When we hear the word meek, we picture someone who is weak. But this is not how the Bible portrays a meek person. Numbers 12:3 says “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth”. The context in which the Lord made that statement was when Miriam and Aaron were speaking against and thinking themselves to have equal status with Moses. Moses did not confront them for this behavior, but God did. He called them into the tent for a private meeting and stood before them in a pillar of cloud. With a stern voice God said “hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord” (Number 12:6-8a ESV). God made it clear that Moses was in charge and was to be followed. God communicated with Moses not in the haze of a vision or the figment of a dream but he put his lips directly upon Moses’s lips. He breathed his very words into the mouth and mind and heart of Moses. God did so because Moses was the meekest man in all the earth. Therefore, he was in tune with God and could be trusted. That is a mural of strength.
Jesus surely considered the character of Moses when he said “Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5 ESV). Someone who is
meek is tame as opposed to acting wild. They are wise rather than foolish. Insightful,
not disruptive. Steady not static. Useful instead of harmful. A meek person is
strong yet they possess a gentle demeanor. We might describe the meek
individual as being self-controlled. But in a spiritual sense it is far more
than that. To be self-controlled assumes that we are in charge and accountable
only to ourselves. Yet no matter how much self-control we have we are lessened
by our flaws. We are subject to human frailties. Somewhere in life’s journey
our self-control will meet its match and our souls will surrender in defeat. To
be meek is to be God-controlled. A meek person is one who has been tamed by
God. A meek person has submitted themselves to God and has allowed the Spirit
of God to shape and mold their character. Moses had been subjected to the
arrogance of Pharoah’s household for forty years. Then he spent forty years as
a herdsman in the wilderness. In the barrenness of the desert with his nostrils
filled with the stench of sheep he discovered the aroma of God’s grace.
Submitting himself to God he became a meek man that God could use.
The meek person through his God-tamed strength will inherit
the earth. That does mean that he owns the earth. “The earth is the Lord’s and
the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” Psalm 24:1 ESV).
The meek person may not hold many deeds to property. They may not hold
jurisdiction over defined territories. Their names may lack notoriety. But the
meek inherit the earth because they are able to influence the earth for God and
for good. Leadership is influence. A meek person is able to influence those in
their realm and encourage them to move in a Godly trajectory.
The world is filled with statues. Buildings and roads bear
the names of powerful people. History books tell the stories of conquests and
empires. Some of these great leaders have been agents of good and some have
been tyrants for evil. But eventually statues will be torn down. Buildings will
decay and roads will crumble. The memorials we erected will just be aging
pyramids full of bones. In time the historians usually will expose the complete
story.
The meek will inherit the earth because what has preserved
the earth for generation after generation is not the conquering tactics of
ambitious men. Rather, it is the goodliness and godliness of those who have
lived in submission to the principles of our righteous God. This is what brings
blessings to our world and blessedness to our own souls.
