A King has sovereignty over his land, and that includes the right to determine who lives on said land. In ancient days, a king would make a covenant with the people on the land to that purpose. They could stay and enjoy both the fruitfulness of the land and his protection – but they are obligated to honor him as king, and him only. To violate this covenant was treason, and treason required the death of the traitor. As most were illiterate, the covenant was usually accompanied by a graphic death sign, so that people knew that violating the covenant would have most serious consequences.
God is King of Kings, and He owns the whole earth, and all who walk upon it (Psalm 24:1). As such, He gave the right to live on the earth and all the fruitfulness of the earth to Adam (Gen 1:28). That right came with the obligation to honor Him as King, and also a death sign (Gen 2:17). Unfortunately, Adam sinned, and so lost the right to enjoy the fruitfulness of the land and his own life in the process (Gen 3:17-19).
As unrighteousness increased, God makes a radical decision; “God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.” Genesis 6-9 record what followed; only Noah and his family survived. This is the pattern God sets out; Honor Him as King, or loose the rights to the land, and your own life in the process. We see that pattern repeated in the Israelite expansion into the promised land. God gave the land to the Hebrew nation because the previous inhabitants had not honored Him as King. They had worshipped idols and committed sins without repentance. So they lost their rights to the land, and their own lives in the process.
That pattern is prophesied to continue. Isaiah 35 says, “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart,“Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, but He will save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah. The scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, grass becomes reeds and rushes. A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it.”
What Isaiah prophesies, John later sees fulfilled in the Revelation of Christ (Rev 21-22) and Jesus now confidently speaks in Matthew 5, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
What Jesus says is not a pithy saying without substance. It is not a figurative illustration. It is a promise, meant to be taken literally. It is a promise made to those who humble themselves before God , recognizing Him as King of all the earth even before they physically see Him.
Amen.
The renewed earth will be the inheritance of the meek from all nations who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Jesus did not spiritualize away Israel’s territorial promise. Rather, He widened the scope till it extended to the whole world.
Hans K. LaRondelle
APPLICATION: Worship
The inheritance of the righteous is glorious, and the one who bestows that inheritance is far more glorious. Let us humble ourselves and worship Him!