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Sermon on the Mount - traditional view
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What's NEW?
the Beatitudes
by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth (Ephesians 2:19)
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"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."
"Blessed is the man to whom YHVH does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit."
"Blessed is he who considers the poor; YHVH will deliver him in time of trouble."
"Blessed is that man who makes YHVH his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies."
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful."
"Blessed is the man whose delight is in Torah of YHVH; in His Torah he meditates day and night."
"Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O YHVH, and teach out of Your Torah."
"Blessed is the man who fears YHVH, who walks in His Ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you."
"Wait a minute!! These are not the Beatitudes listed in my bible!! Where do these sayings come from?" Because of Christianity's insistence of divorcing itself from its Hebraic origins, most who read the passage of
Matthew 5:1-20 (click on highlighted words to view content),
commonly referred to as "the Beatitudes" or "the Sermon on the Mount", do not realize that approximately one-third of the OT was written in poetic form. The poetic form expressed in this passage was not invented by Yeshua or Matthew. All who heard the manner in which Yeshua delivered these words understood the significance surrounding His use of this poetry and also recognized that these poetic words were not "new". Every one of the different "blessed" verses spoken by Yeshua in Matthew 5 can be referenced to their origin in the Tanakh (renamed OT). The verses at the opening of this article represent but a few of the dozens of instances of this poetic form found throughout the Tanakh. The original Hebrew meaning of "blessed", however, is strikingly different from the modern day application that has become attached to the word. The Hebrew word translated as the English "blessed" is
'esher,
(used 45 times in scripture) and is more appropriately conveyed as "O, the happiness of the man..." - who then does whatever the words are that follow. So, let us see what is to be found in the words of Yeshua known as "the Beatitudes" and if there is anything in those words that can be considered "new" thought since many in Christianity consider them to be
"new" commandments,
superseding what came before. There is no scripture that abolishes, changes, alters or negates the original
Words of YaHoVeH.
Typically (as depicted in the image above), most see Yeshua as standing on the side of a mountain, addressing a throng of people in the valley below with the person farthest away clearly hearing everything He said - without any kind of a PA system! But, the first two verses of Matthew 5 give us an insight into what actually happened, "Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples came to him. And He opened His mouth and taught them." Who was He teaching - who are "them"? Considering that
Matthew 13:34
says Yeshua ONLY spoke to the multitude in parables, it is clear He is not shouting across a valley but was quietly speaking to the twelve disciples who came to Him in close proximity after He had sat down. It is extremely important we do not read something into scripture that is not there. The listing of the verses from Matthew 5 that follows is merely to establish their original location from the Tanakh. Yeshua then goes on to elaborate in verse 17 that He did not come to abolish the Tanakh where these verses came from and to reinforce that He is not giving a "new" expository on their meaning.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven" can also be found in
Isaiah 66:2
and Psalm 34:18.
The Hebrew perspective of humility is not about low self-esteem, but rather about low self-preoccupation.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" can also be found in
Isaiah 61:2-3
and Psalm 21:6.
The Hebrew word for "mourn" is
'aval,
which comes out of a root that means to agonize, to languish, to lament. - as in
Hosea 4:1-3,
mourning over lack of Truth to be found (again having to do with low self-preoccupation).
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" is a direct quote from
Psalm 37:11.
Again, we find a Hebrew definition comprised in humility, not passivity.
Numbers 12:3
tells us that Moses was considered the meekest man on the face ot the earth.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" can also be found in
Psalm 42:2
and Isaiah 32:17.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" is in
2Samuel 22:26
and Psalm 18:25.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see YHVH" is in
Psalm 24:4-5
and Isaiah 56:1
(see how we Cultivate Virtue).
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of YHVH" can also be found in
Psalm 34:14
and Isaiah 54:13.
Peacemaking was not a concept that originated in the Messianic Writings (renamed the NT). Just prior to Yeshua's ministry Rabbi Hillel had said, "Be of the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace"
(Avot 1:12).
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the Sermon on the Mount - actual view
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"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" can be found in
Jeremiah 29:13
and Proverbs 21:21.
"Persecuted for righteousness sake" may also be translated from the same Hebrew background used for peace pursuers as "those that pursue righteousness". This same Hebrew word,
radaph,
is translated as "follows" or "pursues" in
Proverbs 21:21
as it is for "persecute" in
Jeremiah 17:18.
"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" is a direct reference to the fate of all those recorded in the Tanakh who "pursued righteousness" in the Name of YHVH. What Yeshua is emphasizing with these verses is the Way into the Nature of YHVH - which is to oppose or resist the temptation to exercise our own
self-determination
in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. Yeshua's admonitions in
verses 13-16
concerning Salt
and Light
are to DO those things just spoken of in the previous verses, thereby allowing His transition to His next statement so as to leave no doubt regarding where He stood concerning the Words of YHVH in Torah (mischaracterized as
"the law")
which say:
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"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah (the Law) or the Prophets;
I have not come to abolish them
but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not a jot, not a tittle, will pass from the Torah until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17-20.
