One of Jesus' earliest sermons was the "Sermon on the Mount" and He gave eight Beatitudes to His disciples.

'Beatitudes' are defined as 'Supreme blessings or happiness.' 'Blessed' is defined as 'Made sacred or consecrated', 'bringing happiness.'

Let's read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 verses 1 through 12. "And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. {2} Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: {3} "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {4} Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. {5} Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. {6} Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. {7} Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. {8} Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. {9} Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. {10} Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {11} "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. {12} "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Let’s focus in on the third beatitude in verse 5, "Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth."

The word ‘meek’ is defined as ‘showing patience and humility.’ The word ‘meek’ comes from the Greek word ‘praus.’ It is clear that this word ‘praus’ means much more than the English word ‘meek’ now means. There is no English word which will translate it, although perhaps the word ‘gentle’ comes closest to it.

Meekness implies acceptance of one’s lowly and humble position. The meek person is gentle and mild in his own cause, though he may be a lion in God’s cause or in defending others.

The Bible says of Moses, "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3).

Moses was meek, patient and humble but he could also become very angry. The story of the gold calf is in Exodus 32.

Let’s focus in on Moses in verse 19, "So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain." The two tablets were the Testimony of God, the Ten Commandments, in which He had engraved on both sides of the tablets of stone.

Self control is an important quality of being meek.

There is a proverb that says: "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city" (Proverbs 16:32).

In being meek we must rule over our minds and our actions.

In the World Tomorrow in the millennium of the Kingdom of God, we are going to be teachers, leaders, kings and priests perhaps ruling over 5 or 10 cities as one of Jesus’ parables indicates (Luke 19:12-27). The quality of meekness will help us to be good leaders.

Let’s notice that Jesus may have quoted this beatitude from the Old Testament in Psalms 37 verse 11, "But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."

Jesus possesses the quality of meekness, He said in Matthew 11 verse 29, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls." Other translations say that He said, "I am gentle and humble."

In a Messianic Scripture in Isaiah 61 verse 1, "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."

When Jesus began His Galilean Ministry He quoted this passage in Isaiah in Luke 4:16-19. In this Messianic Scripture Jesus was to preach the gospel, the glad tidings, to the meek. He is looking for the quality of meekness in the people He and God the Father are calling (John 6:44, 15:16, 19). We need to strive to be meek.

Meekness is one of the fruits of God’s Holy Spirit, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, {23} Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).

We need to pray for these fruits, especially for meekness and gentleness.

Being meek is valuable to God. "A meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." (1 Peter 3:4).

Now let’s focus in on the reward associated with this beatitude: "Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth."

The first beatitude was: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Notice the reward was the "kingdom of heaven." (See our article on that beatitude for the full explanation.)

Matthew primarily wrote to the Jews. He did not want to offend them so he used the term "Kingdom of Heaven" in lieu of the phrase "Kingdom of God".

This Kingdom of God that we should be seeking will be set up on the earth after Jesus Christ returns. When Jesus returns the dead in Christ and the Saints who are alive will be resurrected and meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15). Christ will set up the Kingdom of God on the earth and will be King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:11-16). The Saints will rule with Jesus Christ and He will "have made them kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:8-10), "with Him for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4-6).

In Summary: "Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.."