Now the third beatitude goes on to teach that the meek "shall inherit the earth." What does this mean? Well, it is not a promise that the children of God will own oil wells, or blocks of downtown Manhattan, or orchards in southern California. It is a promise for the future. And yet it’s not entirely future either.
We come to the end of the story, and we find that Moses prayed for Miriam, so she was healed. But we ask, "What was the conduct of Moses through the incident? Did he fight back? Did he seek to defend himself against his accusers?" Not at all. Moses submitted himself to God. He bowed low before God, and thus was vindicated.
I believe that this trusting attitude before God was the primary sense in which Christ used the word “meek” in this beatitude, and I base my belief on the fact that the beatitude itself is quoted from a context in which that thought is prominent. I know that someone will say, “What? I thought Jesus originated the Beatitudes, that he made them up." Well, it is true that he did make most of them up, but not this one. This beatitude actually comes from the thirty-seventh Psalm. It comes at the end of a long list of commands that encourage a person to place his trust in God.
Now we are never going to get far in understanding Christ's statements until we realize that in the Bible meekness does not mean what most people think it means. It does not mean spiritlessness. It does not mean weakness, indolence or cowardice. Actually, it is compatible with high spirits, courage, and great strength.
Some time ago, I heard of a person who had converted to Christianity because, as he said, he needed "an easy religion." I was amused by the incongruity of his statement. An easy religion! If he wanted an easy religion he should have gone elsewhere. As it was, he was a little bit like a comedian at a funeral—he had simply come to the wrong place.