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In previous articles,
Torah and the Law
and Legalism,
we saw the effect of how the error of poor (or deliberate) translation bias has by changing the word "Torah" from its Hebrew meaning of "instruction" or "teaching" into the Greek wording of "the Law" which carries a distinctly different meaning of "rule" or "regulation". Torah is simply the means by which we learn of, become educated in the Nature of
YaHoVeH,
the Holy One of Israel that we might remain in His Presence without being consumed by the brilliance of His Light. Yeshua took great measures to emphasize that He was not setting aside what had come before, but was upholding it and so did Sha'ul (the Hebrew apostle Paul). The "scripture" Sha'ul was referring to in
2Timothy 3:16
is Torah - the only scripture in existence at the time he wrote those words. What is called the "New" Testament, the gospels and the epistles, were only in the process of being written (if they existed at all) and were certainly centuries away from canonization at the time of his penning of this letter to Timothy. In the same regard, Yeshua went to great lengths to be sure His Words were clearly heard the way He meant them to be. The only way around His statement of not abolishing the Words of Torah is to either excuse them, redefine them or simply ignore them - which happens when looking at Hebrew concepts through the language filters of Greek to Latin to English and then re-routing their definitions to satisfy a pre-conceived theology
(see Who's Word Is It?).
By the time we get to Matthew 5:17-20, equipped with the understanding that what Yeshua was saying through the verses leading up to this passage was not "new"; then His statement of not abolishing Torah becomes a validation of all that had come before. Yeshua is using a familiar poetic form recognizable to the Hebrew audience He was addressing as the vehicle to bring to the forefront of their understanding the most essential of those words expressing the Nature of YHVH found in the foundational words of Torah - the Books of "instruction in righteousness", the Prophets and the Psalms. The words contained in those books spoke of the fulfillment His appearance would bring to the Words of YHVH in their fullest, most proper application to be built upon - not done away with
(Luke 24:44).
So, what is the significance of this information? It is called bearing - the way in which we look at these scriptures affects, has import upon, how all other scripture is approached. For instance, the eighth chapter of Hebrews speaks of a "new" covenant. It is clear that the reference made to this covenant is a direct quote of what is written in
Jeremiah 31:31-34.
To look solely at the definition of the Greek word used for "new" in this passage,
kainos,
would leave the impression that this covenant is made from scratch - "brand new", as it were. However, when we look at the Hebrew word for "new" in Jeremiah,
chadash
(from which the Greek is referencing), we find its definition to mean "re-new, re-pair, to make fresh". When a house is repaired or remodeled, it is done so on an existing foundation - thus, it is "made fresh". This is the context of this Hebrew word that the Greek word is pointing to - even carrying part of the Hebrew definition, "fresh", into its own. Scripture is measured by other scripture - two or more witnesses. In
Matthew 16:18,
Yeshua says it is on the same rock of revelation Peter experienced in Spirit that He will "build" His church. The word translated as the English "build" in this verse is the the Greek word,
oikodomeo,
which means "to restore by building, to rebuild, repair" - upholding the words of Jeremiah.
(see One Covenant).
It is astounding to hear Christians say, "I am not under 'the Law' because Jesus did away with the law. The Old Commandments have been replaced with the New Commandments that Jesus proclaimed. The only law I am under is the law of Love". When asked what the "law of Love" is, they unhesitatingly assert
Matthew 22:37-40
without realizing that this Hebrew rabbi, whose Hebrew Name is Yeshua, was quoting directly from the Hebrew Books of
Deuteronomy 6:5
and Leviticus 19:18
- the heart of Torah (the Law). Typically (and in spite of the words coming from the lips of Yeshua above that clearly state otherwise), these same folks will also assert that they follow Yeshua's "new" commandments found in what has come to be known as "the sermon on the mount" or the Beatitudes even though there is NEVER ANY MENTION IN SCRIPTURE TO SUPPORT THIS CLAIM. "Ah", they respond, "He said He came to fulfill the Law, which means those old commandments do not apply anymore". This is nothing more than an assumption (which is reading inferences into the words without regard to what the words they are reading actually mean) and is a wonderment to reason considering that His Words actually mean
Grace Upon Grace.
