “blessed is,” appears often in the book of Psalms (used 26 times) and in Proverbs (8 times). It is used 10 times in the other books of the Old Testament and 13 times in the Apocrypha. These Beatitudes describe the person who is righteous, someone who has faith and hope in YHVH. They are signs of a life lived in relation Elohim’s forgiveness, love and favour. These blessings apply to the whole person, whether in family life, in worship, in public life or in one’s inner self. The blessed person is in touch with the fruitfulness of the Creator Himself. He or she lives a fulfilled life, life as YHVH intended it to be lived. In the New Testament, “blessing” is mentioned seven times in the book of Revelation, three times in the Epistle to the Romans, and once in John’s Gospel. The idea appears so often in Matthew and Luke that the term “Beatitudes” was invented to describe the way the concept is used in these books. There are interesting contrasts between Luke’s “sermon on the plain” (Luke 6:20-23) and Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:3-12), which are so similar that many scholars believe them to be reports of the same event. In Luke, Yeshua pronounces blessings on several different kinds of people immediately after he selects the 12 disciples (Luke 6:12-16). Yet the sermon is addressed to the crowd and speaks of the YHVH’s Kingdom as a great reversal, in which human social conditions will be turned upside-down: the poor will be rich, etc. So Luke balances four blessings with four woes (“Woe to you who are rich,” etc.) to add to this sense of contrast. He uses the future tense to suggest that this is what will happen when the Kingdom of Elohim has come. In Matthew, the advent of the Kingdom has already begun -- Yeshua uses the present tense. He talks mainly to the disciples. Two of His statements set the agenda for His speech. First, He has not come to destroy but to fulfil the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17). Second, it is necessary to have a kind of righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20). So these Beatitudes are more concerned with the interior life of the disciples. These eight Beatitudes describe the qualities of people who belong to Moshiach’s Kingdom and Who therefore reflect Moshiach’s own life. The people and situations that Yeshua describes may seem pitiable by human standards, but because of YHVH’s Presence in their lives, they are blessed and should be imitated.

1) BLESSED are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the reigns of heavens
2) BLESSED are those who mourn for they shall be comforted
3) BLESSED are the meek because they shall inherit the earth
4) BLESSED are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they shall be filled
5) BLESSED are the compassionate, because they shall obtain compassion
6) BLESSED are the clean in heart, because they shall see Elohim
7) BLESSED are the peacemakers, because they shall be called sons of Elohim
8) BLESSED are those persecuted for righteousness sake, because theirs are the reigns of the heavens
9) BLESSED are you when they reproach and persecute you, and falsely say every wicked word against you, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, because your reward in heaven is great. For in this way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.