It can not be stated often enough that Yeshua specifically stated above that He did NOT come to "abolish" the Torah - so, to believe and act otherwise is to say He is a liar. His entire credibility as the promised Messiah to His audience of pious Hebrews who religiously kept the Words of YHVH contained in Torah rested completely on how He handled Torah. Simply stated, his disciples would not have accepted and followed Him as the Messiah to the house of Israel if He nullified Torah. If we just follow the words that are written on the page apart from looking at them through the traditional filtered lenses of what men have said they mean, we find that Yeshua also said in that passage of Matthew 22 that while these two commandments are the greatest, it is on these two that ALL THE OTHER LAWS HANG - the core Essence of the Nature of YHVH, which is selfLESSness, expressed in those two is found in all the rest, not that they have eliminated the rest
(see what it means to Abide In His Name).
Secondly, the Greek word translated as the English "fulfill" in this verse is
pleroo,
which means "to fill up, make whole, complete, to fill to the brim". There is nothing in that definition that even hints of what came before as being of no consequence or obsolete. Just because you fill a glass of water "to the brim" and it is made whole and completed due to the fact that it will not hold anything else does not mean that you summarily throw the container holding the water away. If you did, you would then have no way to be nourished by the contents it holds. Because of Christianity's deliberate separation from the originating Hebraic influence, what is not understood in these words Yeshua gives us (like the "law of love") is that they are not "new" at all - but come directly from the Torah, the Original Books of
Deuteronomy 6:5
and Leviticus 19:18.
There is only one place in all of scripture where Yeshua says He gives a "new" commandment -
John 13:34-35.
Notice, however, who the audience was He was speaking to. Just as we saw with the sermon on the mount, the words tell us that He was not speaking to the world, not to the religious masses or to their leaders but, rather, to twelve men - the disciples who had abandoned everything to follow Him. To those twelve and only them, Yeshua said to love each other IN THE SAME WAY HE HAD MANIFESTED THE LOVE OF THE FATHER TO THEM
(see Just As - Even So).
It would be in this manifestation of the Father to each other that the world would look upon them and know they were His disciples. How had He manifested the Love of the Father? Most would quote John 3:16 as the answer when the kind of "love"
Yeshua exampled
is more appropriately found in
1John 3:16.
Yeshua also says in
John 17:6-8,
it was in keeping the Words of the Father that He manifested YHVH's Name - what have come to be known as "the commandments" in
Exodus 20:1-17
(see what it means To Be Made Manifest).
In spite of Yeshua's direct contradiction to the Torah being "done away with" in Matthew 5:17 above and even though there is not one scripture that says any of the Ten Words of the Father have ever been eliminated (in spite of the mis-handling of
the words
of Sha'ul by the Christian community), the assumption is made that these words spoken by Yeshua from the sermon on the mount are the "new commandments" that replace the "old" ones - again, not realizing that, like the "law of love", every one of those words Yeshua spoke on that mount are found in the Tanakh.
"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments.
For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments." 1John 5:2-3
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There is only
one place in scripture
where Yeshua pointed to the only thing that would nullify, render of "none effect" the Words of YHVH and that was
the tradition of men.
Tradition comes from the Greek word
paradosis,
(it rhymes with "paralysis") and means "a giving up". To find Truth means we must seek after it with all of our might
(Jeremiah 29:13).
Paying someone to do it for us invalidates that process - we "give up" the responsibility to hear Spirit to someone else. It is much easier to eat the tenants of other men's convictions, pre-cooked and set before us on a plate of tradition than it is to take up a spade to go digging into the Garden so as to find Truth for ourselves. When we allow others to read for us and find our conclusions for us, we "give up" the empowerment of the sacrifice Yeshua made to give us the opportunity to feed ourselves.
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...to keep His Words is to believe in His Name
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And herein lies the basic problem with what has come to be believed by the religion Christianity - by throwing out the book of instruction of what it means to
BECOME
righteous renders one ill-equipped to actually know what it means to KNOW the only One Who IS Righteous
(John 17:3).
Words mean things. By eliminating, ignoring and redefining the standard of measurement YHVH gives us in His Words, we are left to our own devices to determine of what is the Essence of the Nature of this Hebrew Spirit, YHVH, and what is not. Those who insist on "feel good" theologies of the tradition of men remain in ignorance, in kindergarten, concerning the practical aspects of knowing the Eternal One of Israel
(Hebrews 5:12-13).
To continue the process of education, one must embrace ALL the Books of scripture to see how they ALL compliment one another - not just the most convenient to support a flawed, pre-determined theology
(see Who's Name Is It?).
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the Beatitudes - a discussion
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"And we know that the Son of YHVH has come and
has given us understanding,
so that we may know Him Who is True; and we are in Him Who is True, in his Son, Yeshua, the promised Messiah to Israel. YHVH is the true God and eternal life." 1John 5:20
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the What's New? Series
Part One: the Beatitudes
Part Two: a NEW commandment?
Part Three: a NEW Covenant?
Part Four: Forgiveness
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???Questions???
Please feel free to email me at harold@hethathasanear.com.
While not claiming to have all
the answers, it would be an honor to partake with you of what Spirit is uncovering.
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